I now give you the third and final article of my interview with Anne Denman of Studio B Productions.

She is the Head of Recruitment/HR at the studio and is giving us her advice on what she likes to see come in the doors when she has to do some hiring. You can find the first article on making a good resume here and the second on portfolios here.

Today she talks about applying to studios and getting the job. Cause I just know you want to hear about that. Right? Right?

As before, she’s giving us that glimspe from the ‘other side of the desk’, which is awesome.

Enjoy!

Anne’s advice on getting the job:

When visiting or applying to studios, find out the culture of the studio and what the studio does.

Do your homework.

Find out all the recruiters in town. Google the studios.

What have they worked on? Who are the owners? Get information and write it down or put it in your Outlook.

If the studio does mostly ‘family stuff’, then show them family stuff in your portfolio. Research the studio and research the person in HR who does the hiring.

Know their name!! And spell it right. I have gotten letters addressed to “Hi Competing Studio (that studio by name)”.

Not the best way to make a good impression.

(Karen’s note: And it makes you look…you know…stupid!)

Or I get a SPAM email and see everyone else’s email address that the person has sent it to.

Horrible! Unprofessional!

We don’t need to hear sob stories. Don’t say you need this job because your mom is sick or whatever. There are loads of people out there that need work and money.

The studio needs to know that you are the right person for the job and what you can do for them. It’s a business and you’ll get hired because you can do the job.

It depends on the studio of course, but I am very open to meeting people (never on a Monday though!) If you happen to be dropping off a portfolio, you can ask if I am available to meet you. But let’s face it…it’s always better to call or set something up ahead of time. I love to help students.

Keep in mind I am not ‘every other studio’. Some will blacklist you if you “just drop by” when they have indicated they don’t want any drop-ins, ever.

Talk like a pro.

Say “Hey Anne, I’d like to apply as an animator at Studio B because I really like what you’re doing and was wondering if you had any time to meet me to talk about possible work.”

If I ask someone to come in at 9 AM and they pause and say 11, I can’t help but think they are not too into this and they probably just want to sleep in.

Be presentable.

Show up clean and put together and not playing with your nose ring and stuff. If someone comes in and just sits across from me with a glazed, disheveled look and isn’t prepared and doesn’t have anything to say, forget it.

I am always very busy so come ready to impress.

Don’t finish the interviewer’s sentences (which is easy when you’re nervous). Listen. You can get valuable information here.

I am also always open to speaking to anyone who has 3 questions ready to ask to at least get some advice from me. And not that many people do it. Ask me what you can do to improve and listen for an answer.

But do not apologize for your work, ever!

Don’t show your work and say, “Sorry but this is crappy”. Be who you are and be proud of what you do.

Get in touch with me every six weeks. Not more, not less.

Put it in your day planner or add a prompt in Outlook to get in touch with me and others. Just not on Mondays; Tuesday to Thursday is best.

Send stuff in before they need you eg: animation tests and applications for work.

Be ahead of the pack.

Get on their radar before they are busy and swamped.

Then send them a thank you…just like your mum taught you. Manners count! Thank them for the meeting, for the email response, whatever. Showing common courtesy can get you ahead of the pack, believe it or not.

Don’t be an ass on the internet by engaging in negative blog-talk.

Facebook can also be really damaging to people. Recruiters and boss-type people read that stuff too! Your name means a lot. Protect it.

When you get the job, you show up early and you stay until the work is done.

Before you leave you ask the supervisor if there is anything else you can do for them to help them out, etc. This makes a huge impression.

Then, when there are only 3 positions next time instead of 6 and they say, “Who should I hire back?” guess who they’re going to think of?

Don’t be high maintenance.

Work as a team. Be a problem solver, not a problem maker.

When you get in a studio, find out who the best people are and get to know them. Don’t just stick with your usual peer group. Power by association…you are the friends you keep.

Go out of the comfort zone and try to learn and grow from these people. You’d be surprised how much they could be willing to help you out.

Break away from the herd. And absorb from them. Be a sponge.

You have to get your head out of the fact that you’re not a student anymore.

You are now working on getting your next gig and you have to see me as an employer that will give you your next job.

Good luck!

Thanks so much Anne! Let’s all give her a round of applause, shall we?

*clapping * cheering * general woo hooing*

I hope you learned a few juicy tidbits out of this series. Now go put them to good use!

_._._._._._._

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Some related posts other readers have enjoyed:

1. Interview With A Recruiter: Portfolios This is t
2. Interview With A Recruiter: Resumes On the of

This is the second article of my interview with Anne Denman of Studio B Productions.

