Storyboard Process
I've been drawing storyboards for ad agencies for a few years now and I thought maybe it was time to explain how I do it. It's an activity that I like because it's at the crossroads between comics and films. In my case, it's advertising and the storyboard serves this time to sell the idea to the advertiser. Sometimes the idea is already validated and I can then work directly with the precise instructions of the director who needs very specific shots.
It all starts with a brief given to me by one of the people at the agency I work with, the artistic director or creative director.
Here I will take the example of an advertisement for gardening products.
Thumbnails / Vignettes
The scenario is already sequenced in 6 shots with dialogues and attitudes to illustrate. As soon as I receive the brief, I make sketches of the future panels.
I start by drawing my thumbnails. It's very rough at this stage but it allows us to agree with my interlocutors whether or not we are on the right track. It is much easier and, above all, much faster to change things at this stage of the process!
Finalizing the drawing
Once we agree, I work on the drawing more precisely. I always draw on paper, construction lines in blue pencil like in animation or comics and the final line (the "inking") in pencil
All I have to do now is remove the construction lines in Photoshop.
Coloring
Last validation step with the agency and if all goes well I can finish with the colors. Often quite bright and joyful atmospheres.
The agency will take care of presenting the entire storyboard with precise descriptive text and dialogues…
and if it works it will end up on our screens !
