 Distinct characters? What the hell for?
posted by Dante on 10.2.2003 - 3:05 pm
This was originally the 'first' strip, but it didn't really provide much of an introduction for the actual premise, so it got bumped in favor or something a little more appropriate. That said, the concept for this strip predates a PC version of the iPod, which may make the resolution clearer for the reader.
Someone needs to learn a little bit more about providing each character with a distinct personality. The panel 2 rant, though not delivered by me, is a classic description of one of the central patterns in my life. Work drags me down, I buy a toy. Work drags me down further, I buy another toy. I may have been dragged low, but I have an impressive collection of toys.
In Fight Club, Tyler Durden said that the things you own, end up owning you. Well, I have news for all my accumulated shit, you get what's left once the job has sucked me dry.
Given the rate my job consumes me, there's not going to be much left for my things.
Sorry, things.
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 Illustrator Hell
posted by Christopher on 10.14.2003 - 12:29 pm
so the first strip i ever drew for this project is now finally live. it's a good feeling... like it's really worth doing.
the art style looks different on this one because all the linework and initial coloring was done in Illustrator 9. doing all the linework in Illustrator for a strip that never reuses a character pose is a fool's errand. when i finally saw how hard it was going to be to do everything in illustrator, i caved and started reusing poses. that's why this particular comic isn't very dynamic, and why i've since switched to drawing it by hand.
the comic's style has gone through several iterations since this strip, most of which you'll never see. i'll tell you about one of my ideas, though...
there was a period of 6 months that i was really into learning maya, since i was sure i'd do the comic in it. wrong answer... to properly do a comic like this, you need to *know* maya, almost in the biblical sense. people have entire jobs based on a fraction of what the program can do... in order to do a web comic in it, you have to at least be okay in nearly all of them. i have the chubby demon modelled, which i thought was really cool until i found out that it wouldn't rig well for posing. then there's facial expressions, having to model each object in a scene, properly light it, etc. etc. at the rate i was learning it (given a full time job, a live-in girlfriend, and a crappy video card), i was well on my way to posting the first strip in time to see if arthur c. clarke's 2010 would come true on schedule.
then there was the 'make the adobe dimensions models and clean them up in photoshop' phase... if you look at the original for last strip, that's why i didn't end up doing that.
so i finally settled on drawing the thing by "hand" (meaning using my wacom tablet to draw it in photoshop). i still use dimensions to get some of the more difficult perspective shots right (model the basics like tables and simple chairs), then draw over them, but i'm finding that crutch less and less necessary as i go on.
guess that will do it for this post... and to think, i was supposed to be the quiet one ;)
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Intolerable Cruelty = better than tolerable
posted by Dante on 10.14.2003 - 2:16 pm
I feel like something of a late arrival to the whole Coen brothers experience. For whatever pitiable reason I can offer, I have only recently discovered the true joy of a Coen farce, and it took "Hudsucker Proxy" to open my eyes to the style of these visionaries. "O Brother, Where Art Thou" was the film that almost made me reconsider my opinion on George Clooney as an actor. I still maintain that I am underwhelmed by him in most outings, but Coen films seem to give him a life and an appeal that makes him more watchable than most projects.
Intolerable Cruelty is filled with the types of ridiculous scenarios you would expect from the Coen brothers, meaning you probably would have never seen it coming. Cruelty is also full of noteworthy performances from the supporting cast. As the picture accelerated toward the typical, train-wreck conclusion of a Coen farce, the laughter of the audience I was watching with built right along side.
I could probably give this movie two different ratings. If you are a Coen brothers fan, definitely see this film. If you aren't terribly into the Coen brothers, you should still see this film. Then drag your ass to the video store; rent: "O Brother", "Fargo", "Hudsucker Proxy", and "Raising Arizona". Then work your way up to "Big Lebowski" and "Barton Fink". If that doesn't change your mind about the Coens, you are probably lost to this world - you have no hope of recognizing true humor and are doomed to live out your joyless life bringing misery to those around you. But, if this regimen allows you to then realize the skill of the Coens; pass yourself off as a long-time fan and conceal the shameful truth of your longstanding ignorance behind a veil of lies. I might have come late to the realization that the Coen brothers are masters of their craft, but if you haven't gotten there by now-you really no excuse to remain so shockingly in the wrong for so embarrassingly long.
Before you start thinking that we are just a couple of kiss-asses who are going to rubber stamp a thumb's up on every movie we see ... just wait. I take in more than my share of crap movies, and I am not afraid to share my opinion.
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