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wardomatic

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Everything posted by wardomatic

  1. Hi guys, Wardomatic here. I'm popping my head in to say that I had the great honor to work on this episode! I'm a Maud fan now. For the record, I boarded out the first half of the episode, and the fantastically talented Sherann Johnson (she's been in the industry for YEARS - worked on Ed Edd and Eddy, among others) did the 2nd half. My favorite thing to board out was the dichotomy between Pinkie Pie and Maud. Both are so very different, making the acting and poses a lot of fun. ENJOY! PS: sorry, can't respond to any questions here since I'm currently working on S8 stuff. SO BUSY. bye!
  2. Yay! Finally I can say that I worked on an episode for Season 7. *WHEW* The suspense was killing me!
  3. This was probably my favorite episode to storyboard, along with The Times They Are a Changeling. It was crazy hectic working on it, though, as I boarded out all the flashback stories each of the ponies told (in their own viewpoints). Was a LOT of fun doing expressions for Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and interesting to see how each of the ponies viewed each other. To answer your question, ggg-2 - RASHOMON is a classic film from 1950, directed by Akira Kurosawa. It's considered a classic because of the way the story is laid out: there's an event that happened and it's told by three different people - with three different versions. Now, they call it the "Rashomon effect" - and P.P.O.V.'s story is done like that. It's a pretty fun technique, story-wise, as we get to see interesting characterization for each pony telling their version of the story. For reference for this episode, I watched RASHOMON (would've been my 2nd time) and took notes and sketched out some staging and layouts for possible ideas. I had some interesting boards that borrowed heavily from the film at one point in the MLP story, but it proved to be taking up too much time. However, sketching from the film did help me get in the right mindset and helped with other staging, etc.
  4. I really don't think they go back to the writers' if something isn't working. The story is pretty much locked down by the time we get the script, and I'm sure that Hasbro makes sure of that as well. I really don't know much of the story side of things, but if something isn't working, we make sure it's hashed out by the time the animators start animating. Editing for the animatic also helps work out any issues as well. I love movies and cinema, first and foremost. I love a lot of different genres, so many to list here. Some day I'll list movies that had a big influence on me. I promise! I haven't noticed that. Not sure why that is! No, not really. For one thing, I work remotely and do all my interacting with my supervisor and director via Skype. After me and the other board artist deliver our rough boards, we have a big meeting and do a walk-through of the episode and the director will see what's working and what's not. (We actually do the main walk-through BEFORE any boards are worked on, and I make notes for anything worth needing to know.)
  5. I had a lot of full background pans (from previous episodes) for me to work with. Sometimes I used the BG's as-is - dropping them into my boards and then cropping however I choose for the story. Other times, I'd make some background scenes for myself, but knowing full well that I can't do TOO much since we are under a budget and/or time. The angularity was a challenge, but not so much as I thought it would be. I did a lot of scenes in the ice cave, actually. I would say that the FANS could be the students of Twilight, but not entirely. Even though there's educational value to the show, it's still entertainment!
  6. Yes, I'm familiar with Fraggle Rock. I remember when it first aired on HBO back in the late-70s/early-80s. Great show! I think I was a bit too old for the demographic, but I watched it anyway because I loved anything Jim Henson related (Dark Crystal!). Just so you know, I don't work at the same place as all the MLP artists and animators, so I can't really pass on anything to them. I'm pretty sure that Big Jim and others who work on the show are aware of Fraggle Rock. It's a great show that has timeless themes throughout the series.
  7. No, board artists do not work with the writers. Their work is pretty much done and then it's given over to us. It's up to the directors to keep the nature of the story in line with the rest of the show. That's why I think Big Jim is a fantastic director and has been doing his best to keep the MLP torch going strong.
  8. Yeah, I did the Thorax flashback scene with all the grubs! That was pretty fun to do. Also, drawing all the little grubs squirming through Chrysalis's legs. Lots of good natured grossness! Spike's a fun character to board out because of his arms and actual hands with fingers! Yes - it was nice to change out to a bipedal character for a bit while working on this show.
