Week 3: Fairy Tale Script

I think I'm getting the hang of this! This week I chose to adapt a comic script from Andrew Lang's The Billy Goat and the King from The Olive Fairy Book. I had a realllly fun time with this one mainly because the fairy tale itself was so ridiculous to begin with. I just decided to give it a nudge in the right direction by changing the character personalities a bit to tip it over the edge of flamboyance and absurdity. Here's the > link < Enjoy! :)

Class 2: Flying Jerk

I think I'll make these classwork posts a tradition. They're quite fun!

Mindless Writing:

The massive dodger man came to be a slight problem for the villagers on occasion. He doesn’t know when to stop dodging those fiery balls. If you throw a ball at him he might jump, he might dive, or he might do a little dance, but you’ll never see him do anything besides dodge. He was also huge. That’s right, two skyscrapers high, this creature knows how to be nimble. The villagers wouldn’t mind him so much if he knew how to make a cup of tea but goddamn is he ever lame in that department. When I was younger my grandpa used to tell me he was a flying jerk.

Writer's Commentary: Not the slightest idea where this came from!

Beach Comic:

Driftwood and the Ghost

1st Panel: A ghost and a piece of driftwood at a beach

2nd Panel: Closeup of the two characters. Ghost exclaims "It's time to crossover, Sir Driftwood."

3rd Panel: Extreme closeup of Driftwood's face who yells "NEVER!!!!!!!!!"

4th Panel: Far shot of the two characters on the beach. Driftwood falls to the ground making a THUNK

5th Panel: Really wide aspect ratio of Ghost dragging Driftwood to the ocean.

A Page From Another Script:

For this exercise I did a page from a classmate's script of the Yellow Wallpaper.

I thought she did a really great job of explaining what she wanted on the page while still leaving the artist some wiggle room for creative freedom. The caption says "I don't know how many days have passed since I woke up."

Week 2: A Comic Script

Wow that was difficult!!! Fun though!
For this assignment I chose to adapt Katherine Mansfield's The Voyage into a comic script. I had a blast changing it around a little to fit my imagination as I read it and I think it would make a pretty visually and emotionally compelling comic if it were to be made. Here is the > link < to view it!

Class 1: Mad Ups

I know these warmup exercises weren't meant to be blog-worthy but I had fun with them so I thought I'd post 'em!

Mindless Writing:

I like chocolate milk and sometimes when I look deep into my chocolate milk’s eyes I feel things. Just like that night on 41^st street: It was a dark and lonely night. The neighbor’s cat was barking at the moon. Don’t know why it barked. It was a strange cat. That night was the first time I had ever seen a giraffe soaring like a beautiful angel through the misty clouds billowing up through the sewer drains. I watched as it kept going on its way. I don’t know where it was going all I know was I wanted to break that giraffe. Nothing on this planet should be so majestic. So I took up my glass of chocolate milk and sipped. Ahhhh. Pure chocolately delight.

Writer's Commentary: I would never hurt a giraffe. I love them. Just like chocolate milk.

Separate Sentences:

When I watch another human I tell them to shut up. If I was a dancer I’d be damn good.  The house is nothing but a loft on stilts. Sugar isn’t as sweet as some may think. For the night, we change our ways, for the day we stay the same.  Can we please get some toast in here?  How did the mongoose truly kill the serpent; with love? To be a gross person is to know yourself more than any other.

Writer's Commentary: I would dance my heart out, people.

4 Panel Comic:

1st Panel: Giraffe, stage left, and Horse, stage right on the basketball court

2nd Panel: Close up of Horse. "You have mad ups Mr. Giraffe."
3rd Panel: Close up of Giraffe, visibly upset. "It's MRS. Giraffe to you!"
4th Panel: Wide shot of Mrs. Giraffe dunking and getting that sweet 2 pointer 

 6 Panel Comic:

1st Panel: Wide shot of shapes at a celebratory "Shape Awareness Day" party

2nd Panel: Crop to just Circle and Triangle, who is casually holding a glass of whiskey, neat. Triangle asks, "Have you seen what I can do?"
3rd Panel: Cut to the Great Pyramids of Egypt. "I'm pretty famous!"
4th Panel: Cut back to Circle and Triangle now boasting of his strength "Some say I'm the strongest shape there is!"
5th Panel: Quick cut back to Pyramids now being decimated by a round meteor
6th Panel: Back on Circle and Triangle. "I doubt that." exclaims Circle. Triangle, shocked, drops his flexed arm to his side and lowers his whiskey with inner turmoil.

Week 1: First Impressions

Hell on Earth: Impressions

-Very structured/uniform and much like a storyboard in panel layout until action rises and the panels follow suit nicely to build intensity

-Text box skewing where necessary to fit mood

-Fairly easy to follow and linear

-Text doesn't feel bloated or heavy

Nightwings: Impressions

-Unstructured paneling and exciting dynamic camera angles

-Action breaks the boundaries of the panels

-Cramped in areas where imagery and text fight for attention

Frost and Fire: Impressions

-Very loose and sketchy drawing style that still feels contained and professional

-Nice panel compositions with the environments

-Full page drawings are used for mood/setting

Merchants of Venus: Impressions

-First person narrative

-Framing is nothing special, straight to the point

-Images rely on foregrounds

-Yellow vs white text bubbles to differentiate way of speaking

Demon with a Glass Hand: Impressions

-Interesting use of uniform panels followed by lack of panels

-Compositions seem well thought out by the artist and text bubbler(?)

-Scenes get highly detailed

The Magic Goes Away: Impressions

-Good use of color to accentuate mood

-Differing in ways of framing with paneling and shot compositions

Sandkings: Impressions

-Panels are wide and bustling with visual traffic to lay out the setting

-Heavy focus on text 

-Colors feel... 80's maybe? Retro for sure.