Stick Figures Embroiled in Epic Combat

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Storyboards! One of my favorite tasks while preparing for a movie. They usually start out with a lot of detail and shading. Eventually, about 60 pages in, they start to resemble abstract scribbles. This is from one of the first sequences assembled for The Killer Robot’s Next Movie.

When we shot it we didn’t have a lot of room as our green screen didn’t stretch but a few feet. Our actress, the indomitable Jenna Hellmuth, made the most of it with slow motion leaps and short hops that, in our mind’s eye, would translate into high intensity action once the backgrounds were added and the shots trimmed.

I’m happy to report, the sequence was a nice confidence booster. On the road to production I wrote and drew all kinds of way-out stuff with just a hope that it would all somehow come together in the final product. Seeing the puppets, performers, editing and effects come together in a final cut scene is a rush every time.

Check out the finished sequence below. Hope you enjoy!

Until Next time!

Adventures in the Land of Small Structures

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My hat’s off to you folks out there who write these things every day. I’ve been staring into the screen for a while now.  I got nuttin! I keep adding pages though and planning content.

Meanwhile! I’ve got a list of about 146 shots for the new Killer Robots movie that I’m slowly working my way through.  All of them are matte paintings of different establishing shots of cities and interiors.  Sometimes to set the scene in a specific location or just for general atmosphere.

Painting Miniatures

Mr. Williams applies a base coat to a series of miniature structures for use in the Killer Robots Next Movie.

My good friend Samuel Williams built a variety of miniatures with which I’m photoshopping and compositing. It’s quite a bit of work, but they’re going fairly fast and give the film a gritty tactile look.

Shot of Pluton, played by Shawn C. Phillips, atop one of Samuel Williams’ creations.