Monday morning of this week I managed to finish my work on the Halloween show. Turns out, I had all of this week to work on it if I didn’t get it all finished. I wish I would have known that to begin with. It would have helped me relax me while I finished my work.
Turns out that there isn’t any revision work to do. Perhaps the holidays got in the way or the show we were going to revise didn’t have as much to do. In any case, I helping out on a show right now, doing story reel work. My section isn’t too difficult and the storyboard artist that boarded the Act drew very clean so there isn’t too much I have to do with my scenes.
I’m glad for the light work load. It will help me recover for my next show.
GHETTOMATION
It’s been a while since I’ve put a Jim Lujan cartoon on here. Well, Jim has come out with a new cartoon though. It’s called PRINCE OF POMONA, check it out:
ART
Wow, is action complicated. I worked this week on trying to finish up the action in page 5 of my script this week but I’m still not done:
I can tell you what the scribbles above represent. The female Sorceress putting blood on an ape heart and throwing it at Rob as he tries to head for an exit. The heart land in front of Rob and turns into a Silver Winged Apes with razor claws that slashes him and then back hands him away. Just as he jumps over to Rob to finish him off, the Raven shows up and attacks the Ape.
Much easier to write than to draw. I really need to keep track of where everyone is, what the environment looks like and where the best place to put the camera is so that everything is clear. I still have to draw another ape attack and the appearance of the human faced Viper.
I can’t wait to get through with this part. Mostly because, once I start roughing out the shot in the actual Storyboard program, it will feel far more like the film is getting finished than this stage.
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I got sick on Thursday and Friday of last week. I came into work both days. I don’t think I could have made it through the day, had it not been for the fact that I spend the day sitting down. During lunch, I would eat and then pass out for the rest of lunch. It was pretty miserable. I had to finish the work I was given though. Specially since I didn’t know how heavy the next act I was assigned was going to be. Turns out that it didn’t have all that many fixes. I probably could have stayed home and it would have all turned out okay.
Oh well.
GHETTOMATION
Once again Jim Lujan makes another Ghettomated cartoon. This one actually came out a few weeks ago but I didn’t get the chance to post it till now. It’s unbelievable how many cartoons this guys turns out. I’ve been working on my cartoon for about eleven months and Jim seems to have come out with eleven cartoons for my (still in progress) one.
WRITING
What I’ve written below is not what I wanted. At least the first half. The second half is much closer to what I had in mind but still not quite right. This is what happens when you don’t come up a good logical magick system for your story. You end up not quite knowing what’s possible to do in it. It’s too open ended and then suddenly you’re lost. Then, since there’s too much to think about, you end up having the magic users, just throwing projectiles. Boring. Might as well give them ray guns. So the question I had to ask myself was, “What would be interesting to see?”
Too bad I ignored the question because what I ended up with is NOT very interesting. Nor do I want to work on it. I’m going to leave this as is, just as a place holder until I can come up with something better. I think I’ll need to work out the magick system better and see if I can’t come up with a more interesting final battle.
Scene 8 (Thought/Knowledge)
Seeing the might they have unleashed on themselves the Sorcerers are shocked and two of them are incapacitated by Rob. The Lead Sorcerer seeing this, thinks he’s proved his case and does the crazy thing of putting his guard down to prove to Rob who he really is. Rob sees this and fights to bring down his rage. The Lead Sorcerer expects to be struck down, only Rob surprises him by NOT doing so. (Act 3 climax)
Outdoor Shopping Area – Day continued
Rob straightens up and turns to look at the stunned Sorcerers.
This snaps them back to their senses. The Lead Sorcerer immediately commands an attack. He guessed wrong. He now assumes the hammer Rob holds must also give him a boost in strength or something. In any case, as long as they hit him with everything they have, this should be over quickly.
The Lead Sorcerer commands The Other Male Sorcerer to create the most intense heat blast he can, next to Rob, while The Female Sorcerer should make a thick shield of the coldest ice she could make to protect them from the heat and cocoon Rob. Meanwhile he will attempt to turn the air around Rob into natural gas so the very air around Rob would roast him.
Rob doesn’t like what he hears. He thinks he better move before it’s too late. The thought hadn’t left his mind before the fire and ice had trapped him. A small layers of ice forms on his skin. Instantly a fireball start growing before him increasing in intensity. Rob simply reacts. No thought, just instinct. The hammer hits the wall of ice. It was three yards thick and he hit a hole right through. Then Rob starts running through the hole. An explosion from behind, sends him flying through and out. He rolls tumbling on the ground and at the last moment manages to use the last of the momentum to come to his knees. Steam rising from his body. No burns on him. The ice ironically shielded him. Rob finds himself, only a yard from The Female Sorceress.
In spite of their shock and in spite of the fact that all that magick had taken a lot out of them and left them exhausted, The Female Sorceress takes the opportunity to attack Rob with all she has left. The demon that gives her power, almost physically manifests around her as she attempts to freeze Rob’s insides.
