OUT OF TIME - PAGE 4

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The Making Of

Script

Every artist is different. Some artists will love a lot of directions in the script, others will prefer minimal direction. Since Andrea is a seasoned storyteller, I only give him directions when they are critical for plot advancement. I do, of course, take out script directions here and there that give away the eventual end of the story, but that needs to be communicated early on to make sure that all characters are acting in alignment with their agenda (which is hidden from the viewer until the final reveal).

PAGE 4 

Panel 1
Benoid tries to calm Max down and convince him of his intentions.

BENOID SYC
Because you keep sending people. One day you could appear in a less controlled environment and do real damage.
Martia enters the conversation but seems to make the remark to Benoid rather than to Max.

MARTIA SVENSON
Real damage?

Panel 2
Benoid Syc keeps talking to Max, but has right hand is extended in the direction of Martia (a one handed calm down gesture), as to give her a subtle sign that she must calm down.

BENOID SYC
Please… to protect the lives of our children, you must return to your time and tell the scientists to destroy their time machine.

Panel 3
Max considers this, ponders if he could actually convince the scientists.

MAX TEMPUS
And what if they refuse?

Panel 4
Benoid, troubled by Max' ambiguous answer, understands that Max is a grunt, a pawn in a bigger game and needs to bring back an answer that is both emotive and would appeal to the actors in the past. 

BENOID SYC
Do you have children, sir?

MAX TEMPUS
… I do.

Panel 5
Benoid starts with the emotive angle. 

BENOID SYC
What if an intruder, no matter how well meaning, endangered their lives…

Layout

The layouts Andrea provided showed me that he understood the relationship between Benoid and Martia. The beauty about comics is that we can develop characters and reveal their hidden agendas through illustration alone, with no need for words. Martia's pose in panel 1 clearly shows her independent spirit: arms crossed, finger pointing as in a lecturing pose, obviously in disagreement with Benoid. In Panel 2, Benoid turns and shows the audience that he is the strenuous alpha of the two, trying to keep Martia under control. Panel 3 perhaps has Max frowning too much - Max is essentially naive, a well-meaning scientist who is plagued by doubts of whether he is doing the right thing. By now, Benoid has created a strong emotional connection with Max, and Max is wracked with doubt and a sense of guilt of having endangered the lives of millions of future humans. It's this preoccupation (showing on his face) that explains to the audience why he is oblivious to the tension between Martia and Benoid. While I hadn't envisioned Benoid looking as stressed as he does in panel 4, I liked Andrea's take on it; it gives us a sense of the pressure he is under. There's also an undertone of hate in Benoid, since the time traveler - no matter how innocent - puts the lives of those he loves in danger. It also develops the notion that there is some urgency to Max leaving and that Benoid is frustrated at having to do so much convincing.

Roughs

Andrea's roughs provided me with a chance to see if all the poses and expressions correlated with the eventual outcome of the script. Every story has a journey and a reveal, and all the actors within that story need to move in accordance with the ending. Panel 1 has Benoid pleading - it'd be nice if we could see some stress on his face here as well (there is a lot at stake here for him). Martia's contention with his decision, meanwhile, is clearly portrayed on her face. In panel 2, we see the discord between the 2 future humans deepening. In panel 3, Max is now clearly accepting Benoid's message while ignoring the underlying tension and responding in an open, contrite manner. He's also revealing that he is not the decision maker ("What if they refuse"). Another plus here is that Andrea is already thinking about where the word balloons will go, which is something many novice artists often forget, stuffing the panels with fantastic art but not allowing the page to breathe.

Pencils

If you wonder what all the X marks are in the background, this is where Andrea instructs the inker where to ink in black.

Inks

As you can tell, once you get the roughs right, it's pretty easy to go from pencil to ink without requiring corrections.

Colors

And finally, Ylenia and Andrea collaborated together to create the colors for the page.

I played around with the levels to bring a little bit more color out of the page - I'll fine-tune this, panel by panel, before publishing the final digital comic.

Once all this is done, we can finally add the letters and create the page you read at the top of this page.

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