Bloggityblogblogblog

Having breakfast with my brother-in-law yesterday at the insanely early hour of...I don't know, it was a lot earlier than I'm usually up, let's just put it that way. Anyway, we're talking about this and that, this being hi iPod Touch, and that being blogging. He pointed out that I don't post as much these days, which doesn't feel true but I know is.

Stopping to think about it, I came to some conclusions as to why that's the case. There's only so much whining one person can do in public; stuff I'd like to talk about I can't for legal reasons; other stuff I'd like to talk about runs the risk of hurting, inadvertently or otherwise, people I'd rather not see hurt; even though I've completely written the first two storylines, THE HOLIDAY MEN, between lettering tweaks and spreading the word and figuring out how to post images and generally keeping things going in the right direction takes a lot of time out of my week (even more since Ward bailed.) T and I spent most of Friday and much of the last couple days getting this week's Very Special Installment ready for tomorrow night.

And of course, there's always, always other things I SHOULD be writing right now.

But I do feel bad about not posting more. That might not actually get me to post more, but it can't hurt.

Just for fun, here's a page of script I wrote as a favour for Jay at Happy Harbor. He's been doing a lot of speaking engagements at local schools lately, and needed a single page that could be drawn by different artists, the idea being that the kids would be able to see how different artists interpret the same script.

He didn't ask me for anything more than that--he even said it didn't need to be a finished story or anything (and arguably it isn't.) But I set some guidelines for myself, which made it a bit of a challenge. I wanted something that could be shown to kids without issues (there goes the swearing and any graphic violence.) I wanted something that involved a lot of different scripting terminology--I don't know if Jay's going to be talking about what a full bleed or an establishing shot is, but it couldn't hurt to have it in there. I did want it to stand on its own (always a challenge, again, not sure I managed it) and in the absence of heavy action, I wanted it to be funny.

This is what I came up with:

PANEL 1 (FULL ACROSS, FULL BLEED)
A panoramic shot of devastation and destruction on a cataclysmic scale. Buildings in ruins, smoke, flame, the whole nine yards.
1 CAP: (tech font) My first game of soccer did not go well. I was sent to live in Edmonton with my Aunt Helen.

PANEL 2
Exterior establishing shot of a middle-class house in an Edmonton suburb. It’s a nice sunny day in July.
2 CAP: (tech font) My cousin Gavin...was not thrilled with this arrangement.
3 GAVIN: (from house) --I DON’T WANNA. THE OTHER KIDS DON’T LIKE HER.
4 AUNT HELEN: (from house) SHE’S YOUR COUSIN AND YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE HER FEEL WELCOME.

PANEL 3
Interior establishing shot of the house’s kitchen. Neat but not sparkling, very homey.
GAVIN (eleven years old, unruly hair, dressed in shorts, t-shirt, and sneakers), is arguing, or at least trying to, with his mother, HELEN (mid-thirties, dressed comfortably but well).
Helen isn’t looking at her son; she’s focused on chopping a cucumber to add to the salad bowl on the counter. Gavin’s spluttering in impotent fury.
5 GAVIN: BUT SHE’S A KILLER ROBOT!
6 AUNT HELEN: THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT. SHE’S FAMILY.
7 AUNT HELEN: (connected) NOW GO ASK HER.

PANEL 4 (SMALL)
Head and shoulders shot of a scowling Gavin. He knows he isn’t going to win this one, but isn’t happy about it.
8 GAVIN: FINE.

PANEL 5
Interior establishing shot of a pre-adolescent girl’s room. Lots of pink, lots of frills. Teddy bears and Barbies line shelves along the walls.
Sitting on the bed--which bows noticeably under the weight--is our narrator, the MAXIKILLDROID-XI (or MAXI, for short.) Maxi is an eight-foot tall humanoid robot, and every inch of her grey metal body looks like it could cut, maim, kill, explode, and otherwise do grievous bodily damage to anyone who got on her bad side. Barrels of guns, flamethrowers, and a bazooka protrude from various parts of her body; blades, both stationary and buzzsaw, cover much of the rest of her. Her eyes are green, glowing slits.
And she’s dressed in a modest skirt, a t-shirt, and socks with little pom-poms on them.
9 SFX: KNOCK KNOCK
10 MAXI: (electrical tail, tech font) COME IN.

PANEL 6
Past Maxi, head turned to look at her cousin, to Gavin, standing framed in her bedroom doorway. He’s holding a soccer ball.
Artist note: Make sure to leave sufficient room for word balloons.
11 GAVIN: HEY.
12 MAXI: (ET, tech) HEY.
13 GAVIN: SO, UH, YOU EVER PLAY SOCCER?
14 MAXI: (ET, tech) ONCE.
15 GAVIN: YOU WANNA COME PLAY WITH ME NOW?

PANEL 7
Head and shoulders side view of Maxi, head turned to look out of the panel at us (and Gavin.)
NO DIALOGUE

PANEL 8
Same shot.
16 MAXI: (ET, tech) SURE.
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