She is the Head of Recruitment/HR at the studio and is giving us her advice on what she likes to see come in the doors when she has to do some hiring. You can find the first article on making a good resume here.

Today she talks about portfolios. It’s not the ‘nitty gritty details’ of putting one together. You can find that in my ‘Building a Storyboard Portfolio‘ article.

She’s giving a glimspe from the other side of the desk, which you don’t always get to see.

So pay attention.

I now give you Anne’s advice on Portfolios:

I love to see talent. I love to be blown away by it.

How to make your portfolio stand out is to have your really clean, fluid stuff up front.

If you’re new, showing off good line quality can help get you noticed. Whatever you’re applying for, show you can do that first and that you can do it well.

Animators need to show animation (in the form of a demo reel) storyboard artists need boards, etc.

For character designs, show a variety. Don’t just show the big breasted vixen on horseback. Most animation companies aren’t interested. It may work for gaming companies, but animation studios get tired of seeing that same stuff over and over.

I’ve had people come in that I thought were going to be fabulous artists but only had tons of that “Thor” stuff in their portfolio—not interested.

Show some variety! If you’re new, choosing a fairy tale and making 3 different designs for the characters is a good exercise.

If the position calls for a demo reel, only put stuff on it that you have done. And do give a credit list at the beginning. You have two minutes (or less) to show them what you’ve got.

Watch what you’re sending! Offensive material can backfire on you.

Do you know that many recruiting people happen to be women? Is your ’edgy film’ really going to go over that well? Think of it as trying to impress your mom’s best friend. We’re not prudes, we just get tired of sexist jokes and ‘poo poo humor‘.

Be witty. Be smart. You can’t go wrong with that.

Many times with demo reels, there may just be a gate keeper…an assistant or someone filling in to review them. They could be reviewed by someone who may not know anything about animation!

Keep this in mind.

Your demo reel should be snappy and appealing to ANYONE.

It’s a commercial for you.

Make it entertaining. Don’t include your whole student film. You have two minutes (maybe shorter) to make an impression, so don’t waste it.

For your portfolio, it’s a good idea to have a digital and hard copy available. Forget about a blog site (Blogger type thing). We don’t want to read about your personal life while sifting though the site looking for a portfolio.

Show us a portfolio and only a portfolio on the site that you list on your resume.

On that site show them your best stuff. It’s not a cop out. Don’t ‘lead up’ to it.

Show it first because that’s what recruiters want to see. Your skills! It’s okay that you’re new and green but as long as you’re ACTING professional, that goes a long way in our eyes.

If you know someone at the studio you’re applying to, ask if you can use their name and then use it! Knowing someone is always a plus (especially if they are respected). Put your name out there…it helps a lot.

As a newbie you should try to go to animation festivals, parties and events. Remember at these events you are always ‘on’. You never know who you will meet and who you are giving your first impression to.

Forget about business cards. They’re pretty much a waste of money and you’ll rarely use them. Unless you are going to a lot of events and they are done well. No one really collects business cards in the industry (unless at events).

When things are slow, work on a project (your own or someone else’s) to keep your skills sharp. Life drawing. Meet people.

Get a mentor in areas you want to improve in. If you want to do better boards get Karen cause she’s the best. (Aw shucks, thanks Anne – KJL.) Ask advice from other pros in the field.

Keep on your game. Do a plan of where you want to go and where you want to be in 5 years.

Spread yourself out and get seen.

Thanks again for the insights Anne!

We’ll continue this series next week with some advice on applying to studios. Good stuff.

_._._._._._._

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Some related posts other readers have enjoyed:

1. Interview With A Recruiter: Applying to Studios I now giv
2. Interview With A Recruiter: Resumes On the of
3. The Live-Action Go-to-Guy’s P.O.V. on Portfolios Here

On the off-chance you might want to read something not about sad celebrity deaths, I bring you this.

It’s an interview I did with the fabulous and lovely Anne Denman of Studio B Productions here in Vancouver. We talked about resumes, portfolios and getting hired at an animation studio.

No ‘questions and answers’ really. I just let her go on a roll, so it’s written from her point of view.

I may add a few of my own comments along the way though.

So let’s get to know Anne a little bit, shall we?

I started at International Rocketship as a receptionist for three years which evolved into Production Coordinator. Then after taking a three year hiatus to be a mom, I worked at Vancouver Film School as the program manager in the 2D animation department for eight years.

I was then approached to become the Director of the Student Program of the Platform International Animation Festival, in 2007, for Cartoon Network.

In 2008 I decided to get back into the studio system. After sending a timely email to Studio B’s Blair Peters and Chris Bartleman, I was asked to Head the Recruitment/HR at Studio B Productions. So here I am at a studio I L-O-V-E.

