Villain Design 2/2

I definitely liked the collars and smaller details on the villain designs, but I needed the mouth to be visible for some panels, and I didn't want to risk the character getting too much into pirate outfit territory like the third design here is. The endlges do work very nicl though.

I tried making the design a bit closer to the Superhero's, and a bit more casual but giving them shoulder pads to add a bit more power to it. I feel like this is a little too close to he Heroine's design, and doesn't look too villainous either. I do like the idea of using parts of her design and inverting it for the villain though; this could even add something to their backstories. If their designs were similar in some way, that could imply that they were on the same Superhero team or worked together at some point, which would make the betrayal in the story and the villain taking the role of shadow worse. I don't think I could fit that into the story, but fitting it into the design is still an interesting idea.

I inverted the belt and the shoe triangles to contrast with the hero and made the end of the coat more angular, and almost more showman-esque, since the villain is orchestrating the whole end scene of the comic. I think the closed coat seems a bit more serious, and works better with a dramatic collar, as a lot more piratical elements have disappeared now. I feel like this is a good contrast against the heroine, and definitely looks more villainous.

Villain Design 1/2

I wasn't entirely sure of the gender of my villain at the start, so I decided to just design with the vague ideas I had in my head of the villain and see how my design worked out.

I knew that I wanted sharper edges on my characters, since these would make the character much more villainous and threatening, but I thought it might also be an interesting idea to give the villain a few more casual elements if I could as well. I think that parallels between the Hero and Villain are always an interesting thing to think about, especially with Vogler's idea of the Shadow archetype, which is this villain's archetype, representing repressed emotions or idea.

I liked the idea of a long coat, which works in the design almost as a cape would, but feels more practical and less cheesy. I looked a little bit into the Japanese musical movement of 'Visual Kei' as the fashion is very dramatic and could work for villains. Androgyny is common with this style, which I thought might be good to incorporate into these designs.

Thumbnails

My thumbnails turned out very messy as I had to finish some pieces quickly for the exhibition we're having on the tenth. I tried to keep with the idea of less panels for faster/action filled sequences, so that they go faster to the viewer, and more smaller panels for the slower parts with more dialogue, which stops the dialogue for going on for too many pages,

I am not going to make myself stick to these thumbnails 100% as I may encounter problems when drawing, including time management; I haven't drawn a comic before or many of these poses, and I would rather make sure that I can draw all of the comic rather than force myself to finish a few awkward poses just because I wanted to. I know that if I was working with someone else these would have to be a lot cleaner, precise and be definitely possible for the artist to draw, but I have a little bit more flexibility since it is my own project. The main thing is that I know what I am intending to draw, which I do from the thumbnails however messy they look.

Comic Panels Book Research 2

[Continued]

Panel shape can affect our perception of time;  panel border is our guide through time and space when a panel runs off the edge of the age, time is no longer contained and escapes into 'timeless space' motion lines are helpful for showing movement in static images - multiple images of the same thing [like keyframes] also work.

Polyptych, moving figure or figures are imposed over a continuous background. [Understanding Comics - Scott McCloud]

Comic Panels Book Research 1

I decided to do some research on panels and layouts while doing my thumbnails, to make sure that I know what message my images will give and how best to tell my story.

How to Layout Your Comic Pages - Palle Schmidt
First panel should be establishing the shot
- Variation - shape/size of the panels ---> including inside panels
- No more than 9 panels, 3 or less speech bubbles in each
- Image with one panel is best for showing single objects/characters
- Think about printing etc when it comes to pages where the art bleeds over the margins

How to Plan and Layout Your Comic
- 180 degree rule - imaginary line the camera will not cross, keeps characters etc on the same side

Composition 101 – Laying Out Your Comic Page- Silver/Golden Age Comics - grid format. White gutters define each panel
- Artists began to push boundaries - European and Japanese influences ---> can be bad if not planned properly
- 9 panel rid - good for placing lots of information. 6 panel, traditional well used western style, lets dialogue and action both happen.
- Skewed grid - dynamic motion and reader's eye moves faster, works for action.
- Long, horizontal panels - cinematic effect, illusion of extended time.
- FOCAL POINT - area that will avoid visual confusion from one panel to the next. Square panels are hardest for this because they have more option for where to put the focal point. Should lead eye to the next panel - otherwise disrupt flow and loses immersion
- Think about line of sight, background cues, speech placement and focal points.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/warrenellis/4043479776/in/photostream/

Golden Ratio: A numeral value studied by ancient Greek mathematicians that reappears in geometry and the natural world. It has since been used by artists and architects as a basis for the compositions and structures that are naturally pleasing to people. Many scientists have studied the reasons for the appeal of the Golden Ratio, but have yet to find a logical explanation.

