tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64717990552129785042024-02-18T17:43:51.391-08:00General EclecticVisual Storytelling, Writing, Drawing, Comicbooks, Film, Interactive Media, History, Natural History, Recollections, Aquariums, Fishing, etc.Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-86274244641956442652011-12-02T14:06:00.000-08:002011-12-02T14:06:57.622-08:00Why is Classic Story Structure So Universal?<span style="font-family: Arial;">During a recent SVA senior portfolio class that I teach with Klaus Janson, I reviewed the basics of classic story structure. </span> <br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The students were interested in why classic story structure seems to be so universally appealing. </span></div><br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Here's what I mean by classic story structure -</span></div><div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">- A protagonist (or a group of protagonists) encounters a catalytic problem that disturbs their status quo. </span></div><div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">- That catalyst propels him/her actively into an escalating series of events/conflicts. </span></div><div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">- The events reach a climax and then a resolution</span></div><div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">- The protagonist is changed by his/her experience and a new status quo is established. </span></div><br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In most cases, the protagonist is a character the reader can identify with on some level, helping the reader vicariously share the aspirations, dangers and adventures that the character experiences.</span></div><br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There are many works of fiction that don't follow this basic arc - there are character sketches, mood pieces, minimalist and anti-structure tales. However, the vast majority of classic tales that have stood the test of time, as well as the most popular counterparty works of fiction, generally follow this basic arc.</span></div><br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So, why is this classic story arc so consistent throughout history, across cultures, genres and media? </span></div><br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What is it about this arc that is so attractive to us?</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="goog_457962066"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_457962067"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwpj9cBfurQWzouH6kWetJ9Y1WEH8Z_WhnEkXAmjKXDWeY-54ctV-ILuEl8ndaXOklsZ8uz_g4tfy9LD7inuYlMrv3esqyXDinFBMLFoVTSbh4MxbrVxofKtNzusEGrdW2ZBVFr6dXsM/s1600/Cawelti+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwpj9cBfurQWzouH6kWetJ9Y1WEH8Z_WhnEkXAmjKXDWeY-54ctV-ILuEl8ndaXOklsZ8uz_g4tfy9LD7inuYlMrv3esqyXDinFBMLFoVTSbh4MxbrVxofKtNzusEGrdW2ZBVFr6dXsM/s320/Cawelti+book.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;">Here's a possible answer from John G. Cawelti's book, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Mystery-Romance-Formula-Stories/dp/0226098672/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322841946&sr=1-3"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">"Adventure, Mystery, and Romance"</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">:</span><br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">"...formulas are ways in which specific cultural themes and stereotypes become embodied in more universal archetypes.</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Certain story archetypes particularly fulfill a man's needs for enjoyment and escape.</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">But in order for these patterns to work, they must be embodied in figures, settings, and situations that have appropriate meanings for the culture which produces them."</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Cawelti quoting Harry Berger: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">"Man has two primal needs. First is the need for order, peace, and security, for protection against terror or confusion in life, for a familiar and predictable world, and for a life which is happily more of the same...But the second primal impulse is the contrary to the first: man positively needs anxiety and uncertainty, thrives on...risk, wants trouble, tension, jeopardy, novelty, mystery, would be lost without enemies, is sometimes happiest when the most miserable. Human spontaneity is eaten away by sameness: man is the animal most expert at being bored.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The audience's need for both familiarity and novelty are met by giving them classic genre model stories that include unique twists on characters, plot elements, themes and so on."<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">In other words, as a writer<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">, </b>"Give them what they expect, but not in the way they expect it." <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">(I've been using this phrase for many years but I'm not sure of the original source of the quote (or paraphrased wisdom). If you have that info, please let me know.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The aesthetics of the times also play a big hand in how a work of fiction is structured. Much of beginning of Victor Hugo's extremely long novel <i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Les Misérables</span></i> is spent describing the life and character of the kindly <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bishop Myriel. The Bishop's part in the story is to be nice to the protagonist </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Jean Valjean - when Valjean is finally introduced - and inspire Valjean to lead a righteous life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The aesthetics of contemporary writers, editors and audiences would probably dictate that the huge number of pages establishing Bishop Myriel's history and character are not needed and should be cut. I'm trying to remember if the Bishop even seen in any of the more contemporary screen or stage versions of the novel. I don't think he is. