Toby Shelton: stuff i did

The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (2010) Pt. 6

2012-02-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

In the final post of this installment, Heimlich is stuck up the chimney having a nice honey-glaze applied to his pork loins when, lo and behold, his friends Horst and Dieter come to the rescue.

I can't say I was thrilled when they first asked me to work on this project. The whole idea of mixing parodies of Rear Window and the Werewolf seemed conceptually confusing to me. Sometimes you just have to do the best you can with what you're given. Once I got rolling however, I managed to have some fun with it.

The whole splattering of BBQ sauce gag was my attempt to parody the slasher genre, but proved too graphic for some and was cut. I never saw the final version of this, but I think the BBQ chef was changed to a Julia Childs type female chef...and there you go.

The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (2010) Pt. 5

2012-01-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

I seem to remember the script being pretty thin here. Something like -- "Wolfy changes back into maniac Chef and chases Heimlich around the house. Hilarity ensues." I decided to have Heimlich attempt an escape up the chimney. There will be a pay-off for this in the next post.

Happy New Year.

The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (2010) Pt. 4

2011-12-14T17:07:00.000-08:00

No further description needed here...

The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (2010) Pt. 3

2011-12-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

Frantically scanning the scene for signs of his two friends, Heimlich is horrified to fine out he's "the other white meat."

The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (2010) Pt. 2

2011-11-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Helplessly watching as Dieter is attacked by a mysterious stranger in his house, Heimlich quickly turns his attention to Horst who is waiting outside munching noisily on an apple, oblivious to the commotion inside.

The Pig Who Cried Werewolf (2010) Pt. 1

2011-11-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

This was one of those projects we get asked to work on between movies. They're usually short subjects produced as bonus material for the DVD releases. This particular one however is currently available only through the Nintendo website.

Written as a horror/thriller parody, The Pig Who Cried Werewolf takes place in the Shrek universe and features the Three Little Pigs, Heimlich, Horst and Dieter with their friend, Wolfy. Heimlich who is staying with his friends while he recovers from a broken leg, decides to rent out the House of Bricks to Wolfy who needs a place to stay. Peering out from the House of Straw, Heimlich notices some strange goings-on at the brick house and sends his friends over to investigate. Wackiness ensues...

Warning!

Some of the images below contain graphic depictions of BBQ sauce and may not be suitable for some viewers.

This will be a multi-part post.

Operation "Rico Star" for Intel (2010)

2011-08-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

The panels below are from a 45 second spot that I was asked to board for Intel, featuring the penguins of Madagascar. The ad has been playing in movie theaters - maybe you've seen it already. If not, I've posted it below.

In case you missed it, here it is...

I like the way they made the glow effects look like micro-processor patterns.

Mickey's Misfire (2011)

2011-05-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

It was brought to my attention that I left out the "firing the gun" pose from the sequence of sketches in my last post. So here it is -- along with the "aim" sketch that precedes it.

(I've added them to the last post as well, just to make it complete.)

Mickey Get Your Gun (2011)

2011-05-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

I've always had a soft spot for Mickey. One of the first projects I worked on at Disney was Mickey's Christmas Carol. The Brave Little Tailor and The Pointer are a couple of my favorites. I especially like when Mickey (voiced by Walt himself) gets mad at Pluto in The Pointer and calls him a "bone-head!". There's something genuine about that moment that makes me laugh.

Though he's since been reduced to a corporate trademark who baby-sits preschoolers for a living, I'm glad he once lived, long ago in the golden age of cartoons.

These were drawn digitally on a Wacom Cintique using Photoshop. (click to enlarge)

Button Of Doom (2010) MegaMind DVD

2011-03-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a sample from a bonus short that was released with the MegaMind DVD, which hit the store shelves recently.

Nothing flashy here, just a little character moment between MM & Minion.

Cold Feet

2011-03-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Sketch Du Jour

The Box

2011-02-25T17:16:00.000-08:00

Sketch Du Jour.

Metro Man Day Pt. 3/3 (MegaMind) 2009

2011-02-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Using his super-hearing to home in on her cries for help, Metro Man locates the distressed senior just in the nick of time...but soon finds himself in a bit of a "pickle".

I added the pickle jar shot for this post. It seemed to scream for it and probably would have been requested by the director had the scene been cut in.
Thanks for all your generous responses.

Metro Man Day Pt. 2/3 (MegaMind) 2009

2011-02-17T15:13:00.000-08:00

Hearing the distressed cry of an elderly citizen, Metro Man must quickly dispatch with the getaway van. He crumples it up, encasing the criminals inside and leaves it at the curb for Metro City police to deal with...or not...

