As i sit here preparing to go to class, i checked in on this happy little blog and lo and behold!!! i've started a trend!! others have posted now and how exciting that is!
so a bit of my process for those who might care to know, as promised (or threatened depending on how you took my last post?) :
I draw. i draw and i write. whenever pencil hits paper, i begin to conceive a story which ultimately unfolds in photocomic glory....
perhaps on the website i'll post some of my storyboards...
yes that's what you'd call it. storyboarding. little panels drawn on paper with dialogue and poses and ...
nah. they're rough sketches at best, with mere scribbles for dialogue which i often hope i can decipher later. but it's a start. it's how i keep the ideas from buzzing around in my head and crashing into each other. i put in defining characteristics for the figures i intend to use (and i'm getting real good at remembering those details now!) so i know who is who, and sometimes have to draw little arrows and stuff to remind me what the hell i was doing...
but then i start the actual work of posing...
and that's where the storyboards come in handy! i already know what the shot should look like and so i can work quickly. i set up, frame the shot, and then proceed to take... like 5 or six shots per panel.... sometimes shifting the angle, or moving folks around, but for the most part setting up just like in the storyboard. i do shots with lots of different lighting choices, and then when i have all my panels done, i import into photoshop.
i open them all, and review the duplicates of each panel.... i scrutinize, looking for blurriness, bad lighting, stray cat-tails.... i try to get the best possible shot. then i keep only the ones i want open.
now i dont' know about anyone else, but i never know what i'm going to do with effects until i get there... i let the tone of the panel dictate the effects... sure some background stuff is necessary for mood or for atmosphere but i like to be surprised by the stuff that happens in my comic too!
since i use photoshop exclusively i ABUSE the ability to create multiple layers... can make for some epic effects...
once it's all done, i squash it down into a jpeg, slap a border around each panel (for that crispy clean look) and throw it up on photobucket (username autobotspike_2008 for anyone who wants to see all the random crap i have on there). connect the image links and i'm done!
well anyway i'm sharing this because i'm kinda interested to see if anyone posting here wants to share their process.... i haven't even gotten into how i develop a story yet, so i might go there next, but for now i've at least shared my technical process.... anyone else got a different technique?
-A.S.
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