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Pitch Bible Questions

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Pitch Bible Questions

Hello all.
I'm putting together 3 pitch bibles currently. I've read and taken away a great deal of information from David B. Levy's newest book "Animation Development: From Pitch to Production". Find it at your local Amazon dealer!!!

I'm currently on the fence about the cover art.
Question is: should I have my characters on the cover & should it be polished art or sketches?

One exec I met with said just show him pencil sketches. So they're more likely to give me feedback, and feel more comfortable inserting their DNA. For that purpose I've got the 2-Sheets. Thanks David!

I also understand that in the series bible you should have finished (WYSIWYG) art along with plenty of pencil sketches. My current bible consists of 10 pages with the 4 main characters as polished art on 2 character description pages.

My thought is to have my 4 characters on the cover along with the logo. If I go that route should the characters be all shiney and polished or keep 'em pencil sketches worked into a nice design?

OR should I just work with the logo and come up with a cool graphic motif?

Really looking for feedback from experts here. People that have done bibles or have delt with them.

:D Mahalo for you two cents!

ive done pitch books and have always done them with proper cover art to make it seem as polished as possible.

however i have also heard from folks that some execs prefer things raw, so as you said 'they can inject their dna'

you could also research and then have both alternatives ready... however, i have never ever seen a pitch book with only raw art...

cheers.

If you are pitching a show to a big studio, the concept is the main thing they want to be wowed by. If you have a great concept with lively characters that they can market, they don't even need to see any art.

If this is a series bible, then that's a totally different thing. Series Bibles are for after your show is green lit. There is clean art with character descriptions so the artist can get a feel for the characters. Different from a model sheet though.

So, if you are going to pitch a show to a studio, spend all your time making your concept killer, and then show them a couple of rough sketches to give them a taste of the style you are thinking of.

Sure they want to put their "DNA" stamp all over it, but it's more so that if you go in with a polished product, you are going to be less willing to change it if it doesn't work. Things at this stage need to remain fluid, that's why it's called development.

Aloha,
the Ape

...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."

Thanks Ape & Lizard.
I think I'll keep the cover simple for now. Make the logo the primary focus and just give it a fun but interesting graphic motif.

If time still remains I may make a second cover along with the 4 characters as polished art.

Half of me says keep is simple stupid. The other half says someone may notice the characters on the cover and start a ball rolling.

also, characters, visuals etc change as the production date gets closer and development closes. so visually it may or may not matter.

as ape said, the concept or your script will be most important, visuals will always change in some form or the other..