Dreamworks Story Artist Darren Webb Talks Through His Boards From ‘Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’

Dreamworks story artist Darren Webb recently posted an enlightening and educational video discussing some of the his work on Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. (Warning: The video does include major plot spoilers)

Webb’s video is only six-and-a-half minutes long but serves as a sort of Cliffs Notes masterclass on putting together uncomplicated yet extremely effective storyboards.

In the video, Webb shares artwork that he put together for the third act of the film. Some of what he shared didn’t end up in the final film, making the video all the more interesting. He also shares artwork from the vis dev team that shows how Ruby uses lessons learned earlier in the film to gain the upper hand in a key moment of conflict against her nemesis.

Webb’s work is a lot of fun to look at and surprisingly colorful; the facial expressions in many of the shots are priceless. Adding to the video’s efficacy, Webb takes the time to explain what’s happening in each shot and describe why things are represented the way they are on screen in both a visual and narrative context.