"I rarely use four panels horizontally across a page because they are so thin, but I will often use two panels per row. I started studying Hergé’s work and noticed that he staggered the gutters of his comics. I came to the realization that this was to prevent what designers called “rivers.” A river occurs when there is a gap in information that coincides with a gap below. The danger is that a reader might drop down to the next line of info before completing the first one. -http://www.makingcomics.com/2014/05/07/panel-layout-golden-ratio/#sthash.Vc1XN6AJ.dpuf"

McKelvie Panel Research

Jamie McKelvie is a comic artists that uses very creative page layouts that often work just as well as an illustrative piece than a comic page.

A lot of his images can break usual panel rules and ideas because of the content; they are often heavy in fantasy or superhero powers that allow breaking of the fourth wall and other crazy ideas.

He can set a scene very well without dialogue and without even showing full scenes; the use of close ups and poses make many of his pages very effective with less information that most would have.

The fight scene above is made much more interesting and shorter by using a mix of close ups and maps, which also makes the whole sequence more coherent, and would actually work fairly well as a plan for animating. It stands out from usual superhero fights, and probably makes it easier for the artist to see where the fight is going as well.

Other pages involve different shaped panels and the placement helps to separate actions, and make it seem as though many things are going on at once, making the storytelling on the page less linear and more interesting. It would be very ambitious to try to do as many crazy pages as McKelvie does, but these do show that comic rules and conventions can be broken wile still creating interesting pages, and different panel shapes or orders could possibly be incorporated into my own comic.

Script (With Notes)

In my script, I realised that I would have too many pages for the comic, as I don't have time to do a full 21-22 page comic. I thought that 16 pages would be manageable, and set to incorporate this into the script. After looking at what events and dialogue I had, it didn't look as if I could fit everything into 16 pages. [Do an example of 1 page per stage ---> 12 stages and explain why it would not have worked]. This meant cutting down the story. I wanted to keep it as Hero's journey as possible without rushing the events, so I ended up removing the last few stages. As important as these are, it still feels like the Hero's Journey up until that point since the Hero is called to adventure, encounters the Threshold Guardians and fights against the Big Bad for a reward, being the hostage in this story. The Resurrection/Road back are important stages, especially when it comes to the character developing, but the Reward stage does still give a resolved ending, to some extent.

My next task is to research into comics/layouts to give me ideas for thumbnails.

Superheroine Designs 2

I went back to some of the other designs to see how I could change them to make them a bit more superhero-like. I added a leather jacket back in like Superboy's 1990s outfit which adds a slightly tougher look to the character. I still wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to go for that yet though; the superhero (named Miss Monomyth for now) will have super strength, but I do like the contrast between super strong body but gentle personality.

I tried making the jacket a little but more fashionable, to take away slightly from the 'toughness' but to still add something more to the top half. These were starting to get a little bit casual again, but I did like the use of vertical lines to tie different parts of the outfit together. I also like the idea of a contemporary suerhero having multiple outfits like superhero Ms America, especially if they got damaged/dirty in fights since most people probably wouldn't carry around multiple superhero costumes with them. Since this comic only tells one story, I don't think it is really necessary to design that many, but it's still an interesting idea to consider. The third design is a lot closer to what I wanted though, not too spandex and usual superhero, but enough that it doesn't look like ordinary clothes.

I wanted to think about the faces and hair a bit more after this, since the design was getting a lot closer to what I wanted. I didn't have to put a mask on the character - some superheros are known by the public, like Wonder woman, Tony Stark, a fair few mutants in X-Men and many other hero's in Marvel's Civil War story line. 

I wanted to keep the face young enough for a superhero that didn't necessarily have that much experience; an older hero could still undergo a hero's journey, but a younger character implies that there is still a lot more to learn, which works well with story lines that deal a lot more in character development than just plot. I added a hood onto the top half like that of Spider-Gwen's and Raven from Teen Titans, which helps a little more with the secret identity thing. I then added a belt around the middle to help balance the outfit a little more, since much of the design was at the top half of the character. I thought that just straight vertical lines could get a bit boring, so I made the lines on the belt diagonal, which made them work a lot more with he shoes, and then added some triangular shapes around the hood so that each parts of the outfits had similar design elements. I think this makes it look a much more finished, put together design, which I am happy with.

