If you had asked me before the course even started, I probably would have said that I most likely didn’t want to be an animator, and while I didn’t know what I did want to do, I almost certainly would have mentioned Storyboard as an area of interest. After, our albeit short, introduction to Storyboard, I know feel rather daunted and to be frank slightly put off it as a career in terms of my current skillset and what I have enjoyed on the course so far.
Initially I expected that to succeed in Storyboarding, what you needed was a strong idea of story, narrative and performance. And while all of this is true, the thing I didn’t consider was a strong understanding and application of film language and techniques. My understanding of story very much is rooted on paper and on stage, and while I am a big appreciator of filmic techniques, it is not something I have ever studied nor really spent much meaningful time considering critically.
In our classes with Bianca, and in my storyboarding work required for this latest project, I really noticed that I was reticent to use the ‘camera’. That instead I was casting my characters upon a stage with fixed perspective, rather than focussing on dynamic camera movement, this I think comes from a lack of film experience which really gave me a moments pause about Storyboarding. While I’m not excluding the possibility of storyboarding, and I would gladly do the work if the opportunity arose, I definitely think its an area where I need to do a large amount of skills development and contextual study.
Based on the Screen Skills website, it says that Storyboard Artist is an entry level job. But based on the classes we have had with Bianca as well as visiting lecturers I don’t know if this feels necessarily true? Here is what ScreenSkills and CG Spectrum describe the role as:
Storyboard artists help the head of story create a visual representation of the animation’s narrative. Storyboard artists translate the script and the director’s vision into pictures. They produce a series of panels of images to plan the shots and ensure continuity between them. These form the basis for the animation in the next stage of production.
A storyboard artist is a visual storyteller who converts written scripts into a series of 2D images, commonly known as a storyboard. Images are created by hand or computer to map out the action, framing, and key scenes in a script, acting as a visual guide for how live-action is shot and how the animation will play out.
From this it seems that there is a difference between Storyboard Artist and then a more senior supervisory/directorial role. To look at the difference I’ve research a few vacancies for the roles to see what sort of skills are required by an employer:
https://www.showbizjobs.com/jobs/dreamworks-animation-feature-head-of-story-in-glendale/jid-d8vj7q
Based on these job advertisements, as well as similarly available ones, it seems that the storyboard artists are individually responsible for their designated scene(s) and the director is in charge of managing the team and ensuring consistency both visually and narratively.
I do think that story and coming up with narrative ideas, is a strength that I have, and so while I do find this area daunting it may be something I look to in a few years time. At the moment I am very much enjoying animation itself, learning to evoke who a character is and how they move, and I think that right now, storyboarding might be a little to far away from that me.