Storyboard Artist/Development Artist
(Male, Age 31) from Los Angeles, CA
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Male aged 31 who works as a Storyboard Artist/Development Artist in Los Angeles, CA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.
At a Glance
Current Job
Basic data on your current job
| Job Title | Storyboard Artist/Development Artist |
|---|---|
| Salary | $50,000 |
| Other Compensation | None Set |
| Hours/Week | 50 |
| Company Size | (not answered) |
| Location | Los Angeles, CA |
| Years Experience | 11 years |
Career Ratings
Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)
| Years in Career | 0 |
|---|---|
| Education | (not answered) |
| Income Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Interest Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Work-Life Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Fulfilment Rating | 0 / 10 |
Current job Q&A
Describe the type of organization you work for.
A sole proprietor, my company offers development and storyboard illustration services. At the moment I am the only employee
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
I am responsible for soliciting clients and working with them to develop written words into visual graphics.
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
n/a
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
under
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
No. I am usually required to work alone as artwork is being produced. Only reviews, approvals and the editorial process requires person to person contact. On rare occasions I work in a group, but this is decided on a project basis. I quite like this arrangement.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
n/a
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 6
Hours: 3
Co-Workers: 7
Supervisors: 8
Job Title: 4
Level of Responsibility: 5
The Actual Work: 1
A day in the life of…
Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:
| 5am to 6am | |
| 6am to 7am | |
| 7am to 8am | Began script breakdown (outlining which scentences were to be turned into storyboards and what items need to be included in each) for a 25 page script. Durring the process, notes in the form of small sketches are made. |
| 8am to 9am | Continue from 8am |
| 9am to 10am | 9:30 breakfast meeting with the Director, reviwing my script breakdown, we make corrections, suggestions about diffrent actions to depict and lense length durring the meeting figure on the first pass of the breakdowns. Discussions about camera angles dominate the conversation subsequently. |
| 10am to 11am | 10:30 meeting ends. Head back to office. |
| 11am to 12pm | Begin preliminary sketches. 234 sketches are to be made. |
| 12pm to 1pm | sketching continues. |
| 1pm to 2pm | sketching continues |
| 2pm to 3pm | Lunch hour |
| 3pm to 4pm | sketching continues |
| 4pm to 5pm | sketching continues. |
| 5pm to 6pm | Sketches complete, begin scanning the sketches into the computer. |
| 6pm to 7pm | scanning continues. |
| 7pm to 8pm | Scanning complete. Digitized drawings optimized for smallest file size with best resolution. resultant digital files emailed to the director. |
| 8pm to 9pm | Dinner. |
| 9pm to 10pm | Phone call with the Director discussing images sent. changes are notated, eliminated frames are put aside, 43 frames require full redraw. After the phone call, beging sketching frames needing full rebuild. |
| 10pm to 11pm | sketching continues |
| 11pm to 12am | sketching continues until aproximately 1am, at which time I scannin the 43 new pages, optimize the files and email them to the director. Then it’s time for bed. |
Table of Contents
How you got your job
How did you get your current job?
My current client came to me on referral
What was the application process?
Show of online portfolio
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
No.
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
n/a
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
n/a
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
No.
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Not really. Art school doesn’t teach about the business aspect of art in any field, this required independant study.
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
n/a
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Getting into Entertainment industry functions, meeting Producers, Directors and Art Directors, as well as having a well developed portfolio, showing it whenever possible.
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
Social Skills- Many jobs/clients will only work with people they find easy to work with. Being genuine will get people repeat customers. Fake people are transparent and will almost never make it beyond their first gig. Technical Skills – The ability to execute artwork you are hired to do in a consistant fashon is an absolute must. Only show clients sample work that you can actually execute, not that once in a lifetime lucky hit.
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
No. It’s more a matter oftechnical skill.
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Have a good sense of humor and let your clients talk more than you do. Often times a client will consider you a fantastic conversationalist if the only words you utter are “nic to meet you” and they talk for an hour.
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes. I want to become a film director and this is one avenue of approach to that end.
What are your current career goals?
Become a film director. I have 2 films I specifically wish to make.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
If a person loves to draw or otherwise illustrate and see those illustrations given life by a camera, there’s no better job.
Prior work history
Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:
| Title | Length | Salary | Description | |
| Prior Job 1 | Barista | 6 months | $7/hr | Made coffe and esspresso drinks |
| Prior Job 2 | Subtitle Technitian | 2 years | $19,200/year | Positioned and spell checked subtitles in preparation for laser inscribing onto film. |
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:3
| GPA | School | Degree | |
| College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
3.5 | Otis College of Art and Design | Digital Media |
| Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
n/a | n/a | n/a |
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