Posts Tagged ‘spy6teen’
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Hey gang! Hope you all had a great 4th of July! And for our international readers, well…I guess it was still the 4th of July, and I hope you had a great yesterday as well!
This week we’ve got our “Moment of Reflection” page– Basically, the emotional fallout of our “darkest moment”- wherein Cally ultimately blames herself for Kevin’s death.
Moment of Reflections are important storytelling beats– these are the moments that “buy” a character moving into the next phase of their arc. So, on the one hand, although it might not be the most exciting page ever: having Cally run, while she raps out a long internal monologue,– it’s an important beat in order to lay the groundwork for everything that comes after this.
To me, the interesting part about Cally’s moment is the establishment of guilt. That’s a fairly recurring theme in superhero mythos– Peter Parker is driven by the guilt of not stopping a robber who would later kill Uncle Ben. In some ways, I think that Bruce Wayne’s motivation to become Batman is a manifestation of an unconscious wish that he would have been strong enough to defend his parents in that night in Crime Alley…
(And c’mon, Wayne’s…why would walk into CRIME ALLEY?! I mean, I know you wanted to leave the Opera early, but maybe you go out the FRONT DOOR when the backstage exit leads into CRIME ALLEY!)
There’s a lot that can be built/read into the Superhero guilt complex, particularly if you view it from an author POV– but ultimately I think it comes down to providing a solid and relatable motivation for characters with SUPER powers. It’d be tough to identify with a guy that can fly, is immortal, and can’t be hurt– unless there’s some sort of emotional thread that you (as a reader) can latch onto.
The one line I futzed around with for this page was the final: “I deserve this…” line of the page. It was actually slated to start NEXT week’s page, but A) I don’t think we’re fooling anyone with the “mystery of who is driving the car” and B) I just thought it was a punchier way to go out on this particular page.
PROCESS!
Great DJ page here! Laying it out in script form, I knew we had a bulky dialogue page, so I kept it to three panels. DJ did a cool “Breaking the barrier” in Panel 1, with Cally’s foot extending past the frame. I really dig it– one of the hardest things (in my opinion) about Comic Book art is creating the illusion of forward momentum.
Actually, DJ does it twice on this page, obviously with Cally running, but also with our mysterious black car’s power drift in Panel 3. Now, for fledgling artists: You shouldn’t use this technique haphazardly– Panels have hard borders for a reason: They set the “pace” at which your audience is reading. Break too many of them, or use them incorrectly, and you’ve got a page where the reader is going to lose track of the action.
So although DJ is breaking panel borders, he’s doing so in a very subtle and mature way– by not calling a ton of attention to it.
It’s also worth noting that it was DJ’s idea to have this whole plot beat take place in the rain. In fact, in one of our team emails, he noted to Lisa back on Page 4– to make certain that she began this sequence under gray skies, so the gloominess of this page (and next week’s!) wouldn’t just pop out of nowhere.
Personally, I think it’s a gives this section of the story a great cinematic vibe– On top of really establishing mood, it creates a nice change of pace for the story and visually it’s really interesting.
Speaking of which, Lisa‘s colors really took this page to the next level. From the way she handled the puddle splashes to the looming sky. One point that I think is really cool is that she turned on the headlights of our “Car in Black”– I think most States now require you to turn on your headlights in a rainstorm– and apparently that holds true in the Spy6teen universe as well!
It’s those little touches that really make pages like this sing.
Brant’s lettering layout work really flows on this page. Not the most challenging of lettering pages, considering some of the monsters blocks of text we’ve had in the past– but he did a great job of breaking up a very wordy page and placing the CAPS into logically readable locations.
In particular, I was a little worried about the “read” in Panel 3– where there are two seperate action/thoughts happening in the same panel. On the one hand, Cally is finishing off her Moment of Reflection, and then reacting to a car skidding in front of her.
The way Brant placed our CAPS within the page, allows you to visually read it across and down, with the action of the car skidding into frame happening just at the moment that Cally acknowledges the action.
The general notion is that you should one put one beat in per panel– that only one thing should happen– but this more or less proves you CAN have two actions/thoughts occurring within the same frame– you just have to be careful about how you place your lettering!
WRAP UP!
My new schedule is unfortunately demanding that the page writeups are a little shorter– which is kind of a bummer to me, as I really enjoy writing them. The hope is at some point I’ll be able to to an extended post, but it’ll probably have to wait until we get to a “big page!”–
That said, I am going to do my best to keep you guys informed off all the neat little production tid-bits that happen behind the scenes!
In great news, Issue 2 is quite nearly wrapped– in fact, the cover is finished! I’ll give you guys a sneak peek at it this Thursday on the Blog. I know I’ve been way behind on Blog@16 stuff, which is why I’m promising the cover image for Thursday– Hell or High Water, it’ll be there!
With San Diego Comic Con right around the corner, you guys can also look forward to my now annual SDCC write up! Please let me know if you’re going to be there as well! It’d be great to meetup for a chat!