The Resume Stuff: What do you look for in a good resume?

One sheet. Don’t make it difficult to read. No crazy fonts or tiny type. Twelve point type is good because the person reading may be over 40! *ahem*

At the top, put your name and what you do. Or vise versa. Almost better to put the title, then your name because that’s what the recruiter is looking for first…the position. We’re going to be looking for an ‘animator’ or a ’storyboard artist’ or a ‘character designer’ but rarely a ‘John Smith’.

(Karen’s note: This is really good advice. I recently updated my resume and I think it works great having what I do right at the top.)

At the top should also be your complete contact information.

• Your phone numbers. Make it easy to get hold of you.
• Your email address. It should not be something totally ridiculous. Use your real name whenever possible (or something close to it). In this business your name is your BRAND. Use it.
• Your website (if you have one). And try to use your real name here as well. I don’t know anyone in animation who doesn’t use their name as their website if they are worth any salt. We think it’s obvious, but apparently it’s not.
• Your home address. Don’t be afraid about putting your address. The studio needs to know where you live because for the most part, they want to hire local talent first. If you live here, they want to know that!

Then have a summary section which could include your skills (bullet form is a good idea), objective of what position you want to fill in at the studio and maybe your short term goals for your career. Simple and direct is okay.

The smaller the studio, the more general you can be with your objections. The larger the studio, the more specific you should be with what position you want to fill. They are rarely looking for anyone who “will do anything”. That can work against you.

Then put what you have done in the form of work experience and school experience. The school you attended will not indicate whether you ‘have the goods’ or not. It’s all up to you and your skills, but it’s not a deal breaker.

For the most part, going to a reputable school helps you. But I’ve seen very talented people come out of less reputable schools and vise versa.

It’s possible to be self taught for certain positions, but for animators, school is usually necessary. If you have mentored or studied with someone respected in the industry, tell us. It can help you (so can getting mentored by someone who knows their stuff).

(Karen’s note: Don’t include jobs that have nothing to do with art or the industry. Nobody cares. I briefly mention my graphic design experience at this point because it’s somewhat relevant. But I don’t put that one year I worked at the movie theatre when I was 19. Get my drift?)

References are a good idea too. Include what studio or school, the name of your supervisor/instructor and their phone number or email address if possible (but ask permission from this person first!).

Notify your references by email when you send out your resumes so they are prepared for any inquiries. It will look bad for you if they are caught racking their brain trying to remember who you are.

If you can do a filmography, that’s great. This can be on a separate page. As you gain more experience, the more relevant this will become. This is where a website can also be of benefit.

(Karen’s note: As you can see, I’ve used a two column layout on my resume so everything fits neatly on one page. )

If you don’t have much experience, indicate your student film. Any awards? Festival entries? Other accomplishments that are relevant to the industry? Put it on there.

So here’s a quick resume check list:

• Keep it clean, readable and to one page
• Include your NAME and all contact information
• Be clear on what position you are applying for
• All relevant work experience
• All relevant education
• Filmography (if you have one)
• References with contact information
• Any other relevant info (films, awards, accomplishments etc.)

Thanks for all the great info Anne!

We’ll continue this series next week with some portfolio advice from Anne. Then some good stuff on applying to studios the week after that. Stay tuned!

_._._._._._._

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Some related posts other readers have enjoyed:

1. Interview With A Recruiter: Portfolios This is t
2. Interview With A Recruiter: Applying to Studios I now giv
3. Getting the J-O-B Part 4: Contacts in the Industry This is my

I’m really working on a post (or series of posts) with an interview I did with Anne Denman of Studio B Productions about resumes, portfolios and applying to studios and stuff.

We recorded the interview during lunch on an audio cassette and I’ve transcribed it. But digging through it all and actually *writing* the article is inflicting all sorts of procrastination-ish stuff on me.

I will get it done though!

So to fill in the gap, I’m going to pimp out a few artists.

This is what happens when you sign up to the Storyboard Club Mailing List Which Is Really Kind Of A Newsletter Thingy on your right.

Some of my ‘list people’ wrote to me and gave me a link to their sites. And they’re very good, so you should look at them and learn.

There are some good examples of making a blog a half-decent portfolio. And some are just really nice drawings.

Take it away Eric the orchestra leader!

(Name that reference and you get a cookie.)

Aidan Casserly has two nice sites. Aidan’s portfolio site is clean and easy to navigate. Aidan’s blog is full of more storyboard goodness. Check them out.

Drew Blom. After reading my series of posts on making a portfolio site, Drew made a very nice site on Weebly.com. Watch and learn folks.

