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| Giles & Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament - Storyboards |
Storyboarding is a growing area of the animation industry; one which has recorded significant skills shortages in recent years.
Our storyboard students have gone on to successful careers at studios such as Walt Disney, Brown Bag Films and Blue Zoo Animation.
Storyboarding Evening Class
Our Storyboarding Evening Class is aimed at anyone who wants to learn storyboarding, for live action, animation, commercials, or independent projects.
Course Content
The Storyboarding Evening Class is spread over ten evenings. Each class involves a blend of one-on-one feedback, lectures, and simple in-class exercises.
Storyboarding Evening Class
Our Storyboarding Evening Class is aimed at anyone who wants to learn storyboarding, for live action, animation, commercials, or independent projects.
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| "Brodiaga" storyboards by Anastasia Gurova |
Course Content
The Storyboarding Evening Class is spread over ten evenings. Each class involves a blend of one-on-one feedback, lectures, and simple in-class exercises.
Each week students will receive a homework assignment to complete and bring in for review the next week. This way, students will get meaningful feedback on their work over the full period of the course.
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| Clara Cornish |
The Storyboarding Evening Class is taught by Clara Cornish - Clara joined Escape Studios from Aardman Animation, where she storyboarded on Shaun The Sheep - Farmageddon, Lloyd of the Flies and Robin Robin, and "Chicken Run - Dawn of The Nugget".
Course Outline
Week 1 - General Introduction to Storyboarding:
The purpose of storyboarding, fast drawing exercises to loosen up, tips for breaking mental blocks & breaking out of perfectionism.
Weeks 2 & 3 - Creating Images Which Tell a Story:
Creating individual images and beatboards, focusing on clarity and emotional impact, improving composition.
Week 4 - Drawing Characters in Action:
Character gesture drawing, conveying emotion through posing and expression, developing shorthands, drawing acting and performance.
Week 5 - Using the Camera in Space:
Camera positioning, staging and simplified perspective, practice drawing a scene from different angles.
Week 6 - Choosing Shots:
Introduction to the various shot types, getting inspiration and choosing your shots, learning when to cut, applying the 180 rule.
Week 7 - Prepare to Board!
Breaking down a script, fast thumbnailing and how to study existing films.
Week 8 - The Professional Process:
Drawing up industry standard boards in photoshop, storyboarding process demo, drawing economy, non-destructive workflow & organisational tips.
Week 9 - The Pitch:
How to pitch your storyboards. Acting, performance and delivery.
Week 10 - Breaking In:
Generating personal project ideas, structuring a portfolio, info on the day-to-day of a storyboard artist, application tips.
Week 1 - General Introduction to Storyboarding:
The purpose of storyboarding, fast drawing exercises to loosen up, tips for breaking mental blocks & breaking out of perfectionism.
Weeks 2 & 3 - Creating Images Which Tell a Story:
Creating individual images and beatboards, focusing on clarity and emotional impact, improving composition.
Week 4 - Drawing Characters in Action:
Character gesture drawing, conveying emotion through posing and expression, developing shorthands, drawing acting and performance.
Week 5 - Using the Camera in Space:
Camera positioning, staging and simplified perspective, practice drawing a scene from different angles.
Week 6 - Choosing Shots:
Introduction to the various shot types, getting inspiration and choosing your shots, learning when to cut, applying the 180 rule.
Week 7 - Prepare to Board!
Breaking down a script, fast thumbnailing and how to study existing films.
Week 8 - The Professional Process:
Drawing up industry standard boards in photoshop, storyboarding process demo, drawing economy, non-destructive workflow & organisational tips.
Week 9 - The Pitch:
How to pitch your storyboards. Acting, performance and delivery.
Week 10 - Breaking In:
Generating personal project ideas, structuring a portfolio, info on the day-to-day of a storyboard artist, application tips.
Software
Storyboarding isn't primarily about software. It can be done easily and well with pencil and paper. However, we do have a number of software packages installed at Escape Studios, much of which is now available for download from home.
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| Panel Forge |
- Toonboom Storyboard Pro, arguably now the industry leader for storyboarding. We have a number of licenses available for home use.
- Panel Forge, a hybrid software that blends 3d modeling resources with drawing tools. Panel Forge is essentially a stripped-down version of Maya, pioneered by Blue Zoo and Jellyfish animation, that greatly speeds up the storyboarding process.
- Storyboarder. This free software is open-source and a useful addition to the board artist's toolkit.
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| "Golden" by Akasha Devlin-Clovering |
Jobs in Storyboarding
Skilled storyboard artists are in high demand, and there continues to be a serious skills shortage here in the UK. Have a look at some of our recent success stories here.
Complex Craft
Storyboarding is a complex craft that involves the ability to tell a story visually using both traditional drawing and also (increasingly) 3D skills. Storyboard artists must also understand acting, performance, cinematography - and also have a sense of fun and entertainment about their work. Above all, they must learn to be clear. Great board artists often become directors - storyboarding can be a route to the very top of our industry.
Success Stories
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| Lighthouse at Whale's End by Paloma Zhu |
- Celine Davies - Storyboard Artist at Disney
- Ben Gardener - Story Artist at Brown Bag Films
- Sasha Fusini - Story Artist at Blue Zoo
- Fred O'Rourke
- Dominika Brodowska, storyboard artist at Blue Zoo
- Evgenia Glubeva directs TV Series at Blue Zoo
- Austin Hill Studio Assistant at Escape Studios
Official page
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| Storyboard by Ronnie Kim |
Inspiration
Finally, to take a quick peek behind the scenes at Pixar, and see a story pitch by the late (and much-missed) Joe Ranft, one of Pixar's most talented storyboard artists, watch the video below.
Storyboarding hasn't changed a whole lot in the years since it was pioneered at the Disney Studio in Burbank. It's still about story, story, story.
Pixar Story Pitch with Joe Ranft
Pixar Story Pitch with Joe Ranft
To prepare for this class, all you really need do is sharpen your pencils (soft pencils please, 2B or softer), and do some warm up sketches.
You might do some quick sketches of yourself, your friends, and (in general) the world around you.
Photoshop
You should also consider learning the basics of Photoshop and also Adobe Premiere, both of which you will be using extensively in class.
Reading List - Prepare to Board
We recommend Prepare to Board by Nancy Beiman. You can read more about it here. We have copies in the animation library at Escape Studios.
Storyboarding Links
To see more about storyboarding at Escape Studios, follow these links:
The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link.
We recommend Prepare to Board by Nancy Beiman. You can read more about it here. We have copies in the animation library at Escape Studios.
Storyboarding Links
- Chess Adams: "Five Reasons to Study Storyboarding"
- Chess Adams: "What are Storyboards for?"
- Pixar's Storyboard Secrets
- Stefan Franck on Storyboarding
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