storyboard

Goethe - Objects in pictures should be arranged as by their very position to tell their own story.

It is incredible to see so much emotion, so much depth, and so much heart in simple

penciled drawings. While there are many who enter the entertainment industry looking to

make or direct the next great film, I think they often overlook the importance of a well-

organized storyboard. Whether creating a live action film or a small-animated television

commercial, storyboard artists create and develop the project shot by shot. They are not

only storytellers, but Da Vinci's in their own right. Their craft is not only beautiful, but

incredibly powerful and useful within the industry. It is a talent and a passion that many

artists truly possess, and it is indeed the unsung and unseen driving force behind every film we

see today. After all, it is story we are after, right?

Storytelling is the heart of all movies.

Jules Engel - Solve your problems in the storyboard.

Solve your problems small.

Creating the magic, one storyboard panel at a time.

Posted in Animation, digital arts by muphmel

Storytelling is at the heart of every film . More and more recently we have seen a large increase of amazing graphics and special effects. Tantalizing colors and picture perfect artistic styles have now become a film industry norm. Though, it is easy to find that as technology and artistic capabilities continue to develop, we also see an increase of horrible movies. It is easy to see that these movies do not fail due to their graphics alone (though it is certain that some do) but rather on their shortcomings of not attracting or connecting with their audience. To put it simply, movies fail because the story is bad. If we cannot connect with the characters, if we cannot feel their own personal pains and joys, then there is no story. The movie won’t work.

Pixar is known for not only their incredible use of story, but also their groundbreaking effects. The art of storytelling at it’s absolute finest is best seen within this heart-wrenching and heart-warming scene from Pixar’s film, Up.

In the production of any film, it is true that the story is the deepest and most central core of the production. Once a story is laid out it is almost as if the director produces and creates the story out of thin air.

But it is pre-production and pre-vis that creates the world that we see, and that is where storyboarding lies. Planning is always crucial when undertaking a complex and large project. Architects create detailed blueprints before ever constructing a twenty-story building, and filmmakers must layout their movie from start to finish before they even pick up Maya or a camera. And their unique art is sometimes just as beautiful as the final product.

To put it simply, the best storyboard artists are:

• Natural born actors

• Comedians worthy of their own sitcom

• Knowledgeable in cinematics

• Highly sympathetic and emotionally aware individuals

• Storytelling prodigies

• And above all, they are incredibly talented artists.

Storyboard artists’ job serves as the visual representation of the entire film, and is one of the most important assets in any production. Their art skills enable them to communicate thoughts, feelings, and emotions to the production team and the audience.

They are talented, loose artists who can do quick renderings conveying an action, an intense emotion, or the setting of a scene. It is a breed of artists that takes years of hard work, gesture drawing, and storytelling in the making.

Their work, while it may not show up on the big screen, is carried along by the director for the entire length of the production process. The simple drawings carry the basic necessities of the story as well as complex cinematics and layouts for the film. It acts as the necessary visual script that helps move the film process along. You may have seen these boards if you have ever seen behind the scenes footage of animated productions from Pixar and Disney.

One of the greatest storyboard artists was a man by the name of Joe Ranft, who was coined a “master storyboard artist” of our generation. He had storyboarded such blockbuster hits as The Lion King, Toy Story, Monster’s Inc., and Cars.

To get a better idea of the commitment and dedication it takes to become a storyboard artist, check out this clip from Waking Sleeping Beauty.Storyboard artists will go through hundreds upon thousands of bad drawings, much like any animator or artist in the world today. As stories change, comedy is added, parts are removed and dissected and put back together in a different order, storyboard artists will scratch and rearrange their art as they see fit. In today’s industry, many storyboard artists have ditched black mounted boards, pencils, paper, and push pins for the environmentally friendly and faster alternative of creating small thumbnails on a tablet and putting it into the computer. Film giants such as Pixar now show their storyboards on a slideshow like “reel” format rather than the time consuming process of holding a giant wooden stick and pointing to a gigantic board. However, there are definitely times that call for the old way of doing things, which is where I believe the true magic and art of storyboarding comes at it’s finest. While visiting WDAS, I asked one such storyboard artist which method is most commonly used and he responded saying,

“We still have artists drawing with a pencil, it is all about their personal style. And there is nothing wrong with that! I actually find it is better understood when the artist is in the middle of a room surrounded by panels and panels of boards. They act it out, they move around, they have fun with it. That’s what storyboarding is all about, it’s about selling it. Making us feel what the character or the scene is feeling.”

