Brad Ableson Interview
Brad Ableson is an 11 year veteran artist on "The Simpsons," where he
began working as an animator at age 19 while simultaneously attending
USC's School of Cinema-Television. His student film, "My Ding-A-
Ling," won 11 international awards and helped him score his dream-job
working as a storyboard artist after graduation. In addition to the
TV show, you'll find Brad's artwork on Simpsons merchandise, print
ads, limited edition cells, and on anything else you can slap a
drawing of Brad's trademark mooning Bart.
Though animation is his first love, Brad hopes to make a career directing live-action feature comedies. Currently he is writing a high school screenplay based on three weeks he spent undercover in a Northern California high school. Also, Brad recently wrote/directed/ produced a short film called "Save Virgil," which combines live- action and animation and stars Adam Carolla as the voice of Virgil, a cartoon boy accidentally born into the real world. "Save Virgil" is currently on tour with "Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted festival of Animation" and is being developed as a TV show for cable.
As an avid sketcher and fan of "The Simpsons" since its earliest days, how big of a thrill was it when you joined the crew? How were you originally brought to work for the show?
It was, and still is, the biggest thrill of my life to be working on "The Simpsons." I was a Freshman in high school when the original Christmas Special aired in 1989. It blew my mind. From that moment I became obsessed with the Simpsons, taping every episode, memorizing the lines, vandalizing the school with drawings of Bart mooning, and plastering my bedroom with Simpsons posters and magazine covers. I wore a Simpsons T-shirt to school every Thursday (back when it was on Thursdays) and even made a
cell animated short film with my Dad's video camera. (To view film,
CLICK HERE) People probably thought I was psycho, but I didn't care.
It continued like this through college where I took an animation class, but it never once crossed my mind that a punk kid like me could actually work on the show. I assumed that the animators were this elite group of old men who had all been to fancy art schools. I was just a USC frat boy who'd wasted two years trying to get into film school. At this point I was ready to drop out of college and needed money so I decided to see what would happen if I applied for a job on "The Simpsons." I knew I didn't have a chance in hell, but was used to being rejected and figured it was a excuse to see the building where my favorite show was made. As I dropped off my portfolio I was freaking out knowing this was where it all happens! As I expected, they told me my portfolio sucked, but Phyllis Craig, the lady who was in charge of hiring, was so amused by my enthusiasm that she gave me a shot as an intern. I was way out of my league, but I lived at work, drawing day and night, until they finally hired me out of pity!
The cruel irony is that a few weeks later I was accepted into USC's film school. Faced with a choice between my dream-job and my dream-education, Phyllis once again came to the rescue and made arrangements for me to work part time while attending film school. It was the hardest two years of my life but I loved every minute of it! And by the time I graduated I was armed with the filmmaking skills needed to become a storyboard artist.
The storyboard, often described as the "blueprint of the episode," typically outlines the key scenes (shots) of an episode. How do you classify what a necessary scene is for the storyboard?
We storyboard every episode from beginning to end. Unlike live-action, where a director might use storyboards to plan out a complex sequence, animation requires every moment to be storyboarded. Thus everything in the script is a necessary scene.
In terms of determining the level of detail in the storyboard, a necessary scene is anything that makes the story clear. Any professional or non-professional should be able to pick up a storyboard and read it like a comic book. The challenge is to choose the best way to stage, compose, and cut the shots together in a way that progresses the story and tells the jokes in the clearest, funniest, and most interesting way.
How much direction is typically provided in a script?
Not much. Scripts generally run long, so there isn't much room for direction. Just as we trust the writers to write funny jokes, they seem to trust us to find the funniest way to tell them.
How long does it take to storyboard an episode?
Episodes are divided into three acts which are the roughly 8-minute blocks you
see between commercials. Three different storyboard artists are given a month to
storyboard one act.
I generally spend the first two weeks brainstorming and arranging crude thumbnails into something that resembles a storyboard. If you saw my terrible drawings you'd wonder why I haven't been fired. Bart is basically a stick figure with a soup-can head and Marge's head is a wiener. But the directors have learned to decipher my scribblings, so it's okay!
Next I pitch my ideas in a "Rough Meeting" which inlcludes the director of that episode and David Silverman, the supervising director. We add, remove, and tweak shots until we're all happy. Then I spend the last two weeks cleaning up my drawings so they don't look like a baby drew them.
How does the style of the director influence the storyboard? Is the process different for different directors?
Some directors will sit down with the storyboard artist ahead of time to brainstorm but usually they're so busy finishing their last show that they just set us loose. Then, in the "Rough Meeting", they will add and change things in a way that reflects their personal style. Over time I've learned which directors prefer things clear and simple, and which ones are willing to try more stylized shots.
