"To All Those Plein Air Painters In Peril"...

Local color for a film I'm storyboarding!

"Polk Salad, Annie,

Gator got your granny!"

( Chomp, chomp! )

"Everybody said it was a shame, 

That 'yo mama wassah working on the chain gang!"

( A wretched, spiteful, straight razor tottin' woman! )

( Tony Joe White )

Good Morning, y'all. Watch out 'fer 'dose gators while you're painting in 'dem swamps!

Second cup of coffee...yesterday's brew!

Copyright 2015 /Ben Bensen III

More Film Storyboard Sketches... The Corrupt Private Investigator!"

"What can I do for you, podnah?"

About a week ago, I posted, on Facebook, a colored location comp featuring some corrupt private investigator. ( He's probably gonna run for something in this state in some upcoming election!) 

Continuity, for me, is hard especially in this kind of time frame, but this guy only had about ten frames worth of time and I managed to keep him looking the same. The cigar and jowls, plus the rolled up shirt sleeves and pulled down tie, help.

In frame" 80.9", the husband inquiring about a felon's record is light gray and fuzzy. We decided this approach was quicker than selecting areas to blur in Photoshop. This was fine with me because I hate the selection tool in Photoshop. We also use this approach to indicate the use of one lens over. another. 

I'm not too good at knowing one lens over another, and how to illustrate it,  either...

Have a great day, y'all, and keep the eraser close by your side... mine's electric! 

Copyright 2015/ Ben Bensen III

"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