Some pretty loose drawing in here. When you're under the gun, you do what you can to communicate quickly.

Metro Man Day Pt. 1/3 (MegaMind) 2009

2011-01-31T14:07:00.000-08:00

Several sequences were boarded during pre-production that depicted a day in the life of Metro Man. Each one featuring Metro Man hard at work protecting the citizens of Metro City who in return show little gratitude for it. These sequences were ultimately cut from the movie for good reasons, which I won't elaborate on here.

In part 1 of this 3 part post, Metro Man is in hot pursuit of a get-away van...

Huey, Dewey & Louie Model Sheets (Quack Pack) 1993

2011-01-19T01:08:00.000-08:00

The idea behind the Quack Pack series was to age-up the nephews and give each one his own voice and personality. No beanies, no matching turtle-necks, no more finishing each others sentences. The next big ingredient was to foist them on their bachelor uncle, Donald Duck! Throw in a liberated Daisy and you've got Quack Pack.

To create the Quack Pack universe, Co-Producer Kevin Hopps and I turned to the Donald Duck shorts for inspiration. We noticed that Donald often appeared alongside humans in these cartoons, so we decided to populate our Duckburg with humans as an extension of the shorts universe rather than the Carl Barks world of Duck Tales fame.

NOW HOLD ON THERE, BROTHER! DID I JUST HEAR YOU SAY?!! AAAACK! MY HEART!!!

Yes........this proved to be somewhat controversial with many of the fans who thought it sacrilege to make a Donald/Nephews series that was not a direct continuation of the legendary Duck Tales series. Maybe we shot ourselves in the foot by not doing so -- C'est la vie -- it's all fodder for the forums and Com-Con panels now.

Huey is the smooth-talking, wheeler-dealer, who'd rather read the buisness section than the sports.

Dewey is the philosopher-thinker of the trio.

Louie is the athlete, what he lacks in brains he makes up for with pluck.

Rapunzel Pt. 3 (2008)

2011-01-06T11:35:00.000-08:00

While Rapunzel sleeps, Mother Gothel slithers into her loft to look for evidence that she might be in contact with someone from the outside world. She's searching for clues in the paintings which cover the inside walls of the tower, painted by Rapunzel as a kind of living journal.
While leaning over the sleeping Rapunzel, Mother Gothel whispers in her ear, "What are you hiding from me, my Dear."

Rapunzel Pt. 2 (2008)

2010-12-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

Same sequence -- As Rapunzel beds down for the night, she takes comfort in knowing her secret is safe and that Mother Gothel's suspicions have been averted. Au contraire! Mother Gothel begins searching for clues around the tower.

You might notice that I switched from drawing with a Chinamarker to a simple black pen at the end of this section. For whatever reason, I seem to default back to drawing in black pen for storyboarding. For one thing, you can lay down a dark tone and still read the lines.

* To clarify -- when I say I switched from "a Chinamarker to a simple black pen", what I mean is, I switched brushes within Photoshop. I don't mean to imply that I drew any of these with a real Chinamarker or black pen. (I have a custom Chinamarker brush for Photoshop that a friend gave me.) Everything here is drawn digitally in Photoshop on a Cintique. Sorry for any confusion.

Rapunzel Storyboards (2008)

2010-12-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

This movie was in pre-production for many years and was conceived in just about every way imaginable before becoming the "Tangled" movie that is currently in theaters. During my brief time on the movie, about 6 weeks, the story-telling was darker and more dramatic in tone than what was in the final movie. There were no songs, no slapstick -- and no horse! (...just a basset hound.) Mother Gothel was a sinister, brooding villain in the tradition of the Queen in Snow White.

These panels are from a sequence in which Mother Gothel begins to suspect that Rapunzel has had contact with the outside world. Rapunzel catches herself carelessly humming a tune she learned from "the intruder" and must quickly cover up.

Everthing here is digitally drawn on a Cintique in Photoshop.

MegaMind Boards (2009)

2010-12-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a sample from a sequence in which Titan turns the tables on Metro Man after noticing Metro Man's powers have been mysteriously weakened. He discovers why when he inadvertently steps on Megamind's disguise generator.

I thumbnailed this sequence on post-its. I like to do that sometimes because you can rearrange them easily and play around your shot order.

Metrocity is Mine! (MegaMind) 2009

2010-11-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

My intention in the next few posts is to put up some MM boards. There's a lot of stuff to sort through however, about 18 months worth, so bear with me. These are a few panels from a sequence called Metro City is Mine. MegaMind is marching to City Hall to take control after the demise of his rival, Metro Man. The guitar riff from AC/DC's Highway to Hell plays as he dances down the street.