Rob screams in pain as he feels his body begin to freeze. He moves toward The Sorceress.
She creates a wall of ice to shield herself. She’s now very weak and can hardly maintain the two spells.
Rob feels the spell waver for a second or two as the ice wall goes up. He smashes right through it and his hammer continues on until it hits The Sorceress in the chest. The manifestation of the demon inside her gets knocked out of her as if IT, not the Sorceress was hit by the blow. It leaves the Sorceress’ body as the Sorceress cries in pain and passes out. The demon seems to evaporate in a silent scream.
A cry from the Other Male Sorcerer, makes Rob turn. The effects of the Sorceress’ spell waring off.
As far as the Other Male Sorcerer is concerned, Rob has gone too far. He knows what Rob has just done to the woman he loves and he will pay and suffer for it. Exhausted as he is, he attacks Rob in a fire filled rage. The demon that gives him his power almost become fully manifest in him and around him. His hands become torches. Fireballs explode out of his hands like machine gun bullets shooting at Rob as he runs toward him.
Rob begins knocking fireballs into oblivion, with his hammer, as fast they reach him. The heat of fire still gets through. Sweat begins to gather on Rob’s forehead and begins to get in his eyes blinding him. Just as Rob blinks the sweat off, The Other Male Sorcerer reaches Rob and strikes. Rob takes a full on, fire punch, to the face. Once again, The Other Male Sorcerer has knocked Rob to the ground.
The Lead Sorcerer, isn’t idle through all this. In fact, he was just about to cast a spell in order to help The Other Male Sorcerer in finishing Rob off when Rob’s Raven begins attacking him. Completely taken by surprise by the fury of the attack, The Lead Sorcerer could only think to swat at the bird and run from it.
The Other Male Sorcerer step up to Rob and goes for the killing blow. A beam of pure fire shoots directly at Rob from his hands at point blank range. At the same moment, Rob brings the hammer up. The fire beam and hammer hit. The hammer, acts like a shield and it seems to soak the fire into itself. Rob stand up and shoves forward, hard, making the Other Male Sorcerer stumble back. The fire beam goes off for a second. As the Sorcerer raises his hand to strike again, Rob swing the hammer and hits the Sorcerer in the face. The manifestation of the demon that gave the Sorcerer his power reacts as if IT was hit in the face. The demon flies out of the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer screams in pain. The demon evaporates in a silent scream as the Sorcerer falls to the ground. His body suddenly seems to deflate like a balloon and becomes scrawny and weak. The hair covering his face had been knocked out of the way revealing a shriveled ugly face. The other Male Sorcerer sits up, looks at himself, looks at his hands and cries out that he has lost his powers and then begins to sob.
Rob turns from the man, telling him that he had been given the chance to leave. He also tells him to put his hair back on his face. Rob is kinda freaked out by how ugly he is.
Meanwhile, The Lead Sorcerer, loathing to use any of his power on a pesky bird. Decides to try using just enough to get it off him. He takes some molecules in the air and creates a quick burst of air that knocks the Raven far up and away from him. Satisfied that he bought himself some time, he looks toward Rob and the other Sorcerer, only to see Rob walking toward him as his companion weeps. He was too late to help and now it’s just him and the killer. The Lead Sorcerer begins a spell. Time to die a hero.
Rob stops his approach. He tells the Sorcerer not to do it. He tells the Sorcerer it doesn’t have to be this way. He could just walk away. He tells the Sorcerer that he doesn’t want to fight anymore. That he’s tired. That they caused enough destruction.
Rob’s words, rather than being taken the way they were intended, are heard by the Sorcerer as a man who is too weak to fight and is now bluffing for his life. Since the Sorcerer thinks Rob is evil and insincere, everything he says must NOT be what he means. That said, The Sorcerer DOES see how much of an act Rob’s been putting up all this time. The Sorcerer decides that before this is over, he will force Rob to admit what a monster he truly is, and that he deserves to die.
Reaching up and grabbing the air before him, the Sorcerer begins to press the air molecules together in order to crush Rob.
Rob is suddenly stuck in place. He feels as if he’s between two walls, getting crushed by them. He tries to raise his hammer hand and finds it too difficult.
Through gritted teeth, the Sorcerer begins talking to Rob telling him how Rob has shown his true power now. Pointing out to him how he ruthlessly dispatched his companions without a second thought.
Rob tries to respond but can’t. The ground he’s standing on begins to crack and break apart from the pressure.
The sweat runs down the Sorcerer’s head from the strain. He orders Rob to admit that his power is too great. That it WILL overcome him. That even if he thinks he hasn’t been seduced yet, that he’s fooling himself. He tells Rob he can see that he enjoys it. That he WILL want to use it for personal gain, and eventually he will abuse it to conquer and rule the world and so deserves to be stopped.
