Luis' Illustrated Blog

THE SIMPSONS NEWS - Simpsons Traffic Cops.

Simpsons Quote:

Burns: Get me Steven Spielberg!

Smithers: He’s unavailable.

Burns: Then get me his non-union Mexican equivalent!

Directing an episode of The Simpsons has been described, by one of our veteran Directors as, “being a traffic cop.”

Now, this is an over simplified description of the position but it’s not very far off. Especially, if you realize that the analogy implies that director is making sure that no accidents happen, that everyone is getting where they need to go, everyone gets their turn to move,..etc.

It’s time to show you a Simpsons episode, from a bird’s eye view.

Up to this point, I’ve covered the creation of the show (in Part 1), Storyboarding (in Part 2), the design process (in Part 3), the story reel (Part 4), the viewing of the story reel (in Part 5), Storyboard Revisions (in Part 6), Character Layout (in Part 7), and Timing (in Part 8).

You should be familiar with most of the process by now.  This time I’ll talk about the job that oversees most of these positions. The Simpsons Director.

• The Director is Offered an Episode
• He Receives the Script
• He oversees the Storyboarding and Designs
• Directs the Story Reel and presents it to Fox
• Guides the Storyboarding Revisions, the Layout Process and Timing
• Consults the Color Department
• Helps Edit the Director’s Cut
• Watches the Color Screening Fox

The Director is Offered an Episode

Unlike most of the other positions I’ve written about, Directors aren’t assigned an episode, they are offered an episode. The episode they are offered is based on a lot of mysterious factors that the directors themselves aren’t very clear about. One thing is clear though, Al Jean has the final say on what episode is offered to each director.

The reasons they are offered, rather than simply assigned a show, is because they may very well be busy with other work on other shows. Or maybe there are family or personal things that need to get taken care of that production doesn’t know about.  In any case, production needs to know if they are available to direct.

If not, then production talks to them about their schedules and adjusts offering the episodes to other directors. Sometimes, directors swap episode to fit their schedule.

This takes place Months in advance of the show actually going into production.

He receives the Script

As soon as the Table Read script is done, the Director gets a copy.  This is the first time he sees what he’s in for.  He notes how many new locations, backgrounds and characters are in the show.

How complicated is this episode?  Are there any large set pieces? This is the part where the director begins to get a the vision for the episode in his head. The vision that will help him guide “the traffic”, in the right direction, later on.

If there’s anything specific that comes to mind when reading the board, he makes a note of it.

He oversees the Storyboarding and Designs

The vision of the show clearly in mind, the director has a meeting with the Storyboard artists.  Here he has one goal and one goal only: to make sure he communicates his vision clearly to the board artists.

If there’s specific things he want to see, he makes sure the board artists understand.  They talk, swap ideas, and sketch.  If there are things that he isn’t sure about, he talks them over with them.

Since the director is the only one with the vision of the whole show in mind, he makes sure that everyone of the storyboard artists are headed in the same direction and are telling a unified story. Any potential problems the episode has are brought up and solved at this stage. Thus avoiding any “traffic jams”.

He also makes sure that any designs in the episode, fits his established vision.

When looking at the rough boards, the Director judges the presentation with eyes focused on the future.   How will this be Lay-ed Out? Is this the most economical way of doing this? Is this the clearest way?  Will this spoil the joke? How can we make this better?

To this end, he also listens to what the Head Director and David Silverman have to say. Making sure to note it down, since they’re seeing the show with a fresh pair of eyes.

Notes are given to the board artist based on these factors.

And so, those “cars” are guided through.

Directs the Story Reel and presents it to Fox

Once the designs and storyboards are finished to his satisfaction, he begins to direct the Story Reel process.

Each Story Reel artist is given their assignment and instructions.  Once again he’s guiding the artists in the direction they need to go.

Every morning, during this three week process, he goes and sees the “dailies” the artists have been turning in and makes notes on each scene.  He bases these, once again, on the vision he has for the show. Any notes given are handed to the Story Reel artist to fix that day.

