Comic Project

[kiyakotari]

So, for my Graphic Novel Theory course, I have to make a short comic, 2-8 pages in length, with at least two sequential panels. Obviously I'm going to use doll photography, and I have some great ideas about pushing that medium as well, but I've realized...

I have NO IDEA what I want to do a comic OF.

Er. I could always go in and turn one of my drabbles into a comic. You know, one of those short snippets I've posted in here, like the Resinality prompts. However, I have to keep in mind that I only have a couple weeks to get this made, which means I can't get really creative with the scenery (looks like "Of Red Rabbits and Airports" is out, as much as that would ROCK).

I was thinking I could maybe do that Wren-Jian-Tea-Ceremony one. I already have a 1/3 scale tetsubin, and the introspective, low-dialogue approach would appeal to me, especially with the things I wanted to try as far as pushing the medium and altering the materiality of it a bit. The set would be easy enough to make (some tatami and paper screens and WHAM)...and I have enough "spare" dolls that I can almost certainly manage "actors" for the criminals.

Plus, it's an excuse to take pictures of Wren in that FUCKING AWESOME kimono of hers...and I could even do some really great shots of "other employees," since I have a couple other kimono, and intersperse those with the tea ceremony while the narration and dialogue between the criminals is running...

Thoughts on this?

Comments

[doll-paparazzi.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....

Does it HAVE to be clean or can it be racy? :)

You've written a bunch of stuff already, have you thought about just taken the sections and illustrating them?

[kiyakotari.livejournal.com]

Considering that my professor had us read (among other things) Black Hole and Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, I'm guessing racy would be fine. However, it has very specific length requirements and limitations. I think I could pull those off with the "Tetsubin" piece. I think it would fit them nicely, in fact.

[saintsavin.livejournal.com]

The tearoom story would make the best comic ever! You could express whole concepts just by arranging the frames differently, a la Clover.

Also, I want to read such a comic very, very badly.

[kiyakotari.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not sure if I'm that skilled, what with time constraints and software restrictions (I'm leaning toward using Adobe InDesign for the layout), but I'm sure I can manage something. ^_~

Looks like you'll get to read the comic.

[greenjudy.livejournal.com]

O YEAH

Does the comic have to be complete and self-contained?

I think if I were doing this project I'd start at the point in the sequence I found most interesting and build out from there. But I am a big fan of dropping people into the soup.

Another queer thought - could you tell the story without a word of dialogue or exposition? Just with shots and cuts?

I'd like to get a gander at your 1/3 tetsubin. 8-)

[kiyakotari.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about how complete it has to be. I'm guessing that a "scene" would be totally acceptable, whereas a few connected panels with nothing else would not be. I'm going for the "there's a lot of contaxt here, and I know my classmates are going to wonder what the hell it is, but they don't have to actually know it to be able to see what's going on" approach.

I'm afraid leaving out text is not an option, since part of the topic matter of the class is the interaction between text and visuals. The way I'm planning it, I might be able to do a "silent" version, though. Maybe for website-only release, or some such.

The 1/3 tetsubin is awesome. Remind me and I will bring it down with me in July.

[kiyakotari.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Changing the sequence of the images is an interesting thought. I'll have to see how hard that makes it for someone who isn't already familiar with the characters and background to parse.

Also, this teacher is HUGELY interested in/a fan of remediation, so the fact that this started as text and is moving into the visual should get me extra points. =D