"A Sketch, "Hook, Line And... Worm?"

Getting the worm...

 "It is said that the early bird catches the worm.

This thumbnail sketch was done rather late the other night, so it was really late at night or super early in the morning where no birds are to be found. Regardless of the time of night, you probably wouldn’t wanna be sitting in a boat in the dark, attaching a worm securely to no hook.

The script has, in this scene, the antagonist trying to win over “the babe” by entertaining her daughter on a fishing trip. The little girl is fascinated by the whole process of attaching the worm. I, first, did a quick thumbnail to show the director how I was seeing the scene. The following morning, she was not envisioning the scene, the way I drew it, but, instead, decided the hook should already be ready for casting. So, I dropped the second hand, that is holding the worm, and, then, tightened up the worm, the fingers holding the hook and the actual hook.

As it turned out, the final frame was much more involved than the one I’m showing here, but the worm and the hook, tightened slightly more, survived intact.

Now, let’s go fishing… or bird watching!

Copyright 2015/Ben Bensen III

"Talk About Continuity!"

Badass Skeeter!

Skeeter, the early morning partier, and I, wish every body a good morning.

Talk about continuity. I've drawn this character, at least, a dozen times and only now do I get a descriptive profile on the dude. He is one of the antagonist is the film, but here he really looks like a "Good Joe!"

I sure hope they don't ask me to go back and make changes on all the previous frames. Regardless, I kinda like this drawing... I think I'll keep it!

Old coffee, CDM, first cup!

Copyright 2015/Ben Bensen III

An Often Heard Cliche... "We've Decided To Go In Another Direction!"

The French Quarter

More elaborate than my last blog post, where the scarcity of line still defines the shape, this thumbnail has perspective, lines and tone to help get idea across. The sketch is one of a series of location shots that were done rather quickly to satisfy the client before we went to a final. The scene was faked with just enough architecture to get the idea across.

I am from the city of New Orleans and though I don't live there anymore, I am pretty intimate with this section of town. Still, it wasn't until I added the lamp post in the foreground that I was satisfied it actually felt like the French Quarter. The drawing is one and a half wide by four inches long and created at that size for a good reason. It was later decided to be a rather cliched visual and not used at all.

Regardless, I was pretty happy with the final sketch.

Copyright 2015/ Ben Bensen III

" A Squiggle Here, A Squiggle There..."

It is amazing how thumbnails work. Sometimes, it doesn't take too many lines to define a shape. It is almost magical. These two thumbnails aren't any larger than two inches wide, if that. They were sketched on the script next to the appropriate scene. This was scanned at 300 dpi in case the director, or I, need them enlarged.

Fairly easy to see how one quick squiggle can make or break an idea, or drawing. It is almost magical!

Copyright 2015/Ben BensenIII

"A Fight Scene...What Was The Most Expedient!"

A composite shot of the scene...

I am still working, as a storyboard artist, on a feature film project in St. Francisville, Louisiana. At

times, it can get pretty intense even though the deadlines are pretty much self determining between me, the cinematographer and the director. Thankfully, there's no drop dead deadlines, like there are in the advertising world.

A friend asked me if I was drawing all of these key frames (establishing shots) from out of my head and without any scrap. The answer, pretty much, is yes. And, it is exhausting, for me, to do so.  But, we spent three days shooting location shots in and around southeast and central Louisiana, so I do have photos to work from. But, in classic art direction form, the angle always seems to have a need to be changed. 

In one scene, there's a fight that culminates in an old sugar cane factory in Plaquemine, LA. It's pretty cool place to walk around in, and, at the same time, it's a real death trap, if you're not watching where you are walking. As it happened, one photo wasn't enough and the angle was not to the director's liking. So, I cut and pasted two photos and then, in Photoshop, warped them, to fit in perspective... kinda!

I spent way too much time trying to draw two guys fighting. I thought, my wife loved the movie,"The Ouiet Man" with all the John Ford regulars, and as it always seemed to be in his movies, there's always a great fight scene. ( I needed the bad guy to fall back when he is punched, dangerously close to the hole in the steel floor.) 

