Funny Storyboard Ideas
Add storyboards to your illustration portfolio to showcase your skills as a narrative artist. Storyboard work will give you opportunities to depict entertaining situations and create talking points for interviews and meetings. Carry a notebook to jot down or sketch strange events and people that make you laugh. Turn your laughs into narrative panels.
Other People Are Reading
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Dramatic Reaction
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Prove your skills as a character artist with situations that give your subjects a reason to react. Capture your character's expression as she bites into something unexpected, or shine a spotlight on the face of someone who was caught sneaking a taste of the Thanksgiving turkey before dinner. Create a scene for two characters who react differently to the same situation. How would a New York police officer react to his girlfriend taking his K-9 to the doggie spa for the day? How would a teacher react to a student who turns in a 200-page book report? From one lifted eyebrow to a full-on scowl, the right expression will get your joke across in one take.
The Unlikley Hero
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Create characters from stereotypes and give them an unexpected mission: a baby genius and a chemistry set, a superhero doing the laundry, a street thug snuggling a kitten, a ninja stopping for a cappuccino in broad daylight. Give your main character a duty or activity outside his expected daily performances and see how breaking down a stereotype can be laugh all by itself. Supporting characters can add to the humor. What would a little boy do if a ninja was sitting next to him at the deli? The more unlikely the activity, the funnier it is, so exaggerate the possibilities and let your humor fly.
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Anticipation for Disaster
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Use the background environment and props to create a setting that teeters on a giant mess. Lead the audience up to the brink of a disaster and then stop, letting your viewers' imagination fill the unwritten panel. How about a 20 layer cake being carried by the world's smallest chef? Or an office worker unknowingly flipping through social network sites as his boss fumes behind him? A child reaches for shiny remote control with chocolate-covered fingers just as Dad takes notice ... When your audience has a chance to take a potentially hilarious situation and make it funnier, you've given them a chance to participate in your own world of humor.
Pop Culture Events
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Practice the art of caricature by flipping through pop culture magazines and sketching what you see. Current pop culture icons are fun additions to portfolios that target editorial and entertainment industries. Consider the latest nationally televised events as a setting for your storyboards: the Oscars, Wimbledon, the ball drop in Times Square. Employers and clients will appreciate that you can depict local celebrities in a recognizable and humorous manner. A storyboard of a national event will also give you the opportunity to show off your abilities as a background artist when you use a familiar setting known to all.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Patrick Ryan/Lifesize/Getty Images
