Storyboard Panel of the Day

I've always had a fascination with underwater shots in movies. This is my big chance to put one in. Well, there's actually another one a few scenes from now...  But this is my FIRST chance to get one in there, and the more the merrier. Stuff looks insanely cool from underwater.

This drawing may not be entirely accurate... From a real-world point of view, I mean. It is surprisingly difficult to find visual reference of a lion's feet paddling underwater...

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Must be pretty damned convenient having your own gigantic cat when you go traveling. Unless you're the cat...

"No, guys that was purely a survival thing, we were already halfway across with the poles and stuff... You can't seriously expect me to ferry you across every body of water we stumble into, I'm not your own personal outboard... Well FINE, I didn't want to go to the stupid City of Emeralds ANYWAY..."

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Lion ended up a little under scale in this one... It looks like Woodman is trying to drown a St. Bernard.

And maybe he is. Plot twist.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Figures that the easiest character to draw is the one who's separated from the raft party. Guess he and the stork will make up for it later.

My Lion seems to have a startlingly malleable face. I bet if you played all the different Lion panels back at 24 frames per second it'd look like Batman defeating Matt Hagen in Feat of Clay Part II...

Storyboard Panel of the Day

And that's it for the crows. This is of course not part of that other large shot. I do love the easy ones.

Is it still a typo if it happens with with handwriting?

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Heh, speaking of pains in the neck.

Yeah, this is still that same shot. I told you, it's going to be massive. And hopefully MPAA allowable...

Storyboard Panel of the Day

There should be a movie starring the lead crow, where he's the hero of his own story and has complex moral reasons for working with the Witch and attacking Dorothy and friends. It'd have a pretty bleak ending, though...

This is a pretty massive shot. Five panels. Pain in the neck.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

A low angle? What is this, the Avengers trailer or something?

Almost looks like Scarecrow's working the world's largest butter churn...

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Oh that? I wouldn't worry about it.

It's nothing, just a wisp of cloud. I mean... probably. What else COULD it be?

Storyboard Panel of the Day

The lazy guy was less happy drawing this one. Looks like they're starting to lose the road.

Dorothy doesn't seem very happy. Fun fact, when I was shooting this, Mare did the first one on her own, and it was good, but I did a few more, pushing her a little, um... bitchier each time. When I watched all the footage back to pick out the right take, I realized that she'd done it right the first time. So 00597 is actually the first go at this shot.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Oh yeah, remember there was like... a river, and some chopping or something? This is actually a pretty short little sequence. I was surprised when I reviewed the footage and saw how little I'd shot of Dorothy. I remembered it being longer.

This was probably my favorite ever panel to draw. Because I'm a lazy person.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

This is actually a totally different drawing than the other one, I promise you. I have a lightbox...

Wait... Chattering, flying specks? Is this the winged monkeys ALREADY? That would seem totally inappropriate.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

It was really important to me, for some reason, to slowly build up the appearance of the Witch. Despite showing up in several scenes before then, we never get a good look at her until she meets Dorothy face to face.

Which we of course spoiled entirely by putting that clip on Youtube last Halloween... But whatever. How many people watch film clips online before they go see a movie anyway?

Storyboard Panel of the Day

So yeah, this is a change from the book, the Witch's presence being felt a little earlier. Sean and I discussed that a little bit way back when we did that interview on the Royal Podcast of Oz.

Which means I won't really be talking about that here... The Witch has a scene now... There you go.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

It's hard to convey lighting with two shades. My hat's off to Mr. Bill Watterson for his masterful work with Tracer Bullet.

I should point out; that's not a really lopsided full moon. That's just not quite full. Because all you ever see in movies is a full moon or a crescent. Stop ignoring the waxing and waning, you guys.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

I completely forgot that there was an entire scene between the evening preparations and the actual river sequence.

Guess we'll learn all about that tomorrow.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Okay, so this will be kind of adorable... Also, here's the image I used as reference to draw a sleeping lion, because awwwww.

