preproduction

A Look Back - Carolina Parakeet Storyboards /  by AJ Briones

When I wrote Carolina Parakeet, one key image stood out in my mind and it was the first storyboard that I drew: a dead mother nursing her undead baby.  In that one frame, we took the most intimate life-giving act and turned it on its head.  It was a powerful image that set the tone for the short.

The storyboarding process has always been intimidating for me.  I had to let go of the fact that I'm not the greatest artist in the world, but I really needed to get these images on paper.  I couldn't get hung up on the fact that compared to some of my friends in the industry who are amazing artists, quite frankly, I'm shit.

I probably have the most inefficient method for storyboarding, so if there's one point I'd like for you to take from this post, it's probably this: do what works best for you. 

Overall, the process took a few months, drawing boards as I rewrote drafts of the script.

I drew with regular ball point pen on paper.  I tried numerous times to switch over to a Wacom tablet or iPad but I just never felt comfortable doing it.  For whatever reason, pencils don't work for me either.  Even then, it was a real struggle trying to get images out of my head and on to the page.

Here's where it got even sillier: after drawing a board element with pen on paper, I took a photo of if using my iPhone and emailed it to myself.  I know, crazy, right?  I would repeat the process for separate elements (background, midground, foreground) and composed and painted them in Photoshop.

I bought a little wooden artist model to help with posing, and frequently took pictures for references as well.

All told, I ended up boarding less than half of the short.  For the rest, we did test shoots as well as full cg previs (you can see a previs breakdown of a scene here).  I boarded before we had any locations nailed down, so these not only helped during the shoot, but also during the location scout.  We ended up having to make a lot of adjustments and deviate slightly from the boards as dictated by our locations, but they were an essential starting point.

Here are some random boards, taken out of context.

For my next short, I'm going to try doing everything digitally.  I also purchased male and female sixth scale artist models from Sideshow Collectibles, and hopefully they can be better posed than the traditional wooden artist models I've used in the past . Hope this helps.

Previs Breakdown - Storage Room Scene /  by AJ Briones

We did a lot of work in pre-production to make sure that we would get the most out of our very limited time and budget on Carolina Parakeet.  For an example, let's break down the Storage Room sequence.

We had two scenes in two separate locations to shoot on this day, with a total of 4 actors, 20 extras, 8 makeup artists and a full camera crew.  It was crazy. There was no money in the budget for additional days If we didn't get every shot we needed, so it was very important that we used our time wisely.

Location Scout

I fell in love with this hallway the second we walked in.  With stark white brick walls, identical metal doors with cold war era locks and exposed pipes at the ceiling; it was perfect.  We took detailed measurements and a lot of photo reference.  The scene was originally set in a boiler room, so I rewrote it to fit the new location.

I drew storyboards for about half of the scenes in the film, but this scene was not one of them.  I decided to go with full previs for both sequences we were to shoot on this day.

Virtual Set Build

Using the measurements, photo reference and a little blueprint I sketched at the scout, I recreated the set virtually in Autodesk Maya.  My Producer Tefft had to go back a couple of times for measurements I forgot to take, so take this as a lesson to you: you can never be too thorough.  The goal here was not to make it photorealistic, but to make it quickly and accurately so we could virtually block in the scene.  You also want the scene file to be light so you can work efficiently.  You can check out a comparison between the location and the previs set below.

Previs

From here, I quickly blocked in the shots, then animated the characters and cameras.  Remember to adjust your virtual camera's film back to match the camera you will be filming with, which in our case was the Red Epic.  Thankfully, I had some help with the animation (big thanks to Todd Patterson on hooking me up with a zombie walk cycle!).  All told, it took about 2 evenings to create the set and a good part of one weekend to animate and cut the scene.

You can take a look at the final previs cut below, edited in Premiere CS.

SPOILER WARNING: We give away the whole scene here, so skip it if you don't want to know what happens.

You can do very good and informative previs with even less detail than we had here. 

The purpose of previsualization is to plan your scene so that you know exactly what you want by the time you are on set with 30 people staring at you waiting for direction. It's also an invaluable tool for communicating your vision quickly and efficiently.  Where are the grips setting up lights?  What's the line of action?  Where are the actor's A's and B's?  What's happening in this shot?  Where are the extras going to be?  It's all there.

The Shoot

It's important to note that the final sequence, while very close to the previs, is not a perfect match. While the goal of previs is to create a template of the sequence, as a filmmaker, the trick is not to be bound by it.  While you can encounter problems or limitations that may cause you to deviate from your plans, also note that your cast and crew are artists that are there to collaborate with, and there's a magic that happens when everyone is on set and on the same page that may lead you to even better shots and compositions.  Be open to letting that magic happen while letting the previs guide you 80% of the way there.

For a comparison, here's a production still from the shoot:

CP_still_final_15323.jpg


Location Scout Photos: Wallace's House /  by AJ Briones

With three shoot days and two locations left, I thought I would share some of our location scout photos with you. It has taken a good part of the year to find the perfect place, but I think we’ve done it.

EXT. SINGLE FAMILY HOME
What is now Wallace’s house started out as something completely different. In the outline and the first draft, it was an abandoned hospital. After the sticker shock of shooting at the abandoned hospital set in (what the fuck was I thinking!?), it became clear that we had to make a change. While making our main location at a house frees up our very limited budget, putting our principal characters in a barricaded house for our climax really gives us an opportunity to bring the allegory of the story home (pardon the pun). In the end, I’m really, really happy we made the compromise.

One place where we won’t be compromising, however, is in planning. While I storyboarded the opening sequence and the other remaining alley scene in March of 2012, we’re going to do a round of previs to really hone in and perfect the sequences. We’re well into the process of creating previs environments for both this set and the second alley scene now, and I’m really happy with how it’s all coming together.

Here are some pictures, straight from my iPhone. You can click on each image to enlarge.

Standing on the driveway, looking out toward the street.

Approaching the house from the long driveway.

Approaching the front door.

Looking out from the front door at the house across the street.

Next update I’ll show you our second alley location and give you a sneak peek at the previs environments. And please, don’t forget to interact with us directly and check out exclusive photos and content by liking our facebook page here. Thanks for looking!