You might notice that the last 2 panels are in a different format. They are from an early pass that was done prior to the decision to go wide screen.

Digital Darkwing (2010)

2010-10-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

I've been having a lot of fun drawing Darkwing on my Cintique lately. I wanted to see if I could squeeze more out of the design and loosen up on the poses a bit. Let's Get Dangerous!

I've Got To Hand It To You (2010)

2010-10-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

When I look at portfolios, I can gauge the skill of the artist rather quickly by noticing the way they draw hands. Expressive hands can add tremendous impact to a pose or gesture. After the eyes and mouth, the hands are one of the main indicators an audience looks for when trying to read a character's attitude, yet so many young artists are loathe to draw them. But draw them you must!

Hence this post...

This is the way I think of hands when I draw them. A wedge and cylinders.

Grouping fingers together and varying their direction can help make them look more natural.

No matter if they're beefy hands or slender, it's still a wedge and some cylinders. Try it.

©Toby Shelton 2010

Put your hands together, people! Take it to the next level by making your hands interact.

Hope this little exercise helps you to get a "grip" on drawing hands.

Gadget Model Sheet (Rescue Rangers) 1988

2010-09-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

Playing against type, the idea was to have the girl of the group be the "grease monkey". Inspiration for Gadgets hair style and costume came from a petite story-board artist at Disney TVA with blond hair and bangs who wore a lavender jumpsuit to work on occasion. Gadget turned out to be a very popular character in spite of her ghastly last name -- Hackwrench. Yikes!

In case you missed it. Monterey Jack and Zipper model sheets were in my Aug. 16th post. Check 'em out.

I Only Have Eyes For You

2010-09-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

While working at Disney many years ago, we were asked to do a drawing exercise to explore expression using only the eyes. Some of the eyes we drew ended up in The Illusion of Life book. The idea was to see how many variations we could get by changing up brows, eyelids, pupil direction, etc. We were told that the first thing the audience looks for when connecting with a character on the screen are the eyes. Therefore, the eyes needed to clearly convey the thoughts and emotion of the character. This is a fun exercise I thought some of you might like to try.

Tips: 1.) The left eye doesn't have to do what the right eye is doing. Variation can add life to your expressions. 2.) Don't think of eyelids as "windshield wipers" or "venetian blinds" mechanically moving over the eye. They are soft fleshy parts that wrap around the eye and can change shape when pushed and pulled by facial muscles.

Going Digital: Story Sketches (HTTYD) 2006

2010-09-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

It was during my stint on HTTYD that the DreamWorks story department began it's transition from traditional boarding with pen and paper, to digital boarding on Wacom Cintiqs loaded with Photoshop. Like most of my colleagues, I was eager to try out this new technology, so I jumped in with both feet.

These panels are taken from one of my first digitally drawn sequences. Alas, the sequence ended up in the recycle-bin, but the die was cast -- I had traded my Sharpie for a stylus and there was no turning back!

Some Early Character Sketches (HTTYD) 2006

2010-09-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

Far from the sleek, black Night Fury that appeared in the movie, these early sketches of Toothless depict a common, garden variety dragon of little consequence. Consequently, he was tossed from the picture.

This one feels a little chihuahua-like.

For a time we explored the idea of Hiccup's rival (Snotlout) being a girl viking.

I was thinking of Rosie O'Donnell while drawing this one.

Just a random dragon idea here.

Random Story Sketches (How To Train Your Dragon) 2006

2010-08-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

These panels are taken from a an early first-pass in which Hiccup tries to get his stubborn, disinterested little dragon to catch fish for him. Note: Staying true to the book at the time, Toothless was portrayed as a smaller type of dragon that spoke in the third person and had a penchant for corny jokes and riddles. While pitching the sequence I had to say things like, "Toothless no want to catch fish! Toothless want more jokes!" (Ugh!) It soon became evident that the tone of the movie was sounding a bit too juvenile, and so the dragon was rendered mute. It wasn't until much later, however, that Toothless was changed to the larger Night Fury dragon that was in the movie.

Idea Sketch (How To Train Your Dragon) 2006

2010-08-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

In the early days of story on HTTYD, Toothless was depicted as a scrawny runt of a dragon who was hardly a match for a flock of seagulls let alone other dragons. (digital drawing)

Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers Model Sheets (1988)

2010-08-16T02:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a blast from the past for all you Disney Afternoon fans. This was the first show for which we created these one-sheets for the animators. The idea was to give them an easy to pin-up quick-reference sheet that featured construction info as well as a variety of poses and expressions. Note the shows creators, Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove, signed-off on the sheets. Alan got his start in the business as a young buck in the WB shorts department back in "the day" and later at UPA in the early 50's. He would eventually become my mentor as I began to take on some directing duties for the Darkwing Duck series.

