Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542693
The scale and scope of the final season is expansive, encompassing two worlds in flux, morphing and consuming one another throughout each episode. The storyboards were so much more than mapping out shots, they were edited into animatics alongside concept art from the brilliant Senior Concept Illustrator Michael Maher. This artwork was integral to the creative development of the series. "At Long Last, We Can Begin" Every department intersects through storyboards. What is seen, heard, how it's cut, lit, enhanced with VFX—all of it is represented in the boards. Each scene begins with the filmmakers discussing their intentions, laying out shot ideas, providing notes on coverage and explaining the underlying point of the scene. After direction from the Duffer Brothers, Michael Maher and Production Designer Chris Trujillo, sketching begins. Before mapping out the sequences, it can be helpful to think of how this scene could be told in a single frame. What is the essence of the action? The subtext? Obviously, a scene needs more, but often a strong visual metaphor is evoked to incorporate as a key frame. My process typically goes THUMBNAILS to SET BUILD to ROUGHS to STORYBOARDS. When first bringing the scene to life, however, I tend to stay analog. The frenetic, crisscrossing nature of ideas gets too obstructed by digital, so I keep it simple: PEN TO PAPER. Thumbnails This is the kitchen sink step: lots of paper, markers, notes, marked up screenplay, it's a creative free for all. Cool ideas and impulsive indulgences—if it flows out, it goes in. I don't edit or censor or revise anything during this stage. It's very overdrawn but that's the point. Once everything has been scribbled out, only then are the drawings edited down. Way down. Illustrator Michael Maher and I are also directors in the DGA so we understand every frame is a setup that demands precious resources. To be critical and economical at this previsualization stage benefits everyone down the line. The Turnbow House The "Turnbow Incident" involves a suburban house that has been targeted by Vecna's sinister forces, the Demogorgans, for a kidnapping. Our heroes know this and have set up a series of traps for the incoming monster to embed a tracker into it. Sometimes storyboards stay in very rough form, which was the case for Turnbow House. Here the boards served more of an "initial ideas" sketchbook. This sequence was eventually handed over to one of the show's guest directors who brought on their talented Storyboard Artist, Ray Prado. The initial work done is never a waste of time, however, as it still contributes to multiple SCRIPT NOTES THUMBNAILS TURNBOW HOUSE EXTERIOR