Half-Life 2 Storyboards (18-panels)

[Raptor]

Okey, here it is. my full Half-Life2 storyboard. I spent quite a bit of time on this. crits are very welcome, I got an interview with Valve so everybody wish me luck, thats what i made these boards were made for.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Raptor550/HL2_page1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Raptor550/HL2_page2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Raptor550/HL2_page3.jpg
again, tell me about anythings that could make it better, i have one day left!

[fab fox]

Wow, superb job. Nice color harmony/modulation. Get me a tour of valve when you work there!

[Darkchalupa]

Before you show this to Valve, have a look at this site.
http://vulkanbros.com/
Maybe you could use this for color reference, being that he is the art director for Half-life.
Good luck.

[CsakiP]

I think these should be sharper. (It's one of my problems too :) )

[Raptor]

Thanks Paul & Nate, yeah, in retrospect, chooseing a sunny day in a city was kind of a color pallette limiting move. I should have made the whole thing sunset, daylight is frusterateing to me becuse i rarely see it ;).

Darktaco: Vulcan bros after looking closer at it he uses alot of dark rust and grayish navy blue, i will try to incorperate a bit of those colors better, i think i can.

Csakip: yeah, sharpening is a common problem I have, these pictures were allmost borderline speed paintings too so that diddent help. if you get any clever insights into sharpening up pictures id love to hear em.

TO EVERYBODY: what is the two strongest and weakest frames in your opinion and why?

[GriNGo]

that website is so odd! I can't do anything there :P . nice concepts raptor, but i thought most storyboards had to be as simplest as possible?. Also maybe the jumps in between each fram are too large? More frames That sequence you just storyboarded is kinda more complex then that, more planes would be needed I believe to make it more interesting.

Greetings!
GriNGoLoCo

[tagHeuer]

Hey, how’s it going Scott. Cool work here. Page 2 is by far the best.

I agree with CsakiP, these could use better contrast between sharp and smooth edges.

Also maybe they would benefit from more color harmony.

Good luck with your interview.

[tagHeuer]

Page 2 (shot 3 and 5) are the strongest
Page 3 (shot 4) and page 2 (shot 2) are the weakest.

[GriNGo]

I think the helicopter frames are the weakest, cause I really cant sense any movement in them, maybe if the plane was viewed from different angles it would be better. They are just typical frontal, topside view and lateral shots. No movement at all in them! I cant really pick a best one at all. They all seem average. The HUGE ASS critter explotion might be a good choice. As I said before man, you need more frames. Trust me.

And also I think that instead of asking which single frame is best or worst, instead you should ask which sequence of frames is the best

Here is my sucky attempt on how the helicopter ones should be done to make them look more interesting:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/GriNGoLoCO/hl2storyboardexample.jpg

15 minutes work.

And also shouldnt storyboards should have camera moves, (pan, tilt, dollys) and inside frame moves (of objects or people, etc)? a project like HL2 must always need timeframes and audio effects suggestions inside them.

Anyways, good luck with the interview!

Greetings!
GRiNGoLoCo

[xia]

Looking good Bro! Good luck with that.

Keep it up.

[jetpack42]

hey scott! good luck with your interview, let me know how it goes. For me, the first frame is the weakest because everything seems blurry...theres no focus, no details, im not getting a sense of whats going on other then a couple critters sitting around a beach? im not familiar with HL2, so take this with a big grain of salt, but id throw some focus in there, and show a little more action in the drawings....dont know if you'll have time for it though. in any case, best of luck man! You'll do fine!

[0kelvin]

How long did each frame take you? They look rather overdone for storyboards. Unless you're able to really pump something like that out fast, I'd go much simpler in the future.

Good luck with the interview! Getting one seems to be the hardest part.



0kelvin

[skidfrog]

Jiminy....is that what folks expect as a storyboard test these days?..coulr rendered designed....everything?


Lot's of nice stuff....If it were me I would have stayed with the pencil to try to stage action for now and wait to get the job (?) before even going near colour . ( but don't take my word for it......I have never boarded for games....yet!?)

I have some board samples on my site..but nothing so dramatic / tv series can't be too ambitious!

www.dermotwalshe.com

let us know how it goes!

[Raptor]

EVERYONE!: I put in more panals! the 4th page is not in order, these i am going to place inbetween other shots to help the story flo a little better.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Raptor550/HL2_page4.jpg

SkidFrog: I realize this storybord is over the top for rendering, its meant to be a concept/storyboard Hybrid to also show my PS abilities to the company. im pretty sure that even if i get hired they wont use my boards, its main perpous is to get me in the door.

