| Storyboard Supervisor: Patricia Ross |
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 What's a day like as a Storyboard Supervisor?A typical day might include a script launch, which is usually a conference call with the creators of the show in New York, to answer any design or storyboard questions about the script, or to note any changes that may have been decided upon after the scripts were sent out. From there I would begin thumbnailing sequences of my script that are tricky, or just begin boarding. Then there are revisions of previously boarded sequences, perhaps to do with the show running long or short, hookups that may need reworking after an editing pass, notes from the creators, or script/design changes. It can be pretty busy! How big could a Storyboard team be? On the current project, it is just myself and team of one, our Lead Story Artist Natalie Long, who is an extremely talented and supportive team mate. It's different for every project, I'm sure feature teams could be quite large. When I was a board artist on Higglytown Heroes we had about 3 or 4 in house and probably 5 freelance board artists. Then when I was a Storyboard Supervisor on Higglytown, we had myself and Natalie in house, and I think 5 or 6 freelancers. One thing is certain, there are never enough available story artists!  Are storyboards pretty close to the final product?Sometimes they are very close, and it is pretty cool when that happens! It's very exciting to look at the final product and see your panels reflected in the animation and camera moves. In general, the basics are there, but after you've turned in your final board, there are still director's notes for the animators applied to the panels, more specific direction to enhance the panels to the next level. Is technology somehow shifting the way storyboards are made? Definitely. Most people are working digitally on Cintiqs these days. We started this series with pencil and board pads, but several months ago, began working in Photoshop on Wacom tablets. (We are hoping for Cintiqs next time!) Working in layers makes life so much easier for the editorial department, and also makes revisions happen more quickly. I am always sticking up for the feel of pencil and pen on paper, but I can absolutely see why it is really not practical to work that way these days. The amount of time spent scanning and erasing and cutting and pasting is eliminated, and who wouldn't be happy about that? Is there anything you would like to add? Just that it's been a pretty invaluable learning experience to have worked as a Storyboard Supervisor, and if anyone out there is boarding away, keep it up! There is always demand for good Storyboard Artists, and if you can do this, and take direction, you will be kept busy.
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I am a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, and graduated from the Academy of Art College in 1991 with a BFA in Illustration. I worked as a freelance artist (and waited tables.../lots/ of tables) on editorial illustration for magazines and newspapers. But I had always wanted to work in animation, and was able to combine this goal with my other goal of moving to Ireland. In 1999, I earned a Diploma in Classical Animation Studies from Senior College Ballyfermot, Dublin. I stayed in Dublin working on illustration, Flash animation, and visual development for commercials and video projects. I split my time between Ireland and the Bay Area for the next few years, also working at Curious Pictures San Francisco as an assistant animator (inbetweening and cleanup) and for various clients in children's educational mulitmedia. In 2002, I started as an assistant animator at Wildbrain, and have worked on and off there since then.