Valery Koval is a storyboard and concept artist in Russia (wow, people read me in Russia?). He sent me his site link yesterday and I thought his drawing style was cool. His site is a pretty good use of a Blogger blog as a portfolio site too.

Remember my Which Animation Student Are You? post? Well, I always said I should do a follow-up because there were definitely more types.

Well, I don’t have to anymore. Because this guy, Chuck Dillon, already did it. With pictures! (Yes, it’s about ‘art students’, but close enough. And it’s funny cause it’s true.)

And finally a little video love for my consulting client R.J. Pena. It’s his thesis film that he worked long and hard on. And I think anyone who puts in all the blood, sweat and tears into creating and finishing their first animated film deserves an audience. (Plus my name is in the credits…ha!)

That’s it for now! You may go about your lives as normal.

I may continue the procrastination by going to see ‘UP’ again…

_._._._._._._

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2. Lazy Lessons for the Week You know

OK, this is an experiment.

One that I may regret. I’m not sure yet.

But I feel as though I’m in a bit of a ‘posting slump’ and need to shake things up a bit. And since I started using audio in my Mini Critiques, I realized that audio and video really are a godsend to a lazy ass like me.

Sorta.

Because I can talk a heckuva lot faster than I can type.

And I’m a bit of a ham.

So I went to see Pixar’s ‘UP’.

And I was going to give it one of my ‘tri-perspective’ reviews and all. Much like my Coraline review, I was going to focus on the experience of seeing the movie.

Well, this was my experience.

Sorry if the video is too long. Sorry if it’s not loud enough. Sorry that there is no real review at this time. When I see the movie again, I’ll give one (the short version is: it’s fabulous).

But there were ‘technical difficulties’ that I need to rant about.

So in the name of “putting myself out there” here is my ‘UP’ experience.

My apologies. : )

(Judging from the still frame on the video, I assume the video Gods are punishing me already.)

If you can’t see the video in your feed reader, click through to the post.

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What?

There’s a test?

Nobody said anything about there being a test!

Yup. It could happen.

And most likely, it will.

At some point or another in your career, you may be asked to do a storyboard test. (Or animation test, or design test or clean-up test…but I’m dealing with storyboards here, so that’s what I’ll stick with.)

What is a storyboard test exactly?

It’s usually given to inexperienced artists or those applying for an intern position. But there are times when studios even ask experienced artists to take a test.

You are usually given design materials, some sort of storyline/script and a deadline.

Then you ‘have at it’.

You draw up an original storyboard and hand it in either with your portfolio or after they have already seen your work and want to see more of what you can do.

Why do you have to do a test anyway?

Can’t they just judge your skills by looking at your portfolio? Yes and no.

They may want to know if you are a good fit for that studio or even for a particular show. No one knows how long it took you to draw all that stuff in your portfolio.

Or even if you really drew it all yourself. (Note: You better have!)

A test puts all applicants on more of an even playing field. They can look at a bunch of tests and see whose stands out. Who’s ‘got the goods’.

And most of all, they want to see if you can tell a story!

So let’s look at ten tips to tackle a storyboard test.

1. Look over all the materials.

Have you been given character designs? Any backgrounds? Is there a script or a story outline?

Here is an example of a storyboard test that is given for a story intern position at Blue Sky: Blue Sky story intern test. (The deadline was April 17th so don’t get excited.) But look it over, because it’s good practice.

It’s just some characters and a simple story outline. Some studios give out more.  Either way, the materials are there to be used.

Use them.

2. Respect the deadline.

You are sometimes given a storyboard test after your portfolio has been viewed. They are interested and want to see more.

And they want to see if you can make a deadline. That’s part of the test!

Because if you can’t pull off 25-50 panels in 2 or 3 weeks, you won’t look too good. In real life, you have to pull off 10 to 20 pages per day to make your deadlines.

So make the deadline!

3. Be true to the characters.

The test could just be generic like the Blue Sky example or it could be for a new show.

Or it could be for an established show already on the air.

If it’s for an established show, do your homework. Check out the show. You wouldn’t storyboard the same way for a pre-school show as you would for South Park. They don’t violently kill a kid every week in a pre-school show, okay? (As cool as that would be.)

If the characters aren’t established already and you aren’t given any information on them, make some characteristics up.

Those characters must have ‘character’, if you know what I mean.

4. Stay on model.

They give you the designs for a reason. For you to follow them!

In animation production (especially television) you have to draw the characters in the style of the show.

Not your way.

Try to stay ‘on model’ as best you can. It shows you can adapt.