How influential is David Silverman in the storyboarding room and in the direction of an episode as a whole?
Matt Groening created the Simpsons we know from the Tracy Ullman shorts. When it became it's own TV show, David Silverman updated the look and feel to be more solid and cinematic. Thus, "The Simspons" in its purest form is the way it looks in David's brain. Every animator, designer, timer, storyboard artist, and director attemps to think the way David thinks, but we're not mind readers. Inevitably our own style leaks into our work and it's up to David, as the Supervising Director, to keep us on track.
This is never more apparent than in Rough Meetings. You do your best to come in with everything figured out but David will often look at a shot and come up with a much cooler way of doing it. You leave thinking, "Damn, I wish I had thought of that!"
How many drawings make up a regular storyboard?
It's funny...after 10 years of storybaording I've never counted. If I had to guess I'd say a billion?
Who is usually present for the viewing of the animatic? Are changes to the storyboard commonly needed after the screening?
Besides the writers/producers, only the director, assistant director, timer, and David Silverman attend the animatic screenings. Based on the reaction in the room the writers will rewrite portions of the script. By that point the original storyboard artists have moved onto new shows, so the directors and assistant directors generally storyboard the changes.
How does the storyboard and animatic change after it's completed? Are you ever surprised by certain animation differences or unexpected shots in the final product?
After the rewrites, they don't bother making a new animatic. They just revise the storyboards, animate them, and ship them to Korea. It isn't until I watch the final product on TV (6-12 months later) that I see what was changed. As an artist I hate to see anything I worked hard on get changed or cut. But as a fan I'm for whatever makes the show funnier.
Sometimes great sequences get cut because the episode is running too long. In "The Blunder Years" I boarded a spoof of the famous bridge scene in "Stand By Me." It starts with 12-year-old Lenny and Carl putting a penny on the train track while, off in the distance, young Homer listens for a train. Suddenly the train appears (being driven by the Sea Captain.) I copied the movie shot for shot as fat little Homer runs for his life. When the train hits the penny it derails, flying into the river. The Sea Captain comes up for air and says "I'm no good on land." As he floats away on a piece of driftwood in a wide beauty-shot, we hear him say "Arrr, this feels so right."
It was a great movie spoof and such a clever origin-story for the Sea Captain, but it got cut because the episode was running long and the scene wasn't essential to the main storyline.
Many storyboard artists have become directors as the series has progressed. Is this an aspiration of yours?
I'd like to direct my own stuff, but I really have no aspiration to direct on "The Simpsons." The problem with directing prime time animation is that the schedules are so tight that the director usually ends up being more of a "supervisor." They spend so much of their day answering questions and fixing mistakes that there is very little time to put thier personal stamp on the show. You'll find the best directors working all hours of the night and weekends in order to have some time alone to storyboard, design, animate, and time their show. I don't have that kind of patience.
I find that storyboarding is the best of both worlds. In my opinion, it's the most creative part of the process and I can work a 40 hour week and still have time to have a life outside of work. The downside is that you have to use a magnifying glass to see my name in the credits!
Favourite episode? Favourite episode you've helped to storyboard? (if different)
My all time favorite episode has been, and probably will always be "Flaming Moe's." It's just kind of perfect. It's about Homer, it's about alcohol, there's a spoof of the "Cheers" theme, and Homer falls on Aerosmith!
As for episodes I worked on, it's always fun to storyboard an act of the annual Halloween show because each act is a complete story. It's almost like directing your own little short film. My favorite was "Night of the Dolphins" because it was such a funny and visual story. Plus, the director, Matt Nustuk, encouraged me to experiment with crazy shots, tricky camera moves, and anything that would make the story more violent and weird.
What was it like to have full creative control in creating the cartoon/live-action comedy "Save Virgil"? (although I haven't yet seen it, the premise sounds very amusing). How has storyboarding other animation features differed from "The Simpsons"?
I LOVE working on the Simpsons, but at the end of the day it's not my show. That's why I made the short film "Save Virgil." (For more information on "Save Virgil", www.savevirgil.com) I wanted to create my own character, story, and look, the way Matt Groening did with the Tracy Ullman shorts. It was exhausting but very satisfying to flex a lot of different creative muscles and create something entirely my own. Plus, it combined my two favorite things: live-action and animation. Directing live-action is great because it's so immediate. You put something in front of the camera, roll film, and you're done. But you have to rely on a lot of different people to deliver what's in your head. With animation, if you can draw it, you can get exactly what's in your head. It just takes forever!
As for storyboarding other animated features, well, I'm fortunate to have been steadily employed on "The Simpsons" for the last 11 years, which hasn't left much time for feature work. Unless you count "The Simpsons Movie," which I'm currently working on. I could fill you in on all the juicy details, but Matt Groening would personally burn my house down.
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