Our outcomes this time were to explore current practices for effective thumbnailing and apply them to our work through storyboarding or concept art. I wasn’t expecting to learn a new technique today, but that’s exactly what we did! We were introduced to a handy acronym to remember when creating thumbnail sketches. Before that though, we recapped the definition and use of thumbnails.
Thumbnailing – used for quick idea generation and exploration of a range of designs. It is useful when trying to communicate a project goal or idea without focusing on the details. When still unsure about the basis final outcome, it is best to keep things clear, simple and easy to process, which is why thumbnailing is such a great technique of unburdening yourself from anything that isn’t major/key. Storyboarding can come into this, since depending on the level of detail applied, the boards can essentially be a string of thumbnail drawings that follow a rough storyline.
In order to use both of these techniques effectively – it is best to consider C.A.S.E. This is the new acronym that we were shown and helps to elevate the quality of thumbnail sketches.
The C.A.S.E Study
C – Cast & Camera
Consider who you are drawing, how they sit in the frame and how they should appear to the viewer. When drawing characters, it is important to think about angles and form because these add up to the main mood of the scene. To help with creating accurate depictions and conveying the right character and action, character model sheets and reference material can be utilised.
Remember, the drawing is simple and loose, but you are trying to communicate how the final thing would look like, so it is best to have an idea of that in your head whilst sketching. Have an awareness of the camera shot type and overall composition (key elements not smaller details!).
A – Action
Since thumbnails are primarily for quick idea generation, you cannot afford to spend time re-drawing characters and backgrounds for the sake of one action. Aim to simplify any movement within the storyboard, such as a character is gesturing with their arms. Can you contain all the poses in one storyboard frame rather than several or expand the size of the frame to denote the characters appearing in the scene?
If you can’t simplify, perhaps it’s best to rethink. Is this action too complex? Is it necessary? Cut out or rework anything that you think will take up too much time in comparison to the idea it is carrying and make sure to record any secondary action and the camera movements as well as indicate dialogue or sound effects.
S- Space
Unsurprisingly, another important factor to be mindful of is the space in the frame, the position of the subject and how they are represented. You don’t want an empty background unless the floating tree is intentional, so where possible, use a floor or wall grid to help establish perspective in the scene. You could also add a centreline on your character to help with this and also indicate depth.
Mise en scene also ties into this! Populating the space with environmental elements or other props not only displays the location but also helps ground the character to scale. These are all vital for clarity and processing from the viewer.
E – Economy
Lastly, we have ‘E’, which was the most unexpected one for me. I don’t really consider the economical aspect when creating my storyboards, but this is a key factor, since a storyboard is a plan for the final outcome, and the final outcome has to do with budget and time. In other words, during the pre-production phase, we must consider the potential costs of our shots, such as how many assets will need to be produced and individual elements animated for a show. Both of these are thought out strategically by producers, mostly in the animation realm.
Sets often follow the shoebox method which is three angles available from just one set drawing. This can save a lot of time and money because artists then only need to draw one larger set design, instead of separate drawings for each potential shot type.
After learning about each letter of C.A.S.E and what it can do, I think I’m much more prepared to start my pre-production for the creative project. It is a great reminder of all of the prime components to regard when thumbnailing and I will see how effective it is to reference whilst drawing out my storyboards. First, I used the information acquired to do a C.A.S.E study analysis to a storyboard. I wanted to see how an existing one would respond to the four points above and how it could be improved based on them.
I have chosen a board from the series Avatar the Last Airbender to analyze. In my opinion, this is one of the best-animated pieces of media to ever be released so it follows that most of their storyboards would also be good examples, even if there are areas that need improvement, which there almost always are.
To start with, the ‘cast’, a.k.a the people who appear in the frame, are the main characters of the group (before Zuko enters) on one of their adventures whilst travelling. In order to save time, they focused primarily on the people or main subjects of the frame instead of the backgrounds. There is no unnecessary detail and most of the extra elements like the rocks are conveyed with simple, loose lines. At times, even the faces aren’t included, especially with repeated frames where Appa’s face isn’t drawn on.
The camera shot types aren’t too diverse since this scene is quite specific and we do have quite small gaps between times so actions like Momo banging a nut on a rock are clearly expressed. This provides a nice segway into ‘action’ since I do think that they could have significantly reduced the number of these frames. Whilst you can clearly tell what movement is occurring, a lot of time could have been saved if frames 4 and 5 were combined, with both sets of arms drawn with different opacities or colours, for example. The same could be said for frames 8 and 9.
I do think that they did quite well with ‘space’ however. In each frame, there is some indicator of perspective and location, whether that’s a simple line or a rough background. With frames where the character is the main focus, like the ones of Momo, we get a sense of where he is only thanks to a simple diagonal line and the rock. Whereas the more zoomed-out shots where we can see where the characters are huddled together, there is a more detailed drawing of the background, with trees, bigger rocks and other foliage. They are all still relatively simple though because the location needs to be communicated through as-simple-as-possible lines and shapes.
Overall, you can tell that the artist(s) have tried to save time where possible and sketched as loosely as they dared whilst still keeping the image clear. The repeated frames, lack of Appa’s face and simple backgrounds all showcase the effort to carry across the idea quickly and test if the flow of this particular scene works, which means costs are considered. The gaps in time could be a little bigger when Momo is banging the nut on the rock and frames could be combined, but other than that they’ve done a good job with the actions (it’s all very straightforward and easy to understand). I also like how they drew the characters simply, but their facial expressions and poses are coherent and logical; the personalities of the characters are carried across, like Sokka’s signature vigilance and suspicion. I would like to create similar storyboards to this, perhaps with a little more contrast. In an effort to separate the background and foreground a bit more, I’d made the natural elements like the trees and rocks different shades and opacities to keep the attention on the characters. I feel that this could have been achieved better with the zoomed-out shots.
For the remainder of the lesson, we were given the choice to produce either a range of thumbnails or a storyboard for our project using the graphics tablets and what we had learned about C.A.S.E. I haven’t fully started pre-production but I tried my best to complete the task in a way that would benefit me most for the stage that I am in currently. I sketched out a lot of design ideas for the appearance of my elf character, but I won’t be putting them in this slide, as it is not categorised for my creative project. Please look for said work in the concept art post when that is published and complete, thank you!