Bill_Lyle's_Blog

Chevrolet - Olympic Commercials

2010-02-13T23:45:00.001-08:00

I've been waiting to put these up. Here are the Chevy Olympic commercials I had the privilege of working on in December with a talented Director by the name of Nick Lewin.

These spots changed a little from what we drew but that happens. I think they turned out great. You can see them airing during the Olympics.

Go Canada!

Bill Lyle - Play! Magazine Advertisement

2010-01-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

While I wait for a couple of TV commercials (I drew Storyboards for) to air, I decided to show off some work I haven't posted before. First up, here is an advertisement I created a few years back for, "Play!", a huge digest of illustrators in North America. More Storyboards to follow this post below!

Neutra Air - "Living with Odors" - Storyboard

2010-01-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a board for Neutra Air, the director of this spot was totally hilarious I remember. Hopefully I can work with her again someday!

Eureka - "Won't you be my neighbour?" - Season Preview - Storyboard

2010-01-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

This was another fun project to work on but please excuse my rough drawings, the Director wanted it loose and rough!
Eureka is a tv series on Syfy and they were doing a season preview spot set to the tune of, "Won't you be my neighbour". Check out how it actually turned out here: http://www.youtube.com

"Engine Oil Red" - Storyboard

2010-01-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

This was a really fun project for an interactive website for Engine Digital, a Vancouver design studio. The company sent their valued clients to the site and the information there said that these said clients have won some of the prestigious, "Engine Oil Red" wine. From there the website shows the viewer how the wine was created and that's where I come in. This board is hilarious. If you want to see how it really turned out, check out: www.engineoilwine.com

Disney - "Sing it" - Storyboard

2010-01-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

Here's an example of a coloured Storyboard I did for Disney's "Sing it" video game. It takes a while to colour the board but for some Directors, they find it useful to go the colour route.

Ford Super Duty - "Everything" - Storyboard

2010-01-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

Jet Dry - "Expert" - Storyboard

2010-01-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

Another Storyboard that never got posted to my site!

Baby Elmo - "Black Sheep" & Dora the Explorer - "Dora's Song" - Storyboards

2010-01-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

Here's some work I did for Baby Elmo & Dora the Explorer. Drawing kids stuff is kinda cool because I was there once and I watched a lot of these toy ads with great anticipation back in the day. It's definitely cool to grow up and work on these ads which I'm sure get the current generation of kids pretty stoked.

Some Car stuff

2009-11-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post some frames from some car commercials that I've worked on over the years. Enjoy!

British Columbia Lottery Corporation - "Overtime" & "Artists' Block" - Storyboards

2009-11-02T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent Storyboards I did for British Columbia Lottery Corporation. These are all about an enthusiastic studio manager, "Steve" who takes us through the temporary art form that is Scratch card ticket design. This guy has a real passion for what he does and he feels the need to share his passion with you and his employees. These commercials are now airing province wide and my good buddy, David Lewis plays "Steve" the enthusiastic studio manager. I actually drew a different actor in the board because I didn't know he got the gig, sorry D.Lewis!

Old school Drawing - March 17, 2000 - "The Comox Boyz"

2009-09-04T12:35:00.001-07:00

I was transferring some old drawings into a big storage bin this morning when I found this drawing from 9.5 years ago (wow). Anyways, I was in first year classical animation when I did this. I was working on my theme for my final project, a musical intro to a fictional sitcom entitled, "The Comox Boyz". This project was based on a group of my friends and actual events from my upbringing in the Comox Valley. When we were teenagers, 7-11 was a popular hang-out and unfortunately was the focus of our teenage angst and thievery. The aim was to distract the check-out lady while your buddies filled their pockets full of gum and candy. Years later I thought it might make a good story for my final first year animation,( which can be viewed at www.billylyle.com ). Note the tune we sang, it was an original we recorded using a Radio Shack keyboard and a small ghetto blaster in 1993. Ah, the good 'ol days.

Ritz cracker commercial - prop illustrations

2009-09-02T16:04:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I get to draw props. And very rarely do those illustrations of props contain Ritz crackers. Even more rare is illustrations, mixed with crackers, mixed with festive celebrations. What you see here is what happens when the pencil is instructed to draw crackers in the above mentioned fashion. And just to throw you off completely, I drew crackers mingling with headphones!

"The Sandwich"

2009-08-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

My Directorial debut, "The Sandwich".

This film was written, produced and directed by yours truly on September 13 - 15, 2008. So far it hasn't had much luck on the film festival circuit but has proven to be a good start for me. My next short film, "Snip" is nearing completion and we'll see if it can't make it into some festivals. I've got some more ideas in my head that I hope I can direct before the end of the year. Stay tuned for more!

http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi595919385/

"Met Life" - TV Commercial Shooting Storyboard

2009-08-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

"For all your home finance needs".... my latest work! This is probably the closest I'll ever get to doing work with Charles Schultz, the creator of, "Peanuts". I got to draw Snoopy and Woodstock a few times on this board which was pretty cool. They aren't exactly easy to draw! But anyways, this storyboard turned out pretty alright if you ask me, perhaps you will see this on tv in the next few months playing during your local news or Oprah. I have a feeling I will see it when I'm watching football on Sundays. Well, what else can I say, another Storyboard bested. Looking forward to my next one!

"KidSport" - TV Commercial Shooting Storyboards

2009-07-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

Here are 4 spots I created for "KidSport" recently. These should be on TV any day now I'm guessing. The basic message here is to get active when you're young so it doesn't hurt your overall athletic coordination when you get older. I must confess, I wasn't the most athletic kid growing up as I would rather doodle in my binder than play on one of the teams. What I'm saying here is, although I'm not as terrible as these guys, I do have have about a 70% chance of catching a football if it's passed my way!

