Archive for March, 2005
Daily Musings: Day 150
(sorry about the late posting)
It’s been a late night. I was going to just call it a day and go to bed early, catching up on some much-needed sleep. But then I caught myself getting a bit depressed over the though of not having my own book finished for SPACE (which is two weeks away). You see, I had this grandiose plan to put together another small press art book, this time of my photographs, and print a limited run for the show. But between my kitchen remodeling shenanigans, Wendy’s move, the Panel book, the webcomic projects, and other things, I found my free time and energy virtually disappear.
To make matters worse, I realized that I’ll be missing Comfest this year as well. Those two events are the most indy/alt friendly local events all year, and I was going to miss having a new creative product done for them.
So I decided screw it, I may or may not be able to pull it off in time for SPACE, but I’m sure as hell going to try and get the photo book done. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 4 hours. Digging through my photos, selecting, resizing, cropping, scanning, etc. With a little bit of luck, I just may be able to hit the deadline. We’ll see.
Robert Rodriguez article about Sin City
Wired magazine has a nice little article about digital filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and the Sin City flick. It’s nothing you haven’t read before if you’ve been following the story behind the movie, but it’s cool to see more and more mainstream attention paid to this movie. I know a lot of comic fans think it’ll look silly and the look will turn off the mainstream viewers, but I think with all the hype around the technology and “rebel” filmmaking techniques involved in the production of this film, it’ll garner a huge audience. The A-list ensemble cast doesn’t hurt either.
“As Rodriguez refines the tools of digital filmmaking – and the liberty that comes with them – others are slow to follow. Hollywood purists tend to dismiss the geeks in the business as more interested in technology than storytelling. To dispel that notion, Rodriguez persuaded his pal Quentin Tarantino to direct a scene in the movie. Tarantino is the poster boy for analog: He collects rare 35-mm prints and doesn’t even use monitors on set while directing. He had just come off shooting Kill Bill, where he did take after take, perfecting each scene, but ballooning the movie’s budget and production schedule in the process. For Sin City, Tarantino filmed a self-contained segment at Troublemaker and learned that high tech means low stress. Rodriguez explains: “Quentin did a scene where the actors are in a car and it’s raining. Instead of worrying about all that stuff, the car and the rain were added later, and he could just get the performance.” Tarantino conceded, telling Rodriguez, “Mission accomplished. I’m glad you brought me down here.” Tarantino now says he’ll shoot his own digital feature.”
For my money, it’s the one comic book movie I’ve been the most excited about seeing. And this coming from a guy who hates big budget, over-hyped flicks.
An open letter to blogger
(I was trying to post this note a couple of days ago, but ironically the very same Blogger problems that precipitated this rant were also keeping it from being posted. But hey, I’m not one to let a good rant go to waste, so here it is, for what it’s worth.)
Dear Blogger,
In the interest of fairness, I must admit up front that your software has all sorts of nice features. And the fact that your service is absolutely free is very appealing to me. So yes, I’ll probably sound like an ungrateful hypocrite for ranting about you, but so be it.
Blogger, I have come to the conclusion that your system is a piece of s***.
Your software may have all sorts of spiffy features, but that doesn’t mean jack s*** if it doesn’t work properly. I’ve lost count of the number of days where I can’t post anything to my blog due to mysterious errors on your system. Or the number of times I’ve spent a considerable amount of time and energy typing up a post, only to see it vanish unceremoniously into the ether after clicking the “Publish” button. Or how my browser just clocks when I click the “Edit Posts” button. Or the “internal server errors” and 404s I get every other time I try to update my blog. And god help anyone trying to use a Mac or the Safari browser to access your interface.
I’m pissed off.
I’m pissed off at your unreliable piece of s*** software. But more importantly, I’m pissed off at myself for investing so much time and energy into this blog, customizing it to use your proprietary tags and features, to the point that I can’t easily tell you to go f*** yourselves and simply port my blog to another service provider.
I can’t believe that you are owned by Google, one of the most technologically advanced and innovative companies ever. They can index 8 billion web pages and search them in under a second for weird-ass phrases like “Bolivian existential goat porn”, but you can’t f***ing post a simple text block to an HTML page? Man, you guys must be like the retarded criminal stepchild in the Google family, begrudgingly fed and occasionally bathed, but never acknowledged, supported, or nurtured.
You suck, blogger. I hate you.
Sincerely,
Dara
PS. Thanks for listening, I feel much better now. Though you still suck.
Daily Musings: Day 149
The fantasy of putting together a small press comix anthology:
- Make a few phone calls, line up the talent.
- Sit back and sip margaritas while they produce the stories.
- Collect the final pages in electronic form, dump into Adobe Acrobat.