5. Follow the script.

If you are given a very simple outline, do what they are asking for. Then embellish the hell out of it.

If you are given a more detailed outline, follow it fairly close. Then embellish the hell out it.

If you are given a detailed script, follow it.

But then…

6. Don’t follow the script.

Huh?

By ‘follow the script’, I mean follow the general story and keep any dialogue they give you. But you can change action to make it better. You can add dialogue if need be.

Because here’s the thing. They want you to follow what they give you BUT they want to see what else you’ve got.

What can you add to this story? How will you take it and make it your own? Why should they pick yours over someone else’s?

Embellish does not mean go on a ‘tangent’ and add a bunch of useless crap. It means to enhance and make better.

That is what they’re really looking for.

7. Be funny.

You are probably doing this test for a television show or for a feature film studio. And they usually are going to want ‘funny’.

Good gag structure is an art. Learn it. Work at it. Make it funny.

You can never go wrong with funny.

8. Act your ass off.

Make these characters ‘real’. Even goofy, funny characters have to be believable.

Good posing. Enough posing. Clear facial expressions.

Let’s ’see’ them think. What are their motivations? Why are they doing what they’re doing?

Every studio wants to see good, strong, clear acting in their characters.

9. Show a little bit of everything.

Can you show how well you can do camera movements? Are you putting truck-ins in the right place? Is there a good opportunity for a well placed transition?

Are you using a nice variety of shots?

Only add these things if they serve the story. Don’t put them in for the sake of putting them in.

But if you can show you have a good grasp of a wide variety of visual storytelling tools, it’s great.

Just don’t over-do it. Story first.

10. Tell a damn story.

Give it a beginning, a middle and an end. Every scene in a script has a beginning, a middle and an end.

And a purpose. What is the purpose of this scene?

Think about this stuff.

In the stress of just trying to get a damn job, you may forget what they are really looking for. And that is good storytelling ability.

Period.

So tell them a story, okay?

It could be good to do that Blue Sky test (but don’t use it for another studio!) or make up your own characters and practice.

Then it’s never a bad idea to show it to someone before handing it in. Feedback, baby!

You know I DO THAT, right?

A mini-critique could make all the difference in helping to knock it out of the park.

Now it’s done with audio too! Did you know about the audio? It’s like your own personal Podcast.

Me. Babbling. About your storyboard.

It rocks. Really.

Check it out here.

_._._._._._._

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2. Getting the J-O-B: Five Key Things You Need to Storyboard Professionally OK, this
3. Back to School Wisdom and A Few Labeling Tips Before I

As a child, I was not a ‘Barbie girl’.

Clothes and high heels? Eeesh.

And baby dolls?

Ack. Gag. What the hell was I supposed to do with one of those? Blech.

Interestingly enough, I currently don’t own a dress and don’t have kids. Hmmm.

I mainly played with stuffed animals, plastic creatures (I loved rubber snakes and dinosaurs) and male action figures (anyone remember ‘Big Jim’ and ‘Big Josh’?).

Yeah. I was a real little princess, I was.

Now, any self-respecting animation artist knows that if you don’t have some kind of toy collection, you are not that serious about animation.

It’s some kind of unwritten law or something.

So I thought it might be fun to share a few of mine. Some are actually from my childhood. But a lot of my collection accumulated while in animation school and beyond. Most of which you can see above.

Let’s take a look shall we? (My apologies for the crappy photos.)

Fonzie.

This one is from my childhood. I loved Happy Days and had a crush on Henry Winkler. I had the Fonzie Happy Days album for goodness sakes (and really wish I still did).

This toy is friggin’ pristine (except for the dust). It looks like it came right out of the box. I didn’t play with it so much as just admired it. The thumbs are pose-able and there’s a lever in the back to make his hands go up and down.

I challenge you to do this and not say, “Ayyyyyyyyy!”

I love him. And he lives on the top of my toy shelf.

Because he’s cool.

This Dog and Cat

Don’t ask me what they’re from. I only know there was a family they belonged to and I didn’t give a damn about getting them. I just wanted the dog and cat.

They had this cute double decker house they lived in (and my hamster used to sleep in). And little food dishes and everything. I played with them for hours.

They’re just the kind of thing that brings back fuzzy memories and I still love them.

C3P0 and R2D2

These are the real deal, my friends! From my child hood. From 1977 (yes, I’ve already told you I’m old).

The first edition of Star Wars toys.

They’re also in pretty damn good shape. What can I say? I was anal and organized as a kid too.

My only regret is that these are the only Star Wars toys I ever bought. I loved the movies, but I wasn’t all geeked-out over them (like some friends I know).

Snoopy!