Rob can hardly breath. Something about what the Sorcerer is saying rings true. The power feels good. He does enjoy it in him. He doesn’t know what that means but he’s afraid that it MIGHT corrupt him. But if that’s so, how can he tell? Has he done anything that shows that he’s corrupt? Not that he can remember.
On the other hand, HE didn’t attack the Sorcerers. They attacked HIM. Who is this guy to lecture. It only makes him angry at the injustice. He struggle to free himself so he could at least take a breath. If he’s there any longer, he’s going to pass out and then die of asphyxiation.
The Sorcerer feels himself loosing control of the air. Rob is breaking free. He calls on more power. The manifestation of the demon that gives him his power surrounds The Sorcerer and he orders Rob to admit that he’s evil and deserves to be stopped at all cost.
Rob’s raven flies down and begins attacking the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer attempts to strike the Raven with one hand.
Rob feels the spell weakening. He lets out a mighty yell, grip the hammer tight, lifts it, and breaks free from the spell.
He takes in a mighty breath of air and coughs. Then turn to look at the Sorcerer, just in time to see him strike the raven with some sort of air punch that sends the bird bouncing and tumbling to the floor.
Anger surges through him. All he wants, is to pound on the Sorcerer. Enough is enough. He roars with rage. Run towards the Sorcerer like a barbarian berserker, mad with rage.
The Sorcerer sees it. What he was looking for. There it is. The monster. He was completely justified in his action. He knew it. Now the monster comes for him in truth. The Sorcerer tries one last thing. He tries to take the oxygen from Rob’s lungs.
Rob gags. Stumbles, struggles to get air. Gasps for it. In a wild rage, Rob just swings the hammer in the direction of the Sorcerer who is too far away…and strikes some sort of Magickal connection that sends the Sorcerer flying back and frees Rob from the spell.
The Sorcerer slams against a wall.
Robs runs at him, hammer up, ready to strike.
The Sorcerer smiles. He has enough strength to move away. To strike once more, but why? He’s won. So he tells Rob to do it, since he has won, and has shown Rob who he truly is. He closes his eyes and waits to be struck.
But it doesn’t happen.
He opens his eyes, and sees Rob right in his face. Rob grabs the Sorcerer by the scruff of the neck and slams him hard against the wall. Then Rob tells him everything he’d been dying to say. He tells the Sorcerer that after all that. After getting him that furious, he was STILL wrong about him. Rob brings up how even after THEY ATTACKED HIM and destroyed his lunch he STILL gave them a chance to walk away. Which they didn’t use. That no matter what Rob said, they deliberately took it in the worst way they could when he was simply being sincere. Whose fault was that? He points out that, after he had the hammer, THEY chose to attack. EVERYTHING he did was self defense. Just as it HAS been ANYTIME he’s for Sorcerers. He tells the Sorcerer to look around. What part of the destruction was Rob’s compared to the destruction they caused. He asks him whose fault was it that those other two Sorcerers lost their powers? Who attacked who. Who is evil. Who has acted with just cause? Who has acted with hatred and ignorance. He tells the Sorcerer to open his eyes and take a good long look at himself. Who here makes a pact with a demon for power? He tells the Sorcerer to ask himself, whose actions speak louder than words here?
Then Rob lets go of the Sorcerer, turns, and limps away in the direction of his raven. He’s had enough. He needs to make sure his friend is okay.
END OF SCENE
Overall, the thing I’m most unsatisfied with, is how generic the magick is. I mean, it just seems like one has ice powers, the other has fire powers and the third uses “the Force”. It doesn’t really say “magick” to me.
Unfortunately, this means I have to change my plans a bit. After I’m done writing the treatment, I’m going to have to sit down, do some research, and come up with an interesting, visual magick system. Then I’ll have to go back to the treatment and give it a second pass. I think it’s important that I, at least, get the magick right and get the treatment in a more ready condition before I start writing dialogue. I don’t want to waste my time and effort once I have to start doing the final parts of the story. The more problems I solve in this stage, the more fun I’ll have in the later stages.
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I received the news this week that my hiatus is coming up. In two weeks I’m going to be out of a job for two weeks, then I’ll come back to work for two more weeks, and I’ll be off on hiatus again for two more weeks after that. Once those two weeks are up, I’ll start back on the show for the new season. What this all means is, that I’ll only be working for two weeks for the next two months. I hope my finances can take the hit. Too weak.
In other Simpsons news, I had a meeting this week with the producer who’s getting to run the episode I’m working on right now. It’s not Al Jean. It’s someone else. The person is supervising two episodes this season.
He came down to the studio in order to have a meeting with the director because he really wants to make sure all the notes and things are clear and are working. He also wanted to be able to hear any suggestions we have to improve or adjust things in order to make things clearer and better.
That just rocks.
It’s probably the reason why this episode is so well put together in the first place. I think it’s one of the best shows of the season and it work real well.
The meeting was a blast. I hope I get to work with him again. I hope I can weasel myself into the next meeting, the way I did with this one. It was cool.