Once the Story Reel is done, it’s presented to Fox.

It’s tough because, by this point, the director has seen the show so many times, and knows it so well, he can’t even tell if it’s funny anymore.

This is also a nerve wracking time.  This is when the director truly sees  if his decisions up to this point are working.  If his interpretation of the script was what was expected.  This is when the director presents his baby to be judged.

Guides the Storyboarding Revisions, the Layout Process and Timing

Notes from the Story Reel meeting in hand, the revised script is given to the director.  Depending on how long it takes for the script to be revised, the Director may have a break of a day or two.

Once the script is in hand, it’s back to “directing traffic,” but this time, it’s rush hour.

Just because the storyboards are getting revised, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have to hand out scenes to his Layout artists.  He also has to tell, second unit, what they need to be doing.

On top of that, once some of the easier Layout Scenes are turned in, he has to check them and  if approved, send them off to the background artist. Anything finished then needs to be sent to the timer.

Meanwhile he still needs to make sure that the storyboards revisions get done so he can hand out any new sections. And the revised board.

Lot’s of things going on at once at this point. Traffic can be hell.

Two weeks in, the boards get revised and it’s all about making sure that the vision for the show comes through. Checking Layouts, checking Backgrounds, making sure new designs get approved.  Making sure the timing on scenes is what was envisioned.

Trying to make sure to communicated the vision to everyone else. Making sure the deadline is met. Solving unforeseen problems.

Lot’s of traffic control.

Consults the Color Department

A taste of things to come.  That’s what the color department gives the director.

I’ll be writing about the Color Department soon.  To be honest I forgot all about them.

The color department is where the director goes and sees what his show will look like once it’s in color.  Though the color department is pretty autonomous, the director is necessary here, because he’s the only one with the blueprint of the entire episode in his head.  Here, he can catch any inconsistencies or gags that require just the right colors in order to work.

Once the colors are shipped. The episode is done and it’s up to Korea to do the rest.

Helps Edit the Director’s Cut

Once the rough color version of the show comes back from Korea, it’s time to go look at the final edit.

The editor, in this case, has been working on the show for years and knows what he’s doing.

The director’s job here is to check the show to see if it looks like what he wanted the show to look like.  He’s the only one who know what the original vision for the show was and whether or not it was met.

Anything he finds that is wrong is made a note of.  The Korean studio will get these notes so the problems can be fixed.

Small adjustments are made here to the timing and the editing so it all works according to the director’s vision.

A final director’s cut is then, put together.

Watches the Color Screening at Fox

Similar to the Story Reel screening, the Color Screening is seen by the producers at the Fox studios. Only this time, not only is the director present but the Retake Director is also there.

Once again, notes are given on the episode. Yes, even at this stage of the game.  Only thing is, any fixes will not be done by the director at this point. The Retake Director takes the show and executes all the fixes.

In other words, after this screening, the baton is passed to the Retake Director. He will take over the traffic from this point on and make sure the fixes are done before the show airs.

The original director can now go off into the sunset, or get back to work on whatever other episode he had agreed to direct.

What do you think? Is the job, what you thought it would be?

If you want to go in depth on any of the process that was discussed, I’ve written about most of them in earlier posts.

Want to get just a little bit more insight? Sign up to get an e-mail from me.  I send it the same day I post on my blog and I like to add info in it that I couldn’t fit into my blog post.

This time around, I’m writing about the favorite part of the process the director I got my info from, likes the most.  And which director it was that said that directors where like traffic cops.

Don’t miss out next time.

ART – Refining the designs as I go.

Action, action and more action.

Enter the Zombie Winged Ape.

I’m very happy with how exiting these shots look. I also like the shapes I’m giving Rob at this point.  If you look at earlier roughs of the character, he seems different.

I think after doing these rough boards, I’ll have a much better feel for what I want the characters to look.

For more comics and stories written by me: COMICS AND STORIES

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Comments are appreciated as well.