I have two of these guys. There was a whole collection of these Peanuts figures, but again, I only wanted the ‘animal’. He came with a little Woodstock too.

You could buy lots of different outfits for him (hence the shoes). My Dad made me this great wooden dog house with a platform on top so he could sleep up there like in the comic strip.

Many hours of childhood fun is living inside my beloved Snoopy dogs.

Simba Figure

Okay, he’s not really a toy. Or maybe he is.

Just a really expensive one!

I love, love, love this thing.

He sits proudly on top of a bookshelf that has pictures and of my deceased kitties. And their urns.

Yes. Their urns.

But we won’t talk about that.

And that is an X-files figure in the background, but I was too lazy to take it down from the bookshelf to take a picture.

I have a Scully and a Mulder still in their packages.

Because I am an X-Files geek.

Crabby Cartman

Even though he was bought by an ex-boyfriend, I still love this guy.

But the thing is, I always forget he’s crabby.

Because he lives on the television with a straw hat.

See? Not so crabby.

But at night, it sometimes feels like someone is watching me in the shadows.

My television just would look totally weird without my stuffed Cartman staring back at me.

What about you?

What’s your toy story?

Do you still have any from your childhood? Any really cools ones you love now?

Gosh, I really hope so.

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No related posts this time.

Before I begin, is it just me or…?

If you’ve seen ‘Bolt’ and watch ‘Lost’, you might find that uncanny like I do.

Anyhoo.

Back to analyzing some Bolt sequences. You can find the first Bolt post here.

I’m just going to pick apart one sequence this week.

Like with the first post, I’m sticking to the opening of the movie when it’s really the ‘Bolt’ TV show we’re watching.

Because it’s full of action movie cliches and fun to watch.

Which bring us to:

The Face Off

Or ’stand off’. Or ‘playing chicken’.

Either one, it’s when two parties are at either end of what usually turns out to be an alley.

Because there is no escape from an alley, hence the heightened drama.

So it starts.

The dark, black car pulls into the alley blocking off the only exit Penny and Bolt have. (They are at the other end.)

The camera is low, making the car more menacing.

Cut inside. The creepy bad guy gives our driver-thug his orders. “Just the girl.”

Because creepy bad guys never do their own dirty work. They call ‘Thugs-R-Us’ or something.

The peel-out. You have to get your camera very low for a good peel-out.

Note the horizon line. Low. This allows for the car’s tire to screech right past us. A higher camera angle wouldn’t cut it.

On our heroes. Penny, concerned.

Pan from her down to Bolt, ready for action.

Now for a good face off, you have to show each party back and forth and back and forth. And as the action and suspense builds, you will probably cut faster and faster.

So we go wide on the creepy black car. Betcha he’s going to drive right at us.

Wee! It drives right over us. This gets us really involved with the action. Again, this kind of shot will only work with low camera angles.

Picture an actual cameraman. He’d have to be lying on his stomach to get this shot without getting hit by the car.

Low, baby.

So if the car is going to charge, our hero is going to charge.

The camera follows Bolt as he runs down the long alley towards the charging car.

Oooo, ‘over the wheel’ shot. Much like an ‘over the shoulder’ shot, but with…you know…a wheel.

Again, camera is low, low, low.

Ah. Now to switch it up and get away from those necessary low angles, we go high. Very high.

A real ‘where are we?’ shot to get the audience re-oriented to the surroundings. Bolt and the car race towards each other.

Back on ground level, now with Bolt racing right to camera.

And I mean, right to camera.

Is he going to head-butt that car? Is he??

I believe he is.

Pow! To give more effect to these two shots, it’s actually a jump cut. And it works here.

Bolt stops cold as the car lifts straight up. We go into slow-motion mode now, like any self respecting action flick would.

Into the full shot to see Bolt watching the car fly over him.

It’s good to bring the character closer and back into the mix. It keeps us connected to them. And we stay in the slo-mo.

Don’t forget about Penny. There’s a big, black car flying in slow motion right over her ‘à la Matrix’ style.

Could be cause for concern.

This is a very cool shot. Penny is reflected in the car as it soars over her in very slow motion.

Nice touch.

The car continues away from her. We see it now turned over, preparing us for…

Smash! The landing of the car on it’s roof, back in full speed.

This face off is over.

Let us all scratch our ears and rejoice.

Remember the cup tipping over at the end of the my last post? Yeah, Bolt calmly scratching his ear unperturbed, is the same deal.

It gives us the feeling all is well again and this little action sequence is over.

But fear not, because there is more to come!

Tune in next time for more Bolt action goodness.

_._._._._._._

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1. Getting Some Action with ‘Bolt’ All image

Wee! Back to writing about cartoons.

