Production Diary: Animatics

The CoProducer movie is currently in soft-pre-production and as part of the prep we are testing and refining the treatment. Using YouGov’s innovative dial testing tool we are able to effectively test the treatment with the CoProducer panel. The tool allows us to send high-quality video content to panellists who then view it on their tablet, laptop or PC.

For the CoProducer project, we are dial-testing with animatics. Animatics are the animation of a script produced by combining storyboards, basic editing, voiceover and score. Through animatics, we can test the effectiveness of a scene without the time and expense of filming it on set.

Ant Mercer is our storyboard artist and his work has been an essential ingredient in bringing the CoProducer treatment to life as animatics. Ant talked to our CoProducer Intern, Eleanor Whalley, about his work as a storyboard artist:

Q. How do you go about creating a storyboard?

A. I start off with the script and shot list which describe what action, locations and characters are taking place. I make a few notes and doodles, then get down to work. For the CoProducer job, I’ve built a lot of the backgrounds in 3D which is pretty handy if there’s a few shots that take place in the same location - I can quickly move the camera around the 3D set, relight it an render out the best angle for that scene. Once the background has been finished, I sketch the characters and action directly into Photoshop, adjust the tones a little for a final polish and then move on to the next one.

Q. What's the most difficult thing about being an animator and storyboard artist?

A. I’ve probably got some quite dull answers which relate to graphics cards, motherboards and the processing power of my current computer (with some of my animation work I do find myself waiting for hours for a render to finish), but if I’ve any grumbles it’s probably that the hours are sometimes pretty long and there’s often the pressure of an impending deadline to deal with.

Q. What's the most fun element of creating storyboards?

A. I get a lot of satisfaction when I look back at a completed job. Once the pressure of deadlines has been passed and I’ve caught up on sleep after a few all-nighters, it’s great to look back and see exactly what I’ve done. But the most satisfying part is the fleshing out of an idea, creating worlds, characters – getting words off a page and bringing them to life. To put it simply; if I’m drawing, I’m happy.

Q. How did you get started in the business?

A. Comics. I was always reading comics and drawing as a kid and never really stopped. Comics really laid the foundation for me in many different ways as once you start to break them down and study how they’re made they teach you a lot about visual storytelling - drama, character etc., then in order to draw how I wanted to I had to study anatomy, muscle structure and so on. Animation was just the extension of that - I started doing it so I could make my drawings move.

Q. Do you think you'll stay a storyboard artist or do you think you would want to try something else?

A. As a freelancer, I’ve had the opportunity to do all sorts of different types of work. This year alone I’ve been contracted to do work for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Olympics Museum in Switzerland and Velvet – such a wide range of clients. There’s still plenty that I want to do, learn and master; programming, special effects to name two, but I think the storyboarding is always going to be there. In fact, I’m just finishing up the first draft of my first short film that I’m planning to shoot in April 2014, which I’ll be storyboarding out as part of the pre-production process.

Q. What's your next project about?

A. I’ve got a technical illustration of a massive tunnel construction machine to finish for a construction magazine; a series of logo’s for a live-action roleplaying game to design; and a short animation about alien insects who come to take over the Earth. Y’know, just the usual stuff!