I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.

Writing this blog is almost a part time job for me. Tips are most welcome.

THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Keeping the Quality Alive, The Character Layout Artists.

Simpsons quote:

“Oh, Marge, cartoons don’t have any deep meaning. They’re just stupid drawings that give you a cheap laugh.” — Homer

The most unique position on any animated television show belongs to The Simpsons Character Layout crew. Once upon a time, there were many shows that had Character Layout crews. They were there to help maintain some sort of quality control over a show.

Not anymore. Most animated show now send, what are called, “layout boards”. Their storyboards are so tightly drawn, they are almost Character Layouts in miniature. Only they don’t have the versatility or control of actual Character Layouts.

The Simpsons, keeps the quality alive.

In Part 1, I wrote about what happens at the Fox studios before the animation studio gets involved.

In Part 2, I wrote about process of Storyboarding.

I wrote about the design process in Part 3.

Part 4, was about how a story reel is put together.

In Part 5, you got a sneak peek at what goes on, when that story reel is seen by Fox.

And you got a brief look at my Storyboard Revision job in Part 6.

So what is a Character Layout artist anyway? And what do they do?

• The two types of Layout artists
• The director assigns them scenes
• They show the director roughs compositions
• They act out and rough time the Scenes
• The Scenes are turned in.

The Two Types of Layout Artists

There are two types of Layout Artists and they work together to create a scene.

1. The Character Layout Artist and
2. The Background Layout Artist

Character Layout Artists: There are five on each crew. They’re in charge, first and foremost, with the technicality of the shot (scenes) they’re given.  They make sure the composition and the camera work is all working. In other words, they’re like camera men. After that, they’re in charge of the physical performance of each character in the scene. Which makes them like actors.

Background Layout Artists: There are two on each crew. They’re in charge of drawing clean background for the characters to interact in.  They make sure that whatever is behind the characters is consistent through out the episode. As well as  making sure that the backgrounds don’t get in the way of whatever is going on in the scene.

The Director Assigns them Scenes

The artists must first watch the unrevised story reel in order to get a sense of their episode. They are also given a copy of the revised storyboards and revised script.

As with most of the work on the show, the director assigns the artist his work.  With Layout artists, it usually consists of a batch of scenes. From ten to twenty, depending on the complexity and the artist’s strengths.

Each artist has things they are particularly good at.  After getting to know the artist’s work, some directors assign the artists particular scenes.  Other directors ask the artists which scenes they would like to work on, thinking to get better work out of the artists if they work on what they found to be exciting.

Once the artist is given his section, he may or may not sit down with the director and talk about the section.  Some directors have a very specific thing in mind for each scene.  Others just let the artist do their thing and direct them after the fact.

At some point, during the process, there is definitely a moment where direction is clearly given for a scene.

Background Layout artists are often given stock shot and establishing shots to work on at this point.

They Show the Director Roughs Compositions

Back at their desks, the artists begin step one of the process: Creating a rough composition (comp) of all their scenes.

This rough comp is a single drawing that is meant to show exactly what each individual scene’s final composition and camera work will look like.

This is, perhaps, the most important job of the Character Layout artist. Whatever this final comp is on each scene, will be the exact scene that will be seen on screen when the show airs.  In other words, the work of the layout artist, is what you see when you watch the final show.

Once the rough comps are done, they are shown to the director who either approves them or gives notes. Very often, this is the point where the director actually starts giving the actor direction as to what he want’s to see in each scene.

This is where the quality control really kicks in.  Up to this point, compositions could be loose. Now they have to be exact.

They Act Out and Rough Time the Scenes

Once the comps are approved, it’s time for the Layout artist to switch hats into acting mode.  The task here is to listen to the audio track of the episode very carefully and act out the physical actions of the characters in a scene.  This is actually a very difficult thing to do.

For starters, the layout artists don’t have much time to do it in. They only have six weeks to finish each  their assignments within an episode.  They’re given an assignment from each Act, and the quota is ten scenes a week.