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="Ariel11nospacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Even with such differences in aesthetic tastes and judgments over the years, if you boil down most classic tales to their most basic arc, they will look much like the arc outlined in the 3rd paragraph of this blog entry. </span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Within the familiar classic story arc are an almost infinite number of ways to generate tension, jeopardy, novelty, mystery, etc. thus pleasing our contradictory needs for structure and novelty. Classic structure is the most gratifying to the largest audience - and therefore the most popular type of fiction structure.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Your thoughts?</span></div>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-68593353780121274572010-11-30T05:20:00.000-08:002010-11-30T05:20:30.739-08:00Drawing for Comics & Storyboards classes at SUNY Purchase<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvEt0fgB4wDX7qViJ5g4Wp0VIzCiAHgRNA8QspM4fr-2ifgRLAGxXRBk_jHI_4Ty1mC_MUlGyB6JJBmU0cpDUSlAOqdDIo2JjLycgNK_HbIlB0SNlyWgTlDDeYF-b4BzBTr2v7EPm59o/s1600/PWJ+2+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvEt0fgB4wDX7qViJ5g4Wp0VIzCiAHgRNA8QspM4fr-2ifgRLAGxXRBk_jHI_4Ty1mC_MUlGyB6JJBmU0cpDUSlAOqdDIo2JjLycgNK_HbIlB0SNlyWgTlDDeYF-b4BzBTr2v7EPm59o/s200/PWJ+2+Cover.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you live in the NYC, Westchester County, NY or Lower Fairfield County, CT area and are interested in learning how to draw comics, I'll be teaching courses on that subject at State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase College campus this spring. </span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Drawing for Comics & Storyboards" is a Personal Enrichment class where students will sharpen their drawing and visual storytelling skills. The classes will be aimed primarily at comics and storyboard artists but will be of interest to artists and writers who work in any visual storytelling media - comics, film, TV, web and video games. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiveo7Okth8lFVNU-PtlmCbdR-P0e5Ni8U_olDdN4DHBt0_KUm3Hgi3RsE4vdnMffRYT5hJ3jxQ-PGFLMIiNmoyNn07V-nUaA_lPodn62CQKF99ENrYDEAupjlUpiZi0vHJ8vJVcmK6xLU/s1600/Moon+Knight+Essential.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiveo7Okth8lFVNU-PtlmCbdR-P0e5Ni8U_olDdN4DHBt0_KUm3Hgi3RsE4vdnMffRYT5hJ3jxQ-PGFLMIiNmoyNn07V-nUaA_lPodn62CQKF99ENrYDEAupjlUpiZi0vHJ8vJVcmK6xLU/s200/Moon+Knight+Essential.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are Tues. evening classes for adults and Sat. morning classes for high school students. Eight sessions for each group. </span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Registration begins Dec. 1, 2010. Go to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.purchase.edu/CE"><span style="color: blue;">WWW.PURCHASE.EDU/CE</span></a> for more information.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope to see you there!</span></div><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-34652414441300039802010-08-02T14:13:00.000-07:002010-08-02T16:03:37.990-07:00Marvelous Tales: Remembering Mark Gruenwald and Our Trip to Skywalker Ranch<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the 1980s through mid 1990s, Mark Gruenwald was, in many ways, the heart and soul of Marvel Comics' editorial/creative department. He possessed and infections enthusiasm for comics and all things Marvel.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark moved from Wisconsin to New York City in the mid '70s and landed a low-level job on Marvel's editorial staff in 1978. His creativity and hard work were recognized and Mark was promoted to full editor in 1982. He spearheaded the work on the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe, wrote Captain America for a decade and helped train new editors by holding weekly "Assistant Editor Classes." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Full of energy, ideas, and practical jokes, Mark was the instigator and ringleader for Marvel's office parties and pranks. He also promoted a wide range of contests that challenged the physical skills and pop culture knowledge of Marvel staffers. In theory the participants in Mark's events were trying to win prizes. In reality, many just got caught up in Mark's enthusiasm and wanted to be a part of whatever fun he was whipping up. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark wanted Marvel's fans to have as much fun as he did so he devised the 'Marvel Olympics" and other convention events where fans participated in outrageous contests with Marvel personnel. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one on Marvel's editorial staff was immune from becoming the target of Mark's pranks or the focus of good-natured ribbing during Marvel's convention shenanigans with the fans. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark became an Executive Editor in 1987 and one of five Editors-in-Chief when, in 1994, Marvel temporarily split its publishing into multiple divisions. