Friday, November 13, 2009

Storyboards for BP

This was an interesting, but tough assignment. The agency wanted to show a BP gas station with the people in kind of a transparent form, indicating a lot of activity. Storyboards are not always just renderings of scenes, but often the artist must also depict special effects. With markers you have a somewhat limited range of things that can be done, so this can prove to be a difficult task. I had to try a few frames before I was able to come up with the effect they were after. To add to the problem, of course, was the usual tight deadline.

BP Stybds

BP Stybds
They were very pleased with the result which was fortunate, as there was no time to redo anything. I can't remember the Art Director or ad agency this was done for, I'm pretty sure it was for one of my New York clients.

4 comments:

Oscar Solis said...

Enjoying the storyboards you've posted. Did you work in marker up to the time you stopped doing them or did you use photoshop at any time?

Keep posting. You're an inspiration.

Harry Borgman said...

Thanks Oscar,
Yes I did all my storyboard and ad comp assignments with markers and delivered everything over the internet. In fact, that's how I got my computer. FedEx delivered two packages late and lost one and I had to redo everything FAST. My clients were furious and told me to buy a computer so I could deliver by E-mail if I wanted any more work. That was in 2000 and I've also been doing art on the computer since then using Photoshop. I tried doing storydoards on the computer but it just took me too long so I used markers up until I quit. One of my last assignments was to do 65 frames over a weekend, I had to render lots of automobiles loose and quickly, I don't think that I could ever have done that on the computer.
Harry

Charlie Allen said...

Great story, Harry. Mon....you have 'true grit'! About a hundred years ago, when I did story boards for Chevron and Del Monte, they didn't pay all that much. Hope things got better. Great (if you like modern art) gallery stuff.....you're a very versatile dude! Thanks.

Harry Borgman said...

Hi Charlie,
Thanks for your comment. To remain in the business as a working commercial artist I often had to reinvent myself through the years. When the illustration business started to diminish I went full blast into the comp and storyboard area. While it is a hectic part of the business, I remained very busy and it also allowed me to start working almost immediately when I moved to Paris. The major Detroit and NY clients paid very well, some clients would even double the rate for overnight assignments which made it difficult to turn them down. Eventually I threw the towel in and called it quits.
Harry