GHETTOMATION/CATHOLICISM
This “Illustrated Film” is obviously just comic panels put to music. And it works GREAT! Nothing fancy, just the panels. Very cool. And the subject matter is perfect for Lent. The comic book artist who originally drew the comic is an illustrator by the name of Simon Smith.
This turned out longer than I thought. I didn’t expect that.
So I think I know what the hammer is now. I think I know whether it can be trusted or not. I’m not sure whether I should say just yet. I’m considering redesigning it. I’ll draw a few sketches of it and decide whether I like it or if it’s even necessary to have a redesign. My deciding what the hammer is DID inform the final version of the scene though.
On a different note, at the end of the last scene, Rob was left in a situation where he was perfectly justified to seek revenge. The thing is, he’s the “good guy”, and to me, this means his very actions need to be examples of goodness. Especially since the very case Rob is trying to make against the Sorcerers is that, what he does, is who he is, and while it’s not always perfect, is not bad or evil. Rob CAN’T take revenge, because that would be taking the “low road”. The “easy road”, and Rob is suppose to be virtuous enough to take the “road less traveled”. His actions also have to be in contrast to what the Sorcerers would do. So once Rob is on even footing with the Sorcerers, would he just start kick the tar out them them? No. So how can I get Rob to fight these guys?
Only if he gets attacked first. Then all he’s doing is defending himself. So if you notice, during the following scenes, Rob will not initiate a fight. He will only respond to it. That way, his actions have just cause. Even if deep down, he was hoping they would attack him, if only to give him an excuse to fight back. He’s still human after all.
Scene 7 (Desire/Ability)
Rob becomes angry and his Raven flies from the bushes with Rob’s little weapon in it’s talons. He drops it on Rob’s hand were it magically grows large and he begins to fight off the monsters and Sorcerers in an almost out of control berzerker rage.
Outdoor Shopping Area – Day continued
There’s only so much a guy can take before he says enough is enough. Rob has hit this point. Weapon or no weapon, he needs to take some action, if only for his sanity’s sake. He decides then and there, that he’s not going down without a fight. Rob sits up and begins to vent out loud. He points out that it wasn’t like he was asking for anything unreasonable. He wasn’t even being mean or rude, in spite of that fact that they were being rude to HIM. He even kept his side of the deal they’d made, which THEY broke.
During this time all the Sorcerers stop and listen to Rob. The creatures don’t move, seeing their masters are still. The Lead Sorcerer is annoyed at Rob for pointing out what he knows all too well.
The White Raven comes to his senses and finds himself in the bushes. He turns and sees Rob’s weapon, right next to him.
Rob continues, his face looking down at the ground. His eyes forward.
He recounts how long it took him to scrounge up enough money to buy the hot dog. That running from Sorcerers like them had made it difficult to hold down a job long enough sometimes to even collect his paychecks. How he hadn’t eaten for almost a day and a half and he’d specifically made a point to earn enough to eat THAT hot dog from THAT hot dog stand.
The anger inside Rob begins to swell. He continues with how he had ONLY asked for ten minutes. How the only thing he had asked for was that small moment to finish his lunch. Yet they didn’t give it to him. And yet, after all that, they have the gall to call HIM evil. To say HE is wrong. He tells the Sorcerers that he’s almost gotten used to being hated by them. That he can take being misrepresented by them. He can even tolerate being constantly attacked by them on occasion. BUT, he draws the line when someone steps on his lunch.
At that point, Rob’s weapon falls from the sky and into his hand. Rob hadn’t expected this to happen but he hears the sound of his Raven above him and knows where it came from. The power in the weapon begins to surge through him.
The Sorcerers are surprised to see the weapon fall into Rob’s hand and look up to see the Raven above.
Rob begins to glow white. He slowly rises to his feet. The tiny little hammer in his hand begins to grow on it’s own. It grows enormous. The hammer head alone, becoming larger than any warhammer they had ever seen. It too glows with it’s own power.
Rob grabs hold of the remaining rags of shirt still on his body and tears them off himself, revealing a bloody and bruise torso. He raises his eyes to the Sorcerers for the first time. They are glowing white, and seem as bright as two suns.
The Sorcerers are taken aback. They hadn’t expected this and they all become uneasy.
Once more Rob speaks. And once more, he gives the Sorcerers one last chance to walk away and leave him alone. Even now, after all this, Rob is STILL willing to let the Sorcerers go as if nothing had happened.
The Lead Sorcerer seeing his companions are shaken, claps and commends Rob for the show, but he tells him they don’t scare off that easily. The Lead Sorcerer, who is the only one of them who sensed the power in the weapon, knows it’s a weapon not to trifled with. Yet, he also has eyes, and sees Rob’s condition. He doubts he has the power to fight and is therefore bluffing. Otherwise he wouldn’t have given the Sorcerers “a chance to walk away”. He tells Rob they aren’t afraid of him. The other Sorcerers are reassured by their boss’s words. They all look ready to strike. The Lead Sorcerer turns to them and they all exchange looks. They nod to each other knowing the next move as if they had been told verbally.