Digital Panda Sketches (KFP) 2004

2010-08-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

These sketches were drawn digitally as I was transitioning to the Wacom Cintique for production work. Thought you might like to compare them to my previous posts. Working digitally introduces a variety of tools and techniques to storyboard artists, but sketching and drawing fundamentals remain the same.

More Random Story Sketches (KFP) 2003

2010-08-04T00:03:00.000-07:00

More of the same here. 1/4 size panels, medium Sharpie and Prismacolor for tone.

Mo' Po Sketches (Kung Fu Panda) 2003

2010-07-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

My work on KFP was mostly in the early months of production. (Hence the no-pants drawings of Po.) As I recall, it was during those early months that Po's personality began to take shape thanks largely to the work of story man Jed Diffenderfer.

Random Story Sketches (Kung Fu Panda) 2003

2010-07-26T00:12:00.000-07:00

At the time I drew these sketches I was working on 1/4 size panels(approx. 5"x3"). Working small with a medium Sharpie forced me to leave out unnecessary detail and saved time by decreasing line mileage. When I enlarged the panels for the pitch the bold lines and simple compositions read clearly from across the room.

Rough Po Sketches (Kung Fu Panda) 2003

2010-07-19T01:10:00.000-07:00

KFP Director, John Stevenson told me that it was my story sketches of Po that inspired him to undertake a redesign of the character. He asked me to take a couple of days to do some random poses and expressions for the designers. This is a sampling of those. Of course, it was the great Nico Marlet who did the final designs for the movie. Note: These were drawn with a Sharpie and a Prismacolor pencil. No digital drawing here.

Rhino Pilot

2010-07-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

Some of my colleagues here at DWA started a daily quick-sketch exercise. It works like this: Someone comes up with a prompt (e.g. Rhino Pilot), then we all do a sketch and post it on our respective blogs that same day. I doubt I'll be able to keep up with it daily, but I'll give it a shot.

More Model Sheets from Darkwing Duck Series (1991)

2010-07-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

Gosalyn was the spunky 9-year-old tomboy adopted by Drake Mallard (a.k.a. Darkwing Duck). She was voiced by the talented Christine Cavanaugh who brought a lot of charm and energy to the character.

Launchpad was a carry over from the legendary Ducktales Series and was designed by Skip Morgan. I merely adapted Skip's design to fit into the Darkwing world and added some extra poses and expressions. Sort of a style adjustment, I guess.

Random Story Sketches (Princess and the Frog) 2008

2010-07-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

These are random sketches from the movie in no particular order.

Ray and Tiana searching for Naveen during Mardi Gras.

Louis leading a band toward the Mardi Gras parade.

Louis asks Ray to check his tail, "Is it bleeding?!"

Tiana thinks Naveen betrayed her and is inconsolable.

Ray is visibly wounded when Tiana tells him that his beautiful Evangeline is just a star, not a firefly.

Mama Odie's Song (Princess and the Frog) 2008

2010-07-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

These sketches are from an early version of Mama Odie's song from Princess and the Frog. The song was originally a little gospel diddy called, Turn On The Light. Paul Briggs and I teamed up on the sequence depicting a "church service" in the black southern tradition with a choir of spoonbills in the background and various swamp critters acting as the congregation. The song was eventually rewritten as You Gotta Dig A little Deeper which ended up in the movie. Working with Paul was the highlight of my time on that movie.

Princess and the Frog (Mama Odie) 2008

2010-07-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

These are some rough explorations for Mama Odie the blind voodoo priestess in Princess and the Frog. My next post will be story sketches from an early incarnation of Mama Odie's song sequence.

Middle-aged Man Comic Cover (2009)

2010-06-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

I drew this up for my friend Brad Key who turned 50 recently. Brad and I have been friends since the first grade so I wanted to do something nice for him.

Darkwing Duck Model Sheets (1991)

2010-06-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

I'm launching my blog with model sheets from Disney's Darkwing Duck series of which I was lead character designer at the time. The shows creator, Tad Stones gave me an inspirational sketch of a duck dressed in an outfit reminiscent of the pulp character The Shadow, and I ran with it. I am amazed at how many of my colleagues here at Dreamworks were fans of the show back then. It makes me feel old. Other character designers on the show were, Kenny Thompkins, Dana Landsberg and Ritsuko Notani. I also cut my teeth as a director on the third and final season of the series.What you see here are my original pencil drawings cut out, pasted onto poster-sized foam-core board, and photographed. If you look closely at the hi-res images you'll notice faint under-drawing and some erasures.