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, I rediscovered a video of a presentation Mark participated in when a group of Marvel staffers visited George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm posting Mark's part of the presentation here so his friends and coworkers can relive the joy and enthusiasm he brought to Marvel - and to allow those who didn't have the pleasure of working with Mark get a glimpse of what they missed. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marvel's trip to the Skywalker Ranch took place on Mon. April 27, 1992. After attending the WonderCon comic book convention in Oakland, CA, our crew of editorial staffers drove north across the Golden Gate Bridge and into the remote hills of Marin County. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The troupe included Publisher Stan Lee. Editor-in-Chief Tom DeFalco, Executive Editors Mark Gruenwald and Carl Potts along with Editors Fabian Nicieza, Mariano Nicieza, Bobbie Chase and Hildy Mesnik </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our tour of Skywalker Ranch and Industrial Light & Magic had been arranged with the help of Gary Winnick. At the time, Gary worked at LucasArts, helping produce a number of hit CD-ROM games. Gary, Steve Purcell and others from LucasArts showed the Marvel crew around the film and game production facilities contained in beautiful buildings on the secluded Skywalker Ranch property and nearby Industrial Light & Magic lot.</span> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUhyphenhyphenPByFDDzP2iI66LrQ6d2s7jB0GJ5fYWtGh2nQdkkD3TTLEYp__GSBIhgtoTkd00_qozIlc_wlBPvi8pZIyt3CNKLHvX2PTf1KiXSY2YBmIdZbQFyIkTpD8bKIBdnAvX58Db9-vIZs/s1600/Marvel_Visit_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUhyphenhyphenPByFDDzP2iI66LrQ6d2s7jB0GJ5fYWtGh2nQdkkD3TTLEYp__GSBIhgtoTkd00_qozIlc_wlBPvi8pZIyt3CNKLHvX2PTf1KiXSY2YBmIdZbQFyIkTpD8bKIBdnAvX58Db9-vIZs/s320/Marvel_Visit_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>L to R: Mark Gruenwald, Bobbie Chase, Fabian Nicieza, Marianlo Nicieza, Hildy Mesnik, Carl Potts, Tom DeFalco, Stan Lee, Steve Purcell, (unidentified woman) Kneeling: (unidentified man), Gary Winnick.</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among the highlights were the model building shop at Industrial Light & Magic, the Foley sound effects studio housed in what appeared to be a vineyard building and the giant Victorian-style library lined in redwood shelves with lighting filtered through a huge domed stained glass ceiling. It was a blast seeing many props and mementos from the famous films George Lucas had been involved with - including the idol that Indiana Jones lifted from the tomb at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After an amazing lunch at the Ranch's high-end cafeteria and a bit more touring, the Marvel crew prepared to give a presentation as part of LucasArts/ILM's lecture series for its employees. Five of us gave short (approx. 10 minute) presentations on various aspects of comics--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Fabian first gave a quick overview of Marvel's publishing and licensing output. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Stan then enthralled the audience with a few tales of Marvel's early days and the development of working "Marvel style" (where the artist draws from a loose plot and the final script is prepared after the pages are drawn.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Fabian bounded back to the stage to give an overview of Marvel's creative and production chain.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Tom discussed how readers process the words and pictures as they read comics. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- I (with butterflies in my stomach) commented on visual storytelling techniques in comics and compared them to the techniques used in film. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Mark then wrapped up the presentations with a discussion of what makes the Marvel Universe special and a description of his activities as Marvel's "continuity cop." Mark's humor and his enthusiasm for the Marvel Universe made his segment a highlight of Marvel's presentation. His attempt to explain how "unstable molecules" work was hilarious.</span> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxHIvURN0HMF5atsaM7iBpCNY-W4dWHgKcKJi70XioMe6_1oGeFP7qCojNf3WWXDrtNykUDiq52c8vd9D3_cA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Mark's presentation about being Marvel's "Continuity Cop"</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The formal presentation was followed by a long Q&A session that covered everything from how to become a comics editor to Stan's relationship with Jack Kirby to how Marvel kept long-running characters from becoming dated. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early in the morning on Mon. Aug. 12, 1996, only four years and four months after the trip to Skywalker Ranch, Mark suffered a massive heart attack and passed away. He left a wife he loved and a young daughter he adored. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark is still missed by those who knew him personally as well as by those who only knew him through his work. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For those of us who knew Mark, watching the video is bittersweet - simultaneously prompting laughter and tears. Mark would have appreciated the former but probably not the latter. </span></div>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-89436971382012931602010-07-27T14:33:00.000-07:002010-07-27T14:33:57.230-07:00Alien Legion Update: Movie, Comic Collections and New Comics<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alien Legion is a long-running comic book series I launched at Marvel Comics' Epic imprint during the 1980's. For those unfamiliar with it, the basic concept is "the Foreign Legion in space" or "Platoon meets Aliens."