COP3 Practical Research - Storyboard Driven Animation: Adventure Time

Whilst writing my dissertation I wanted to include the difference of storyboarding when it drives the animation, however this in itself could have been a dissertation, the different approaches to the concept completely depend on the storyboard artist. This is definitely something that I will continue to research in PPP module as this concept of creating an animation intrigues me, it is such an unique approach to creating an animations that hold something different to the structure of composition.

What is the difference of a storyboard driven show? Frederator goes on to describe the difference between script and storyboard driven animations,

'Script-driven shows, including The Fairly OddParents* and most primetime animated shows you see, are written first, with that resultant script (or, often, the cast recording) going to the board artists. On the other hand, with board-driven cartoons, the boarders will work from short outlines generated by a writer or writing staff. These boarders are effectively writers, as well.

Most often the creators are the board artists. In other cases, since we require thumbnail pitches —complete with dialog—for the greenlight, it’s usually that pitch—and a couple of conversations—which goes to the board artist.'

Adventure Time! Main characters, Finn and Jake

The main animation that I wanted to analyse was, Adventure Time, created by Pendleton Ward, this cartoon animation is completely storyboard driven. In an interview on Art of the Title, Ward states, 'The show is storyboard-driven which means that there’s a writing phase where we put together a three page outline with the two staff writers on the show and then give that outline to the board guys. The storyboard guys write all of the dialog along with all of the storyboarding. In the end, each storyboard guy plugs his or her personality into the characters.'

I really like this freedom that the storyboard artists have on the personality of the characters as well as their representation of the concept given. In my opinion this approach is what gives Adventure Time that quirkiness which makes this show so lovable and different with each episode. Ward further quotes,

Example of storyboard pitch, storyboarded by Tom Herpich

'I’m in the writers’ room during the outline phase and then I hand that off to the storyboarders. From there, they have one week to rough thumbnail a storyboard and then Pat and I go in and give notes. After that, they have another week to implement our notes. It takes two weeks to clean up, so it comes out to four weeks altogether for each storyboard and we’re involved every step of the way.  For the first season I was rewriting a lot, but I’ve let go of a lot since then. There are a lot of really talented dudes and ladies working on the show, so the board guys are more in control of their episodes now.'

Knowing that the show is storyboard driven, there is quite alot of pressure for the storyboard artist to create a good quality representation of the concept given for that particular episode. However this is ultimately the role of the storyboard artist, to create an interesting take on the plot when translating to visual storytelling.



Sources:
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/adventure-time/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/287619412/AT-Stakes-Main-Title-network-pitch-storyboard
http://kingofooo.tumblr.com/
http://times.frederator.com/post/98168850290/bee-and-puppycat-adventure-time-the-fairly