This is not a movie review.

But in case you were wondering: I liked Bolt. No complaints really.

Well, except that I was forced to wear glasses on top of my glasses so I could watch it in craptastic ‘Real 3D’.

The 3D thing was totally useless for this movie. Useless, I say! There was no reason for it but to gauge me an extra $3 for a ticket.

And the fact Disney gave away all the funny hamster bits in the trailers leading up to the movie release. (Yeah, thanks guys.)

But I digress.

I thought it would be a good movie to learn some lessons in action sequences.

Ahh, the action sequence.

Some board artists love ‘em. Some hate ‘em.

In a script they sit as cute little paragraphs. Seemingly harmless.

Then you start to thumbnail them out. And that cute little three-line paragraph suddenly morphs into a beast of pages upon pages of storyboarding hell.

I am not all that fond of them. I’m more of an ‘acting and dialogue’ kind of gal.

But they can be fun sometimes.

The opening sequences of Bolt have some really great ones. Because they are kind of spoofing action movies, there is a lot of cliched fun going on.

So let’s take a look at a few.

The Quick-Cut Mini Montage

I actually really like doing these. They are dynamic, fast and cut to the chase.

And are awesome ‘cheats’ to tell a lot of information without worrying too much about hook-ups.

Penny and Bolt are about to be chased by the bad guys. So Penny needs to get out her super-scooter thing.

How exciting would it be to storyboard this on a wide shot?

Bor-ing.

So with a series of quick little cuts from different angles, we get all the information we need.

Up shot on Penny lifting the scooter into shot.

Zing! The wheel comes to camera.

Cut to the front wheel on the ground. The camera is low.

Whoosh! The back wheel zips back to us as the camera pulls back with it fast.

The extreme close-up of Penny putting on her helmet.

Where was the helmet? In her backpack? Do we care? Do we really want to see her take it out and all that?

NO! We get the information without worrying about silly details like that. We just need to get the thing on her head.

They’re in a hurry, dammit!

Close-up of her thumb on the handle bar. She presses a button.

Very fast truck-out to reveal both of her hands on the handle bars, revving the scooter.

And it’s done.

The shot goes wide and off they scoot. Like I said, they are nice little cheats and a fast, interesting way to get that scooter scooting.

Plus it tells the audience the scooter has a few extra gizmos on it. Good information that comes into play later.

The Multi-Angle Slow Motion Series

Here’s some action flick goodness for you.

Bolt is about to get shot at from another helicopter that is off screen.

Slow that camera down so we see our hero missing those helicopter blades and soaring over it.

Change the camera angle and shot size so we see it continue. (Soarrrrrrrrrr)

One more time! From the top.

But notice they are cutting with continuity here. Where he ends up at the end of one shot, he continues along on the next one.

Then we get to the back of the helicopter and Bolt is off screen. It starts in slow motion, then speeds up to real time.

Just in time for his landing. And off he runs.

You can breathe now.

But it’s not over!

No, now we get the joys of:

The Multi-Angle Repeat-Action Series

How many times have you seen this one? Pure cliched fun here.

The up shot on the helicopter Bolt just jumped over.

Boom! The other helicopter blasts that sucker.

Let’s see it again. Higher and wider.

Boom! Oh yeah, baby. More! More!

Wee! One more from the side.

Boom! This one fills the screen with all it’s fiery awesomeness.

And now, just for good measure after all that pumping adrenaline, we need a little comic relief.

Extreme wide shot on the city with the explosion way off in the distance. And an empty soda cup in the foreground.

And it ever so gently blows over. Tap!

Nice touch. It’s smart to put that little pause in there.

It makes the audience smile.

It gives them a little break from all the fast action and gets them ready for more.

All that was missing was Penny and Bolt walking in slow motion away from a huge fiery blast in the background.

Or diving to camera with a huge fiery blast in the background.

None of this makes you roll your eyes because they are doing it on purpose.

This is all for the Bolt TV show in the movie. It’s supposed to be over the top and full of those action movie cliches.

Like I said, fun stuff.

I’ll probably continue with this little series. There are some great uses of up shots and down shots in the movie. Something I’ve been wanting to touch on for a while.

So tune in next week for the exciting continuation!!!

_._._._._._._

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1. Facing Off With ‘Bolt’ All image
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Well I may as well finish off this series about online portfolios and the like.

Then those of you who are digging it can know all the information I want to share. And those who are bored to tears can say, “Uh, thank Gawd that’s over with!”

So there was the online-presence stuff with the warning not to be an ass on the internet and why are you hiding on the internet?. Then some online portfolio stuff with why you have that blog to begin with and what to do with that portfolio blog you already have and some other free website options you have available.

