Step by Step

This week, as I work to replace the thumbnails in my animatic, I've been trying to emphasize the feeling of experiencing, not just observing. I got some good feedback that there is a feeling of anticipation that builds throughout the animatic. I think having one or two more POV shots and dynamic framing of the landscape might help increase that. However, I'm struggling to find the balance between detail, legibility, and speed. I've also been struggling with creating consistency between each drawing. There's a big gap between the sketches in Storyboard Pro and the drawings in Procreate, but even beyond that, I've never made this many sequential drawings, regardless of the program. It's stretching and challenging me, but in a good way that encourages growth.

One reassuring fact I stumbled across is that professional board artists for TV usually take 10-20 minutes per board. Of course, my skill level is nowhere near that of a professional board artist, but this is reassuring to hear. I still feel like I'm taking a very long time to complete these boards, but I have to remind myself that I'm still learning, this is my own production timeline, and no one is penalizing me for not being good enough yet.

I've been taking reference videos of myself to help me with some of the angles and movements. I also have a drawing action figure that I use to help me figure out some of the angles.

I'm not quite satisfied with my progress. This week, I had some medical complications that slowed me down. I was hoping to have the original thumbnails replaced by this week. According to my timeline, I have one week left to complete this animatic, but I might need two. I hope I can make one last push toward the finish line on this project!