Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Thumbnails-A scene from "Sideways"

Lately, I've been taking scenes that I like from films and deconstructing them. It's always great to watch a great actor perform and see how (s)he approaches their craft. I've taken a scene from the movie, "Sideways" where Paul Giamatti's character is playing golf with his buddy played by Thomas Haden Church. He keeps talking while Giamatti's character is concentrating on playing golf, finally causing him to throw the club down and yell at him, telling him to: "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Jeezus christ man, what the hell is wrong with...would you pleease just SHUT UPPPP! FFFFUUCK!!"(Click on the line to see the clip)
I love the tension that Giamatti gets with his character. Every beat and accent feels just right in the scene. Plus, the staggers on his arms are AMAZING when you frame through them. If you can put that into an animated scene, you'd definitely have gold.
It's great how he pauses right before he drops the "F Bomb" too. And he uses the action of ripping the velcro from his glove as an accent as he turns away. Amazing stuff.
Stay tuned for more Thumbnail breakdowns coming soon!

18 comments:

Bobby Pontillas said...

THESE are gold! I've got to try this some time.

Unknown said...

...really interesting hearing the break down of the acting! And the sketches look pretty nice as well!!

T' said...

Howdy, random blogger that came across your account and enjoys your work. This is not only a fantastic idea, but you really capture a lot, even with such simple sketches. Thanks for the post! A lot to think about.

T' said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
maarten said...

Man thanks for posting this, im definitly gonna try this too, looks like you can learn so much from it!

A-R Dumont said...

Interesting observations, Chris. You're right about Giamatti...he's got amazing timing. I love your detailed breakdown of that scene. Too funny.

kaunchen said...

I remembered that scene in the movie. Good stuffs:)

Anonymous said...

these are nice to see.
great studies.

In invested in a waterbrush pen
a couple weeks back; still trying to
get the squeeze right though:)

Kathleen Rietz said...

Hey Chris. I haven't seen you post on Illustration Friday in ages. thought i would stop by to see what you have been up to. Glad to see you are still sketching, and still very good at it!!

Fränk Spalteholz said...

Hey Chris!

Had the pleasure to check out your blog and your artwork is really great! Just 3 more weeks and the term is over. It's pretty cool having you as a mentor and i definitly drop by sometimes for watching you posts. Take care and have a great time!

Frank

Martin Wittig said...

Chris,..These are just GREAT! Wonderful work as always:)

Joe Karg said...

Cool adaptation. I love that film.

marco's blog said...

great idea, i've got to try this...thanks for sharing!

SHANE PRIGMORE said...

Cool dude! I hope your doing awsome. What are you up to? I hope your Holidays have been great.

C.Deboda said...

Hello, been a while since I've visited here. But always nice to see your sketches. And thanks too for sharing this latest post (good animation tips) and for showing your process on the previous one. Very nice. :)

magnus said...

Great idea man! before I cam across your blog I was doing this with some scenes from Rushmore to learn some more subtle acting, and just to see what was really needed in a very simple contained shot. But this is a great scene, and I like the thumbnails.

messytimbo said...

can't wait to see this when it's done

Wilson Ramires said...

Hi there Chris, I've been checking your blog, pretty cooL stuff, love the sketches, but wat really got my attention was this deconstruction, wow!!! I'm defenetly gonna give it a try"

all the best,

Wilson