It is incredible to see so much emotion, so much depth, and so much heart in simple penciled drawings. While there are many who enter the entertainment industry looking to make or direct the next great film, I think they often overlook the importance of a well-organized storyboard. Whether creating a live action film or a small-animated television commercial, storyboard artists create and develop the project shot by shot. They are not only storytellers, but Da Vinci’s in their own right. Their craft is not only beautiful, but incredibly powerful and useful within the industry. It is a talent and a passion that not many artists truly posses, and it is indeed the unsung and unseen driving force behind every film we see today. After all, it is story we are after, right?

“Joe was really a major part of Pixar’s soul. He was one of the key players who made all the films what they are.” – Director Pete Doctor

On March 13, 1960, Joseph Henry Ranft was born in Pasadena, California, and grew up in Whittier. He had a strong interest in movies, magic, and performing, all things that would impact his career. In 1978, Ranft enrolled in the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied Disney-style animation alongside future collaborators John Lasseter and Brad Bird. In 1980, Ranft accepted a job offer from Disney, and earned a quick reputation as an outstanding story artist. He contributed to the story of several films, including Oliver and Company, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Fantasia 2000. In 1991, Ranft began working for Pixar, working on the story for their first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story. His knack of performing and impressions got him hired as the voice of Heimlich in the studio’s second film, A Bug’s Life; he would continue writing and performing on Toy Story 2, voicing Wheezy the penguin, and had writing credits for Monsters, Inc. and Cars. Unfortunately, Ranft was killed in a car accident on August 16, 2005, leaving behind a legacy of storytelling and a reputation as a “story giant of our generation,” as relayed by director Henry Selick. Ranft was named a Disney Legend in 2006.

For Joe by John Musker

Animator, Storyboard Artists, and Disney Legend Joe Ranft (1960-2005).

Born in Pasadena, California (but raised in Whittier, California) on March 13, 1960, Joe Ranft studied character animation at California Institute of the Arts. His student film caught the attention of Disney, where he was hired and began working in 1980 for several years on a variety of television projects that never got made.

He received additional training from Disney Legend Eric Larson, as well as getting some improvisational theater training from a Los Angeles improvisation group called The Groundlings. He did some story work on The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

Ranft had known John Lasseter at CalArts in the 1970s and ended up joining Pixar in 1992. His first work included pitching and storyboarding the Green Army Men sequence for Toy Story (1995). He worked on story development for all the Pixar feature films, including some work on Cars (2006) which he was co-directing when he passed away in 2005.

Because of his performing background, he provided voices for some of the characters in the Pixar films: Lenny the Binoculars (Toy Story), Heimlich the Caterpillar (A Bug’s Life), Wheezy the Penguin (Toy Story 2), various incidental voices (Monsters, Inc.), Jacques the Shrimp (Finding Nemo), various incidental voices (The Incredibles) and Red and a Peterbilt (Cars).

On April 23, 1999, Joe was out on vacation with his family to Florida. He dropped by Disney Feature Animation, Florida and the Disney Institute where I was an animation instructor and I got a chance to talk with him.

Korkis: What are some hints you can share with us about storyboarding?

Ranft voiced “Heimlich” in A BUG’S LIFE

Ranft: Storyboarding is really re-boarding. Your first idea is never good enough and you have to keep changing. In the two-and-half years we worked on A Bug’s Life, we ended up with over 27,500 storyboard drawings we eventually used but tossed out tons of others. A good storyboard panel tells just one thing and is staged to tell just that one thing. How can you check? You put it on the board and walk away from it with your back toward it and then spin around quickly and look at it and see if it clearly tells what you want it to tell. And if you feel that you are lying to yourself, you bring someone else to look at it.

