The Live-Action Go-to-Guy’s P.O.V. on Portfolios

Here’s Adrien’s second post in the series of ‘Getting the J-O-B’. This time he’s adding to my post on Building a Storyboard Portfolio.

It’s a short one, so enjoy his drawings! – KJL

Karen is correct…never have animation boards in your portfolio when showing to a live action client. I’ve tried and it just gets embarrassing.

So, live action storyboards is all that should be in there. Only your latest work. As they say, you’re only as good as your last job. But…maybe your last job was top secret (usually is).

You may show them, but never leave behind a copy and never leave them unattended. Sounds crazy, but a small mistake like this can ruin your career.

Never show boards that have top secret story beats in them, like a character death. Just think, if some of my Incredible Hulk boards end up online 5 months before it comes out, someone would surely yell, “You’ll never work in this town again!”

Not to mention a lawsuit for damages coming my way.

Have a few samples of different beats: a car chase, action sequence, VFX. They’re all slightly different in presentation. Do not have 50 pages for them to look at, just enough to give a sense of ability and style.

A website portfolio is a great approach. I haven’t shown a physical portfolio in the year and a half my site has been up. Everyone can click on the PDF download button to get samples from me. It will save you from running home to a fax machine.

And that could happen often if you don’t have a site.

I gave a few links to some articles about online portfolios before, but I’ll address it here in the future too. An online portfolio is on my own ‘to do’ list.

Adrien’s next post will address Professionalism. Subscribe to the RSS feed or by email to catch that one too! – KJL

Here are the other posts in this series:
Getting the J-O-B Part 1: Five Key Things You Need to Storyboard Professionally
The Live-Action Go-to-Guy’s P.O.V. on Training
Getting the J-O-B Part 2: Building a Storyboard Portfolio
Getting the J-O-B Part 3: Professionalism in Animation…or Anywhere
The Live-Action Go-to-Guy’s P.O.V. on Professionalism
Getting the J-O-B Part 4: Contacts in the Industry
The Live-Action Go-to-Guy’s P.O.V. on Contacts in the Industry
The Live-Action Go-to-Guy’s P.O.V. on Contacts in the Industry-Part 2: Unions and Film Commissions
Getting the J-O-B Part 5: The Right Attitude
The Live-Action Go-to-Guy’s P.O.V. on the Right Attitude