I am a working storyboard artist at one of the big studios
other industry pros post ITT with your experiences
I'll try to answer questions to the best of my ability
I will not tell you where I work, but I have been working for about two years now and before that I did comics (nothing of any note)
...
Can computer assisted animation deliver animation on the same budget as hand-drawn animation?
What's the worst animated movie ever released by a major studio from an artistic standpoint?
Hand drawn animation is much more expensive. I've worked on one hand drawn show, one CG show and one puppet animated show.
People usually say "flash animated" but nobody uses flash, it's just the style of show that uses computer generated 2D puppets to animate.
Minions, if Illumination even counts as a major studio
Follow up; If studios had kept their budgets calculated for hand-drawn animation and used computer assisted animation, do you think there would be more and/or better cartoons being produced nowadays?
I've worked at Bluesky, Nickelodeon, and I was an intern at Pixar right when Brave came out. It was a legitimately sad time.
I don't know, friend. I'm not really in that part of the business, but I find that the style of animation doesn't always make or break a show.
Why so sad sempai?
>before that I did comics (nothing of any note)
Why the fuck is it so hard to find someone who will actually work on a comic? I am not talking about them turning down an idea after hearing your slug line or reading a script, I mean in general.
I never made any in-roads with people at school who were artists, so I've got zero connections. There doesn't seem to be any sort of online database for artists who actually know how to composite a page and are looking for work, and the few times I've gone to conventions and approached basically nobodies who had to chip-in with several other artists just get a tiny booth, they shirk away.
I am literally offering you money to do work, you assholes. I know full well I can't afford dudes like Jorge Molina, but I am not looking for that level of quality. It's fucking maddening, senpai.
THISIISISISISI
>implying a professional would ever come to this cesspool
How much money are you offering?
Well, becuse drawing comics sucks.
But there are probably a few reasons why. One is that most artists who have drawn for money have been ripped off before. Almost everyone I know who is a professional artist has been approached for a good deal only to waste hours on something they never get paid for. And it's usually not fun to draw someone else's story either.
Also most people who survive off drawing comics have to be working on 2 or 3 projects at a time just to make ends meet. It's really unrewarding work.
And some artists just want to work on their own shit.
I'd say the thing that might get you an artist is to offer to pay up front. Also you'll have to be offering at lease $50 a page, pretty bottom of the barrel prices, for your average artist that amounts to about $8/hour
But then you run the risk of some artist taking forever to get your shit done. Just be firm and make sure to set deadlines ahead of time.
Oh and that second point I was leading up to that artists working on multiple projects at once probably just don't reasonably have time to take on anything else
I've been coming to this cesspool since 2005. I was mostly on Tumblr for several years but that place is unsalvagable.
That entirely depends upon the situation, each time I have put my foot forward it's after careful appraisal of their work online and I've crunched the numbers. I never ask for them to color, do the text, or edit. I simply request that they do the lines, that's it. We do lines, and then move on from there but it never even gets to that point.
I also pay on a page-to-page basis because I realize that certain pages are harder than others (some you can literally just copy and paste panels), and the script's length varying depending on the idea I've got.
On two occasions I was able to get someone to agree to work with me on this basis, after everything was said and done they'd net themselves about two grand. I also heavily pushed the prospects of potentially monetizing the work and using what we completed as a jumping off point so we could potentially hire a colorist, and so forth. I've got some insight into how this sort of thing should be managed.
Ultimately my business pitch has always been that they net themselves a decent goose egg that is worth their time ($2,000 bucks isn't something to turn your nose up at for most of these guys), and that we'll do a 30/70 split if we can potentially generate interest. As we bring in more guys, my split lowers and as does theirs in proportion but explain that they make more money over all because we have to actually make money in the first place in order for this to occur.
On the whole I feel I am being extremely generous and because I hold them to a set of standards that I layout ahead of time, it scares them off.
For instance, you () mention setting deadlines and so forth. I've done that, and I've even required that we touch base via phone call at least once a week. I don't give a shit if you didn't work at all, I am not paying you to rush. I understand, it can be boring. I fucking get it.
Comment was too long.
Also,
>And it's usually not fun to draw someone else's story either.
I understand this, but that's the industry. Before I actually throw my ideas out against the dart board, I'll ask if they have something brewing in their head that they just can't get off the ground. This leads to a few problems.
>It's just an idea.
>They want to control everything with the story.
If you are only doing it is a fun side-project, we can't work with that because your output will never be worth our combined time. And if you want to control everything with the story, you should just write it then. Why bother with getting me involved in the first place?
It works both ways, and while I don't want to sound like I'm beating a dead horse and just blaming the artists but... they're usually a gang of lazy cunts and it really shows when you try and talk turkey.
Ah man I'm really sorry you've had such shitty experiences. I can see how that'd be frustrating.
From a jaded comic artists' perspective though, I've heard fucking innumerable pitches about making money and royalties and junk and it's just tiresome. At least you're willing to pay, and $2000 sounds pretty good. It's just hard to make money in comics.
Have you considered pitching your ideas to some actual companies? Action Lab, for example, is a small company that's been around for long enough to be considered stable, has books available around the country, and is still small enough that they'll listen to unsolicited pitches. They'll get an artist that they've worked with before so nobody has doubts about getting paid
>Draw a comic
>Most people expect you to work for AT MOST barely minimum wage prices
>Get paid based on completion rates not per hour
>Storyboard, Design, or work at any point in a production pipeline using the same art skills at a legit studio
>Guaranteed to make minimum wage due to labor laws
>Get paid per hour so you can actually budget around your wages
Drawing comics is bitch work you really only do if you work for yourself, own the property yourself so you can get money from royalties down the road, AND you really really like the project you're working on. It's funny, but one of the major things this board is based on is actually a tremendously shitty job unless you're a superstar, and even if you are it's still very hard to do. If you see a comic artist, you should give him or her a hug.