A good storyman has to juggle so many things like acting, staging, and composition …all in one panel!

Korkis: How is it pitching a storyboard to John Lasseter?

Ranft: When you pitch, you might get John’s attention for maybe twenty minutes before he is reeling off suggestions like “let’s make that wider,” “do that from a different angle,” and we are scrambling to take these quick notes on Post-It Notes and put it on the board.

We have a storyboard reel with a caricature of John Lasseter wearing a purple sweatshirt instead of his Hawaiian shirt. That is the truth. For story meetings, John will wear a purple sweatshirt. And early in the morning, his hair isn’t quite combed (laughs).

Korkis: You seem to use John Ratzenberg a lot.

Ranft: John Ratzenberg, who did the voice of P.T. Flea, is so wonderful that you can just send him a script and a tape and he could send you back a terrific performance. In the booth, after he did the lines as they were in the script, he’d say, “Let me give you it this way” and did some marvelous things. In the flea circus scene where he goes right to camera and says “in just 15 seconds” was something he added and we went back and adjusted our boards. And his line where he introduces himself was his improv and he said it came from an old radio show.

Korkis: You’re pretty modest but you’ve done some great voice work, as well, like Hemlich in A Bug’s Life.

Ranft: I think I got Hemlich because of John Lasseter’s wife. She laughed when I did the lines on the scratch track but didn’t when they brought in this professional actor to do them. My son, Joe, did a kid ant voice in A Bug’s Life. Doing all these voices, I had to join the Screen Actors Guild.

Korkis: I know you sometimes do “incidental voices” as well. Did you do any on A Bug’s Life?

Ranft: I did some incidental voices like the flies that say “Burn him again” and “I’ve only got 24 hours to live and I’m not spending it here.”

Korkis: Do you do those voices for your kids, as well?

Ranft: I read stories to my kids and I do the funny voices and sometimes they tell me to stop doing the voices and just read the story.

Korkis: Do you script the outtakes that appear at the end of the film for the voice actors?

Ranft: The outtakes are done on the last day of voice recording for each actor if time permitted. They were not boarded but quick sketch suggestions were done of some of them. Some of them obviously were for adults so we purposely tried to include some slapstick bits for the kids. Those are my favorites.

Korkis: I understand the story began in a different direction for A Bug’s Life.

Ranft: Originally, the story of A Bug’s Life was supposed to be about a red ant named “Red” who ran the circus instead of P.T. Flea, but they hit a stonewall in terms of developing the story. We get asked if the film was influenced by The Magnificent Seven (1960), and all I can say is that all the guys at Pixar are big film buffs, and I also see some elements from The Three Amigos (1986), but that story falls apart for me when they are discovered not to be gunfighters. We solved that problem by coming up with the bird device storyline after the revelation. Of course, the original inspiration was the story of The Grasshopper and the Ants that Disney did as far back as 1934.

Korkis: Anything you remember getting cut from the film after it was in production?

Ranft: On the original boards, the circus bugs were doing all sorts of things offstage that eventually got cut because the scene was so long. For instance, the spider is practicing weaving the safety web within 15 seconds while Dim times her and it is a terrible mess. “Are you sure it was 15 seconds?” “Let me check.” “You have to check whether it was 15 seconds?” The praying mantis was much harsher in ignoring his wife, Gypsy. “Haven’t you forgotten half your act?” she asks, extending her hand to be kissed. He replies, “You are right” and he comes back and grabs his turban to put on his head. In the arena, when Heimlich sees the kid flies with the candy corn and offers to help them finish it, the line on the storyboard was “Get out of here, Fatso” which was cut from the film.

Korkis: Thank you so much, Joe, for sharing your time.

Sadly, on August 16th, 2005, Joe was killed when his car crashed through a guard rail and plunged into the Pacific Ocean in Mendocino County, California. He died during the production of Cars, which he co-directed. His contributions to Disney and Pixar were vital – and he will never be forgotten. His colleague John Musker posted this tribute in 2010 (above). "A Tribute to Joe Ranft."