Murray Butler is a Director at Framestore Pictures, a visual effects company and creative studio with its staff and creators located around the world.
Murray works out of the company’s New York office, which he co-founded. He’s won numerous awards in both the UK and the US for his visual effects work. He’s also focused on directing commercials and documentaries, garnering a Cannes Lion nomination for direction for his Qualcomm Snapdragon work, and creating virtual reality experiences.
Here’s Murray’s experience of being a long-time Saint James Studios client and collaborator with lead storyboard artist Joe James.
Live Sketching and Working Virtually
The work I do is in an extremely competitive environment. The more you can present to an agency, especially upfront, the stronger you are. If they like what they see, they want to work with you. From working with Joe for so many years now, we have a shorthand that lets us get to that creative place very quickly.
Sometimes Joe and I collaborate virtually and, other times, he’s in the office with me. Working remote, which we’re doing more of these days, we’ll screenshare and Joe will often sketch as we talk. These live sketching sessions allow us to bounce ideas off one another quickly. Our long-time chemistry — coupled with the artistry and speed of Joe’s sketching — makes this possible.
Enjoyment of the Creative Process
I’ve driven Joe crazy before with changes from me or the client or agency. Someone’s got a problem with what we’re doing, so we must cut up the scenes to order them again. But Joe’s a pro who adapts quickly. And, often, it’s fun to do this rework — asking, what do we now need, and where is this going?
At the end of the day, it’s about Joe’s eyes and experience, his pen strokes and the characters. Joe has a sense of humor, and you can feel it in his sketches. Comedic moments were part of our YellaWood collaboration, where Joe drew the characters based on my descriptions and brought them to life. We laughed a lot, imagining a beaver character so obsessed that he would go into a trance.
Enduring Power of Storyboards
I’ve worked on many movie previews where we build the scenes for the characters. With a CG project, it’s not easy and financially feasible to get the CG assets in advance. And often, there’s no attitude or personality in these digital characters.
In the storyboards he creates, Joe captures the vibe, using light, shading and framing, to evoke feelings — and there’s something about a sketch that really captures the human eye. His drawings are like building blocks that take you somewhere — and the fact he can do it so quickly! It’s innate for him.
Joe’s Love of Movie-Making and Comic Books
Joe’s love of film translates into his storyboard work. He’ll make a Spielberg reference about a scene at the end of Close Encounters. These movie references add to the creative process and can be used to flesh out ideas.
Joe creates comic boards, too, which I’ve used on occasion. They’re beautiful to look at — a work of art in themselves — and you see emotion and the story throughout the frames.
Joe understands camera angles and lenses and making those come to life in sketch form, which I find very inspiring. It comes from his knowledge about movie-making — and Joe loves movies! You can throw a reference at him, and he’ll know the director of photography, the script and when the movie was made.
Joe’s strong storyboarding skills are one of the things I like about working with him. At times, I can be quite prescriptive with Joe and may only need something more straightforward. But, often, Joe will add a few new storyboard frames — things I hadn’t thought of — and those may make their way into the shooting boards.
—Murray Butler, Director, Framestore Pictures
Captain Morgan White Rum
I first met Joe in 2013 when he was recommended to us. One of our first projects together was for Captain Morgan White Rum. Since then, we’ve worked together on many projects — ranging from fully computer-generated (CG) projects and work that included a mix of digital effects and live-action, as well as traditional production company work.
I got to destroy things and film them at high speed, spending a prep day in the desert with some effects people blasting things with ball bearings. Coconuts don’t actually shatter when you shoot them; lots of baking and pre-scoring is required. I loved making a mini-narrative out of a simple idea and bringing some humor into it. Way more post in this than it looks, but then that’s a good thing, I suppose.
Shot in Atlanta using a combination of Minatures, live-action and CGI, we created a gang of lumber stealing beavers for Yellawood.
YellaWood
Many projects come to mind when I think about my partnership with Saint James Studios, and a particularly fun one was when Joe and I worked on a commercial for lumber manufacturer YellaWood®.
One of the things I like to do when I’m pitching a project is to bring Joe in early on to develop storyboards to show our vision for the project to the agency and client.
For YellaWood, I came up with woodland characters and their characteristics. Most people in the Framestore office wondered what was up with me walking around and calling these creatures by name — but sharing them with Joe was different. He immediately picked up on their names and began imagining what they’d do and say. It was enjoyable, a creative to and fro.
Joe understands characters because he writes comic books and graphic novels. He embraces the storytelling process, and that’s a great quality to have on many of my creative projects.
Sherwin Williams
Joe and I also collaborated on a Sherwin Williams project, where we storyboarded four commercials. He thought about not just the paint products, but also Sherwin Williams’ brand and the overall tone of the piece. We were able to explore that balance between the fantastic (the flying house) and intimate (the couple transforming their room with paint) — and keep the humanity of the characters in mind and those moments between them.
Shot in Cape Town, just before the world changed. We built a floor of a house in studio that could rotate and tip. Read more behind the scenes info.
Parting Thoughts
I consider Joe to be one of the crew members of my creative group because he brings so much to the collaboration. Sure, there are times for sheer execution, and Joe can do that. He knows when to step back and won’t tread on your toes. But if you want a collaborator, Joe’s the one to work with. He knows just what to do when the project requires more creativity or it’s a challenging one. This elevates Joe’s contributions in a way that’s unique and valued, and it’s what sets him apart from other storyboard artists.
Whatever the challenge, Joe fully embraces and dives into the creative process. He talks through my ideas with me — and his involvement goes beyond framing and storytelling. Joe comes up with original concepts, and I consider him a creative collaborator and partner.
Producers…Hire the right storyboard artist (or regret it later).
Directors…Which Style Storyboard Do You Prefer?