Aang Analysis

1.        THE ORDINARY WORLD.  The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma.  The hero is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history.  Some kind of polarity in the hero’s life is pulling in different directions and causing stress.

• Chilling in the Southern Air Temple (episode 3?)

2.        THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.  Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change.

• “Aang… you, are the Avatar!” (also episode 3/12?)

3.        REFUSAL OF THE CALL.  The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly.  Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead.

• Runs away from air temple + denies his responsibility (Episode 12)

4.        MEETING WITH THE MENTOR.  The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey.  Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom.

-”Aang, I think, has several characters who fill this role. The most obvious is Roku, who gives Aang essential information about being The Avatar. Also obvious is Guru Pathik, who teaches Aang how to control his power. Less obvious, but no less important are Katara and Toph, who teach Aang how to bend water and earth.”

Aang has to travel to the Fire Temple to receive the message from Avatar Roku on the Winter Solstice. - epsiode 8

Katara, despite her limited training as a waterbender, begins teaching Aang episode 9

5.        CROSSING THE THRESHOLD.  At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values.

• Water Tribe + future; Fire Nation War
• Episode 1, learning about the War

6.        TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES.  The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World.

Katara, Sokka - episode ½; agreeing to join/go on the search together

7.        APPROACH.  The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world.

Earth Kingdom - Search for training etc 21(season 2); reaching the Earth Kingdom

8.        THE ORDEAL.  Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear.  Out of the moment of death comes a new life.

Katara’s death is faked and triggers the Avatar State

9.        THE REWARD.  The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death.  There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again.

• Reciprocated feelings and a kiss

10.      THE ROAD BACK.  About three-fourths of the way through the story, the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home.  Often a chase scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission.

• Back to Air Temple (out of necessity)

11.     THE RESURRECTION.  At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home.  He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level.  By the hero’s action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved.

Severely tested - won’t kill Ozai. Triggered to Avatar State (risk of death) and beginning conflicts (Fire Nation) is resolved

12.       RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.  The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.

• Fire Nation is defeated! Also transformed into an able and willing Avatar

Script [First Draft]

MISS MONOMYTH

PAGE ONE

1.1 Long shot, showing MM in her uni dorm/room, laptop/computer in front with LAW ENFORCEMENT books lying around.

MM [Thought Box]: You know when everything’s going great in your own little Ordinary World, and it’s like, ‘hey, wouldn’t it be nice if everything can stay this way?

1.2 Zoom into laptop, receiving a Skype call. Tumblr and other distracting websites in the background. Maybe even reading comics

MM [Thought Box] : Yeah. Like that could ever happen.

1.3 MM sits up straight, CLICKING answer.

1.4 Window showing an older lady pops up.

1.5 ¾ back view of MM - MENTOR completely in view on computer.

MENTOR: Good afternoon, MM. I trust your school work is going smoothly?

1.6 MM holds up paper, showing a B grade. SHEEPISH expression.

MM: Could be worse. Would have been worse, if you hadn’t let me volunteer at the station. Everything alright down there?

1.7 MENTOR sighs on computer screen.

MENTOR: That’s actually why I called…

1.8 MM PINCHES bridge of nose.

MM [Thought Box]: Most students would probably welcome some Call to Adventure, a nice distraction from their work. But not me; I’ve had my adventure.

MM [Thought Box]: I don’t feel bad about Refusing the Call any more.

PAGE TWO

2.1 MM sits back up, crossing arms. FRUSTRATED, PAINED look on her face.

MM [Thought Box]: This happens nearly every time I Meet with my Mentor.

MM: [MENTOR], I told you, I don’t do that anymore, not since-

2.2

MENTOR shifts closer to the screen. MM shifts back on her chair, looking away from the screen. Fidgeting, or doing anything to giving herself any excuse not to look back.

MENTOR: I know, but it’s your brother - Chuck -

2.3

MM SPRINGS forwards on chair almost comically fast - speed lines.

MM: What about Chuck?

2.4

¾ Back view, view of both LAPTOP and MM. MM tense, leaning in towards laptop.

MENTOR: We have a hostage situation - we’re dispatching people now but considering your skills and background, well. I thought it would only be fair to let you -

2.5 MM stands up, slamming hands on table.

MM: Where?