Second, Matt Groening is particular about the acting on the show. Anything deemed “cartoony acting” is a big no no.  Examples of this acting is: pointing, characters talking with palms up, character acting with two palms up, arms crossed when angry, hands on hip when character is stern, arms behind the back…pretty much any shorthand acting that can be seen in a Saturday morning type of cartoon (or Family Guy) is out.

The idea is to make the characters seem natural and real.  This isn’t to say that the “bad acting” doesn’t get through on occasion. The best way for the Layout artist to avoid “cartoony acting” is to listen to the subtext of what is being said by the character in a scene and animate that.  It’s easier said then done and often times, the artists simply doesn’t have the time to finesse as much as they’d like.

Finally, once the acting is worked out for every character in the scene, the Layout artists “times out” their scenes with the dialogue and creates a “pencil test”.  A “pencil test” is basically a rough animated test of the scene. This is possible because we are using a program called Scene Machine which lets the artist do this in a few minutes.

It is now possible to really hone a scene, to make it look exactly as it is envisioned by the artist. Provided that the artist has the skill to execute it.

This is the quality control that no other show has.

The Scenes are Turned In

Once the Scene is turned in by being uploaded to the server, the Layout artist goes to the director’s office and hands in an actual physical folder, with the scene number, indicating that it’s been turned in. The folder is empty but at some point the scene will be printed out on paper (more on this in another post).

The director then reviews the scenes turned in and either approves it or sends it back to the Layout artist with notes, which the Layout artist needs to address.

As scenes are turned in and approved, they are handed over to the Background Layout artist, who does a final pass on the backgrounds on the scenes. Including animated ones.

They are also in charge of drawing any cars that aren’t being animated on the computer.

Once the scene is done, it gets sent off to the Timer, for final timing (more on this next week).

And that’s what goes into Layout process. Like I said before, no other animated cartoon on TV does this, which is why the show has looked so good for all these years.

I hope that was all clear.  Any questions about the process? Feel free to ask in the comments at the end of the post.

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This time around, I wrote about the “second unit” crew.  They’re Layout artists too, but with a special job. I couldn’t find a good way to put the info in on this post. You will only read about them through my e-mail. If you’re not signed up, you missed out.

VIDEO/ART – Steve Huston Drawing Lesson 1

12 years ago I asked my favorite figure drawing teacher, Steve Huston, if he’d let me video tape his lectures.  He agreed.  So I did.

My girlfriend at the time, Kim Le, kept the original videos safe for all these years.  She recently informed me that she digitized the videos and put them up on Youtube, WITH STEVE‘S PERMISSION! Now EVERYONE can benefit.

You can now get a small taste of what it’s like to be in one of his classes. Of course, nothing beats actually being in his class and having him give you personal drawing advice as he draws over your work. But if you can’t be here in California, this is the closest thing to it. Enjoy:

ART – The White Raven gets taken out of the fight

The fight continues and Rob is getting knocked around.  Meanwhile the Raven gets his knocks too.

I have to say, it’s fun drawing a big winged Ape.

For more comics and stories written by me: COMICS AND STORIES

If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.

Comments are appreciated as well.

I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.

Writing this blog is almost a part time job for me. Tips are most welcome.

THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Moment of truth: When Simpsons writers and producers view a story reel.

Simpsons quote:

“Last night’s “Itchy and Scratchy Show” was, without a doubt, the worst episode *ever.* Rest assured, I was on the Internet within minutes, registering my disgust throughout the world.” — Comic Book Guy

All the work done ’til now, has all been building up to this moment.

The rough story reel gets sent to Fox and the writers and producers see, for the first time, if what they wrote is working as they’ve hoped.

I wrote about what happens at the Fox studios before the animation studio gets involved, in Part 1,

I wrote about the process of Storyboarding, in Part 2,

I wrote about the design process in Part 3.

Part 4, was about how a story reel is put together.

So what goes on in the final story reel screening?