Well, that’s it for this week’s page! We’ll see ya back on Thursday for the unveiling of Issue 2′s cover and then next week for a…
SHOWDOWN IN THE RAIN!!!
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Welcome back, gang!
As you can see we’re still under gloomy skies–
Actually, it was Jules Riveria in the comments last week that noted this story beat makes for a golden opportunity to pound some emotion home– Or at least showcase Cally’s reaction. Which, as promised: We’ll be delivering over the next few pages.
So yeah, the next few pages are going to be a bit on the heavy side– but I feel it’s pretty justified coming off of the ending of Issue 2. Don’t worry, we won’t spend the next 10 issues in gloom-land, but while writing the script, I did want to take a little time on Cally reacting appropriately to Kevin’s death.
Process challenge-wise we all had a pretty unique time with this page– Although it’s “just” a reaction page, we’ve got two flashbacks from different timeframes happening within 6 panels.
Normally, I’m not a huge fan of callback flashbacks– that sort of quick edit thing you see in a lot of TV mystery shows when they’re recounting the criminals footsteps: “And I knew this because when we first met, you were wearing mittens!!” Meanwhile actually showing the scene wherein the criminal is indeed wearing mittens.
You actually might be wondering why we put this in, considering it’s only been a few weeks since we actually read these pages as well. As I’ve mentioned before, we actually began as a print project– so, on this page you’d be reading the third issue– but I can’t guarantee that you bought/read the second one– In fact, this third issue might have been your first Spy6teen issue– As the great Stan Lee said: “Every Comic is Someone’s First”– meaning, make sure you bring them up to speed!!
Before we move into “Process” I would like to quickly point out that the “There are Grief Councilors coming” is kind of a joke– at least it is to me. I’m not sure the gag landed, but I think it’s funny…and I’m not sure why. Kind of feels like a line from Heathers– For some reason it just makes me laugh. Your mileage may vary…
PROCESS!
The flashback embedded in this scene really showcases how amazingly Team 16 comes together– After 3 panels of awesome Cally emotional reactions, we move into a Flashback of Kevin from Page 14– and then into a flashback of Conrad from Page 15. It’s great that DJ didn’t “cheat” and just photoshop the panels into this new page, but actually recreated the scenes–
Amusingly, for Panel 5, with Conrad– we (as readers) were actually outside the door with Cally– so this is actually the first time you’re seeing Conrad from that particular POV.
Also, I think it’s awesome that Miles wears a shirt that says “Drama Rules”!
In other DJ news, his cover for Issue 2 popped into the Dropbox this afternoon– Woo wee…wait’ll you guys see it!! OUT. DID. HIMSELF. DJ was really pushing himself hard to nail a cover that he could be proud of– and without question, I’ll say it is!
COLORS
For Colors, Lisa readopted our “Flashback Sepia” which was on clear display back in Issue 1′s “Training Sequence”– It’s interesting to note how Lisa varied the color between the two panels. Both of them are still in “Flashback color”, but just different enough so that you wouldn’t consider them to be happening concurrently.
It’s kind of neat to think that you can use color as a device to create the illusion of time–
I also tend to think that the gray skies (continued from last week’s page) compliment the flashback tone, and vice versa. Sure, all in all, it creates a rather somber tone for this week– but again, unfolding before us is one of the worst moments in Cally’s life– so muted colors kinda make sense.
LETTERS
Brant had to bring a bag of tricks to this page– Over the course of the last 3 issues, we’ve definitely begun to develop our own little “Spy6teen Language”– Cally’s CAP boxes are always green, with the “6″ symbol in the corner– and “Flashback Dialogue” is always off-color…I like to think that it means we’re hearing a “Voice From the Past”.
Panel 4 was interesting– and something I hadn’t thought of, until Brant brought it up on the lettering pass: We’re in a flashback, but Cally’s VO is in present time…do we make that a Cally CAP box? Or a Rounded (tailless) balloon? How do we treat it?
It’s something that I didn’t think of, because script-wise, it’s fairly easy to write:
CALLY (V.O) “…call…or something.”
It’s another thing to actually put it to the page!
Ultimately, as you can see, Brant went with a normal “square” box– seeing as Cally CAPS are really her internal thoughts– and, since it’s happening in “present time” he didn’t discolor it.
WRAP UP!
Kind of a quick entry this week– sorry, it’s been kind of a crazy day. In quick-hit news, as I mentioned, DJ just wrapped the issue 2 cover, so we aren’t too far off from that hitting the digital distribution and print stores– I’ll keep you informed!
And yes, I’m way behind on the blog series– Totally my fault, as it turns out, a topic like “It starts with the story” can really get out of hand quickly if you aren’t careful. I mean, just trying to define what a story is– that’s an essay in itself.
I’m happy to say that I’m pretty close to wrapping it up (after another round of edits) and will hopefully have it up for you guys on Thursday– unless for some reason I decide to add another section to it!! (I promise, I won’t…I don’t even know if I can anymore!)