- Send to printer.
- Sit back and count the money.
The reality of putting together a small press comix anthology:
- Get together with your buddies and try to pick a theme for the book.
- Get together with your buddies to come up with a size, format, and design for the book.
- Try to come up with a story idea good enough to sit side by side with everyone else’s work.
- Try to find an artist in the group who will want to collaborate with you.
- Finish your script.
- Agonize over why you can’t seem to finish the script.
- Feel like a jerk for holding up your artist because you haven’t finished the script yet.
- Finally, finish the script.
- Get together with your buddies to finalize the size, format, and design for the book.
- Get together with your buddies to finalize the cover design, bio pages, afterword, back cover design, etc.
- Agonize over the impending deadline.
- Review artwork as it trickles in, discuss with group and offer constructive criticism.
- Get together with your buddies to finalize selection of paper stock, printer, etc.
- Agonize over the impending deadline.
- Follow up with artists as to the status of their pages.
- Accept hardcopy of some finished pages, erase pencil lines, scan, clean up in Photoshop.
- Agonize over the impending deadline.
- Follow up with artists as to the status of their pages.
- Figure out who needs pages scanned, who is going to be mailing in pages, who will be e-mailing 5MB pages, etc.
- Get together with your buddies and figure out what to do in the case of late artwork.
- Finalize other details, like who is lettering each story, who is writing the press release, etc.
- Put together the final package in Adobe Acrobat.
- Get it to the Kinko’s.
- Pick up finished job from Kinko’s.
- Schedule a fold-and-staple night to assemble the printed pages.
- Send out press releases.
- Prepare for the convention.
…and finally, and best of all:
Proudly display your one-of-a-kind, kick-ass small press comix anthology.
And possibly even sell a couple dozen issues.
Daily Musings: Day 148
F*** you, Blogger, you piece of s***
You f***ing ate three of my posts today. Worthless piece of s*** good for nothing service.
Yes, I realize you’re a free service. I guess you get what you pay for, eh?
F***ing asshat.
(Needless to say, no musings tonight other than what you just read. I don’t feel like spending my time typing up an essay, only to have it be lost in electronland on the whim of this pile of excrement so-called software)
I’m not often offended, but …
… but damn. Here’s an item from the Film Threat newsletter about a new indie flick:
BEASTER
by Eric Campos
* * * *
Goddamnit, I love blasphemy and you can’t get much more blasphemous than Vin Morrone’s “Beaster”. This horror short depicts the Resurrection of Christ as how I would like to imagine it – a bloody zombie nightmare. Watch Jesus rise from the grave and chow down on everyone in his path. Watch Pontius Pilate make a bold attempt to put Big J down for good. Watch your ass if you have your Bible on you while watching this film as it’s most likely to burst into flame.
Of course, there’s a good helping of humor found in this short – how could there not be? The well-timed jokes mixed with the absurdity of the piece will keep viewers laughing even though they’ll be gagging at the same time due to all of the graphic violence and gore.
It’s also fun for the kids.
Kyle Baker interview
PopImage has a short interview with cartoonist Kyle Baker. It’s mostly focused on his new self-published, historical epics Nat Turner and King David. However, at the end of the interview, Kyle makes some funny comments regarding the state of superhero books today.
“My 6-year-old daughter and I like to flip through the current comics and laugh at how there’s no fight. We just saw a JLA comic that was literally 21 pages of Superheroes talking! Nobody used their super powers once! Martian Manhunter finally loses his temper on one page, and grabs a guy’s neck, but then he decides not to strangle him, and then the JLA decide to talk some more. News Flash: Kids Can’t Read Yet. They need visuals. Wonder Woman flying in her glass plane and stopping bullets with her wrists. That’s the stuff they like.Maybe I’m too demanding, but when I see a comic book about a guy named Green Arrow dressed like Robin Hood, I expect to see him SHOOT SOME ARROWS! If the book is called Superman, I want to see him do something super! How come superheroes are always crying?”
Daily Musings: Day 147
Final page of this story. I’m tentatively calling this one “Life as an Artist”, though I’m open to a better title.
===
PAGE 5
Suggested Panel layout: 2x3x2
Panel 1: Medium shot of Jeff at his drafting table. His head is turned to the side, reacting to the voice of his son coming from the doorway (off panel).
Caleb (OP): Hey dad, is it done yet? Can I see?
Panel 2: Pull back to show Caleb standing in the doorway, clutching his favorite “Generic Superhero” giant action figure. The sight of his son has snapped Jeff out of his melancholy mood.
Jeff: Hey Caleb. I thought you were watching your cartoons.
Caleb: I was, but I got bored. I wanted to see if you finished the page with the giant robot.
