See Martin L. Mercer's storyboards for three Iron Man 3 scenes: Iron Patriot discovering the Afghan sweatshop, Savin escaping by truck, and Rhodey in the situation room.
 
He is a professional storyboard artist who's worked on Hollywood films like The X-Files (1993), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2005) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009). He was brought in to do some last minute re-shoot work in L.A.

Check out the rest of the images after the jump and click to enlarge. Be aware some of the boards have spoilers!

 
Mercer says his biggest challenge was having a newborn son, and working on Almanac (2014) at the same time. All while driving down 405 to Marvel studios for meetings, and getting the work done quickly. He said he wanted to do his best within the time since "a good friend had passed on the work to me."

His favorite time on the project was meeting director Shane Black and seeing the Marvel headquarters.

Afghan Sweatshop

 Situation Room

 

Savin Truck Escape

See more of Martin Mercer's work at his constantly updated Facebook page, IMDb page and visit his website http://www.martinmercer.com/.

Click on the links if you want to see more of Martin L. Mercer's storyboards and Iron Man 3.

Official Synopsis
Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black and is based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of “Tales of Suspense” (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with “The Invincible Iron Man” (#1) in May of 1968.

“Iron Man 3” is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures and DMG Entertainment. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing and Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard, Alan Fine, Stan Lee and Dan Mintz are executive producers. The film releases May 3, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.


Directed by: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley

Official website: http://marvel.com/ironman3 
Like IRON MAN 3 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ironman
Tweet the Official Hashtag: #IronMan3
Follow IRON MAN 3 on Twitter:@Iron_Man

What do you think of the concept art? Are you planning to watch Iron Man 3?

©  Copyright 2013 Marvel Studios, DMG Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved

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I spend a lot of time checking out websites of artists in the film and television industry. In fact, the majority of my posts are based on them. There are so many, I started a blog roll to help me keep track of them.

Every now and then I run into an artist that doesn't have a web presence. It surprises me.

How could an incredibly prolific artist like Ed Natividad (Ed contacted me and his site is ednatividad.com) not have a website? Why would an artist have a blog and not update it for two years? How could a legend like Ralph McQuarrie have an up-to-date and comprehensive website and others don't?

Obviously, it depends on how important the site is to the artist. So, I reached out to some artists and got answers from both ends of the spectrum.

Warren Manser has worked on major films like Transformers and says that his site is extremely helpful to him. This is mainly because "the film industry changes very fast." Besides helping clients up-to-date on his work it constantly introduces his work to new people. "I've also been getting emails from non-film related projects." In his words, "Diversity is good." Keep an eye on his site because he's planning on expanding it to include more information to compliment the imagery. So, some artists feel it's essential to their work.

Of course, networking plays a big part in any successful job and some don't see websites as being equal to that.

Martin L. Mercer worked on such films as Predators. He said, while a web presence can be useful to show prospective clients, he values something more. He said, "overall in my experience its who you know not how good your web page is."

So, if you're an artist in the entertainment industry or just a fan I'd love to hear your thoughts on your favorite art website.let me know in the comments.

Speaking of websites, make sure you visit the websites of Martin L. Mercer  http://www.martinmercer.com and Warren Manser  http://www.WarrenManser.com.

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British storyboard artist Martin L. Mercer has worked on some hot films: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Predators (concept artist) (2010) to name a few.

He didn't start out as a storyboard artist though. In fact, he was originally a special effects artist working with George Gibbs and Clive Barker. He broke into storyboarding and has been doing it for over fifteen years.

He's done a bit of television, but recently worked on the blockbuster film Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). Mercer talks with me about working on the beginning and ending storyboards, has a great story about set etiquette and working on television versus film.

Plus, at the end I've got a gallery of exclusive storyboards from the film.

Q: Tell me a little about your involvement in the production of Rise of the Planet of the Apes?

(Image: Rise of the Planet of the Apes)

VFX [Visual Effects] producer Kurt Williams, whom I worked with on Medieval (2012), contacted me. I worked with him, the director and the animatics team at 20th Century Fox, along with fellow board artists.