The Lead Sorcerers yells out a command and all the creatures attack Rob at once. He commands the other Sorcerers to not throw ice, or fireballs, to avoid hitting the monsters, but he tells them they need to make sure Rob doesn’t escape from them.
The two Winged Apes reach Rob moments after each other. Rob saw them coming and began swinging his hammer at the one that was going to land first. Before the Ape knows what hit him, the hammer comes crashing into it’s chest. An explosion of white light comes out of said contact and the Ape shatters into the magick particles it had been constructed out of. Within the same motion, not missing a beat, Rob removes the bottom half of the hammer’s hilt, revealing a long curved dagger and swings his arms over his head and down to his opposite side from where the hammer is. The dagger finds the second Winged Ape, just as it land by Rob, seconds after the other. It get cut from head to chest, revealing magickal light from it’s wound. Surprise on it’s face, it explodes into magick particles.
The Sorcerers are a tad shocked.
Rob returned the dagger back to it’s place in the hilt of the hammer and turns to face the approaching Viper Creature. The two pause as they stare at each other for a beat. Then Rob makes the first move and runs at it. The Viper Creature strikes. Rob jumps out of the way, just as the Viper Creatures fangs are about to strike. Rob then brings the hammer down hard. It catches the creature right on it’s head. The force of the hammer takes the creature’s head straight to the ground smashing it between the hammer and the floor. The floor cracks with force. The Viper Creature’s body recoils, knocking down trees and benches. Then the creature disappears, returning the magick particles it was created from.
Stunned, the Sorcerers can do nothing but stare in disbelief.
END OF SCENE
I thought about making the fight longer. I thought I might have Rob take more time dispatching the creatures, but then I thought we’d seen enough fighting. I kinda wanted to get to the point. The story needed to move on.
Whether I will need to make that fight longer later will be up to what the final version looks like.
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I finished both Acts 1 and 2 for Show 20 last week and now I’m done with Act 3 and working on Act 4. That’s crazy. This will be the first time I was able to revise an entire show on my own. Unfortunately, things are a bit more hectic than they need to be. I needed to stay late all week in order to be able to stay home with the kids on Friday, since day care will be closed that day.
Still, I’m glad I’m so ahead on the work.
VIDEO/GHETTOMATION
Went to the comic store with some pals from work a few weeks back. They met up a with a guy who one my friend Dave knew who had had made a Superman cartoon for fun. He had it on his iPhone and showed it to my friends but I was somewhere else in the shop and missed it. They couldn’t stop talking about it, they liked it so much. Well here’s what I missed out on for everyone to see. It was animated by veteran Disney animator Robb Pratt.
Ghettomation at it’s most fully animated. And by Ghettomation I mean you’re making an animated cartoon with the tools you have on hand, Guerrilla style.
WRITING
This week on my personal project, I’m working on Scene 2 from Act 1. As I did last week I’ll put my Scene synopsis first and then I’ll expound on it.
This one got looong. The purpose of the treatment is to overwrite so you have everything you can possibly think of covered. I was trying to do this which made it difficult to be brief. I think once I’m done with this first pass on the treatment, I’m going to go over it one more time (though I probably won’t post it) just to make sure everything is working the way I want. It’s REALLY difficult for me not to write dialogue here. Especially since it’s my favorite part. I’m not saying I’m good at writing dialogue, I’m just saying I like to do it.
Scene 2 (Inertia/Order)
The Sorcerers confront Rob about his past and his future. Rob defends by explaining the circumstances behind those moments. If left alone nothing would happen. They try to convince him to turn himself over to the Sorcerers so they can lock him up and keep him from becoming evil. Rob tells them he has no intention of taking over the world. The lead Sorcerer tries to convince Rob that his cause is just. Rob just want to be left alone. The Sorcerers won’t do that. Rob asks if he could at least have ten minutes to finish his hot dog. They discuss it among themselves and grant him ten minutes on the condition he hand over his weapon. (inciting incident)
Now, I expand it:
Outdoor Shopping Area – Day continued
Settling himself down and mentally kicking himself for not paying more attention to the people in the area, Rob tries to play it cool. He hopes that if he’s nice, they will leave him alone to eat his hot dog. He smiles up and greets them. Then he asks if it would be possible for them to wait a minute or two while he finishes his lunch.
The Lead Sorcerer doesn’t like the attitude Rob has taken and suspects a ruse. He ignores the happy attitude and asks Rob to come with him and his two allies.
This is new to Rob. He is a bit puzzled. He usually just gets attacked and no one ever just asks him to come with them. He asks them where to and why.
The Lead Sorcerer thinks Rob is playing games so he tells him to stop. He tells him he know where and why.
