Here's what I've got about the leads of the show for now. This probably will develop and change, but so far, this is what I've got.
Horatio Wells
Thirty four. Morbidly afraid of death. Dryly humoured. Self obssessed. Sex obssessed. Romantic. Self deluded. Gifted. Slow to anger. Melancholic. Observer. Seeker. Fatalist.
Chased-by-Bears (Horatio's Father)
Purist Choctow. Naturist. Shaman. Dementia sufferer. Quick to anger. Lost. Wise. Depth of kindness. Understanding. Cold blooded.
Meabh Wells (Horatio's Mother)
Queenly. Throaty. Bar Fly. Impetuous. Garrulous. Postive. Warm. Joker. Impatient. Thrill seeker.
Bo Lakes (Horatio's Best Friend) (Coloured)
Sharp. Intelligent. Conservative. Old fashioned. Inspired. Grounded. Spiteful. Image conscious. Lady Killer.
Evie Delgado (Horatio's on/off girlfriend) (Mexican)
Quick witted. Streetwise. Artistic. Warm. Petty. Laborious. Argumentative. Community minded. Simple. God fearing.
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Graphic Novels in General
I think the pitch to broadcasters, based on the positive feedback we had from the Haven Pitch Bible, should be something very visual, on paper, and borrowing heavily from the graphic novel tradition.
I'd like also to work up maybe a minute of animation, but we'll know quickly if we should plough more resources into that area or not.
So, getting versed in graphic novels, especially the more alternative ones, is a good idea. I've read buckets and these are a few of my favourites.
Blankets. Winner of Two Eisners and loads of other stuff. Craig Thompson's novelisation of a pair of star crossed teenage lovers is acutely observed, beautifully drawn poignant stuff.
Drawing style is a bit too pencilly (new word, wtf does it mean?) and not delinated enough for us, since most likely the animation, to keep costs down and give it an asethetic, will use black lines and design much more obviously. However, there are sequences of pure drawing; impressionistic design used to emphasis the emotional journey of the character and push the story up and beyond the simple cause and effect of what happens to the characters. In other words, a bit of epic building.
A more simple line, suggesting a lot of control to the audience, and moving away from the pencilly, freehand style of Blankets can be found in Ware's melacholic Jimmy Corrigan.
I imagine, though I don't know enough about animation, that this kind of look is easier to animate, especially with a computer. The constant flipping of angles, the super economic use of line on the face, the flash back and flash forward structure have a hook effect on the mind reading them. Plus, they are gorgeous too. I guess this is the approach Archer took, in a way. However Archer is quite busy and also realistic. I'd like the characters not necessarily to be totally 'human' and realistic.
In fact, having the charcters look a bit 'cartoony' but with a harder edge of realism that the gooey characters that populate most animation isn't a bad summation the look we're going for. Its representative rather than realistic. Worth a go at it at least. Not all the characters have to be this way, but it'd be interesting, to single out Horatio, if we made him this way.
I went digging and found some interesting things said about Chester Brown's style:
"Chester Brown soon develops an austere esthetic aiming at stripping his works of all melodramatic elements. He finds in cartoonist Harold Gray’s style a model that he imitates in his biography of Louis Riel, who led the Métis people over two resistance movements against the Canadian government at the end of the XIXth century. Himself a resistant to the conventions of an often moribund form of expression, Chester Brown is an emblematic figure of alternative comics."
You can find the interview here: http://www.du9.org/Chester-Brown,1030
This idea of an AUSTERE ESTHETIC reflects what I think I've been trying to get at.
...
I really like the style of simple suggestive backgrounds. Not overly painterly like, say Archer. More akin to say Satrapi's Persepolis. This saves time, money, but fuck all that, I think it works better for the imagination. It's kinda going back to simple Disney cartoons in a way. In this panel, the background drawing is the sea. It's almost nothing. But I like the style.
In this drawing, there is much more detail and the style is more dark fairytale. However, it still looks and feels very simple in its black and white and grey.
This panel's use of black 'as white' is intriguing. Especially if we are pushing a noir style. I love the use of heavy blacks and white outlines. I know it means there is little else going on on the screen at times, but I think it then focuses the attention on simple gestures of the characters, which we can animate. The easy thing to do I reckon is make it belch mega visuals; that's what people expect. The harder thing to do is the characterful work, studies of the face and reactions at the most basic level, to tell the story.
There's no one graphic novel that sums up the approach but its probably pretty clear what the influences are and what we're looking for.
Simple lines.
Super simple characters, some of which don't have to be 'human' looking, but figurative representations of the character.
Black and white, with a clever use of black.
