Story Department Gift

When I get involved with the design of a new location, one of my main concerns is making sure I accomplish the needs of the story department. So up front as I work , I meet with the board artist in charge of a sequence and try to accomplish his/her needs as best as possible. Since I am modeling in a development phase, when finished I prepare a packet of information to hand off to the story artist. In that packet I include main angle shots of the location, a orthographic top view with camera locations, then I go through and set up 40 to 50 cameras to supply other information that might not have been thought of yet. This really aides in the consideration of new places to place a camera, and how to set up a sequence. Later on after the boards are locked we can go through and make the necessary changes in production to accomodate camera layout, and the finished set. I have found the director and story artists to be really responsive to this early mode of thinking since we are not just working with one or 2 images of art. It helps open the possibility of what we can do with a camera in a 3d set. Where it can go, and should not go.