Look at all the interaction in that jumble of bodies. Given our current monetary state it may come down to doing THIS shot, or... every other one.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Standing in stark contrast to scene 28, scene 29 is just one shot. Well, it's a moving shot... And there will be editing cheats... So it takes up four storyboard panels... But still, one shot.

Sometimes when I'm done drawing a panel, I think to myself, "Hey, that one didn't turn out too bad." Then later when I scan it and see it at 4 times its actual size, I go, "Ewwwwww."

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Oh wow, there actually IS an end to scene 28.

And this shot is that. Coming soon, this river runs wild. Maybe with some crow imagery like somebody asked for.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

I was not kidding when I used the word "dread" yesterday. And yet still this character keeps showing up in my movie. Cut it out, guy... Should have offed you for real. Scarecrow on the other hand I could draw until the cows come home.

And they strayed really far away, I guess. I don't know. Your worst fears are confirmed; it's all oblique metaphors and dutch angles from here on out...

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Sorry, no panel yesterday, I know. I was busy sleeping and experimenting with new ways to secrete fluids from the holes in my face... But we're back today, at least. And my face is pretty well dry.

I swear to God, I dread every single shot that has Woodman in it. The wider the shot, the more painful it becomes. Gonna get carpal tunnel...

Storyboard Panel of the Day

This one's dedicated to the loving memory of Mola Ram, Hans Gruber, and Jack Napier. Happy landings to you all.
I felt like this is a moment that needs to be at least mildly horrifying, lest we appear to glorify... y'know... Murdering unique animals... Don't stab that panda, kid. He's just as afraid of you as you are of looming financial collapse.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Lion's kind of the man in this sequence.

This sequence which is not going to be nearly as long as it seems. I just do a couple panels per page, and this beast happens to have a whole boatload of shots. They're mostly pretty quick shots, though. I might speed through the river stuff a little more rapidly, I dunno. What do the people want?

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Well, at least we know Dorothy lives.

I was worried for a while, there.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

And they're back, ladies and gentlemen. Been a while since we had a page count update, this puts us about halfway down page 53 of the script. Moving right along!

God this sequence has a lot of shots...

The Rebel Flash/The Almost Footage

I'd planned to make a simple little video to celebrate this meager milestone of a 200th post, but it ended up snowballing on me, and after doing little but stare at it and modify it for the past 24 hours, the creative part of my brain has regressed to its roots in the primordial soup. So I'll be keeping this brief. Here's a thing I edited for you all, it's nothing sensational, but it's my way of thanking those of you who have stuck with us after all this time. Coming back after that winter lull, we're actually pulling more views than ever before, which is vaguely exciting.

So that's that... See you again for the 300th, I guess. This is the last you'll hear of the concept scene until it's online in front of your eyes, and we'll be sure to let you know when that's an option.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

Sean scripted that Woodman carries Scarecrow across the makeshift bridge, and how could it be visualized any way BUT this? Guess that means we need to cite Scooby Doo as one of the influences of the film...

Tomorrow's the happy 200th. You might check in to see if I was able to come up with anything clever and exciting to post between now and then.

Storyboard Panel of the Day

In case anybody wasn't sure... Yesterday's post was my lame attempt at an April Fool's Day joke. Nick Chopper does not die in the Kalidah sequence, and Scarecrow does not avenge him.

THIS shot, on the other hand, is actually happening. Definitely going to have to type my shot descriptions once I've reached the end of the film...

Storyboard Panel of the Day

EDIT FOR VIEWERS OF THE FUTURE: This one's dated April 1st. Think about what that might mean as you read it...

We had to allow ourselves one major deviation in the interest of actually getting this film completed.

It was hard to fairly balance the screen time of four strong, diverse characters, and from a budgetary standpoint it just made sense to lose one of the CGI characters. Since they need Lion for the river sequence, and the Wicked Witch had scenes with him as well, Woodman was the most sensible cut. Baum fans shouldn't worry, though, after this little moment we follow the book more or less exactly.