The Good Life - Page 7

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The Making Of

In this episode of the Making Of we are going to examine every step of the process in detail:

Step 1 - The Script

The script provides the artist with the amount of panels per page, the amount of dialogue each panel will need to make space for, and the primary actions in each panel. It is important to communicate various things here to the artist: stress important "plants" (things that are on the page, but only will gain significance later on in the story: emotions, body language and if they matter to the story, camera angles and physical progression of the characters from panel to panel). The writer writes differently for each artists. Some artists need and want a lot of direction, some don't. Longer scripts with intricate plots where earlier events take on a different meaning as the story unfolds will need a lot more description, as the writer will need to communicate to the artist what seems to be happening on the surface and what happens below the surface, waiting to be revealed. It's a tricky job, with scenes needing to work on both levels. The first time the reader reads the comic, he interprets the scene one way and misses vital clues. But they are there to be picked up again by the reader upon the second reading of the story.

Page 7

Panel 1
Oliver 2 moves the object towards Oliver with a sense of dark determination. Oliver, spoiled by the riches of his upbringing, remains oblivious to the threat that is now showing more clearly on Oliver 2's face.

OLIVER 2
Oh, something else I found on the spaceship. Comes in pretty handy once in a while.

Panel 2
Oliver 2 shocks Oliver with the device with malicious glee. Oliver’s body contorts as electrical current flashes all over his body.

OLIVER 2
But now I realize it also offers me a way to transform karma from you to me. In a way.

Panel 3
Oliver 2 undresses Oliver’s body.

OLIVER 2
In my world you learn to kill when you are young, my friend. Those who don’t get killed.

Panel 4
Oliver 2, still with dirt in his face, but dressed in Oliver’s pajamas drags the lifeless body of Oliver, dressed in his old rags, into the ravished parallel world.

OLIVER 2
Rest in peace. You wouldn’t have lasted a second in my world. It was a mercy killing, really.

Panel 5
Oliver 2 returns back to Oliver’s room. It is important that we see a darker kind of expression on his face here. He looks like Oliver 1, but does not share his personality.

OLIVER 2
To the victor goes the spoils! I think I will enjoy this new life.

Panel 6
Oliver 2 squats down and touches the portal emitter with his claw like device, destroying it with grim determination. This is an ambivalent moment for him. By cutting off the possibility of other parallel versions of himself finding the portal and trying to kill him, he has also decided that he will cut off his possibility to escape this world. He has made an irreversible choice here. He is fully aware of the choice he has made and its implications, but makes it regardless, with grit and determination.

OLIVER 2 (THOUGHT)
Let’s destroy the dimension portal. It will destroy it’s existence in all dimensions. No more alternate versions seeking to kill me.

Step 2- Layouts

The artist lays out the page on bristol board, indicating the size of the panels, minimal sketches of each of the characters and indicating where the word balloons and text boxes will likely be placed. This stage is akin to the storyboard in a movie, where the artist shows how the story will progress from panel to panel and gives rough ideas of the actions inside each panel.  The layouts are then submitted to the editor and the art director, who can ask for different number of panels, different breakdown of panels, camera shoots, environments, poses, etc. On this page, Martin Silva, Art Director for the project asked for a more extreme camera angle in panel 3.

Step 3 - Roughs

The artist starts draws the panels, then fills them with line art. There isn't much detail yet, just the general outlines of each environment, object and character. It helps to draw lightly at this stage, as the artist might be erasing a lot. Once the artist submits his roughs, the editor can ask for "structural" changes to each panel (camera shoots, environments, poses, etc.). Here Martin, the Art Director, asked for a change to the proportions of Oliver 2 in panel 5 - the legs look a bit short in comparison to a rather large body.

Step 4 - Pencils

The artist now adds details to the line art he drew in the previous stage.

Step 5 - Inks

Usually a different artist inks the page, in order to create a crisp and clear image. The inker traces the penciled image with clean, assured lines. He adds depth and weight to each line, so that the art gets a very defined sense of depth, we get a sense of what is closer to us as a reader, and what is further away. A lot of that is already achieved with the pencils, but the inks just make the end product that much clearer.

Step 6 - Colors

First, flat colors are added to the image. We get an idea of what color the faces, clothing, objects are, but we don't have much sense of depth yet. Next, various shades are added to create a sense of depth and shadow. Finally, textures are added to the background, the clothing and the objects on the page.

Step 7 - Lettering

The letterer will add word balloons onto the final page (sometimes this is done at the inked stage). The letterer will need to choose fonts for the word balloons and captions.

The letterer also designs sound effects to back up actions on the page (for instance, a sword decapitates the head of one of the assailants with a sweeping WOOOSH sound.) In this case, a sound effect was added to the second and last panel. Let's take the sound effect for the second panel as an example:

For budgetary reasons, we're sticking to the Deathrattle font from Blambot. In Photoshop, a gradient is added (the letterer chooses the lightest and darkest green in the panel). The same texture is added that was added to the green blast by the colorist. Next a stroke is added and finally a wind filter is applied to the text. And this is how we come to the final page:

And that's roughly it. We'll talk about the other stages, such as getting the book ready for print or creating a digital copy once we are nearing that stage.

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