Believe me I am well aware, that's why I usually, as a last resort mention that if we get this done, and even if we make no money on it you now have a comic you can throw in your CV. Even if isn't printed, it shows work ethic while other schmucks are just doing porn and pin-up shit that tarnishes their portfolios.
Ultimately what happens is that I am confident in my ability to bring a project together, what I am not confident in is the script getting picked up by an independent publisher who is being asked to take a risk.
That's really what my goal has been.
>Get artist
>Do lines
>Put in text
>Doesn't work out?
>NBD, they got paid and we now both have something for our portfolios.
That's a win-win in my book even if we don't make it big. I initially started out writing novels, but gave up. There is just so many times you can write a treatment, or worse a manuscript, send it out to everyone (even going so far as to hire a fucking agent), and get turned down.
That's why I turned to comics. I can bang out a draft for a script in next to no time by comparison, and since they don't require any long-term commitment I can just write one and call it a day.
As for your suggestion about Action Lab, I did look into them when I was starting out and they're part of the reason why I have tried taking this approach. In theory this should allow me to form connections and make a better play when approaching publishers, but since I can't get beyond Step 1, it doesn't work out.
1) What upcoming animated film are you most excited about?
2) Why was your experience as a Pixar intern sad?
3) (Maybe related) Would BRAVE have been better or worse if Brenda Chapman were left in charge?
4) (Random) Got any juicy Star Wars news?
Comic user, I'm sorry your experiences suck, but I do wish you luck. Artists can be shitty too, a lot of them are lazy and think that just because they like drawing my little pony self inserts they'd like drawing comics too but bail when they find out it's actually hard.
>1
Leap! Looks like it could be great or terrible, but I'm intrigued. For TV I'm hype for Samurai Jack
>2
I'd like to know this too, Pixar user
>3
Better imo
>4
fuck no, I think everyone involved in Star Wars has a contract where they're taken out by snipers if they say anything
>50$ a page
>8 an hour
That seems ridiculously low unless you're doing pure lineart and are very bottom of the barrel. Any self respecting artist would charge way more for a comic page, because the issue isn't just the scale and difficulty of the comic, but checking in with the commissioner aswell. I don't know any artist, sfw, nsfw, professional, or otherwise, who can pump out a good looking comic page in six hours, especially if it's actually colored/valued. Comics are tough shit, and honestly not worth it as a commissioned project unless the offer is high.
My question for you is how hard was it to get your job? Was it more due to your "network" and less from your portfolio, and if your portfolio was good, do you have an example similar to what you may of had in it (supposing you don't want to share your info). I do a lot of highly rendered illustrative fantasy works, and have a decent portfolio (do not want to share), but I've been working a job off my engineering degree and have used my free time to study art, but I know very little about actually getting a job in the industry. I know I would be interested in doing illustrative works, or maybe even some form of light director, but I'm not exactly keen on how to present myself. Sorry for the long question.
>some you can literally just copy and paste panels
Wow, you worked with Grag Land himself?
Do you think getting freelance work is easier if you live out in LA? (Or wherever the heck the studios are?)
do story boarders get any money from dvd sales?
my animator friend said he doesnt
I think I can finally call myself a comics professional? Not totally sure yet though.
Landed a book deal with a decent publisher. Working with a Sup Forumsmrade on it and it'll be out in 2019.
Working on another comic with that same Sup Forumsmrade. Said comic is now recognized by the ALA and is nominated for an award.
Started, edited, crowdfunded, and published an anthology that people seem to like.
I don't really like to brag in public and I don't think I'm anywhere near successful enough to be said to be doing well in my chosen career. So I just popped into this thread to lay shit down and feel validated for about 10 seconds.
Whats the most important aspects of a series pitch bible?
Pretty hard. I graduated in 2012 and i was trying to get a job in LA from my college town on the east coast. I did comics and worked retail for a few years and ended up getting a test from Dreamworks Feature, then I didn't get the job, so I decided to move out to LA. I had no money, but I found a cheap place and was able to make it work until a random connection got me a freelance job at one of the big studios.
Once I had that on my resume I started getting tests (and subsequent rejections) and one of the tests I did ended up getting me a job elsewhere.
Connections are very important. My bosses have always asked around for recommendations if they need someone working, and I've been able to get some of my friends in too.
The one I had was a friend of my landlady. One day she said like "oh, I have a friend who is an artist!" And usually people who say that know someone who paints on the side or something... but turns out it was a solid rec!
Do many of your peers come here? I've always wondered if the rank and file storyboarders are as stodgy as the people higher up n the ladder
Also, sounds like you might make a good background painter! To be honest I don't know much about getting jobs outside of storyboarding, but I assume it's the same. Also it seemed like as soon as I stopped worrying about having some kind of professionally designed website and just put everything I had on tumblr people started paying attention. (I didn't put anything besides my work on that tumblr, so that's also important.)
Yes, absolutely. Nobody wants to pay your relocation fee. Dreamworlds feature won't even sponsor visas for foreign people. It's best if you can be here and meet people.
Congrats user! That sounds like a big deal to me! Comics is hard work.
I've never pitched a series, but it seems to me that having an interesting concept is important. It has to be original while still staying in the parameters of what will sell and what's been successful.
Nobody else I know comes here! It seems like the most they have is a private twitter account where they post their lewds