0kelvin: well the last pg (6 boards) took 3 hrs. the first 3 pages took about 8 - 10 hrs per pg. my computor dies alot eraiseing stuff, so i had to redo alot of work like the striders and the first bord for instance. my speed greatly changes with the demand without any real loss of quality, when i am inspired i can get a panal out in 45min. but most of the time i was watching cartoons and talking to friends on IM so it took about 2.5 hrs per panel. lol

GringgoLoco!: you are a SAINT! i took your idea on one of your bords, the bowwom view of the helecoptor i had allready finished before you sent me that suddgestion (great ideas). i really appritiate you takeing the time to help. and yes, you are right, there are alot of technical stuff i normally do that i left out for these bords. i will probbly have a shot sheet bedides the pictures in the final. MUCHOS GRASIAS!

Eli & bruce: yes i tred to tweak out the colors a little more, both matching it to each other, i also tryed to sharpen a bit but there was little time. also i agree, that city explotion blows, but i dont have anymore time. :-p

and to show i actually did do some preconception heres the pencil of the garg shot:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Raptor550/greygarg.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Raptor550/garg2.jpg

[Sean]

Nothing new to say here, except good luck with the interview! I'm hoping to one day try out for Valve.

And thanks for the link, skidfrog! That guy's stuff is great.

[Fallen11]

I like these, mainly the one panel with jet fighter over the city, the bluriness really adds to the speed like effect. Can almost feel the G's. Good luck to. That'd be a cream dream to work for Valve. side note I just pre-ordered my copy of HL-2. Comes out next week baby!!!

[Fallen11]

Oh yea my crits are the same as above. Straight on shots are good for showing landscapes and portraits, but your showing action so vary up the angles for more action like atmosphere. Especially the aircraft ones. Try to avoid putting your main focal point in the middle.

[jmascho]

In every frame, the objects of attention are blurry and undefined. The backgrounds are not thought out and lack linear and atmospheric perspective. I know these are storyboards, but they should pop and read quickly, and you are making it harder, rather than easier to visualize what is going on. To make things easier to read, tighten your forms, focus on your lighting, and cut out the unimportant information. I would redo most of the head on shots and try to capture some action or movement rather than show a profile of an object. I would look up some storyboard artist's panels like Dan Milligan's or somebody and look at how they develop action in a sequence, and pay attention to the camera movement and viewing point angles. Find a few frames that you like, figure out why they work and apply them to your own strengths. Good luck with your interview at Valve.

[nova]

hey, maybe i'll see ya around :) good luck with the interview. what are you applying for?

don't be afraid to use 3d to set up some camera shots, it could cut your work down and let you concentrate more on composition

also color isn't too important unless you're highlighting things like fire, sky, or specific design elements. less is more

[Sanby]

Well, those storyboards are really sweet. I love the guys with the long legs, they are kewl. Anyway, good look with the interview.

Sanby

[Raptor]

Sandby - thanks, the guys at valve desighned the striders, i only implemented them int my boards.

Nove - Did ya see me?! apparently i was applying for storybord, but thats valves chooseing, i diddent shoot for anything in peticula. ri had the interview and it confermed what i thought, i was in a land of giants, pretty intimidateing! thats a good idea useing 3d for perspective shots, i have trouble with that. For after the interview, I have just compleated another storybord, all black & white chickenscratch thumbs, hardly rendered, and that took a while becuse it was like 105 panels, i might post it up on here if i get a chance. ohh, do you have any art i could look at?

Jmascho - yeah, i think i went a little over my head rendering all these out, they make lousy illustrations and ony mediokre soryboard panals, but i tryed it, and i still got bonus points for one thing, its an undeniably large effort! lol, and if thats all i get out of it with maby a smidge of practice ill be fine. i might try this again in a few yours when im better at speed painting.

fallen11 - ill avoided the direct middle in the storybords i am doing now and they are alot more pleaseing.

sean - thanks for vote of confidence!

to everybody thanks for all your feedback, it really did help!

[Darrell Bowman]

i like to see one helicopter scene the one overhead removed
and just the sky one with building tops. reason being then
im saying why are the helicopters not fighting like the planes
with less emphasis on the time alot to helicopter i asume more
that they are a drop of item and not a commanche type
fighter helicopter. so just the helicopter overhead i would remove
and then that frees up a frame let say at the end were maybe
the monster dead and we won. or didnt win hehe.

great stuff like the thought process.

[Sanby]

Raptor: yeah, I've seen the trailers for half-life 2. But, I think that you did a great job on that panel. it looks great.

Sanby

[Darkchalupa]

Hey Scott, I was looking at our production team's storyboards on your site, and I was noticing you still haven't credited me for the big ship at the beginning of your boards. I know your probably really busy, but I want you to credit me for it because I concepted and modeled it myself.
-Nathan Lange

[jetpack42]

any word on the job?

[eskvl]

hey raptor, what's up with that? you should give credit where credit is due. whether busy or not.

[Kenny_Callicutt]

get the job?

[draigun]

good luck vigilanty

[Raptor]

hey nate, majior appologies, i used PS wizard to do that part of the webpg and were i gave you credit in the file info it diddent use that box, ill fix that right away man!