  9. Well, not really, but since I'm a perfectionist, that does hinder my progress. So, when a deadline is looming BIG, I have to give up a lot of details I normally would include, just so I can deliver on time. Thank you! It was a lot of fun working on this one. For the record, I didn't do any writing on the show - that's left up to the writers. We storyboard artists are the first to start imagining what the characters are going to do for the episode. We first get a script and then usually get the audio track of the entire episode - that way, we can base our expressions and posing from the voice actors' work. We then do a rough stage of boards, and then meet up with the storyboard supervisor and director and then make changes, tweaks, plussing. After my delivery of final boards, they'll sometimes have storyboard revisionists go in and add or change some expressions or maybe fix a scene that might not be working for the director. I'm partial to greenish ocre! Thanks, by the way. It's a fun show to work on! By the time I'm given the script and audio track, any new characters or scenes, etc. are already designed and colored. So, Thorax was already "done" by the time I start working on the boards. He was a very difficult character to board out because of the details of all the holes as well as the fact that he didn't have any pupils. I just had to do more with his head and eyebrows for the expressions, and do more front hoof movements. And head positions, etc.
  10. My favorite parts were: Spike talking to the rock ("You're not a changeling, are you?") and when Spike does the mirror bit with Thorax. I referenced I Love Lucy for that bit. A lot of fun and great expressions to work with on those two scenes.
  11. Hi guys! I'll do my best to answer all the questions today. And if not today, as soon as I can get to them. But I promise to answer every single question! Yes. I was able to storyboard the first half of the episode, so basically, I boarded the first time we see Thorax. Yes, he was a difficult character to draw because of all the weirdness to him, and mostly because his eyes are less expressive. So, basically I had to do more with his head and front hooves movements and poses.
  12. I was one of the storyboard artists for this episode. As you probably well know, each MLP episode has two board artists. The other one for this ep was Hanna Lee. That's not the part I was referring to.
  13. I worked on this episode! And, for the record, the Zap2It's description does indeed have a typo. That's all I'm going to say there.
  14. Yes, the song was the first major challenge for me since it was important to get timing and pacing right as well as make sure that the audience reads Applebloom's emotional state. What was fun was boarding out all the dance moves for AB and Tender Taps. Especially when AB bumps into all the other dancers! That was a lot of fun. Yes! I referenced Gene Kelly AND Donald O'Connor for both of those dance moves. We wanted something BIG and what better way than to do a huge backflip a la "Make 'em Laugh"? I had fun boarding those sequences.
  15. If you watch the episode On Your Marks, you'll notice that most of my work dealt with Applebloom - her storyline for the 2nd half of the episode is an interesting one, since she comes upon Tender Taps, who has a great talent, but is too scared to share it. So, I really enjoyed having to board out AB - I didn't have that much time to work on Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Hmm, I would like to board out anything with Discord - I've seen what he can do and his acting is so over-the-top, it would be a delight to board out sequences with him! Regarding Batman, Superman or Spider-Man...uhh...I like them all! But for different reasons. Actually, that was a board revision - I didn't create that shot, but man, it was a great one! Since it was revised after my work on the episode, I'm guessing that it was suggested by the director or storyboard supervisor on that shot. Originally, I had AB still in close-up on the bridge and then she looks up when she hears the dance instructor counting off screen. It was a great moment to have the song end on that bridge, wasn't it? I totally understood why they changed it. Well, I think I enjoy drawing Pinkie Pie because of how crazy you can get with the facial expressions. But I also enjoy drawing Twilight - she's a thinker, so it's alway enjoyable to board out characters who are trying to figure out things.