Jeff: As a matter of fact, I was just putting the finishing touches on it. Here.
Panel 3: Caleb jumps up in his dad’s lap and looks over the page excitedly.
Caleb: Oh, sweet! He’s totally gonna’ smash that robot, isn’t he?
Jeff: You betcha’.
Caleb: Man, I wish I could draw as good as you, dad.
Panel 4: Caleb looking up at his father, even more excited.
Jeff: You can, buddy. It just takes some practice.
Jeff: In fact, how would you like to help me finish this page?
Caleb: For real?
Jeff: Of course.
Panel 5: Small panel, perhaps even an inset into panel 4. Close up on Jeff’s hand, as he offers a pen to his son.
Jeff (OP): Here, take this pen. See that block in the background that has all the Xs in it?
Caleb (OP): You mean this one?
Panel 6: Caleb hunched over the drafting table, inking the art with a great deal of concentration as Jeff looks over his shoulder.
Jeff: Yeah. Now, go ahead and fill it in, make it all black
Caleb: Ok. Like this?
Jeff: Yes, very good! See? You’re a natural.
Panel 7: Caleb is inking away, a big smile on his face. Jeff has his arms around him, looking over like a proud papa. He’s got a serene smile on his face, completely happy at this moment with his choices in life.
Caleb: Oh man, I can’t wait to tell my friends I helped you draw an issue! This is so cool!
Jeff: You said it, buddy. It’s the coolest.
END.
Lockjaw?
If you buy this for $60, you are without a doubt the world’s biggest dork. Ever.
I mean, seriously. WTF?
(via Progressive Ruin)
Your moment of webcomic zen
Hunter and Painter, by Tom Gauld. A prehistoric adventure in 15 chapters.
Daily Musings: Day 146
The penultimate page…
PAGE 4
Suggested Panel layout: 3x3x3 (silent page)
Panel 1: Shot of Jeff at his table, looking in the direction of the empty doorway now that Kano has left. The mood I’m going for is one of emptiness.
Panel 2: Medium close up on Jeff, he looks lost in thought, and somewhat sad.
Panel 3: Now we see him turn towards the bookshelf by his table. The shelves are stacked with books, and what appears to be dozens upon dozens of sketchbooks.
Panel 4: Pull in on his hand as he pulls one of the sketchbooks off the shelf.
Panel 5: Pull back to show him at his table, flipping through his sketchbook.
Panel 6: Focus on the pages of the sketchbook, showing nice figure drawings done in charcoal. One idea I had was to leave the actual “sketches” un-inked in this panel and see if we can capture the look when we scan the page.
Panel 7: Close up on Jeff, looking down at his sketchbook (off panel), studying his old work with a detached look.
Panel 8: Another shot of the pages in his sketchbook, with more beautiful figure drawings.
Panel 9: Close up on Jeff, having raised his head and kinda’ staring off into space, lost in his thoughts. The atmosphere is one of melancholy.
Daily Musings: Day 145
Here’s page 3 of 5 of my latest script…
PAGE 3
Suggested Panel layout: 2x2x2 (another dialogue heavy page, plus the challenge of keeping the panels from becoming repetitive…feel free to mix it up as you see fit)
Panel 1: Two shot. Kano and Jeff start arguing. At this point, Jeff is still smiling, but Kano is getting more animated, and one might even say annoyed.
Kano: Right, but that’s nothing more than being a big fish in a small pond. I mean, don’t you want to expand your artwork? To reach an audience who don’t still live in their parents’ basement?
Jeff: Ha ha. Cynicism aside, that’s spoken like a man who doesn’t have a mortgage to pay.
Kano: Oh, the old money excuse. That’s just a crutch, man. A way to avoid taking risks with your art.
Panel 2: Focus on Jeff, as he’s starting to lose his cool.
Jeff: Hey now, that’s not fair.
Jeff: I have a wife and son whom I love very much. And I’ll be damned if I can’t provide for them because I’m playing the starving artist role, or too busy trying to please the art establishment.
Jeff: Screw that.
Panel 3: Focus on Kano, he’s backing off a bit (figuratively and literally). He’s realized he’s touched a nerve, and is trying to patch things up by explaining himself better.
Kano: Ok, ok, my bad. I didn’t mean to start any static. It’s just that…
Kano: Look, you remember that one semester when you taught the figure drawing class at school? Man, I remember looking at your charcoal work and just being blown away. I was so jealous.
Panel 4: Two shot. Both guys have calmed down again. Kano seems genuine in his description of Jeff’s artistic skills, while Jeff is feeling a bit self-conscious about his earlier outburst.
Kano: All I’m saying is, you have mad talent, bro. I just don’t want you to forget about it, you know?
