X-Men (Storyboard 1)
John says: "This is my favorite of the scenes I boarded for X-Men . It does a great job of setting up how much stronger Sabertooth is than Logan. You always want to have your hero as much the underdog as possible. And frame 17 of course uses foreground and background as well as motion to an extreme I find very pleasurable."
X-Men (Storyboard 2)
John says: "Again, by making Sabertooth dominant in the frame in 27 Bryan Singer and I worked to emphasis Logan's inferiority in battle."
X-Men (Storyboard 3)
John says: "I have to admit I love frame 38 because it appears almost exactly this way in the finished film."
X-Men (Storyboard 4)
John says: "And now the cavalry to the rescue. I like the way we introduced Storm and Cyclops in silhouette against the lights of the X-Jet."
X-Men (Storyboard 5)
John says: "This page shows how storyboards will often be a first attempt at portraying the look of special effects."
The Crazies
John says: "Here's a terrifying scene from Breck Eisner's The Crazies . The heroes are trapped in a car going through a car wash. One of them is looking out the broken rear window of their car when one of the 'crazies' pops his head into frame from the roof and loops a hose around her neck. The car takes off and... crack!
Breck did a great job of not letting the picture turn into 'just another zombie movie'. He was rewarded by both the critics and the box office."
3: 10 To Yuma (Storyboard 1)
John says: "This is the opening of the movie. I like this page because it's full of mood and shows that we, the audience, are going to see the story through the eyes of this boy. The first shot of the film is his point of view, and the last is a close-up of him."
3: 10 To Yuma (Storyboard 2)
John says: "I love these shots because they juxtapose extremes of tight and wide. The vastness of the old west, against the penetrating stare of Ben Wade (Russell Crowe). Jim Mangold's a great director with a particular gift for actors and here he's setting up the shots to let Crowe reveal Wade's character."
3: 10 To Yuma (Storyboard 3)
John says: "This is when McElroy (Peter Fonda) guesses there's dynamite in Tigue's saddlebag. I just love this 'cos it's such great action (and we storyboard artists crave action)!"
The Uninvited
John says: "Here's a side-by-side frame comparison of storyboards for The Univited with the finished product.
The film was directed by a pair of Englishmen, the Guard brothers, Tom and Charlie. It's gratifying to see when the resulting film resembles the plan!"
The Green Hornet (Storyboard 1)
John says: " The Green Hornet was a dream project for lots of reasons. Foremost was the opportunity to work with Michel Gondry, one of the most creative individuals I've ever worked with.
He's a fountain of ideas that never shuts off. Then there's the fact that storyboard artists (like comic book artists) love drawing guys in masks with cool gizmos like the Hornet's gas gun."
The Green Hornet (Storyboard 2)
John says: "Us storyboard guys also like drawing cool cars, especially ones that shoot stuff."
The Green Hornet (Storyboard 3)
John says: "Kato was a great character to work on with things like the 1 inch punch."
The Green Hornet (Storyboard 4)
John says: "And there were giant action set pieces like the cement mixer vs. the Black Beauty. Honestly, what could be more fun!?"
The Green Hornet (Storyboard 5)
John says: "The Black Beauty blowing holes in walls and driving through... If you live in Los Angeles (as with any big city these days) you've dreamed of having a car that can do this.
I've left out a number of my favorite sequences because I don't want them to act as spoilers. Also, I should say that although I've included only big action scenes, there's much more to this film than that! You'll see."
Made Of Honour
John says: "Here's another staple of the storyboard artist; the slapstick comedy scene. Patrick Dempsey goes over that horse and right through the doors of the church.
I drew this sequence in the hallowed halls of Sony Studios (the old MGM studios) using locations photos of the church in Scotland where the scene was filmed."
Christmas With The Kranks
John says: "This comedy sequence was a combination of a stuntman on the real roof, Tim Allen on a false roof just off the ground, and some digital trickery.
Each shot was worked out in advance so that they would blend together and look like the real thing."
The Million Dollar Hotel
John says: "This is the opening scene, which also repeats at the films end. It was shot on the roof of an old hotel fallen on evil times in downtown Los Angeles' skid row.
I got a chance to work on it with director Wim Wenders, one of my favorite filmmakers and a long time hero of mine. What a thrill!"
To see more of John's awesome movie storyboards, check out his official website .