Anger builds up in Rob’s belly but he holds it back. It is THEY that are bothering HIM. What’s with the attitude. Rob sincerely tells them that he suspects the why but not the where. He tells them that he suspects that they are here because they believe he’s some sort of evil dark lord that will take over the world. He also tells them that since it isn’t true, he doesn’t think he’s going anywhere with them. Especially since they seem so openly hostile.
The Lead Sorcerer is very surprised at this response. He’s angered by the blatant denial of his evil actions. He accuses Rob of lying about who he truly is. He challenges Rob to deny that he has previously incapacitated 30 other Sorcerers that he has come in contact with. He challenges Rob to deny the ruthlessness of those attacks upon them. He challenges Rob to deny that such power should not be considered dangerous and signs of an evil nature.
Rob is shocked at the way this is put to him. ALL does so called “attacks” where self defense. He got attacked FIRST and he defended himself. He can’t believe how out of context the situations are being portrayed. He immediately argues back about that very thing. Rob is outraged by how they’ve twisted what really happened.
The Lead Sorcerer doesn’t believe Rob. Though, he’s impressed with Rob’s very convincing acting ability. He does see a way to manipulate Rob’s act to his purpose. He proposes to Rob that if what he says is true, he would have no problem going with him and his companions to the Sorcerer’s High Tower and face trial. He tells Rob he will be set free and not bothered if what he said is found to be true.
It suddenly dawns on Rob what is going on. He realizes that that’s where they want him to go. They want him to go with them to some tower so he could be judged for defending himself. Rob can’t believe how messed up these guys are. He lets out a small laugh.
The Lead Sorcerer thinks Rob is mocking him and voices his outrage.
Rob tries to calm him down by telling him he wasn’t laughing at him, but at the ridiculous situation this was. He asks the Lead Sorcerer if the Sorcerer’s High Tower is where they wanted to escort him to.
The Lead Sorcerer confirms this.
Rob knows from his dealings with the Sorcerers that they always get the facts mixed up. These guys are only proving his suspicions. Even though he knows what the answer will be, he asks the Lead Sorcerer what would happen if he refuses.
The Lead Sorcerer assures Rob that it would prove he is guilty, evil, and exactly what the prophesy says he is because actions speak louder than words. Since only the guilty run. Having him prove he’s guilty in this way, they would have to kill Rob on the spot, in order to save the world from his slavery.
Rob sees the writing on the wall. This is going to end in a fight. His stomach grumbles with a hunger pain, which only makes him MORE upset. He tries to reason with the Lead Sorcerer, explaining that this was pretty much what led him to fight all the other Sorcerers. He tells him that they are only proving his point. He tells them he absolutely refuses to go with them. That all he wants is to be left alone, and more importantly, he wants to be able to just eat his lunch in peace.
The Lead Sorcerer didn’t want it to come to this, but he doesn’t have a choice and tells Rob this. He tried to reason with him, now it’s time to do it the hard way. He knows his companions where looking forward to this. They are itching to hurt Rob. They all get ready to attack.
Rob seeing this and calls out for them to stop. He’s at the brink of frustration and irritation. He decides to beg. He pleads with the three to let him have five minutes to at least eat his hot dog. Then he’ll allow them to try to kill them all they want.
The Lead Sorcerer considers this. He sees a tactical advantage here but he wants to make sure he isn’t being duped. He tells Rob that he needs to consult with his companions. Keeping an eye on Rob, he steps aside with his companions and tells them what his plan. He tells them that if Rob really wants these five minutes (as he seems to) perhaps he would be stupid enough to give up his weapon for it. If it’s a trick, he would refuse, but if it’s NOT then he’s defenseless. The other agree but the other male Sorcerer thinks it would be foolish to give him the five minutes if he gives up his weapon. He thinks they should attack him. The Lead Sorcerer tells him it would be dishonorable to do such a thing if they bargain. The Other Male Sorcerer begins to argue but the Lead Sorcerer orders him to be quiet. They then turn to Rob and propose to give him five minutes to eat his lunch in return for his anti-Sorcerer weapon.
Rob considers. He’s so hungry. He thinks to himself, why not? If he’s going to die, he might as well die after happily eating his hot dog. Besides, the darn thing always seems to end up in his hand no matter what he does. If it finally stops being attached him, like a curse, it would be a win for him. He looks up at the Sorcerers and agrees but only if they give him ten minutes instead of five.
They agree.
He reaches over to a loop on his belt and removes what looks like a tiny medical reflex hammer from it. He hands it over to the Lead Sorcerer. He warns them that no matter how hard he tries, the hammer always finds a way back to him.
END OF SCENE
My big surprise as I’m writing this is, how honorable the antagonist is turning out. It’s something unintentional but the story needs him to be so. I originally envisioned him as a big jerk. I may need to change his design a little because of this.
I think the next scene will be much shorter. I’m very excited that I’m getting closer to getting to the final art and boards.