</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKwrJrHDk93lU2tP7mRrEzjgbDjbKl_xNkmPUKcZFCuYi-6i5hu6IPibtrJPN96uZGmppM443RFvOShOeA5HSNQxk_XAk-xm0V2mHGh4ILBWvw-UMeVamr9SgiDsUBRmJLTk3LSR-fY4/s1600/Blog+BoB+A+Leg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKwrJrHDk93lU2tP7mRrEzjgbDjbKl_xNkmPUKcZFCuYi-6i5hu6IPibtrJPN96uZGmppM443RFvOShOeA5HSNQxk_XAk-xm0V2mHGh4ILBWvw-UMeVamr9SgiDsUBRmJLTk3LSR-fY4/s320/Blog+BoB+A+Leg.jpg" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Footsloggers and soldiers of fortune, priests, poets, killers and cads—they fight for a future Galactic Union, for cash, for a cause, for the thrill of adventure. Culled from the forgotten and unwanted of three galaxies, they are the most elite, and expendable, of fighting forces. The Legion is sent into the Union’s most desperate internal and external conflicts. Legionnaires live rough and they die hard, tough as tungsten and loyal to the dirty end.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although there have been collections of some the original Epic Comics publications over the years, new Alien Legion comics have not been produced for well over a decade. Last year, I teamed up with Dark Horse Comics to produce a comprehensive series of Alien Legion collections and a new series about the adventures of Sarigar, Montroc, Grimrod, Tamara and the other characters who have - so far - survived numerous cosmic scrapes. (Readers of the series know that any character can be killed or maimed - this is a very active military outfit after all!)</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So far, Dark Horse has published two Alien Legion Omnibus collections. The editor of the collections, and the new series, is Chris Warner. Chris got his start as a comic book artist in the pages of Alien Legion and it's great to be working with him again.</span> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNn5d7B54YmVdLRWDhI97yXqv_mExJTNi7T-42l6OIlY-G7O-nwrkGqLZL0zsMxpwgspLrGn_pdjzenkWKfKEshztBmJQgTMyqDXCPwEOOvhQhwdjqB4GLlisOueYobpMO0SMbgJB_BwI/s1600/AlienLegionOmnibus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNn5d7B54YmVdLRWDhI97yXqv_mExJTNi7T-42l6OIlY-G7O-nwrkGqLZL0zsMxpwgspLrGn_pdjzenkWKfKEshztBmJQgTMyqDXCPwEOOvhQhwdjqB4GLlisOueYobpMO0SMbgJB_BwI/s320/AlienLegionOmnibus1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSX9gWtCZGfFtHon3lXTOsY8-HIGwejrLWiynM0Wwu3ohIn9SulUy-B2On-xSx88hAdwMDsuC7FkvubISdKSxh2b9WFF1MgwuiW91OBWeH0n14Wa020icFf5Vc4xDpaEom4gNIUozsW2A/s1600/AlienLegionOmnibus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSX9gWtCZGfFtHon3lXTOsY8-HIGwejrLWiynM0Wwu3ohIn9SulUy-B2On-xSx88hAdwMDsuC7FkvubISdKSxh2b9WFF1MgwuiW91OBWeH0n14Wa020icFf5Vc4xDpaEom4gNIUozsW2A/s320/AlienLegionOmnibus2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Omnibus editions are, for the first time, collecting all of the Epic Comics Alien Legion tales in chronological order. So, the "A Gray Day to Die" graphic novel, two series volumes, various limited series, one shots and short stories are being presented in the order they occurred within the Alien legion universe - all in the fine Dark Horse Omnibus packaging. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the big San Diego Comic Con last week, Chris Warner, Randy Emberlin and I had a signing for the Omnibus collections at the Dark Horse booth. Also on display was a preview of the new Alien Legion series. Curious fans discovered that Chuck Dixon and I cooked up the plot, Chuck wrote the script and long-time Alien Legion artist Larry Stroman is doing the penciling for the new series. I'm supplying the inks. The coloring is by Thomas Mason.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are two pages of the new series to whet your appetite:</span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKI6eEkgq7oNNHESMg6c8Dbcx0oqJsCIgNy3061jVuDOxQil_Kgun-KfAfqaBBqd2_iqVZkXM_Ts2nLrU5jVDCCiaAgp3l3v8aTFLp4-hVNVy9BUVbbMWL7zJQDeE9te9QZtLvzGdPhUA/s1600/ALEG+%231+PG+01+WRK_col+(4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKI6eEkgq7oNNHESMg6c8Dbcx0oqJsCIgNy3061jVuDOxQil_Kgun-KfAfqaBBqd2_iqVZkXM_Ts2nLrU5jVDCCiaAgp3l3v8aTFLp4-hVNVy9BUVbbMWL7zJQDeE9te9QZtLvzGdPhUA/s320/ALEG+%231+PG+01+WRK_col+(4).jpg" width="214" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Harkilon civil war</span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLnfmhqUXFqNDt1tO9F5zsxZh0o9uFMEfbBEBdjNoFfhK26E4iGVDkX7Jv1t3A7Ztiz1MyzrfDlgDnfkEYuEkN1IDezIQ9tAMdfysNtoYFADwxl8qhAT7FpJHhY_yBH0glklbm0_WcAs/s1600/ALEG+%231+PG+11+WRK_col+(6).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLnfmhqUXFqNDt1tO9F5zsxZh0o9uFMEfbBEBdjNoFfhK26E4iGVDkX7Jv1t3A7Ztiz1MyzrfDlgDnfkEYuEkN1IDezIQ9tAMdfysNtoYFADwxl8qhAT7FpJHhY_yBH0glklbm0_WcAs/s320/ALEG+%231+PG+11+WRK_col+(6).jpg" width="207" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sarigar & Montroc</span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A number of people at the convention asked me about the Alien Legion movie project so here's a re-cap and update. About four years ago, after award-winning writer/director Boaz Yakin brought Alien Legion to the attention of Jerry Bruckheimer Productions, Disney optioned my Alien Legion screenplay. Earlier this year, Bruckheimer/Disney exercised that option (meaning they bought the script outright). It is currently undergoing a re-write process. It's too soon to tell if/when it'll end up in front of the cameras. The fine job Bruckheimer Productions did combining live action and CGI characters in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films gives me a lot of confidence that they can do the property justice on the big screen. I'll try to keep you posted as things progress. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, sometime in the not-too-distant future, I hope you'll sign up for a stint in the Legion when the new comic book series from Dark Horse debuts. With your support, maybe we can enjoy another long run of original tales about the toughest military unit in three galaxies. Don't worry, the Legion is an all volunteer force and, unlike most legionnaires, you'll have a non-combat role and can enjoy the action from a safe vantage point. (I'd still pack my armor if I were you.) </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's it on the Alien Legion front for now! </span></div></div></div><img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6bLJorRnq7SAiRBaOoSMuG6mQZOT-0znQpvz9_tfpHCW3-yiIKyFG7_pGmMJ0nScXn7AzrIzmYfWsYvVAxw0AhyAduwTC3Fwn6okS8gyQHZNvUh7UPh-IPSpH_5tdzu5lncrEv4EgPtU/s320/AlienLegionOmnibus1.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 531px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 2343px; visibility: hidden;" width="63" />Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-26251283967156155212010-05-12T13:37:00.000-07:002010-05-12T13:44:13.771-07:00Marvelous Tales: Fishing from Marvel Comics' 10th floor<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For most of the 1980s, Marvel’s editorial/creative department had a great corporate culture. With some exceptions, the diverse staff consisted of talented, well-trained and enthusiastic people who enjoyed what they did for a living and had fun together. Many Marvel staffers and freelancers socialized together outside of the office. One result of this culture was a line of highly-successful comicbooks and a portfolio of valuable intellectual properties.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At many companies, the tone of the corporate culture is set by the top officers. So, some of the credit for the tone at Marvel during the early/mid ‘80s has to go to then Editor-in Chief Jim Shooter and several of the policies he put into place early in his stint as Marvel’s editorial leader.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For reasons I’m not sure anyone really understands, Shooter’s attitude changed dramatically during the mid/late ‘80s and he felt the need to become more dictatorial. As a result, many Marvel staffers and freelance creators left the company, either voluntarily or as a result of direct action by Shooter. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As tensions mounted between Shooter and the editorial/creative staff, a dark thundercloud settled in over the Marvel offices.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was not a great corporate culture to operate within and certainly no place to have much fun or produce quality work.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cloud of tension in the Marvel offices dissipated when Shooter was dismissed by the company brass and Tom DeFalco became the Editor-in-Chief.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To help re-establish an atmosphere of fun at Marvel, I came up with what I thought was the ideal practical joke — something that was unusual, funny (I hoped) and harmless. It involved one of my favorite non-comics related activities – fishing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Covered for miles around in pavement, masonry, steel and glass, the area around Marvel’s midtown Manhattan location was not known for its angling opportunities. The only fish around were the tiny residents of a pair of small aquariums in my office.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As usual, I arrived at the Marvel offices carrying my art portfolio. Inside was secreted a spinning reel spooled with thin, nearly-invisible monofilament line and a fishing rod that broke down into four small easy to pack sections.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mentioned the practical joke idea to fellow editor Ralph Macchio and he was all for it. His office window looked out on E 27th St. There was a furniture store on the first floor of our building that had large awnings over its display windows. The size and angle of those awnings made it hard for street-level pedestrians to see the building’s 10th floor windows. Ralph and I, however, could clearly see most of the sidewalk.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThw-AU3AofvSRWHM6a2Ck1x3kjBc8wz4ydGKAlMyjN1J14EAYeWaNhMKRA_4D7OJPowgwbadhLsMW-AGQ94-l3JT8z996SmK8LvgqZo5O-W_zpT9jUg0Vq3QWf-mDLj_Tz-5VqU6PudE/s1600/OfficeEmpty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThw-AU3AofvSRWHM6a2Ck1x3kjBc8wz4ydGKAlMyjN1J14EAYeWaNhMKRA_4D7OJPowgwbadhLsMW-AGQ94-l3JT8z996SmK8LvgqZo5O-W_zpT9jUg0Vq3QWf-mDLj_Tz-5VqU6PudE/s400/OfficeEmpty.jpg" width="400" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">My office at Marvel around the time of these events. The windows opened - a rare thing for NYC office buildings. Ralph’s office, where the high-rise angling took place, was two doors down the hall and was very similar. Note the two small aquariums side-by-side on the bookshelf. A wall-mounded drawing table is in the up position to the left. The keyboard to the right used the “IBM Selectric OS.”</span></span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After I put the rod and reel together, Ralph and I looked around his office for possible “lures” with which to entice the pedestrians below to “bite.” We decided the first item to tie onto the monofilament line was a 6” tall action figure of the DC Comics power-hungry and despotic character, Darkseid. The figure had glowing red eyes.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps Ralph felt Darkseid was a good stand-in for Marvel’s previous EIC.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pedestrians strolling along E. 27th St. were surprised to see little Darkseid magically hoping along next to them. Some made a move to grab the figure only to have the DC bad guy elude their grasp, fly up into the air and seemingly disappear.