Simple, suggestive backgrounds.
If I write simple again I'm gonna simply eat my own hand.
The basic idea, if you're someone pitching in illustration, is that we have to be able to animate it, so we're not looking for the 'best' illustrator, we're looking for the 'best' illustration; one that meets our needs and screams original character drawing.
MORE ON BACKGROUNDS
Moving away from character, we'll need some people to concentrate on the backgrounds of the series.
Some great work was done with very little in the film, Waltz with Bashir.
But they're way too photo realistic for us. It's worth watching though for its animation style, but more its tone and feel. It isn't funny, but it has a documentarians sense of reality which is very effecting.
I hate this type of photoshopped background. You see it a lot in kids animation, or poor film animation. Yuck.
I'd go back to the graphic novels for backgrounds. I suggest they should be hand drawn looking. Again, simple and suggestive rather than loaded with detail.
I'd like also to work up maybe a minute of animation, but we'll know quickly if we should plough more resources into that area or not.
So, getting versed in graphic novels, especially the more alternative ones, is a good idea. I've read buckets and these are a few of my favourites.
Blankets. Winner of Two Eisners and loads of other stuff. Craig Thompson's novelisation of a pair of star crossed teenage lovers is acutely observed, beautifully drawn poignant stuff.
A more simple line, suggesting a lot of control to the audience, and moving away from the pencilly, freehand style of Blankets can be found in Ware's melacholic Jimmy Corrigan.
I imagine, though I don't know enough about animation, that this kind of look is easier to animate, especially with a computer. The constant flipping of angles, the super economic use of line on the face, the flash back and flash forward structure have a hook effect on the mind reading them. Plus, they are gorgeous too. I guess this is the approach Archer took, in a way. However Archer is quite busy and also realistic. I'd like the characters not necessarily to be totally 'human' and realistic.
In fact, having the charcters look a bit 'cartoony' but with a harder edge of realism that the gooey characters that populate most animation isn't a bad summation the look we're going for. Its representative rather than realistic. Worth a go at it at least. Not all the characters have to be this way, but it'd be interesting, to single out Horatio, if we made him this way.
I went digging and found some interesting things said about Chester Brown's style:
"Chester Brown soon develops an austere esthetic aiming at stripping his works of all melodramatic elements. He finds in cartoonist Harold Gray’s style a model that he imitates in his biography of Louis Riel, who led the Métis people over two resistance movements against the Canadian government at the end of the XIXth century. Himself a resistant to the conventions of an often moribund form of expression, Chester Brown is an emblematic figure of alternative comics."
You can find the interview here: http://www.du9.org/Chester-Brown,1030
This idea of an AUSTERE ESTHETIC reflects what I think I've been trying to get at.
...
I really like the style of simple suggestive backgrounds. Not overly painterly like, say Archer. More akin to say Satrapi's Persepolis. This saves time, money, but fuck all that, I think it works better for the imagination. It's kinda going back to simple Disney cartoons in a way. In this panel, the background drawing is the sea. It's almost nothing. But I like the style.
In this drawing, there is much more detail and the style is more dark fairytale. However, it still looks and feels very simple in its black and white and grey.
This panel's use of black 'as white' is intriguing. Especially if we are pushing a noir style. I love the use of heavy blacks and white outlines. I know it means there is little else going on on the screen at times, but I think it then focuses the attention on simple gestures of the characters, which we can animate. The easy thing to do I reckon is make it belch mega visuals; that's what people expect. The harder thing to do is the characterful work, studies of the face and reactions at the most basic level, to tell the story.
There's no one graphic novel that sums up the approach but its probably pretty clear what the influences are and what we're looking for.
Simple lines.
Super simple characters, some of which don't have to be 'human' looking, but figurative representations of the character.
Black and white, with a clever use of black.
Simple, suggestive backgrounds.
If I write simple again I'm gonna simply eat my own hand.
The basic idea, if you're someone pitching in illustration, is that we have to be able to animate it, so we're not looking for the 'best' illustrator, we're looking for the 'best' illustration; one that meets our needs and screams original character drawing.
MORE ON BACKGROUNDS
Moving away from character, we'll need some people to concentrate on the backgrounds of the series.
Some great work was done with very little in the film, Waltz with Bashir.
But they're way too photo realistic for us. It's worth watching though for its animation style, but more its tone and feel. It isn't funny, but it has a documentarians sense of reality which is very effecting.
I hate this type of photoshopped background. You see it a lot in kids animation, or poor film animation. Yuck.
I'd go back to the graphic novels for backgrounds. I suggest they should be hand drawn looking. Again, simple and suggestive rather than loaded with detail.
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