I have also looked at film posters and book illustrations to see how they portray a whole story in one image. Even though mine might be slightly different, it’s important for me to understand how they managed to pick particular parts to represent the whole story.
After getting some feedback from the crit I also went to have a look at narrative illustration, storyboards and comics in particular, to see how illustrators produced the concept and into the final idea. I am most interested in how they lay out each ‘scene’ and the techniques they use.
Image sources: Paul Shipper http://www.behance.net/paulshipper; The Brothers Hildebrandt http://www.brothershildebrandt.com/; The Dark Knight, Day Watch http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/12/50-beautiful-movie-posters/; Carlo Giovani http://carlogiovani.com/; Simon Bisley (2) http://www.simonbisleyart.com/; Dave Gibbons “Watchmen”; Demon Studios http://www.demonstudio.co.uk/; Nei Ruffino http://toolkitten.deviantart.com/
Analysis of Inspirational Pieces
Simon Bisley – http://www.simonbisleyart.com/
What I’m most interested in in a storyboard is what each comic panel means; as shown in this example here done by Simon Bisley, each panel is a different shape. The larger panels demand more attention and the curve of the top two panels reflect the hand movement of the woman.
Even without any quotes or writing it’s clear what’s going on through the images and could feel the tension rise as the scene is zoomed in, almost suffocating the two people as the viewer can now only see their faces. The man’s shadow is drawn on the wall right beside the woman that shows just how close he is to his victim, and this adds a sense of fear as his hand is closing on her.
The way the woman is backed up against the wall only increases the tension as she claws at the wall to try and get away from the male, but upon realising defeat she turns into a terrible creature.
One of the key things I’ve noticed is that this storyboard has mainly focused on the character’s expression and reactions of each other’s presence. The woman-creature is clearly trying to get away from this mysterious hunter of some sort, yet at first she is portrayed as being an ordinary woman until the final frame where they’ve zoomed in on her face and revealed the monstrosity behind it. This then makes the viewer realise that the man is actually the good guy despite his expression, and would become more curious to see what was beneath that hood.
Conclusion:
I was really interested in this storyboard, so much so that I continued reading it right to the very end of his portfolio. I think it’s the way he has chosen different ‘camera angles’ to create drama. I too would like to create some sort of my excitement in my illustration so I shall research into comic panels a bit more and figure out their composition.
Here are some of his other works that I liked:
Overall conclusion:
Although he has exaggerated most of the female form I quite like the amount of detail he puts into his characters as well as the way he lays out his storyboards to emphasise drama.
Demon Studios - http://www.demonstudio.co.uk/
This is one of the storyboards for the Rolls Royce: Wraith advertisement. Even though each panel isn't split up in the way the previous comic by Simon Bisley was, they are still effective in the sense that there is more concentrated on the actual subjects, and in this case it's the Rolls Royce. This can be seen by the way the illustrator had painted it so that all of features were portrayed in the best way possible. Here, the light 'plays' on the surface of the car, almost illuminating it from the depths of darkness as well as highlighting the smooth curves of the car and this contrasts with the way the water splashes against the wheels. This then creates a link with the word wraith (meaning 'ghost' or 'spirit') and within the advertisement you see the Rolls Royce rolling by a house and passing a beautiful woman, before disappearing without stopping into the mist.
The figure of the winged woman is one of the first things that the viewer would see as it's placed on a very bright surface of the car, and becomes easily recognisable as being the icon for Rolls Royce. It is so well-known that anyone could pick out a Rolls Royce in traffic by just looking for the winged woman if they weren't able to see the logo.
The colours used for the background could be quite significant as purple is often associated with mystery and for some reason I connected it with Halloween. This could be due to the leaves that leap from the ground as the car passes by that I immediately thought of autumn. This is just another sign that supports the idea of the car being ghostly.
Conclusion:
What was amazing was that I actually witnessed this advert at the BMW Welt in Madrid, so it was really inspirational to see how the artists put the advert together into the final thing. Even though photography was used for the final it is obvious that these illustrations formed the foundations; how the car was going to interact with the woman, what setting it was going to be in… The car was drawn in great detail even though the storyboard was quite sketchy as a whole.
There is a definite link between the setting and the word 'wraith' within this storyboard as the illustrator has chosen 'mysterious' colours and a misty background as well as showing how the car quickly rolls past the woman without stopping.
Here are some other storyboards done by Demon Studios that really caught my eye:
Overall conclusion:
There is a strong focus in the background of these storyboards, especially on how they illuminate the main characters. This is quite interesting as it's normally about the interaction between characters that are the main aspect of the storyboards I have looked at so far.
Paul Shipper - http://www.behance.net/paulshipper
Paul Shipper has worked with several agencies and that included producing cover art for IDW publishing, promoting Star Trek: Into Darkness.
This cover art (and for most of his work) has a very traditional appearance to it because the texture of pencil could be easily seen, especially in the hairline of the main character Khan played by Benedict Cumberbatch. This could be considered a comic-inspired piece because of the way he has lined and coloured his character. The lines are quite visible against the characters face and are black rather than just a darker shade of the object, unlike those shown in Joseph Ma's work which I had analysed in my 'inspirational illustrators' section.
This 'rough' appearance makes the piece appear slightly sketchy and this can be spotted quite easily in the coat of Khan as well as the explosion in the background. However the vibrant colours make it appear finished because it is relatively neat, therefore creating a slight contrast between lines and colour. This effect help highlight the character's face as it is also neatly drawn compared to the slightly sketchy background. The light behind his head commands the viewers attention so that it would be the first thing they see.
The explosion creates a sense of drama within the piece because it would make the viewer wonder how this character is involved in it; did he create this explosion? The white lines angle outwards and the ones on the left-hand side are parallel to the character's face. The ones near the top are coming away from the back of the head and creates the impression that Khan is the source of this explosion. This shows that Khan is a dangerous man and is only emphasised by the use of red and orange colours.
Conclusion:
Much like the work shown in comic books, this cover art emits danger and tension due to the use of colour and the explosion. The character has that dramatic look about him as he isn't looking directly at the audience but somewhere over their shoulder.
Here are some of his other pieces that I found interesting:
Overall conclusion:
Paul Shipper definitely has a 'signature style' as he often does slightly sketches illustrations, and there is an equal concentration between colour and lines. His work is often dramatic and the characters within are mostly drawn very close to each other.
Overall conclusion of research:
During my time collecting images for my mood board and analysing the most inspirational pieces I have noticed that storyboards and comics rely heavily on lines and on their characters, especially when it comes to drafting out dramatic scenes. They often flick between different 'camera angles' to achieve that tension as well as drawing lines to exaggerate movement.
I'm quite interested in their composition and shall be experimenting with them to see which layout would be best for my illustration as I want to create something exciting to show how vibrant London is.
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