  16. Hi guys! I hope you all liked this episode! It was a lot of fun to board some of it as it was my very first MLP episode ever to board! If you guys have any questions - ones that do not require me to break my NDA - then have at it. I'll try to answer them as best as I can. In the meantime, I did answer a good amount of questions over at the 2nd Q&A thread, in case you're wondering: https://mlpforums.com/topic/150185-ward-jenkins-qa-20/
  17. I can say that a good amount of easter eggs and wink & nods to the audience are either already put in by the writers, or the directors (like Jim Miller - he loves doing that sort of thing). I think that if I was able to put in any cultural reference or any previous easter egg into the show, it would have to be OK'd by the director - and they are totally open to anything like that. As long as it makes sense and the audience gets it! Or maybe not - sometimes it's an inside joke. You guys are giving me some great questions to answer! Well, I'm guessing to the untrained eye, you probably would not be able to tell the difference between different storyboard artists. And really, the directors wouldn't want you to be able to see any major changes when watching the show - in fact, they make sure that there's no scenes or sequences that might take you out of the MLP: FIM world. Some sequences might be easier for certain artists - like action sequences, etc. and when they dole out the episodes, I'm sure the directors have in mind in who they think would be best to board those particular eps. It's like casting a movie/play - you want to get the best person for the job at hand. I have not seen BvS, but I really want to. I've been really busy lately working on a book for Leapfrog (interactive learning books) and so now that I'm done with that, I can't wait to go see all these films that's being released! For the record, I am in the minority of people who actually liked Man of Steel, so with that in mind, I'm thinking I'll like BvS. But I have a large gray-area for films, wherein, I pretty much like everything with little to bicker about.
  18. Another good question! Yes, now that I see what goodness came from my (questionable & flawed) boards for the first episode I worked on, I have a much better feel for the following episodes that I boarded. I did 3 more - all are probably done, and one could possibly be in final tweaks (it's a later episode down the season). I felt that i got better as time wore on, and as I had a better sense of how the show worked. My favorite episode won't be for a while - I'll be sure to tell you guys which one that is. There's a little stress in seeing people's negative reactions to this ep, but honestly, why bother? Unless they mention something specifically I did that they had a problem with - then I'll ask why and perhaps explain what I did. But everyone should understand that there's a great deal of people who work on the show, and still SO many who work on it even before I get the script for each episode! So, keep that in mind. I will answer as simply as I contractually can: I did boards featuring the CMC, and I did boards that do not feature the CMC. How's that?
  19. Ha! Sadly, I did not board that part! The whole sequence at the end - where TT is so happy to finally have his cutie mark until the end was all done by Hanna Lee. That would be pretty cool to see what would happen there! That's what makes the fandom so special and fun - they really take the love of the show to great heights. --------------------------- So, in case you guys are interested, here's a breakdown of who did what, storyboard-wise for 604: On Your Marks: Hanna Lee did everything in the first half of the episode, up until the scene with Zecora. Right after that scene, when you see all the various stuff that the CMC did on the wall of the clubhouse, that's when my stuff starts. I boarded the entire song, then did everything leading up to Tender Taps getting his cutie mark on stage. That next scene, where he's looking at his CM outside the townhall/auditorium is Hanna, until the end of episode.
  20. I have a couple! One was Applebloom going a little crazy - in the dark clubhouse. I did that scene and we really wanted it to be very serious and ominous. She was losing it! So funny. Another was seeing Tender Taps get his cutie mark - I got to board that part and it was a lot of fun to see him get so excited. Good question! I worked on boards for 604 for about 6 weeks - first round is roughs, then we meet up and discuss changes and then I go back and redo/clean up for final boards. After that, there may be some more changes made but since I'm onto the next episode to board, they have storyboard revisionists go in and do revisions. At that point, they'll have an animatic to work with (for timing and pacing) with all the boards, including the revised stuff.
