Colorscripts-a dream job
Were there to exist micro-careers where you could hand-select any aspect of a larger profession to specialize in, I would have found my calling.
I stumbled upon it just the other day. I went to see Pixar: 25 Years of Animation, at the Oakland Museum of Art.
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It's an exhibit that has been traveling around the world for the past 5 years. Now it's come home to Oakland, just minutes away from Pixar's home base of Emeryville, California. It's only on until January 9th, 2011 so if you are in the area, Do try to get in to see the show. Reservations are required.The show is amazing; I was BLOWN AWAY by the talent and creativity of Pixar's artists. The storyboards, character development, modeling, and so much more. But one particular aspect of the movie-making process really caught my attention: Colorscripts. Aha! Sounds right up my alley!
"A colorscript is artwork that visually supports the emotional content of an entire story through general color, lighting and mood. It depicts the whole story in chronological format that allows one to see the basic color structure to be applied to the entire film. The colorscript is one of the first opportunities to see the story as a whole. It is a low-resolution view that reveals the full emotional arc of the film. Colorscripts work because detail is removed and ideas are presented in their most concise form." (source)
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Colorscript from the Incredibles
The highly-coveted job is held by production designers and art directors, so their responsibilities extend past determining the film's tone through color palette selections. How cool would that be if this position were for those of us who -just- want to work with color? I'll keep dreaming....
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Dice Tsutsumi is responsible for these two gorgeous colorscript drawings, setting the mood for two specific scenes in Toy Story 3. image source
Up colorscript by Lou Romano (here's a link to closer detailed drawings on his blog) The progression of tone and mood from scene to scene is so powerful when you see the entire movie encapsulated in a series of rough thumbnails like these. Color and lighting go hand in hand, so colorscripts are extremely important to the lighting designer for cues. Toy Story colorscript by Ralph Eggleston (love love love his work...)
Finding Nemo colorscript by Ralph Eggleston
Bug's Life study of underground light and forms by Bill Cone
Don't these little vignettes just blow your mind? In my next life, I'll have to come back as an art director, just so I have the chance to work on colorscripts.
What's the coolest career (or micro-career) you've heard of?











4 comments:
This was a fantastic exhibit and those story boards would make great art pieces! It was visually stunning!
This is definitely the coolest career I've ever heard of! WOW! How come I didn't know about this cool job when I had to select a major at University? Sometimes I really wish I could go back in time and do things differently...
What an amazing exhibit - the pics in your post are fabulous, the real thing must be an absolute feast for the eyes!
This are all great exhibits and I love pixar movies!
Nice exhibit. I've been a painter when I was in High School. Colorscripting is an extraordinary talent. It looks like I want to put those colorscript in the wall of my house.
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