My main focus was the opening capture sequence, and the ending in Muir woods, as well as very rough thumbnails for the escape.

Q: Was there a scene in particular that was especially challenging to board?

Just creating the layers needed for After Effects animatic work, resulted in some long hours

Q: What was it like working with director Rupert Wyatt?

Very nice bloke, he was calm and knew how he wanted the story to progress. He was open to suggestions and welcoming of ideas.

Q: Working on the storyboards early on, was there a big shift between what was in the script and the final film?

Well the ending changed a lot. Originally the lead would have been shot, which would have been great I think. Also, the opening was going to be much bigger. A lot of ideas and suggestions ended up on screen though.

Q: Do you prefer digital or traditional hand-drawn art? Do you have a favorite tool?

Miss my pencil,the texture. But, love my Wacom [interactive pen tablet]. Photoshop is my favourite medium now.

Q: When someone asks you "what's a storyboard artist do" what do you tell them?

(Image: GIJoe: The Rise of Cobra)

I tell them, at the best of times, its a way to communicate in a single 'voice' the look, tone and feel of a movie/or particular sequence. At worst is a roughly scribbled map that guides production through a thought process to reach choices.

Q: You worked as a production designer in the past. Has that role helped you work with production designers now?

I usually work with directors or VFX/Make-up guys, but it gives me an appreciation that what's drawn has to be considered carefully, as someone has to make it, or render it.

Q: You worked with Oscar-winning special effects artist George Gibbs at 18, what was the most important lesson he gave you?

On Labyrinth (1986) the Humongous monster (the city gates closed and he came out of them) was a fully operating 'robot', and had red eyes.

The cameras rolled and I noticed his eyes weren't on, I loudly pointed this out to George, in front of the whole crew. George taught me set etiquette which should not be underestimated.

It's more than drawing little pictures. Interacting with people, and knowing how a set works is important, and makes your work better.

Q: You've done a lot if work for television. What's the must surprising difference between working in television versus film?

Well, surprising? TV crews are more relaxed. The environment can be more fun.The biggest difference is pace. TV have no time usually.

Q: Where will we see your work next?

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2012). I worked for my good friend Paul Jones FX studio in Toronto creating concepts of the creatures, and make up fx. I designed for Paul also on the WB show Awakening some different kind of zombies.

Storyboard wise, I boarded action scenes for Rob Cohen's I, Alex Cross (2012), and just finished some work on The Muppets (2011).

Find out more about Martin L. Mecer from his IMDb page and visit his website http://www.martinmercer.com/.

Here's a gallery of two sequences from Rise of the Planet of the Apes. These are an exclusive. Thanks Martin!

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Here are the fine men and women who helped bring you the film Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).

Official Synopsis:

A single act of both compassion and arrogance leads to a war unlike any other — and to the RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. The Oscar-winning visual effects team that brought to life the worlds of Avatar and Lord of the Rings is breaking new ground, creating a CGI ape that delivers a dramatic performance of unprecedented emotion and intelligence, and epic battles on which rest the upended destinies of man and primate.

Starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis

Directed By: Rupert Wyatt

Written By: Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver

Produced By: Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox

Estimated Opening Date: 5 August 2011 (USA)

Production Designer

• Claude Pare http://www.adg.org/?art=member_profile&ID=7484

Character designer

• Jerad S. Marantz http://jeradsmarantz.blogspot.com/
• Aaron Sims http://www.aaron-sims.com/  

Concept illustrator

• Brian Cunningham
• Warren Flanagan
• Milena Zdravkovic
• John Dale

Graphic Designer

• Brian Cunningham
• Adrian Hrytzak
• Jack Gauvreau

Illustrator

• Kirsten Franson

Model Maker

• Michael Toby

Previsualization

• Slavik Anishchenko

Set designer

• Bryan Sutton

Storyboard artist

• Timothy Burgard http://www.timburgardart.com/
• Warren Drummond http://web.mac.com/warrendrummond/Site/STORYBOARD_ARTIST.html
• Martin L. Mercer http://www.martinmercer.com/

All information taken from IMDb. Updated as necessary.

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