Spec Storyboards

2009-07-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Once in a while, I'll get a Producer that contacts me and asks me to create some "spec" Storyboards for a feature film project. The Spec Storyboards will be used in a pitch meeting for the film with other producers and film financiers in order to green light a project. Here is an example of a few frames for a pitch I did recently.

Bill's Paintings

2009-07-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Last year I started creating paintings in Photoshop. Before I knew it I was painting family members and giving the paintings to them at Christmas. They were a big hit and I've now realized I'd like to start creating paintings for anyone who wants one. They would make a great gift for that special someone in your life. Each painting takes me a few days and the cost is affordable for a one of a kind, custom piece of art work. Drop me a line if you'd like me to create a painting for you!

"Snip" - some Storyboards from the film.

2009-07-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some storyboards I created for my 2nd live action short film, "Snip". I decided to draw smaller frames as I was pressed for time before the shoot. The drawings are also just scratched it so I apologize for the quality. The thing with Storyboards is, no matter how nice or badly they are drawn, the whole purpose is to communicate the storytelling. If chicken scratch drawings can do that, then the Storyboards have done their job.

"The Sandwich" - some Storyboards from the film.

2009-07-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here are the first 9 pages of Storyboards used for my short film, "The Sandwich". In total there was 45 pages of Storyboards for the 10 minute film but I figured it was too much to post here.
These boards helped me a lot on the set, I kept them in a binder that I referred to before every shot. Looking forward to my Directing project, you can bet I'll be Storyboarding every shot as well!

Still Frames from "Monday Is My Favorite Time Of Year"

2009-05-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some Hi-res stills from my 3D animated short film, "Monday Is My Favorite Time Of Year". Hopefully this gives you an idea of how much work is involved in a project like this. Modelling, Unwrapping, Texturing, Rigging, Animating, Lighting, Editing & Sound Design. The programs I used were Maya 2009, (for Modelling) RoadKill, (for unwrapping) Adobe Photoshopn CS3, (for texturing) Softimage XSI 7, (for rigging/animating/lighting) and Adobe Premier Pro CS3 for editing/sound design. If it sounds like a lot of work, it is! Normally all of these different jobs would be distributed out to many different artists. At school, it's just you. I like to call all of this one-man show work, "Heavy Lifting"!

Storyboards

2009-05-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

I've been a professional Storyboard Artist since 2001. I've always liked storyboarding more than anything else because it combines my love for drawing and my love of how images work together to tell a story. Displayed here are some samples of my work, if you would like to see more, please visit my site, www.billylyle.com .

In the past 9 months, I have branched out into the world of Film & Animation Directing and I find that my background in storyboarding is proving to be a huge asset. Creating storyboards for my films prepares me really well for what I'm trying to accomplish, I couldn't imagine working without these. They also make it really easy to communicate your vision to the cast and crew, you just point to the drawings! Once this thinking is out of the way then I can concentrate on the important part, the actor's performances.

The films of Bill LYLE

2009-05-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

It took 9 months to create these three films. What made it even harder was the fact that I was learning 3D animation during that entire time! I started in August 2008 producing, "The Sandwich". I was pretty much a one man show until I had to start school in early September. At that point, Ashley Fester came on board to help me with a few last minute crewing positions that needed to be filled. We shot the film Sept.13 to 15, 2008. Post production went on for a while due to my lack of free time but we finished it in February 2009. In January, 2009, I started modelling and rigging all of my characters for my 3D animated film, "Monday Is My Favorite Time Of Year". While that was going on, I agreed to direct my next short film, "Snip" on Feb.20-22, 2009. That was a lot of fun and it was a real bonus only having to concentrate on directing as the film had 3 producers. When that finished it was back to school to complete, "Monday Is My Favorite Time Of Year". The word, "Animation" should really mean, "extremely labour intensive". Everyday was a whole new set of problems but with a lot of help, I overcame all of those obstacles and completed it by April 24, 2009. The last 9 months was a huge growing opportunity for me as a Director/Artist and I look forward to building on this body of work this summer. Stay tuned!

"Monday Is My Favorite Time Of Year"

2009-05-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Viewing Note: Click the "HD" button on the bottom of the screen, it's much more ROCK'N! Now onto the description..

Play before work, that's Randy Rockwell's motto. His buddy, Jamal lives by this rule too. Nothing can stop these two dudes from rockin', and I mean nothing....well, there is one thing...

This film was Modeled, Animated and Directed by Bill LYLE as a part of the 2009 Capilano University Digital Animation program. The music was graciously provided by NOFX. Special thanks to Melanie Kaye, Fat Mike, Eric Melvin, El Hefe & Erik Sandin.

(more)

"The Sandwich" - Intro Teaser

2009-05-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

This is the intro to my first short film project, "The Sandwich". My apologies for the low-res picture quality, the film in theatres will be in full HD. Here's the synopses:

At work for the moving company, Rick Rawley (Andrew Francis) would rather sit back and supervise, but when lunch time arrives, Rick can't get up fast enough. When Rick discovers his beloved sandwich gone mysteriously missing, a full investigation is launched and anyone and everyone is suspect.

The film stars Andrew Francis, Ryan Harris, Jarvis Strutt, Jason Liesch, Vanessa Evancic, and Erik Ioannidis. The short was filmed in HD on the Oakley Red Camera in September, 2008. The film is currently under review to be shown in selected film festivals in North America.