Which takes us to the last steps in an online portfolio.

The ‘Not Free’.

Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds. We’ll take it in baby steps.

If you have a bit of money to spare, I would suggest you invest in a domain name. It could be your name, a business name or something else. For a personal portfolio, it’s probably a good idea to have your own name registered.

But it’s up to you.

If you go with something else, just make it easy to remember and easy to spell.

Don’t be clever, be clear.

The best test is to tell the name to someone and see how they would naturally spell it. Using “2″ for “to” may not be the best idea. And dashes can be a pain in the ass too.

Put some thought into this before you buy one.

Then when you’re ready, you can use any number of domain registrars. There are tons of them. You can get a domain for a year for under $10.

One word of caution is to find out what the second year costs.

I got burned on this when a certain company *coughyahoocough* suddenly decided to up their renewal costs to $35 a year! Out of nowhere!

I switched to a much saner hosting service, Dynadot and am quite happy with them. And no hidden costs looming about. Check them out and shop around.

Like I said, there are many others.

Now put that domain somewhere.

If you are quite content with your Blogger site, you can point it there and look a little more professional. Here’s how you can to that. I believe it’s free.

Or you can point it to your WordPress.com site for $10 a year (that’s in addition to your domain name cost). Or to your Weebly.com site.

Now, without getting too technical, you should know there’s a difference between FORWARDING a domain and MAPPING a domain.

When you forward it, you’re just telling your domain to point somewhere. But then the actual domain will still show up in the browser (like “yoursite.wordpress.com”).

When you map it, you change more settings so that your registered domain name will show up in the browser (the one you bought).

You need to do more technical things to map it, but it’s really not as difficult as the free services make it out to be. They tell you that so you will register your domain with them (usually at a much higher cost than Dynadot or GoDaddy. Don’t fall for it).

Yay, you have a domain! Now what?

Well, if you have a little more money, you can make the jump to paying for hosting and truly owning your site. You have full control over your portfolio and can do whatever you want with it.

I think it’s a good idea if you are serious about your career.

Hosting costs are really reasonable when you shop around. I’m quite happy my hosting service. I use Canadian Web Hosting and not just because they’re based here in Vancouver (which I think is great).

The price was right. It’s Canadian dollars, so it’s good for Canadians (and maybe Australians too? Aren’t we in the same boat money-wise?).

And Americans can save a bunch with the crappy (for us) exchange right now. It has one-click installs for WordPress and other applications just like GoDaddy has. And it starts as low as $3.95 a month.

But shop around and find one you like. Don’t think you can afford that? For your career?

I mean, come ON.

How much was that new iThingy you bought?

Uh huh.

Once you have hosting, you can stay cheap by using WordPress.org as your platform. This is different than WordPress.com (the free hosting site). You have to install it yourself and upload stuff and use an FTP thing and maybe work with a bit of code and all that.

I found it really helpful to start with the free WordPress.com site to get my feet wet. You can’t really screw it up.

Just keep in mind there’s a bit more to screw up in the self-hosted one. There is definitely a learning curve there!

But the up side is there are lots more features and many free themes to choose from. And premium themes too (which cost money).

They lay the groundwork for your content though. You don’t need to know much about web design or hire a designer to get a decent looking site up quickly. And you can edit everything yourself.

This is what my site is built on. I figured it all out and I’m old. Ish.

And I didn’t know squat about HTML.

So there you go. It can be done!

There is tons of information for WordPress.org at its own site, at WordPress.tv and all over the internet.

Got a bucket of money laying around?

Then you could hire a web designer and get something unique and very cool done for your portfolio site. Or maybe you know how to do all that yourself. Cool!

Just remember to still keep it clean, easy to navigate and not overly complex. All that Flash stuff can look nice, but it’s also a pain in the ass sometimes.

Don’t use it just because you can.

Oh my.

This post is long enough isn’t it? Hmm…maybe I’m not totally done with this subject.

But I’ll take a break from it for a while, okay?

Just remember you don’t have to run out and do all this now. Get your feet wet with a free site if all this scares you right now.

You can take those baby steps when you’re ready. Or not.

It’s alright.

The important thing is get something up. That works and looks nice.

Okay? Good.

Back to some ’story stuff’ next time so I can stop feeling like a “blogger who blogs about blogging”.

Eeesh!

_._._._._._._

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© 2007-2009 Karen J Lloyd's Storyboard Blog - All Rights Reserved.

Some related posts other readers have enjoyed:

1. Your Portfolio Blog: Using Pages Okay, I
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