A Storyboard Artist's Life

 September 25, 2022

Before I started dabbling into Animation I knew that I had to make a Storyboard to get the story straight and the sequences right.  What I didn't know was the Storyboarding is ACTUALLY an occupation....a CAREER. Wait....what??? What does a Storyboard Artist dooooo??? What is their life like??? Is it all fun and games??? Well....it kind of really is.

A Storyboard Artist takes what the author has written and maps it all out. visualizing the story, setting up the jokes, finding the emotional beats, and the acting poses. In Television, there are not a ton of emotional beats but if you can find one, it makes the jokes that much better. If you are working from a script or a Scripted how, the timing is already figured out....so it is just then thumbnailing out the script, reading through the script, making notations of what highs or low beats should be happening where....if there is a shot idea... doodle in the margins. But usually, if the script is done.....there are no additional ideas added...there is very likely absolutely nooooo creative input from you.......it's done.

A Premise show, however, is when the writer spits out a paragraph or a synopsis. Then the pitch is, "Here is where the story begins, here are a couple of beats,  some ideas for you, and then here is how it ends." That is where as a Storyboard Artist you have the freedom to make it your own, you get to shine, and if your show takes off...you will never be without work......well.....that is not completely true but I will come back to that so let us put a pin in it for now. Anyhooooo.....back to a Premise show. You as the Artist will also create the dialogue. You are putting in great jokes, funny dialogue, and having great actors say your lines. Sounds very cool, does it not? It is extremely rewarding when you get to see what you created on television.

Dave Larks

If you are working on an Animated Series, (right now I am speaking of Cartoons, 2D Drawings...ie., Disney and Japanese Anime), if you are lucky you find a great place where you fit. There are scripts. There are gag cartoons, 16 pages, sometimes 18 pages so they are done as with a Scripted show but with Animation a lot of the time the writers are very cool, very loose, and they let you play with the story. Those writers know that you can make what is already there that much better. Of course, you would need to pitch your thumbnails to be sure everything is flowing and if you're good, the script then changes with what you brought to the table. What you are coming with in your storyboard is what everyone down the line will have to do. It all starts with the storyboard. The simplest bunch of drawings can become these BEAUTIFUL things up on the screen as with Disney.

Few artists these days, manually sketch out thumbnails by hand anymore. Now the Industry standard is computerized using Storyboard Pro, some people use Photoshop and other platforms. The point is instead of drawing out tiny thumbnails, now you are drawing digitally on a pretty good size monitor with a tablet so you can add a lot more detail more quickly. You are taking the roughs you started with and easily cleaning them up using different layers ......... background layers, character layers, etc. Back in the day, you had to copy on a physical copier, cut and paste to change the poses, now, you take the reference photo, scan it into the program, put a new layer over top and trace....is that cheating? Whatever gets the job done most efficiently.....however, using that method can make the character's movement s look still and somewhat unnatural (if an animated character really ever looked natural, lol)

Now we are circling back to never being without work.....soooooo, all shows come to an end eventually...some shows have one season, others 5, 6, 7, 10......but they all do end at some point. You are lucky if you have the same show for more than six months! Then what happens to you? You are now unemployed. You have been laid off. Do not freak out...this is the process. You will file for Unemployment Benefits until the next job comes along. During this downtime, you can be even more creative than you are when you are working. Start writing your OWN shows....you've been working on a show (in essence learning new things along the way), you've watched television all your life, so you know how to tell a story and create characters....when your show is ready...pitch it to a studio...what's the worst that can happen? They say no...but if they say yes! Well! Now you've got your own show on television...you have just opened new doors for your career, you are meeting new people, and developing great relationships with people who may leave one job as a Storyboard Artist and get a position as the Art Director for another studio and they need someone like you.....well.....who is your friend going to call? You! The storyboarding arena is very small...even today...storyboarding is a very, specialized niche so remember never throw away a business card or a contact's number because you never know who will be reaching their hand out to you.