Progression: Networking: Sam Horton - 'Storyboarding Masterclass'
'Storyboarding Masterclass' by Sam Horton
In todays lesson for Creative Media Practice - we have had the opportunity to attend a talk by Sam Horton, an industry specialist in storyboarding. 'Storyboarding Masterclass' I found to be a very interesting talk - with many takeaways about how this process works in industry. I find this to be advantageous as receiving this information from someone who has industry experience is useful as it gives, us students, insight in to industry terminology and practices we otherwise would not have known had we not attended this talk.
In this post - I will compile and elaborate on notes that I taken during this talk, as well as giving background on Sam Horton's work and what I skills I have learned from attending this talk. In researching Sam Horton - I typed his name in to Google and was met with his online digital portfolio. This is a good thing to have, as it gives me information about Sam Horton's career as well as giving me a basis to base my own digital portfolio on: as this portfolio as a professionally made portfolio that has been used in industry.
Portfolio Analysis:
This profile I find to be very insightful - it has a rather minimalistic colour scheme which helps each section of the profile to individually stand out. The profile contains a prominent logo with a contrasting colour scheme to the white background it is situated on - this, I feel, helps it stand out to a viewer. In terms of colour scheme, the logo uses hues of blue and purple which are relatively close on the colour wheel. These two colours compliment each other with the purple background helping the blue stand out in the eye of the beholder. In terms of placement - the logo is also central to the page, making it very present and difficult to miss. There is also mention of specific programs used and clients that he has worked with, this is good professional practice as a prospective client would need to know about the previous clients he's worked with as well as as to determine the eligibility of whether they want to work with Sam. This also helps convey a wide range of skills within his field - This helps put across a level of professionalism and rapport.
Sam's portfolio contains specific examples of projects that he has worked on - as well as the clients that he worked with whilst creating said projects. Specific examples of projects that Sam has worked on include 'I Am A Fish' and 'The Epic Adventures Of Morph'. 'I Am A Fish' is a 2D animation while 'The Epic Adventures Of Morph' is a 3D stop-motion animation. Showing a range of products is advantageous in a portfolio as it conveys to a potential client that Sam is capable of a range of diverse animation styles; ergo he is more desirable to employ.
Sam has a dedicated section of his portfolio to showcasing examples of his work in storyboarding. These storyboards contain use of both 2D and 3D art - ergo showing a range of skills as well as the ability to deliver different types of products. It is important within a portfolio to display a range of products as it conveys to the viewer, or a prospective employer, the type of work you are capable of creating.
Notes taken during Talk:
- Gave a general overview of what a storyboard is
- how they are used in industry
- Storyboards give the ability to tell compact small stories
- has worked with a wide range of companies and productions to commercials (live action, stop motion, 2D and 3D animation projects)
- Storyboards are a visual depiction of the script using the director's vision - used during pre-production
- an animatic is a collection of storyboards that creates a brief-spine of the story
- misconception is that storyboards have to be great drawings
- can work out the geography of a scene for the edit
- being able to communicate with others and translate your ideas to others
- worked on animated series morph
Understanding and elaborating on notes taken during talk:
Sam spoke about animatics - which are a collection of storyboards that create a sequence. These sequences usually create "the brief spine of a story" as Sam himself put it during the talk. As well as this he a general overview of what a storyboard is and how they are used in industry. Storyboards are used based on the script in conjunction with the director to make a brief sequence in line with the vision of the director. Often this is to determine the effectiveness of certain shot types and they contrast one another. Something I found rather interesting in this talk was what Sam said about the quality of the storyboards in terms of aesthetic - in that they don't need to be picture perfect as long as they can properly portray the shot type and what is in frame. I found this remarkably useful as I had previously worried about the quality of my storyboards due to my lack of prose as a conventional artist.
Sam also mentioned about how storyboards can help map the geography of a scene - which is integral to maintaining continuity during a shoot.
Using specific examples - Sam touched on famous examples of storyboards. A particularly interesting reference he made was that of Ridley Scott's 'Alien' - in which Scott had to use storyboards to show his vision as the board had not gave him funding based solely on the script. These storyboards that Scott presented conveyed the unique visual style of 'Alien' - and thus got the film funding. Given that Scott's 'Alien' is one of my favorite films - I found this example to be as equally cool as it was useful. Sam also made reference to other projects such as 'Blade Runner'. I feel like using examples from high-profile projects such as 'Alien' helps demystify the production process - showing the simple processes that went in to making such a monumental and important project.
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