"A Twofer Tuesday Sketch..."

A thumbnail and the final sketch...

Here's two sketches for the storyboard of a script I'm working on, on location in St. Francisville, LA. Unlike the previous post, this sketch was not first created in front of the director in thirty seconds, but it was drawn with an approval in mind before I go to the final frame. The client wanted the same dress that this character wears throughout the movie, practically. The pose was right, but she wanted the woman looking at the chord she is playing. I went online to find tons of ukulele files to draw from and chose one pic for the turned head kinda looking down and the strumming hand from another file.

Now, I just had to match the face of the character, including her bangs,  with the pose and put the dress, the face, and the strumming hand all together to make a final. Then, I added the background, which in this case, wasn't a perspective nightmare.

I never once considered how involved it could be putting subjects in the right setting, in the right perspective, and in the correct focal length. So frustrating...

Copyright 2015/ Ben Bensen III

"A Twofer Tuesday Sketch..."

"Just A Thirty Second Sketch"...

Making a quickie work...

I've been working on a job for over two months and slowly the deadline appears. But, as I get briefed on the upcoming scenes, the quick sketches, like the first one on top, need to be created with just enough information about the location, the body language, and the emotions, to help me remember the scene and fast enough to satisfy the whims of a director.

In this one hour dissection between me and the director/story teller, there were over twenty frames that needed visualizing, so speed is of the utmost. In this original sketch, the heroine witnesses a horrible crime with awe and fear. If you look closely, the next frame is the final frame created from that quickie and numbered, six in scene "26". I don't know if I created the exact emotion the director needed, but she did want the heroine to show more anger and less fear in her face.

I captured the "less fear part!"

One of the "joys" of this job is utilizing one sketch, in this case, one thirty second sketch, to use as a base for other scenes. In the last sketch, numbered "61.6," I used the base sketch as starting point, if, for no other reason, because the portrait fits the frame's design. Unfortunately, much time is lost trying to make the subject matter fit in the space you are allotted.

It can become quite frustrating to have the client say, after the piece is completed, that it needs to be more to the right, or reduced, or enlarged. That's where Photoshop can come to the rescue.

Anyway, I've been lucky to be able to use this original sketch on more than one scene with only slight changes to satisfy the client.

Copyright 2015/ Ben Bensen III

"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