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In reality, the editor holding the fishing rod (Ralph and I took turns) would yank Darkseid up and set him on top of the awning, out of sight of the perplexed and generally entertained pedestrians. Everyone on both ends of the fishing line had fun.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Darkseid was eventually replaced by a mummified Snickers bar that had been sitting on Ralph’s window sill for years. However, an animated candy bar did not attract as much attention as an elusive diminutive super villain.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, Ralph tied on an oversized fake $100 bill. It was a leaf from a giant message pad. Even though the bill was obviously fake, some passers-by tried to grab it as it floated up and down over the sidewalk under Ralph’s window. One lucky person actually grabbed the thing and kept the fake bill. No problem. That message pad mint was thick.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of those we tempted with action figures, candy bars or oversized currency were Marvel staffers on their way in or out of the building. Word of what we were up to started getting around the office.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marvel’s office manager at the time was a certain Ms. Ehrenreich. To those who didn’t appreciate her sometimes authoritative manner, she was known as “Ehren-3rd-reich.” Ehrenreich thought what Ralph and I were up to was deplorable. She ran to publisher Mike Hobson to complain. I didn’t know Hobson very well then. I just knew was he was my boss’ boss.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hobson came to Ralph’s office to see what was up. At that point, I happened to be the one holding the pole out the window while Ralph was taking a phone call at his desk. Hobson tried hard to sound gruff. “Boys, what the hell are you up to?” he growled while slowly stroking his moustache.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chastised, I quickly reeled in the line and disassembled the pole while Hobson marched off to DeFalco’s office to discuss the matter with my direct superior. I wasn’t sure if Ralph and I were in trouble. Ralph took great pleasure it the fact that he was not the one who had been caught red handed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much to my relief, I found out later from DeFalco that Hobson started howling with laughter when he told DeFalco about the fishing shenanigans.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The team of DeFalco and Hobson helped restore the positive corporate culture Marvel needed to thrive on – and thrive it did for many years to follow. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As stated earlier, corporate culture is often set by top management. Marvel’s president at the time was Jim Galton. At one point during DeFalco’s time as EIC, Galton walked down unannounced from his top floor office to ask DeFalco a question. When he peeked into the office and saw DeFalco leaning back, lost in thought, Galton left without disturbing his EIC. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later, when Galton returned, DeFalco was busy dealing with piles of bureaucratic paperwork. Galton had no hesitation about breaking into DeFalco’s work to make his inquiry. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Galton explained that DeFalco’s main responsibility was to think and plan. Marvel’s president would much rather interrupt DeFalco’s tedious paperwork than disturb the EIC as he contemplated the editorial department’s strategy and issues. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That sort of enlightened attitude from the company’s president helped establish a healthy, and highly-profitable, corporate culture. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For many years now, the powers-that-be at Marvel have kept Ralph in a windowless office. I wonder why.</span>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-35108578479694745302010-02-19T10:44:00.000-08:002010-02-20T20:58:26.521-08:00A Win/Win Approach to Deliver Free Digital Content?Last night I attended the launch party for Guvera, a new music download service that is operating with a "revolutionary" new model. (Guvera is currently operating in Australia. The wider launch of their service will be on March 1st.)<br /><br />The piracy of music and other electronic content has been a huge problem for a long time. Artists, labels and publishers have lost a lot of money due to digital piracy.<br /><br />Speaking at the Guvea launch party, Alice Cooper stated that new artists often wonder if they should even bother recording since they know their music will get stolen. Due to piracy, new and low-profile acts may not even make up their recording production costs - so they end up losing money by recording and releasing their music.<br /><br />The artists, labels and publishers have spent a lot of time and money trying to battle piracy but a huge consumer pool has gotten used to the idea that any content delivered electronically should be free.<br /><br />When music was delivered in a tangible form of a CD, LP or tape, it was much easier for the general public to appreciate the need to pay for content. With the rise in electronic content delivery, the lack of a tangible component to the content seems to have affected the attitudes of many consumers.<br /><br />Instead of fighting the consumers' desire for free content, Guvera's model allows consumers to download music for free in a way that pays the artists and the labels.<br /><br />They do this by teaming with a wide range of advertising partners. Instead of "Disruptive Advertising," Guvera is using what it calls "Engagement Advertising" that is targeted to each user.