Interview with Storyboard Artist

- You have apparently worked with Dan Fraga on the storyboard for DBE, how do you work together ? Is this an easy process ?

We were hired at different times, and by the time I came on the show, he had already drawn quite a few scenes. Then I got hired and had to draw different scenes. In other words, we did share the same space office-wise, but we were working on very different things. He wouldn’t need to touch my scenes, and I never got involved in his. Make sense? The workload was just split in two, and we each had to focus on our own assigned sequences. So, we did work together geographically, so to speak, but we didn’t work on the same sequences. Imagine splitting the script in two, you have the beginning to the middle point, and then you have the middle to the ending. From what I gathered, he worked on the first half of the script, and I worked on the middle to last scenes. Not all was boarded out though, just the bigger, more complicated stuff. Dialogue scenes rarely get drawn.

- Was it an easy process?

This answer depends on whether you’re asking if working with Dan was easy, or if the process in general was easy. The way it goes is that I sit down with the director, he explains to me his ideas, I roughly sketch it all out, and then clean it all up for everyone to see. That’s the process in a nutshell. On some days it was a breeze, and it was particularly fun drawing it all out at first. It became kind of tedious reworking and modifying what you had already drawn afterwards, but that’s always going to be a natural part of the storyboarding process. Other than that, it was pretty cool, and that makes it relatively easy. And to answer this the other way, working alongside Dan was pretty damn fun, and I love the guy to pieces. We just hit it off straight away. That actually made working on this project even better for me, personally.

- Were you inspired in any way by the manga or the anime, for the fight scenes mainly ?

Actually… no. But the writer of the script sure was, and all I did was to illustrate the director’s ideas (based on his interpretation of the script), so it was all already laid out for me, and the spirit of the anime was already there. And from what I understand, what made this series so popular was the fighting sequences, so, it would be idiotic from everyone if there wasn’t a heavy influence of the series for translating it into live action.

- Did you meet any difficulties creating this storyboard? If so, could you tell us what ? What did you enjoy the most in your work on Dragonball ?

Well, I wouldn’t say difficulties, I’d say that there were some pretty laborious frames I had to draw, mostly with vehicles, as they can be time consuming. The other one was that late in the process people would have a hard time understanding the geography of where the characters were in my boards (I drew them just as they were designing the sets, so I had very little idea), and I’d be just as unclear as they would be sometimes. But it all got figured out eventually. And what did I enjoy most? Bulma’s bike was pretty damn sweet, being in this kind of production in and of itself was quite a treat, and the people I met and worked with made this the most enjoyable film I’ve worked on, and that actually matters more to me, because those relationships go beyond any one project, and they go on after the film is over. There was just something pretty rewarding about it for me on many levels. Truly a one of a kind experience.

- How much time did you spend working on the storyboard ?

You know? It’s amazing to me how often I get this question. The basic answer is that it ALWAYS varies. Drawing faces is pretty quick, as in a dialogue heavy scene, for instance, while drawing architecture and/or vehicles can eat up more time. The basic speed of the individual artist is also a factor. So, there isn’t a specific timeframe set in stone. I will say that action sequences take more time to render, and I estimate about 20 to 25 minutes per frame, and I can do about 30 of those on any given day. Sometimes less, sometimes more. And another variable is how soon the production needs it. I remember on my first film, they were in such a rush that I had to draw at least 120 frames per day just to meet the deadline. It was pure punishment for me, but I got it done somehow.

- Can you reveal any exciting details for us without spoiling anything ?

I do have a few things I’m really looking forward to seeing on the finished film, but alas, I would be giving away some of the goods.

- Have you seen the final cut of the movie ? If so, is it faithful to your drawings ? Are you satisfied about the final result ?

I have not seen ANY cut of the film. I’ve seen only very small bits here and there, and I guess they were pretty accurate to some of my drawings, but the shots go by so fast, you hardly notice they were based on anything you drew. It happens to me all the time. The pre-visualization guys did actually rely pretty heavily on my storyboards, and those were basically all that I drew, only in motion. It’s pretty neat, but as for the final version of the film, it’s pretty hard to say, since I’ve seen very little of it to make an accurate judgement.

- Are you a fan of the anime ?

You know, not so much at first, but it grows on you, and then you find yourself more interested than usual in the series. It happened to a lot of people on the X-Men films as well, where you’re not particularly a hardcore fan, but then you become quite fond of it, and in a way, it becomes a part of you, and after my involvement with the show was over, I’d find myself staying up late at night to catch some episodes on TV. I was very much aware of Dragonball when I was in high school, because everyone and their mothers were always talking about it, and had the action figures, and the video games, and so, I’m no stranger to the series, but now I AM an actual fan.

- And to conclude, If you had a few words to encourage us to see this movie, what would they be ?

It’s a bit crass, but you have to see Mai’s outfit. She’s SO sexy. And you got Chow Yun Fat! You get babes, you get Chow, and some pretty cool action sequences that hopefully will entertain many. And given that Dragonball is such a huge franchise, with such a phenomenal following, I don’t think you need any further encouragement… do you?

J. Strachan