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Well, this week has been interesting. I was put on, what turned out to be, a very high profile Couch Gag. Yeah, it’s very odd. The gag has a special guest writer and it seems to be very important to the Big Guys, so I had to do the best work I’d done so far. Especially since it was going to be looked at under a microscope by all the Big Guys and the guest writer.
Ouch! What’s that squishing me from above? Oh yeah, PRESSURE.
FAMILY
It was my dad’s birthday this week and my father-in-laws birthday last Saturday. Happy Birthday DADS!
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(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)
Pasadena rocks. It’s my favorite town in LA. That’s one of the reasons I lived there for two years or so. It’s great, and I love visiting it. One of the things I like about Pasadena is that it has some of the prettiest places hidden away in it. When I decided to take photos to use as reference for the background of my cartoon, Pasadena was, almost, the only place on my list to go to.
So I decided to go and take photos of places I remembered, that I thought would help me flesh out my backgrounds. The first was a place on Lake Ave. near the Borders book store. I thought I might be able to use the architecture here as well as get an idea of what an enclosed space might look like. At this point I was planning to make the fight happen in a place similar to this, only without the ceiling and a bit less narrow. I took a few pictures but I’m only putting up one:
On the way to the destination above, I caught a glimpse of a place I might have wanted to take a look at next on Green St. I stopped by there and took a look around. It fit the idea I was going for a bit better even though it was still a bit too small an area. It also had a fountain and I thought was a nice touch I might want to put in. Below is one of the many pictures I took.
As I was looking for parking to take photos of the the place above, another place caught my eye. A place I had never seen before, even though I’ve driven by it tons of times. This was also on Lake Ave. near Green St. I decided to investigate.
Low and behold, I found the place my story was going to take place in. It was perfect. With a few modifications (like cobble stone floors and no buildings behind the main buildings) it would be exactly what I wanted. It was a small plaza with enough space for a fight but with enough obstacles to make it entertaining and fun to destroy. I didn’t even know that place was there.
Once I had my photos, I began my sketching. This is some of what I did using the photos as reference:
One of the changes I’m making to the reference material is putting in the fountain from the other photo. You can see it in the floor plan view above.
After doing those sketches, I decided to continue making up some thumbnail roughs for a more finished picture. Ironically the placement of the figures are such that you don’t even see the background all that much. Still, it makes me feel more comfortable knowing there is a rough design of the background.
I’m still not sure if I’m going to use any of these shots. I kinda want some full figures as well as some background showing. Now that I have a better idea of what everyone and everything roughly looks like, I really need to finalize the look of the cartoon.
GHETTOMATION
Jim Lujan has released a new cartoon called PALEFACE and it’s great. Jim‘s a very important guy to me. He’s the guy whose inspired me to work on my OWN animated cartoons:
I’ve been moved into an office now. I share it with a long time veteran board artist. I have the office to myself most of the time though, since he works mostly from home and comes into work maybe one or twice a week.
The one thing I’m most happy about is that there is a TV in the office and it gets cable. This means that next Month I’ll be able to watch the World Cup games.
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I hadn’t really been in the mood to work on my project. I thought perhaps I wasn’t making it fun enough for myself. It also felt I had a lot to do. I needed to design all the characters and the look of the cartoon, as well as start breaking up the story into “beats”. This just seemed like such a chore. I had to find a way to NOT make it a chore. I mean, I’m doing this for fun right? This shouldn’t feel like work.
The other day I watched an animated movie called DRAGON HUNTERS.
It’s a CG movie with fantastic designs and a great looking world. It annoyed me that it was CG, mostly because I kinda wanted 2D inspiration. Well, in the credits, there are some drawings of a character that was spoken about in the movie. I really liked them so I screen captured the images.
It almost has a stain glass yet art deco look. I became curious of what that would look like in a contemporary setting. I’ll have to experiment with the look to see if I want it (or can even pull it off).
Below is the beginning of my thought process to get to that point. I began to redesigning my characters using the shapes I thought where reflected in the screen captures. I don’t know why I decided to use a ballpoint pen. I guess it was just mood.
The one thing I hadn’t done yet with my designs is work out the contrasting shapes of my character’s silhouettes. Because of this, it made the feel of my characters fairly generic and dull. So in the lower three drawings of the page above, I did it a little bit. Later this week I’m going to do more. Part of the problem I’m having, I think, is that I haven’t done something that basic.
I was hoping that by really pushing the design it would become more fun to draw. So far it’s working.
I did have fun drawing these.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around what I want the Sorcerers to look like. I know that I want two guys and one gal. I’ve been looking at some photos of character types for inspiration. For the protagonist Rob, I was used Tom Welling as a jumping off point for his type.
I’m still trying to decide who I will use for the Sorcerers. I also kinda want them to look like rejects from The Matrix. I’m not married to that idea though. It depends whether it’s fun or not. I’m also considering making that Sorcerers look like a grown up version of Harry, Ron, and Hermoine if they were trying real hard to look cool. Another thought for the Sorcerers I had was that, if they weren’t Sorcerers they would just be nerds. The thing about all these ideas which makes me unsure is that, it might not be fun drawing weak looking enemies. I kinda want to make them to look challenging and intimidating.
