Screenwriting : Story Art by Gaby Chartier

Stick figures :) Storyboarding helps directors, animators, etc. plan scenes. I think using drawings when writing is similar to storyboarding.

Hi Gaby Chartier like Juan I create scenes. I've gotten carried away to the point where I put together in my very, very, and as some have messaged me, hot garbage and crap that don't belong in anyone's imagination...scenes from my pilot and book. I use character creator 3, iClone 7, blender, and unreal engine. My profile has examples. BUt, it is very rewarding to see your character on the page/screen...even if they are stick figures.

Juan DnDink thats interesting! I find it essential to know exactly what my characters look like to write them accurately, things like demeanour go hand in hand with how I plan out scenes :) And as for potential readers, since I mostly write for fun, I usually send some drawings of the characters involved in a scene so they can better imagine them, like it’s a new episode of a TV show they’re already familiar with/fans of.

Writers = Artists. They just work in different media. One of the things I often do is to tear pages out of magazines/advertisements that have pictures of characters I find appealing for one reason or another. I have a whole file full of 'em.

Hey Gaby, this is Karen from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Anything Goes to Screenwriting (to connect with other writers), as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

Part way through the development of my craft, I noticed that I effectively switched from writing people that I could see to souls that I could feel. I know very little about how my characters look and that keeps me very open minded to how they eventually turn out during production or when I have an illustrator create the artwork for my front pages.

I do a lot of sketches, drawings, and sometimes even painting as well depending on how much time I got for a scene and how important the scene moved me. My scripts are filled with that itself. Not just characters, or how they look or wear but even sometimes it will have location design, camera direction, and stuff like where I need a camera, where characters will be moving, and so on like a top view of the place.

Since childhood, I used to draw, so I got used to that. Even during my school days, I got used to framing answers in a cryptic way to learn, remember things easier, so I got this as a habit.

I once took my sketches to a producer but he wanted those written scripts and I did learn those as well. But even those I have made many changes.

Like for INT I use > , for EXT I use < and many more such shortcuts I write on my initial draft.

Like,

GABY_smiles, "Really, don't you have any other thing to do" . I think you got the gist of my script.

Recently, like a few years ago someone showed me scripts of Satyajit Ray who used to do sketches as well and told me that my earlier scripts had no issues actually. So I still do that once in a while

I've gotten lazy over the years and hardly ever put pencil to paper. I just look for references that are close to what I have visualized and go from there. Chances are if your script gets picked up the production studio will have other ideas of what the characters will look like. Sometimes I'll make a couple of key illustrations that represent central concepts, but I'd rather just cut-n-paste my look book.

Yes, abstract artist but I spent time last year creating concept art and I do scribbly visual outlines, some storyboards and character sketches. But I appreciate the help of a professional graphic designer doing pitch-deck work as the writing is my stronger skill set and when it comes to illustration and pictorial design I am slow.

CJ Walley that’s interesting! Do you still see them in your head when you write, or are they more like blurry figures moving about with changing features?

I see glimpses of them, Gaby Chartier, but that's about it. They're like shape shifting ghosts. I have some basics but don't see detail.

I personally storyboard in stick figures then hand it over to an artist to make a more palatable rendering for the appropriate people. My character designs are rough ideas and I hope to be inspired by the actors at the auditions.

CJ Walley shape shifting ghosts ! I love that