It starts in the beginning. I get calls/emails/messages/referrals from producers and directors. I am trying to raise funds for this project and I need some concept art/illustrations for not only preproduction, but also for pitch decks, crowdfunding campaigns or part of a presentation to investors or funders. No worries. Send me the script and I’ll break down the scenes that I can illustrate.
Here is a concept art illustration I did for filmmaker Barbara Davis of Whiteshell Films. This was for a crowdfunding campaign on social media to raise funds for her film, Medusa Jones. An interior shot, from pencils to inks to digital coloring. I read the script and wanted to go for a pop art/cartoony style with bright colors throughout each illustration. Something in the script gave me an idea to go for that style. If you look at the Plague Doctor illustration I posted in the Filmmaking lounge, I used different, artistic techniques, i.e. brush, pencil, blending etc., to capture a style/look for that piece. For this one, I went for black outlines and solid colors, no tones, no lighting. A sharp contrast. When I get a script, I get an idea of how to render an illustration, what is going to be the style/visual aesthetic for that job. Brush? Pen? Digital, traditional? Multimedia? Each job is different and I try to work in many styles that can reflect the overall aesthetic/theme of the film/intellectual property that a producer has, a work in progress, before a single shot has been executed or a film has been cast.
Again, it’s always great to work with not only film directors, but producers who are trying to get film projects off the ground. I enjoy working on a film project at the preproduction stage, because you can contribute a visual style within the framework of a script and it gives the producer the option to use that as a visual template or they have something to use for a pitch deck. A recent producer contacted me regarding another project that is still in the beginning of the stages where the script is undergoing revisions and refinements. Looking forward to working on that. Until then, have a great week and talk to you soon! Keep making movies!
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Thank you, everyone.
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Rich Terdoslavich - wow, you are incredibly talented. Would love to know more about your process when you are conceptualizing how you are going to put the art to the page?
Thank you, Amanda. Regarding conceptualizing, for this job, I received the script and started reading it. The setting of the script inspired me to go into a cartoon pop art style. Also, since the budget/deadline was tight, I selected certain scenes that I could interpret them as medium or long shots. My other focus was to make sure that each shot was composed at a variety of angles, to not repeat myself. Since this was for a client that was going to use my work for a presentation plus probably for the shoot itself, variety of composition/scenes was important to create a sense of dynamics, dynamic visuals. If one panel was a medium shot, the next one would be a full shot.
It was something I learned from comic book artists. Keep the pages dynamic, each panel should have a dynamic visual without compromising the importance of visual storytelling from panel to panel. Change up the angles, think composition, lighting and framing. Think design. One comic book artist I knew worked in film and taught me a lot about visual storytelling, the importance of not only telling a story through visuals, but to think visual, think design, think composition, think balance. I do the best I can and always enjoy working with film directors and producers. Have a great weekend!