Rafi animates

Story frames

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:08:00 +0000

I'm in the final planning stages for something I'm shooting next week, here's a peak at random frames from storyboards I've drawn to help with production.

Storyboarding has always been a standard, essential part of my process as an animator. Increasingly with live action shoots I find it helps to work things out in advance by boarding sequences as I would on an animated project.

The main difference is that I don't go into performances as much as I do with animation boards. That's what the actors bring on shoot day. The main purpose for live action boards is for me to figure out coverage - ie how many shots I need to tell the story, the type of shots that work best to create the feeling I want and then from a purely practical point; simply to figure out how to stage things interestingly without confusing the audience.

That last point is particularly relevant when staging a conversation between several characters in one room.

Any story artist will tell you that storyboards aren't meant to be pretty. They're functional pieces of visual reference designed to provide clear staging and direction to help tell your story. The process can be so iterative, it's best to keep things simple and free of detail. I scrapped four rounds of boards (about a hundred different drawings each time) before settling on the final configuration.

I have Sherm Cohen to thank for his terrific guidance on storyboarding - I've learned a tonne from this guy over the years. He's also a top bloke to hang out with in person.

Check out Sherm's blog Cartoon Snap and his rather excellent Storyboard Secrets DVD box set - an essential crash course for all aspiring or even established story artists. Film-makers, cartoonists and other visual storytellers would do well to check it out too. Follow Sherm on twitter for more storyboard goodies!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 09:56:00 +0000

BRICKS

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:57:00 +0000

Colour Palettes

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:15:00 +0000

I'm art directing an animated tv show right now, having just completed designing colour scripts and backgrounds for the pilot I've now moved on to creating colour palettes for key props. I can't divulge exactly what those props are but I can give you a peak at how some of their colour schemes are shaping up:

It's worth pointing out that as these are for background objects and props, the palettes are by design muted and subdued - creating a relatively neutral base for the characters and foreground elements that are much more saturated (I'll share some of those in due time).

Background art

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:14:00 +0000

I've been beavering away on background art for an animated tv show pilot. Here's a tease:

Gesture drawings

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:41:00 +0000

Here's a collection of 60 second "gesture" drawings I made in life drawing class. With such a short amount of time with each, the most you can ever really hope to capture is the essence of the pose. The longer the pose gets, the harder it is for me to retain that essence.

Life Drawing Autumn 2011 - 05

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:42:00 +0000

I struggled with a reclining pose at drawing class the other night. I drew it several times trying to get the shapes right, sadly I didn't quite get it before the session came to a close. A couple of the better drawings:

Life Drawing Autumn 2011 - 04

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:42:00 +0000

A quick sketch I did the other night at life drawing class:

Life Drawing Autumn 2011 - 03

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Here's a drawing I made the other night at life drawing class:

Life Drawing Autumn 2011 - 02

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:56:00 +0000

Here's a study I made in drawing class last night:

Life Drawing Autumn 2011 - 01

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:27:00 +0000

I attend life drawing class once a week at The Prince's Drawing School in Shoreditch. Here's a drawing I made the other night:

Halloween 31 (2011)

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:29:00 +0000

At the start of October I decided to blog 31 drawings in the lead up to Halloween. I had so much fun coming up with characters and managed to blog them fairly regularly. The full set of 31 is also up on Flickr. Hope you like them:

Overheard in Camden last night

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #31 - The Mummy

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:43:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #30 - Pharaoh

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:22:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #29 - Werefox

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:29:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #28 - Cauldron

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:43:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #27 - Mutant Bunny

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:50:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #26 - Skeletons

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:03:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #25 - Vampire

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:36:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #24 - Zombie

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:40:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #23 - Dead Man

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 12:54:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #22 - Evil Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 12:37:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #21 - Demon in a Cape

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:39:00 +0000

Halloween31: Drahahahahing #20 - Countess Muscula

noreply@blogger.com (Rafi animates) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:08:00 +0000