Pencils for the Damned

The Damned_Page 1_Pencils

The Damned_Pages 2-3_Pencils

The Damned_Page 4_Pencils

The Damned_Page 5_Pencils

The Damned_Page 6_Pencils

Here are the pencils for the six page comic entitled The Damned. The biggest thing about this story was that it took place in 1931 since that's when Boris Karloff's Frankenstein came out, and so I had to do some research. I chose not to research the clothing style since I didn't think that suits or tuxedos would be that drastically different from today, but cars have come a long way since the 30s that I had to focus my research on the cars. Cars aren't the easiest thing to draw anyway, but these cars were so weird looking that it made it more challenging especially drawing those...domes over the wheels. I did learn a lot about cars from the 30s such as no side mirrors and no doors for the backseat. However, the biggest thing that I learned was what a running board was. It was mentioned in the script for the double page spread that there was a guy standing on a running board firing his machine gun. What's a running board? I had no idea, and so in the thumbnails, I attached a wooden plank to the car. It was a piece that the gangsters added for drive by shootings or car chases. Well, it turns out that the running board is part of the car design, and it's like a step to get in or out of the car especially for women. Also, it's much shorter than my wooden plank. So I not only got rid of the plank, but I also had to reposition the shooter. Instead of being straight on, the shooter is half turned. Overall, I am not too pleased with how the cars came out, but they do get the point across that this is a time period piece.

Finally, if that demon on the sixth page doesn't frighten you or at least give you the creeps then I don't know what will. Perhaps the inked version.

This project has already been critiqued, but I'll save that until I reveal the inked version probably next month.

A Challenge on So Many Levels

No One Can Hear Me Shout_Page 1_Thumbnails

No One Can Hear Me Shout_Page 2_Thumbnail

No One Can Hear Me Shout_Page 3_Thumbnail

I wrote a story for my Non-Fiction Writing class last spring that dealt with bullying and suicide, but unfortunately nobody except the professor got to read it since we ran out of time to do a third story critique, which is too bad because I would have liked to have heard what everyone else had thought. I'm not entirely certain what the professor thought. Anyway, that story dealt with the main character dealing with his friend's suicide, and the fact that he didn't notice that the pain that his friend was going through with the bullying. The story focused on someone on the outside of the pain that bullying causes, and so with this story for Vis. 2 I decided to tell a story that was in the mind of the victim. Perhaps my next bullying story will delve into the mind of the bully himself.

I had a tough time trying to come up with this story in the beginning because I didn't know what the bullying tactics should be. I knew that I wanted to use cyberbullying, but what would be the insults that would actually drive this character to consider suicide? For starters I still hadn't decided a sex for the main character. All I had was an idea and the title No One Can Hear Me Shout, which is a song lyric from the song Deeper by Dexter Freebish. If it was a female character it would be about her weight, but if it was a male character then I could go either weight or sexuality. In comics, I have never really done a gay character since I don't know how to write for one without resorting to stereotypes, and I prefer to avoid using stereotypes. It's not fair to those who are gay. So I decided to leave that challenge for the future. I decided to go with a male character who was overweight, but I still needed some cyber insults. I mentioned this problem on Facebook, and Jennifer Frisco, an animator who you all need to remember, told me to Google cyberbullying and read some real life insults. I did just that. It was depressing. However, reading those stories generated some ideas for insults that could drive him over the edge enough to consider suicide.

I was still having trouble with it because I had originally envisioned that he was on the computer at home before going to school when he sees the insults on his Grapevine page (my version of Facebook), and then when he gets to school everyone is laughing and making fun of him. It was supposed to be a combination of both cyberbulling and traditional bullying, but it was just running a little too long. It had to be a three-page comic. That's when it hit me to have him reading the insults from his phone while he is waiting for the school bus in the morning, and then he gets laughed at on the bus. Although after the script critique it was changed from morning to mid-afternoon because the time difference was confusing. Now the whole story takes place in mid-afternoon.

I had mentioned once before a storytelling term called "Chekhov's Gun" that states if you show a gun early in the story you need to have that gun used later in the story. I felt like I needed a version of that to at least let the audience know that there's a gun in the kid's house. I didn't want the appearance of the gun to, as Nolan Woodard would say, come out of left field. Hence the reason I show a picture hanging on the wall in the second page to show that the kid's father is a police officer, and so a gun has to be in that house. It also allowed me to add another element to the story, the mother. Where is she? She's dead, and that's a huge plot point for the story. Whenever I can show a picture on the wall in the house, it will be a photograph of her to emphasize her importance.

Now the ending evolved quite a bit. I decided that it would be the father that convinces his son not to commit suicide although he is unaware that he has done so. Originally, I ended it with the father and son hugging, but after the script critique I changed it. I got rid of the father altogether except for the photograph and the door slamming. It ends instead the kid remembering the death of his mother and how that really affected his father that if he killed himself it would just devastate his father. However, after the thumbnails were critiqued I changed it back, and I am glad that I did. It's better this way, and more in line with my vision.

Oh, Frabjous Day Calloh Calley!!!

Great news! In fact, it's not just great news, it specTACULAR news!!! I got the internship to Crazy Legs Productions.  I was supposed to start work this Monday, but due to complications at the studio it has been pushed back until March 18th, after the end of the winter quarter. I don't know where this internship will lead, but I am looking forward to finding out.

Final Thoughts

Now I would like you all to do me a huge favor. I want you to visit http://tapastic.com/series/258 because there is an excellent webcomic there called Hat Hair created by my friend, Sara Vivanco. She's another artist that you should really acquaint yourself with. Spread the word around about her webcomic because if she gets enough page views she can make some money. It would be a huge help to her. It would be a great graduation gift for her.

Until next time, this is Billy Wright wishing you all a good night. So long, everybody!!!