Gabriel Hardman is a write and artist based in Los Angeles California and has done storyboard work for Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises, Superman Returns and Inception. From what I've seen of his work as a storyboard artist the main reason I love his storyboards are that they are incredibly informative and although the illustrations are at a sort of mid-point for the level of detail, they are very appealing. I realise that storyboards aren't necessarily there to be pleasing to the eye, but to be able to create such concise and informative storyboards at the same time is something to be admired. What would be considered simple shapes, in the context of his storyboard illustrations become pieces of furniture and objects. The fact that this can happen just emphasises the idea that his storyboards become pieces of visual information when you look into them. I also love his use of camera angles, as shown in the image below, it feels very natural and gives a good perspective to the action occurring on screen and allows it to be viewed at an optimal angle for keeping the audience engaged and involved.
The medium that appears to have been used for the storyboard below, is simply pencil with a thin black fine liner used to highlight important areas and give more weight to those lines, so as to draw attention to them and put emphasis towards them as they are where a) the action is taking place and b) points of interest. I like that Hardman uses a traditional method at least some of the time if not all of the time, because it's a very raw and minimal approach. Storyboards are never particularly complicated and don't necessarily need a digital approach even in the modern era of animation and design to make the storyboard informative. So, overall, I appreciate the approach taken here so as to not over complicate his work flow.
 |
| Storyboard, Inception |
The same traditional approach has been used for the scene below, so I assume that the storyboards for the entire film was done by hand using pencil and ink. The scene below is different to the previous one as it shows a close up shot of a conversation between two characters in the film. The use of angles here clearly depicts a conversation, and it is easy to differentiate between who is talking and who is listening. Another good example of an 'easy to interpret' storyboard. From the background of the panels you can also tell that the characters are sat in a vehicle, more so, the back of a car. You can also tell subtle things just by glancing over the panel that you don't have to look into in order to identify, such as the fact that it's raining out side of the vehicle because of the marks created on the window. Again, it's very simple but it does the job of communicating the scene very well. The notes made to the side of the panels allow the person looking over the story boards to gather more information about what is going on from them, the artist has written a brief sentence to describe the scene and what's going on, thus to make sure everything is understood. Something that doesn't come lightly but I noticed from the artwork of Hardman in particular, is his ability to show expressions and set the mood of the scene through a storyboard with those expressions. The conversation here feels very tense and arranged as oppose to casual and friendly. The use of tone in the panels gives them depth and makes them come to life in a sense, making it so you can visualise the shots better both for filming and the final out come. Finally, the panels appear very organised and clear as a sequence, the shots transition very naturally, and are clearly labelled to the side.
No comments:
Post a Comment