I've had this idea for a while and now have finally got around to doing it. I'm boarding a scene per week from some of my favorite films in my DVD collection. I'm doing this to learn a thing or two about shot selection, editing, pacing, composition, and acting. Might as well learn from the best, right? Cueing up a short scene and pausing the DVD for each new shot, I'm sketching these out in just a few minutes on the Wacom tablet in Sketchbook Pro (highly recommended for quick digital sketching). Some of these are pretty quick and dirty, but some I like to take a little time with and try to capture the likenesses.This first sequence is from The Shawshank Redemption. It's the scene where Andy sees an opportunity to receive a small amenity (beer!) for him and the boys while they work hard re-tarring the prison roof.
I chose Shawshank because I wanted to rewatch it after not seeing it in years and hearing Andrew Stanton on a Spline Cast interview talking about how they screened it at Pixar around the time of Wall•E's production. Stanton calls it a "nearly perfect movie" and I'm inclined to agree.
NEXT WEEK: Raiders of the Lost Ark (opening sequence)!
Awesome. I wish I could draw this well. Alas I cannot, hence I'm going in the Computer direction haha.
ReplyDeleteThanks, E! Yeah, I thought of you when I heard Brad Bird from Pixar talk about how some of the best animators they have can't draw at all. The thing they stress above all is good acting. Check out this interview he did for Spline Cast:
ReplyDeletehttp://splinedoctors.com/2007/02/brad-bird-splinecast/