<br /><br />When you do a music search on Guvera, you get to select which of the many sponsoring advertisers you want to pay for each piece of music. For example, you might get to choose between an athletic shoe brand, a snack brand or a car company. You visit that advertiser's channel to download the free content and, while doing so, are exposed to their brand's messaging and additional content that may appeal to you. This way you see only the branding and marketing content that you choose.<br /><br />Guvera has lined up deals with an impressive array of major labels and advertisers.<br /><br />If the Guvera model works, it will expand to deliver other forms of electronic entertainment content including film, TV and games. Perhaps books and comics will follow as well.<br /><br />For Guvera's model to work over the long haul, the advertisers will need to feel that their payments to the artists and labels generate enough of a return. That may be easy to do on relatively low-cost music tracks.<br /><br />However, if Guvera begins downloading feature films for free, the supporting advertisers will have to pay significantly higher fees to the studios than they do for a music track download. Therefore, the return they are expecting for their advertising will be much larger as well. It remains to be seen if consumers will spend enough money on the supporting advertisers' products and/or services to make free movie downloads economically viable.<br /><br />Assuming the Guvera model takes off, Apple, Amazon and others who use a pay-for-content model will need to respond. I wonder if Guvera's business plan anticipates the various counter moves the competition will make and has mapped out how Guvera will respond to those moves.<br /><br />It'll be interesting to watch what happens. If the Guvera model works, it'll be a win/win situation for all involved.<br /><br />Thanks to Mason Gordon and Jennifer Constantine for inviting me to this event.Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-80728357512796704042009-05-25T19:34:00.000-07:002009-05-25T19:35:47.006-07:00General Principles of Sequential Visual StorytellingA few weeks ago, I posted the first part of a memo I’d written when I was an editor at Marvel Comics. The second part of the “Guidelines for the Appraisal of Story Structure and Visual Storytelling” memo focused on the basic principles of sequential visual storytelling.<br /><br />Here is the second section:<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><strong>Visual Storytelling in Comics</strong><br /><br />Here are some general principles that should be taught to new artists, writers and editors.<br /><br />Always remember—<br />-It’s your job is to tell the story in the clearest and most compelling fashion.<br /><br />-Design should be in the service of storytelling, not at the expense of the storytelling.<br /><br />As cinematographer Joseph V. Mascelli said, “Be truly objective in judging a new (visual storytelling) method or idea. Try it. If it plays – if it is acceptable – and the audience comprehends and enjoys it – use it. If it simply confuses, teases or even distracts the audience from the narrative – discard it!” <br /><br />-Visual storytelling is the art at the core of sequential visual media including comic books, film and video.<br /><br />-The principles of sequential visual storytelling allow creators to tell stories in a compelling manner. They also allow creators to experiment from a base of knowledge instead of from naiveté (a nice word for ignorance!).<br /><br />-Show, don’t tell. Clearly show all visual information so the script doesn’t have to include descriptive information—the script can then concentrate on non-visual information and subtext.<br /><br />-Strive for clarity and keep viewers immersed in the story. Viewers should not have to pause to figure out where their eyes are supposed to go to next or to wonder what is happening in the story. Otherwise, they will be pulled out of the flow of the story, breaking the suspension of disbelief.<br /> If the comic creator is doing his/her job well, it will not be readily apparent to the reader. The reader will be too involved it the story to actively appreciate the tale’s visual storytelling techniques (at least on the first read).<br /> There may be times when the artist wishes to be unclear in the service of storytelling. For example, if the story is from the POV of a confused or delusional character, the visual will reflect that state of mind.<br /><br />-Do not attempt to show every minute in a scene. Pick the “highlights”/key frames to show.<br /><br />-What is “in between” panels is important. The viewer will often fill in the “gaps” between panels with visuals they generate internally.<br /> <br />-Clearly establish cast, environment & scenario. Keep the environments you establish consistent. Do not arbitrarily change a room or a scene you’ve established as you draw successive panels. If you show that there is only one door in the room your establishing, keep is consistent throughout the scene. If the status quo of a scene is purposely changed, show the transition action and clearly establish the new status quo.<br /><br />-Maintain action flow continuity. Establish and maintain the movement direction of characters, vehicles and other objects within the story environment. This is a concept that has not been getting as much attention in comics or film as it used to. This is due in part to the influence of chaotic, quick-cut, documentary-like music videos and 3D game environments. In linear visual stoytetleloling environments however, it is very important.*<br /> <br />-Three Types of Shots:<br />Long shots are generally used to establish a scene. Clearly show where everything and everyone is in relation to each other. Pretend you’re setting up a stage or film set. Know the environment from every angle.