It can be broken down like this:

• The story reel is watched
• They take a break and confer
• They watch it all again

The Story Reel is Watched

Around 10 am, the Director and the Assistant Director go to the Fox lot. There, they join The Show Runner, the Producers, the staff of writers, David Silverman, the Head Director, and some of our production staff, to watch the story reel of the episode.

It’s an interesting situation because, everyone in the room potentially knows all the jokes and how they should play out.

There is, on occasion, an unexpected surprise in the execution of a joke from the animators, which shocks everyone into laughter. But on the whole, everyone in the room should be expecting and anticipating all the jokes.

Interestingly, since the process takes so long to get to this point, and other assignments have been worked on, the writer’s often forget the jokes on a show and genuinely laugh.

When they do remember, the trick is to separate themselves as much as possible to experience it with fresh eyes.

I’m sure you go through a similar process when you watch a rerun of a show that you haven’t seen in a while. The difference is, you don’t get to change the joke after you watch the show.

They do.

(Thank you Michael Price, @mikepriceinla On twitter, for the insight)

The Director and Assistant Director take note of the reaction the show is getting. What is laughed at, when. Hoping to anticipate whether there might be heavy rewrites or not.

They Take a Break and Confer

Once the screening is over, The Show Runner, the writers and producers leave the screening room, gather together and discuss what they saw.

They talk about what seemed to be working, what wasn’t working.  This is where new jokes are pitched and new ideas come together.

They Watch it Again

After about an hour of this, The Show Runner and one producer (without the writing staff), joins the Director, Assistant Director, The Head Director, David Silverman and our production staff, back in the screening room.

There, they watch the show again. This time, pausing it at times and discussing changes that might occur or things to improve on. Here is where David writes down his notes, suggestions, sketches shots and draws his doodles, The head Director writes down and draws his. Production keeps track of what is being said, and so does the director of the episode.

Everything is broken down and analyzed.

Once that’s done, that’s it and it’s time to go.

By the time this is all over, it’s somewhere around noon. The whole process takes about two hours or so.

What do you think?  Do you have any questions?  Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Sign up to get e-mails from me. I’ll let you know when a new post is up. As well as informing you of any useful thing I think you might be interesting in knowing.

I’ll be doing other things in the e-mail that I won’t be doing on the blog. What I’m currently doing is adding a few bits of info about the current topic that I don’t write on the blog.

VIDEO – Convert your Digital Paintings into a 3D Google SketchUp Model

Chris Oatley made me aware of this video in his Tumblr page. It’s made by an artist named Germán Casado Fraga.

It compliments Chris’ SkecthUp  video, which I also posted a few posts back .

This video is amazing, because it shows you how you can actually texture map a SketchUp model from a flat painting. It’s incredible.

ART- Revising and rewriting as I go.

I made some changes to some of what  I posted last time.  As I was drawing the shots below, I realized that things didn’t make sense or play out well, the way I had written it.

As you read the boards below, I’ll explain:

So if you notice, the last panel on this frame has new dialogue. Originally I had the Lead Sorcerer say, “I’ll deal with you later”, and then he took a bag out of his pocket and began to chant.

This kinda didn’t feel right to me as I’ll explain below.

See how the Lead Sorcerer ends up responding to Rob?  I didn’t want him to do that and interrupt his chanting. When a Sorcerer chants, he’s revving up to cast a spell. He shouldn’t stop doing so merely to talk back to someone.

But there was something even more important. I made the Lead Sorcerer continue to argue with Tom. I’ll explain why below.

See how Rob is looking around for a way out?  My original idea was that the Sorcerers would be revving up to strike at Rob, but if they were going to do that, why was it taking long?  Not only that but, they’d be looking straight at Rob, which kinda made it dumb to not notice when he made his move. As he does below:

So I made the Sorcerers argue so that all the actions that occurred made some sort of sense.

I find it interesting that there’s no stage in this process where you really stop writing and improving the story.

The fighting begins next week.

The Winged Apes make their first appearance.

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