While it may look like Wayne and I have just been sitting around playing Minesweeper the last couple of months, given the paucity of blog updates, we've actually been hard at work. So at long last, here's a little glimpse into the making of
Descartes the Zombie.
Today we're taking a behind-the-scenes look at page one.
The ScriptThis is where it all begins. Many moons ago, I emailed Wayne the script for the first 16 pages. Here's page one.
Panel 1-1.
High angle on Dierdre (not birdseye;
just an interesting angle that is not eye-level) as she shakes fish
food into an aquarium. Not a huge, expensive aquarium, but not a fish
bowl. It is large enough for at least two or three good-size (a few
inches long) fish. She talks on a cell phone. She needs to be able to
see the front doorway from where she stands (not necessarily in this
scene – but later she has to be standing at the aquarium and
looking at the doorway, okay).
Her apartment is like a studio
apartment, but there is a very short hallway that leads to a bedroom
on the left and a bathroom on the right. There's a tiny kitchen set
off from the main living room area; this large main studio area is
where this scene takes place. It's a little cramped, a little
cluttered, but not messy or junky looking. Just well lived in. The
aquarium is one of the dominant features in the room. Somewhere we
can see it, she has an electric guitar propped against a wall, next
to a small amp. She also has a stereo system with large speakers and
a turntable on top. A stack of vinyl record albums sits somewhere or
is propped up against a wall or bookcase or something.
DIERDRE: --
SEE IF THERE'S ANY WAY AT ALL YOU CAN COVER MY SHIFT SATURDAY NIGHT?
DIERDRE: YEAH,
FOUR TO CLOSE.
Panel 1-2.
CU on a big goofy looking fish looking
right at us. Something blue with big bulging eyes, relatively flat
(horizontally) when faced head on.
DIERDRE
(OP): -- OWE YOU BIGTIME! SERIOUSLY, IF YOU EVER NEED A LAST-MINUTE
COVER...
DIERDRE
(OP): THE STRAY KITTENS. YEAH, OUR FIRST PAYING GIG, CAN YOU BELIEVE
IT?
Panel 1-3.
On Dierdre, looking all happy, as she
turns away from the aquarium toward the front of the room.
DIERDRE: --
I WAS LIKE, “YOU BETTER BE THERE SATURDAY NIGHT OR YOUR ASS IS
MINE!”
DIERDRE: WELL,
YOU KNOW MIKE. “MY ASS IS YOURS ANYTIME YOU WANT IT, BABE.”
Panel 1-4.
MCU on Dierdre, looking a little less
happy than the previous panel. She's not un-happy; it's more like her
happiness is now tinged with a little uncertainty.
DIERDRE: NO,
I HAVEN'T TOLD DEREK YET. HE HAD TO WORK.
DIERDRE: YEAH,
HE JUST GOT HERE, SOUNDS LIKE. OKAY, YOU TOO. BYE.
Panel 1-5.
On Dierdre as she unhooks the chain on
that silly little apartment door chain lock that lets you open the
door a few inches and still be theoretically secure because of it.
She’s smiling again, happy to be about to see her man.
DIERDRE: IT’S
ABOUT TIME YOU DRAGGED YOUR RETRO WHITE ASS OVER HERE, DEREK.
DIERDRE: I
HOPE TO GOD YOU BROUGHT US A—
Thumbnail Layout
The first step in the art process is thumbnail pencils. Little did I know when Wayne told me he was working on the thumbnails,that they would actually be the size of thumbnails.
Okay, they're not quite that small, but this is actual size, not reduced and clickable to the large version.
Pencils
Next up, the actual pencils.
Inks
What inks? Wayne is scanning his pencils and digitally inking them as part of the coloring process.
Colors
Here's the almost-final colored version of page one.
After Wayne sent me the first several colored pages, he got a notion to try colored backgrounds on the pages. He sent me a few samples, we discussed and both thought the colored backgrounds really added to the overall look and feel, and thus was born the actual final colored page.
Letters
I've never had any desire to be a comic book letterer, truth be told. But I decided to letter these submission pages so that (A) I wouldn't have to pay someone to do it and (B) I could gain the experience, which from all I've been told is actually quite invaluable.
Doing the lettering myself helps me learn just how much dialogue can comfortably fit into a single panel, for one thing. I know there are a couple of pages coming down the pike that are almost certainly going to require some rewriting at the lettering page.
Besides all that, it's actually kind of fun to be making some small contribution to the actual look and flow of the story!
Here's the lettered version of page one (which is actually the second page I've ever lettered). Big thanks to Clem Robins, Jason Arthur and the rest of the gang over at the Digital Webbing Lettering Forum, who have been gracious beyond the call of duty in helping me learn the ropes.
So, that's it for our first installment of
Descartes the Zombie: Birth of a Comic Book. Next time, we'll take a look at page two, which is where it really hits the fan!
Your questions and comments are more than welcome. Just click the little comment link below...