Jeff: Yeah, I…I know what you’re saying. I’ll admit, sometimes I really do miss it.
Jeff: But hey, deadlines are deadlines, right? Can’t always be doing what we want to be doing.
Panel 5: Two shot. Kano’s getting ready to leave, while Jeff is back to his old cheerful state.
Kano: I suppose you’re right.
Kano: Speaking of which, I should let you get back to yours. Didn’t mean to derail your work. I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop in and say hi.
Jeff: No, no, it’s cool. I’m glad you did, and congratulations again on the show. You definitely deserve it.
Panel 6: Kano in the doorway, about to leave, Jeff at his drafting table. Both smiling, everything’s cool again.
Kano: Thanks. I’ll catch ya later, man.
Jeff: Ok. Stay outta’ trouble.
Daily Musings: Day 144
Aaaaaaand here’s page 2 (of 5)
—
PAGE 2
Suggested Panel layout: 2x3x2 (this page is dialogue heavy, so please account for it in the artwork)
Panel 1: Small panel. Same image as the last panel of page 1, except pull back a bit to show Jeff’s hand holding a brush (or pen,) inking the panel. If it’s not obvious yet, the first page was actually a page of comic book art he’s been working on.
Kano (OP): When are you gonna’ stop with the silly comic books?
Panel 2: Pull back for a two-shot of Jeff and Kano. Jeff’s sitting at his drafting table, but has turned around to see his friend who has just entered the room. Kano is dressed quite sharply, as if he’s about to go out clubbing. He’s holding a ubiquitous cup of coffee from Starbuck or similar take-out place.
Jeff: Kano! Well, well, look what the cat dragged in on this fine Sunday morning.
Kano: Yeah, Sandy let me in. She said you were hard at work up here.
Jeff: Well, you know how it is. You have your paintings, I have my page deadlines.
Panel 3: Focus on Jeff, engaged in casual conversation.
Jeff: Which reminds me, how did your gallery show go last night?
Panel 4: Focus on Kano, answering in an animated manner.
Kano: Oh man, Jeff, it was off the hook! I had a dozen pieces hanging.
Kano: They had a DJ spinning wax, both papers are doing a write up on the show, and the place was packed with all sorts of lovely art chicks.
Panel 5: Two-shot. Jeff leaning back, Kano with a sly smile.
Jeff: Ah yes, to live the life of a superstar artiste. Except you’re up way early.
Kano: Let’s just say the boyfriend of one of the aforementioned lovely art chicks came home unexpectedly this morning.
Panel 6: Another shot of the two palling around. Feel free to mix it up when it comes to the angle and/or distance of the shots, we want to keep the talking heads bit from becoming visually monotonous.
Jeff: I should’ve know. Any exciting fisticuffs?
Kano: Nah, opted for a discreet exit via the fire escape. God bless this city’s fire codes.
Panel 7: Kano is over by the drafting table now, examining the art that Jeff was working on. Jeff is a little bit annoyed by his comment.
Kano: Not to change the subject, man, but seriously. When are you gonna’ ditch the comics ghetto and get back into real art?
Jeff: Hey now, don’t knock it. First of all, comics are real art.
Jeff: Besides, I’m doing pretty well with it. I’ve got an exclusive deal for the next two years.
Dara Naraghi: Rock God!
Ok, ok, not even close. But my coworker just informed me CD101 is playing my “select-a-set”. For those of you outside of Columbus, CD101 (101.1 FM) is our locally owned and operated alternative rock station and every once in a while they let their listeners suggest “select-a-sets”, three songs by the same artist, or bound by a common theme. My set had a theme of bullets:
“Bullet with Butterfly Wings” – Smashing Pumpkins
“God is a Bullet” – Concrete Blonde
“Bullet” – Frank Black and the Catholics
By the way, for you curious out of towners, you can listen to the 32kpbs live stream here.
A cry for help!
Well, it’s not all that bad really. Okay, I am having a devil of a time finding 11×17 cardstock in a color other than white and in a package of less than 500. I will be printing 50 copies each of three different comics, so I only need 150 sheets. I can handle paying for 250 and hanging onto the extra hundred, but I don’t really have the finances or the resources to sit on 350 extra pieces of cardstock. Also, since this will be the cover for 3 separate comics, it would be even greater if I could find smaller packs and use 2 or 3 different colors, but I know that might not be feasible.
To date I have searched Fed Ex Kinko’s, JoAnne’s, Michael’s Crafts, and Papers Plus (I could not find a damn thing in there). Can anyone out there help me or point me in a better direction at all? I’m sorry to use the blog for something like this but I’m approaching the end of my sanity.