  21. My initial influence with TT was actually Gene Kelly - him swinging off the lamppost was mirroring Singing in the Rain. But I know that there could be some Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers when TT and AB are dancing, but Gene was my main inspiration. Storyboarding dance sequences could be extremely difficult, but since I really enjoy doing those types of sequences anyway (I've boarded a lot of movement in previous stuff I've done), I loved doing the dance stuff! It's important to map out where you want the characters to go - and to make sure you have enough space - you don't want to crowd the frame so making sure the composition is perfect is also something to keep in mind. We had to make sure there were some things that the audience would understand - like when TT is on stage and is so scared, doing the little toe tap, then a bit more, then more, and then he's tappin' up a storm, my supervisor suggested that part. I think in my initial boards, you couldn't really tell what was happening there. They loved it! It was great to watch it with them all! We watched it with my wife & kids as well as my brother-in-law and his wife & kids. All the kids were asking, "did you do THAT part?" "what about that?" It was very funny. So, the headcanon thing - I guess I already answered everyone's question to this since I didn't know what it was! Anything that I board, it's all from the script. The script is king, unless we feel that something can be "plussed" or edited or taken out because of time/pacing. I don't really have any say in regards to what happens to each of the characters in the general storyarc - I guess that sort of thing is for the writers to decide! Great questions! Lessee... You are correct to assume that it's a lot of fun to do storyboards, but can be very stressful. It was IMMENSELY stressful, especially since this was the first time for me working on boards for a TV show, and especially for DHX - I wanted to make sure they made the right decision in hiring me in the first place! But with all the stress in getting all the boards done for the show, it's a great reward to finally see all your hard work up on the screen! Even though it's basically a whole year later - but STILL! It was totally worth it! I really enjoyed seeing what they did with all the characters and all the animators did a great job in making the CMC's move from what I drew out. So wild, really. I know that there's going to be some poo-pooers and haters out there, but what can I do? It's their opinion on how they perceive the episode, and really, there's nothing I can do about that. All I can do is just keep drawing and doing boards (hopefully more for MLP!) and keep creating!
  22. Good question! When they give me the script, I print it out and then will read through it and make little thumbnail sketches in the margins. From there, I'll work on the boards in the computer, roughing it out with each frame. We go through several versions of the boards, tweaking them to make the scene work better, based on timing and pacing. Sadly, I did not have any say in making the newish background ponies on this episode - all the artists: Picasso, Dali, Warhol and the Dirty Dancing couple in the background on stage was already put there by the writers and/or director. I thought that they were VERY funny wink & nods to the audience and I'm so glad that they had them in mind already.
  23. I did a lot of listening to the audio track to get a sense of how each of the characters felt about the situation. I also did a lot of research in watching previous CMC episodes. Since I was largely unfamiliar with the CMC storyarc, my storyboard supervisor gave me the ep #'s for me to watch online (thanks, Netflix!). As I was going through 604's script, I realized that something BIG had happened previously in their storyline - so since S5 was still not out on Netflix, they gave me an early animatic of the Crusaders of the Lost Mark. So cool to see what was happening to their story! I was excited to be a part of this now and was a little nervous when I realized that I know that a lot of fans will be curious as to see what was going on with the 3. Friendship has its moments, and when 3 very close friends don't see eye to eye, it's normal. I wanted to make sure that Applebloom was definitely confused and hurt by their separation and acknowledgment of differences, but I did know that somehow they'll make it all work. Most difficult part was doing boards to a song! It was my first episode ever and it was like they were dropping me into the water, seeing if I could swim! Trying to time out a song in storyboards is pretty difficult, so there were a few changes that needed to be made but all in all, I think it worked out okay. Head canons? Ah...you lost me there. Sorry! Not sure I understand what that is.
  24. Hi guys! So glad to be back here on the MLP Forums! This was my very first episode for doing storyboards to TV, let alone MLP, so it was a great challenge! Great, meaning both BIG and FUN. My favorite part in storyboarding the episode was Appleboom going a bit crazy and the dance class sequence where AB bumps into everyone! He's Tender Taps! He was fun to draw. They have been fantastic to work with and entirely patient with me in my first episode to storyboard. Great team there at DHX.
  25. Hi guys - Ward here. So, thought I'd say that yes, these are real titles and synopsis for these episodes. In fact, one of them is the first episode I storyboarded! 604, actually.
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