So, I Googled it and there was an almost perfect shot of John Wayne taking it to the actor, Victor McLaglen. So, I drew it from that shot, scanned it into the computer, and pasted it into the scene.

The final comp... for now!

The scene needed some definition by moving lights and darks.

Later, I redrew, actually traced, the entire layout, with all the changes and then, added rays of artificial light. The finished piece with sketches, pasteup, retracing, and final comp was completed, in  about four hours.

   

Copyright 2015/ Ben Bensen III

"Okay, That's A Bit Over The Top, But"...

Atchafalaya Spillway...

I really have been remiss in keeping with my original intent. That is, to sketch everyday and post whatever I can that isn't an embarrassment to my "reputation" as a great American illustrator.

Okay, that's a bit over the top, but you know what I mean. Somedays you are hyper sensitive to every line you put down, and it, many times, looks worse than a mindless and aimless doodle you create between beers.

I can't explain it. I stopped trying to, long ago.

Anyway, I decided to post some "thumbnail" sketches that I'm doing for a film being shot in and around the city of St. Francisville and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Before investing any more time, ink and paper to show my interpretation of just what the director is thinking, I draw these quickies before I go and do another round of sketches in a larger size.

The director swears she can't visualize thumbnails, so these drawings are for me to formulate an approach.

Fireside hug...

We aren't even a tenth of the way through the script, and I've completed about ten large pencil sketches, ( legal size ) and eight color finals, which I complete on the computer. To get to that point, I've done, already, about fifty thumbnails that vary from 1"x2" to 2"x 6".

Here's a few samples...

Copyright 2015/Ben Bensen III

"Abita Springs Cafe And My Thoughts While Staring At A Church."

Fakin' it with negative shapes and great grub!

It's been a while since I've had the time to ease into the morning with some coffee, a pen and a sketchbook. Two weekends ago, my wife and I stood in an unorganized, but well behaved, line waiting for a table at the Abita Cafe in downtown Abita Springs, LA. We had to wait for about twenty or so minutes, but it really was our fault. It was Sunday brunch time and services at the little church across the street just exploded with the exiting faithful.

Faithful to get a seat at the cafe in time for brunch, that is.

When we finally got to sit down, it seemed the weather had changed. People who had no problem, twenty minutes ago, sitting outside on the veranda, slowly began to bundle up or request an indoor table. But, we were nice and cozy with a cup or two of the cafe's own brand of dark roast coffee. At $2.50 a cup, I made sure I got my free refills quite often. I think the waitresses understood, ha!

Anyway, I had a four egg Greek omelet with hash browns and it was excellent. The omelet comes with fresh basil apparently from their own back yard garden, and asking for a little extra created no turmoil or nasty looks. 

I'm always hesitant to order hash browns because every cook's idea of what that means is different. You really don't know exactly what state of mind the hash browns can come in, but these were great. I don't remember what my wife had, but she appeared to be awfully quiet on the other side of the table until her plate was empty. So, I guess she loved what she ordered.

The only problem I had with this meal, besides the crowded situation, was that I could not just sit and stare out the window and people watch. My partner in life can't sit that still, so we left the restaurant not too long after we finished eating. It would have been rather selfish, anyway, to hog a table on this Sunday morning.

But, a few wet aggravating days ago, I went back to test another omelet and calm down. The week hadn't started off to well, and I felt I needed some comfort food. It was almost lunch time, but they  were still serving breakfast. This time, it was their famous Alaskan Smoked Salmon omelet with scallions and dill sauce. Very nice tasty and rather light. And, again, the hash browns were treated with the same love and respect as they were two weeks earlier. 

I love consistency!

Of course, the coffee flowed, as my sketchbook and I enjoyed the time off to eat, think and stare, and capture what I could with pen in hand... southern styled!

Copyright 2015/ Ben Bensen III