In awesome news, we received another donation from our reader, Chris! You might remember that Chris dropped a coin in our College Fund donation bucket awhile back– We can’t thank you enough for your continued support, Chris! I’ll make sure the first copy of Issue 2 heads your way, before anyone else!!
As I mentioned last time, Chris is a model train enthusiast, and puts together some really elaborate and awesome stations– Please take a second to check out his work! Very cool stuff!!
Well, that’s a wrap on this week’s page! Again, hopefully (all going according to plan) back on Thursday for Blog@16, where we’ll be talking about Storybuilding. And then NEXT WEEK:
CALLY RUNS!
Back to the Present!!
And some gray skies are looming!!
This scene was kind of fun to write, given the extreme emotional roller-coaster drop Cally is about to experience. Starting Cally in panel 1 (where she’s basically on Cloud 9) and then delivering devastating news just 3 panels later…yeah, writers can be kind of sadistic.
(Then again, I almost equally beat up on Blake, don’t I? Geez, guy isn’t even ON this page and I still beat him up!)
At the same time, who hasn’t experienced that day of feeling great, only to have bad news knock you in the teeth? That said, I did want to slightly soften the blow by having our resident drama/musician/all around cheerful guy, Miles, deliver the news.
I don’t think anyone out there is a Miles fan yet, but I think he’s going to be a fun character– it’s funny, through the course DJ popping him into the story, I’ve really kinda grown to like him…anyhow, next week he gets his big scene with Cally, so everyone will finally get a chance to actually meet the guy!
PROCESS!
The centerpiece of the page is certainly DJ’s glamour shot of Montauk High. I’m a big fan of how he’s designed the school to be a character unto itself– if you have any doubts to that, just check out this initial sketch/layout of the school grounds– and this is before we even got started on the book!
As you can see, the entire grounds have been laid out– we might not SEE all of it, but it’s good to know it’s there!
Character-wise, he populated the scene with a bunch of background players all beinging the greiving processes– I do like the one girl starting the candlelight vigil, who I popped into the script:
Students mill about, a few are hugging each other, one student holds a candle— a few groups huddle together, talking quietly.
Of course, now that I see her, I’m not sure where she got this candle from– I’m almost thinking she’s been carrying it around for the last year, waiting for something tragic to happen…hmmm, perhaps a future character!
The more subtle DJ moment of the page is Cally’s expression through Panels 1 to 3– DJ’s acting once again comes into play, as you really get a feel for Cally’s internal dialogue through her facial expressions.
The slow change of someone walking and smiling to the look of concern perfectly aligns with the Cap boxes…again, it’s subtle– but great!
COLORS!
It’s our first “grey day” in Montauk!
I’m a big fan of changing weather in fiction– Thus far Spy6teen has mostly been a “Blue Skies” story, but as we’re moving into Cally’s emotional downturn, it makes sense to start to change the overall climate to reflect it.
I was actually really curious to see how Lisa was going to handle the gloomy skies– and in fact, when DJ mentioned that he was headed in this direction, Lisa got really excited at the prospect.
If you look closely at the panels, you’ll see some really fantastic cloud effects hanging over the scene– Although I couldn’t live under those clouds 7-days a week (heck, I live in Southern California– we barely ever see that weather!) I do love a gloomy Sunday from time to time!
It’s cool to see the justipoxion of Cally’s clothes against the day as well– since she woke up in a great mood, she dressed in brighter colors– despite the weather. It’s a small little character touch, but really effective at letting us know where she is.
LETTERS!
I gave Brant a lot of big blocky passages for this page– so he ended up breaking them up into smaller sections– which really serves the readiblity of the page.
In Panel 1, you can see the shift in CAP 2 where Brant made a “Lettering edit”– I like the fact that he offset in the middle, creating a “fake box”.
At this point, I trust Brant to know what’s best for a Spy6teen page– Even breaking up the dialouge, he’s maintained a conversational flow, which is obviously very important for a voice-over section.
WRAP UP!
Still slowly chipping away at Issue 2′s release– We’re hoping to have some stuff done just in time to get eaten alive by San Diego Comic Con!
Speaking of which, is anyone planning on going? I’ll be there doing some light Spy6teen promoting (and by light, I mostly mean meeting people and talking about it)– so, let me know if you’ll be there and we’ll try to schedule a hangout!
On the Top Web Comics side, I’ve FINALLY updated the incentive image!
I’m actually taking AniMatsuri’s advice and stop trying to update the incentive weekly. Frankly, I’m not sure how effective showing layouts were– I’m sure some of you guys were into it– but most of you would probably rather see finished work. So we’re going to be moving the incentive images into more of a monthly format…Hopefully you’ll still be enthused enough to vote for us a few times a week though!
So, to that: We’ve got a cool piece of art that was developed awhile back– but kept nice and hidden– So, it’s sort of a Spy6teen exclusive which I think is really appropriate for this week’s page!
Just click the link below!
Ok, that’s it for this week! Seeya back at Blog@16 this Thursday!!
NEXT WEEK: MILES BREAKS THE NEWS…