PAGE THREE

[      3.1         ]

[      3.1         ]

[ 3.2       ][3.3]

[ 3.2       ][3.3]

3.1 MM flying over city scape; simple blocky buildings with some nice lighting to make it more interesting.

MM [Thought Box]: Only bad things come from being a ‘Superhero’. That’s why I gave it up. This time I don’t have a choice.

3.2 Back view, flying over to a WAREHOUSE looking place.

MM [Thought Box]: Despite the the reason I’m here, this feels… almost good. Maybe it’s just the adrenaline flowing as I Cross the Threshold, but I wonder for a second why I don’t do this more often.

3.3 Close up on face, hair blown backwards. Showing a bit of a smile.

PAGE FOUR

[VERY BLOCKY PANELS TO FIT IN WITH THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE PLACE]

4.1 MM lands behinds cover. Evening - night time. A lot of shadows everywhere - slight bits of light [sunset] bouncing off of MM?

MM [Thought Box]: Then I remember the situation at hand.

4.2 Sneaks into warehouse. Looks around - worm’s eye or bird’s eye view, showing more of the place.

4.3 Stealthing against the walls.

Sees one guard looking guy with his back too her - view is too obscured to see if anyone else is there’

PAGE FIVE

chokehold backwards into show to incapacitate, except weapon is dropped with a sharp CLANK. Other guard is alerted and runs over. [ugh threshold guardians. Tests, allies, enemies]

PAGE SIX

Page of defensive fighting, purposefully not punching and kicking, ending with a disarming and cuffing to something else in the room, along with the other guy. [I hope this doesn’t alert anyone…]

PAGE SEVEN

[time to strategize in case there are more people here. Where is the Big Bad most likely to be? As I begin my Approach to the Inner Cave…]

Flies up to top floor things that lead to other rooms (platforms? Like, hanging metal bridges) making sure to creep and try not to make too many noises. Makes it into the next section of the warehouse, stacks of boxes and crap to the sides creating an almost maze/hogwarts library layout; SHADOW is at the other end of the walkway [rather than on the floor of warehouse where boxes are] with BROTHER tied to a chair, gagged..

MM [THOUGHT BOX]: [MENTOR] was right - [VILLAIN] has Chuck!

[PAGE 8]

CHUCKLE SFX as he rests a hand on CHUCK’S shoulder. Wide shot.

Villain: Ahh, MM, how nice of you to join us. I have to admit, that took longer than I was expected. Getting a bit rusty there, are you? I could have easily killed this innocent gentleman over here - If I wasn’t waiting for you, that is.

8.2 Long shot of MM, angry.

MM [Growls]: Let him go.

MM [THOUGHT BOX]: Ssdfghjkl; Supreme Ordeal. And even if I [wanted] to fight him right now - who knows what he will do to Chuck?

8.3 Villain leans over Chuck’s shoulder. Chuck’s face looks extremely panicked.

Villain: Hesitating never does anyone any good. You would know, wouldn’t you?

PAGE 9

[9.1         ]

[9.1         ]

[9.2         ]

[9.3         ]

9.1 MM takes a few steps closer. Chuck struggles, and VILLAIN grins sadistically.

MM: What do you want?

Villain: What do I want? Well, Miss [ACTUAL NAME]. I want to [fight] you.

9.2 Close up on VILLAIN’S smirk.

Villain: It’s just been too boring in this city without you.

9.3 Close up - wide eyed MM.

MM [THOUGHT BOX]: How does he [know]? Who [else] knows - just how many people have I put in danger?

PAGE 10

10.1 MM takes another step forwards.

MM [THOUGHT BOX]: I’m not doing this. Fighting gets people killed. If I can just incapacitate him - trap him for the cops. Didn’t [MENTOR] say a team were on their way? They could really do with some faster cars.

10.2 Villain leaps forwards [front view]

10.3 Meet half way; MM blocks as VILLAIN throws a punch.

10.4 MM tries twisting arm around

10.5  VILLAIN knees MM in stomach [CRUNCH SFX?]

10.6 MM lands on back, a few metres away.

PAGE 11

11.1 MM gets up gingerly.

MM [THOUGHTBOX]: He’s right, I [am] rusty. My reflexes are slower than they used to be.

11.2 MM rushes at VILLAIN.

MM [THOUGHTBOX]: That doesn’t mean my [powers] are, though.

11.3

- TBC