Any suggestions on actors or models that might fit the “types” would be appreciated. Also, if you think you have good suggestions for interesting clothes that might look magical yet contemporary, cool but not out of The Matrix, I’m willing to take a look. At this point, things are still up in the air.
GHETTOMATION
And speaking of cartoons, if you haven’t seen Jim Lujan‘s newest cartoon, NEW WAVE DENTIST, you’re missing out:
BLOGS
Also, over at the MAN VS. ART blog, Raul Aguirre‘s latest podcast episode on the history of animation is just darn right awesome. Check it out by CLICKING HERE.
For more comic and stories written by me, CLICK HERE.
If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.
My first week back on layout was a bit rocky. It took me a while to get used to doing it again. By Friday I was really grooving though. I was going through scenes at the speed I’m meant to go. I’ve been able to continue holding up that pace so far. I glad.
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I’ve been showing off a bit of my extra curricular Simpsons work for the last couple of weeks. This will be the last of it for now.
This is some work I did for a Lisa Simpson Book. Similar to the Krusty one I wrote about last week. One of the running gags of the book was a Lisa comic done in the style of the Rex Morgan M.D. comic strip. It featured Lisa and Milhouse all grown up solving medical problems. It was fun to do because it was so melodramatic. I had worked on the show “Lisa’s Wedding” which takes place in the future and Lisa is grown up through most of the show. I remembered what Lisa looked like in that show and I drew her in the same way, with slightly stylized wavy hair:
It’s funny to note, now that I see all strips together, that almost all the strips end with a close up of a character or a dramatic up shot. Sometimes, even the exact SAME dramatic upshot as a different strip.
You will also note that, in the roughs I posted, I didn’t really put in any perspective grids like I usually do. Looking through the roughs I DIDN’T post, I see that they are missing in those as well. I “eye balled” the perspective on all of these strips. Granted, I didn’t really put in all that many backgrounds either. These strips allowed me to experiment with doing “short hand” backgrounds.
Above is a rough that I didn’t post the clean up for…for some reason.
Above here’s the rough of the strip below.
It was fun to have Milhouse totally start crying just for the melodrama of it all. I don’t think that was in the script.
Above is the rough of the strip below. The note from the art director was not to have Milhouse come in running on panel 3.
I didn’t post all the strips. Just a few.
Yet again, I didn’t receive a copy of this book so I don’t know what the final version of these strips look like. I’ll need to track this books down so I can check it out:
What do you think?
MY WEEK
I turned 35 last Saturday. The kids, Alesha took me out to eat sushi. Something I really enjoy doing. We then went back home and my parents came over to visit later in the evening. The best part of the day, (besides spending time with my family) was getting time to work on my comic.
Sunday we were invited to my in-law’s house. My mother in law made enchiladas for lunch. It was yummy. Later we drove to my parent’s house were my mother there was a steak dinner waiting for me along with my brother, Deborah his wife, my cousin and her family. We got there late, which was embarrassing since they were there for me. Still, it I had a good time.
It’s odd, even on my birthday, if I’m not playing a board game, I still feel awkward about being around a lot of people. I think it’s gotten worse since I started working my projects.
MY WEB COMIC
Speaking of projects…I’m very close to finishing the inking process of my web comic. I’m very surprised at how much fun I’m having working on this thing. It also has me very frustrated. Mostly because I’m not as happy about the way it’s turning out as I’d like to be. The reason for this, is my fault. I wanted to draw the comic without making it to be too much work. Usually, as you’ve seen from my comic book making process post, I draw one page three times before it’s finalized. If I was to ink the page, it would be four times. Well, in order to speed things up, I decided that I was only going to draw each page twice. I was going to draw the final penciled page and then ink it. No rough plot, no tighter rough, no clean up page. I was going straight to a tight rough and then to ink. This has actually caused a lot of problems because my abilities are NOT such that I can just get everything right the first time. I really needed to take one more step before I got to the inking. Still, I’m learning, so I’ll know what I’ll do different next time.
I’ve also rediscovered that I have lousy lettering, so I’m going to have digital lettering through out the comic and I think even the sound effects I’ve put into the pages will need to be reworked digitally. It’s okay though, practice makes perfect. The comic is still perfectly readable and I’m still planning on finishing it. It’s going to be in color and since I’ve never colored a comic before, I don’t know how long that’s going to take me. Hopefully, not very much time.
And while I’m on the subject of projects…
GHETTOMATION
I’m slowly making headway into the writing and creating of my next Pulp serial ghettomated project. I think I’ve finally nailed down what it’s all going to be about, who the main characters are and what their motivation is. Now, I just have to come up with a quick story to put them in so I can really begin. That, and the fact that I have to work out the look and style of the cartoon.
I’ll write about the process when it really starts getting into gear.