<br /><br />Medium shots are often used to show action. These shots usually show full-figures in action. The extremes of an action — the action’s beginning or ending — are usually the most dynamic parts to show. Think of John Buscema’s diagram in How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way where he clearly shows that the wind-up and the follow-through are the most dynamic parts of a punch.<br /><br />Close-ups are often used to show reaction.<br /><br />-Now, you can — and often should — show action and reaction in the same panel. Instead artists will often show an isolated shot of character “A” shooting a gun in one panel and character “B” getting hit by the shot, isolated in a following panel. It is often better to show both characters involved with an action/reaction relating to each other in the same panel (“A” firing the gun and “B” getting hit by the bullet in the same panel.)<br /><br />The action/reaction issue is related to “condensed storytelling.” When faced with a lot of visual information to convey in a low number of pages, newer artists sometimes panic. Their solution is to break down all of the separate actions and reactions into a series of small panels. This approach has its place when used as a pacing device but should not be used in place of good visual storytelling design. Kirby and Ditko got across a ton of information in each panel while also being dynamic. They did not break down each bit if visual information or action into its own panel. They confronted storytelling problems head on and solved them. Study and learn from the maters!<br /><br />-Mix a variety of layout design styles including symmetrical, asymmetrical and balanced asymmetrically designed panels.**<br /><br />-Panel frame shape and size affects the viewer’s impression of panel content. ***<br /><br />-Keep the reader’s eyebath clear. Page and panel design should be in tune with the readers’ natural eye path inclinations.<br />*See the “Map Orientation in Visual Storytelling” on this blog posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 for more details.<br /><br /><a name="103195815371385578"></a>** See the “<a href="http://generaleclectic123.blogspot.com/2008/10/composition-layout-design-types-of.html">Composition, Layout & Design: Types of Balance</a>” on this blog posted on Wed., October 8, 2008 for more details.<br /><br />***See the “Frame Formats and Visual Storytelling” on this blog posted on Fri., Sept. 12, 2008 for more details.<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />That’s it - as always, I’m very interested in hearing your comments!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a name="8445951405312712598"></a>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-76173170068064691932009-05-24T11:59:00.000-07:002009-06-21T10:57:26.933-07:00How You – Yes YOU - Can Raise Tropical Fish in Your BackyardIn North America, this is a great time of year to breed some types of tropical fish in your backyard (or on a balcony for you apartment dwellers.).<br /><br />It’s fun and educational and – if you do things properly – you might even be able to make a couple of bucks in the process.<br /><br />You’ll need a large bucket, tub or similar water-tight container, a proper spot to place it, water, gravel and the right kind of livestock.<br /><br /><strong>Containers</strong><br />Anything that will hold at least 10 gallons of water and is non-toxic will do. Rubbermaid makes 10 gal. plastic utility <a href="http://www.rcpworksmarter.com/rcp/products/detail.jsp?rcpNum=2610">buckets</a> and larger utility tubs that work well.<br /><br />I use Rubbermaid’s model 4226 utility tub. It holds over 20 gallons.<br /><br /><strong>Placement</strong><br />You want the tub to get some filtered sunlight every day so that the plants will grow but not so much sun so that the water overheats. Placing the container under/next to a bush will filter the sun for part of the day. However, you may then have to deal with leaves falling into the tub.<br /><br />You can try placing the container near a fence that allows light to reach the tub early or late in the day, but shields it from direct light during the most intense periods.<br /><br />Standing water will attract insects, including mosquitoes. The fish I’ll recommend eat mosquito larvae. So, you’ll need to balance any concerns you have about mosquitoes and the live food source they provide the fish.<br /><br />At night, when mosquitoes are most active, I place a wooden frame with window screening stapled over the frame on top of the tub. This keeps out the mosquitoes and the leaves. It also prevents fish from leaping out of the container.* Depending on where you live, you may have animals that come around at night and try to go fishing in your container. Placing a brick or two on the edges of the screen frame at night should keep them out.<br /><br /><strong>Water<br /></strong>Most of the fish recommend below are fairly hardy and will tolerate a wide range of water conditions.<br /><br />From your local aquarium or pet store, you’ll want to get a floating thermometer, <a href="http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetrafish/catalog/productdetail.aspx?id=1276&cid=73">tap water conditioner</a> (neutralizes chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals) and a <a href="http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetrafish/catalog/productdetail.aspx?id=1276&cid=240">freshwater pH test kit</a>. While you’re there, get some food for your pisceans - high-quality flake food and some frozen brine shrimp. Keep the latter in your freezer and only defrost the amount needed when feeding the fish.<br /><br />Tap water should be fine to use as long as it is not particularly hard. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH">pH</a> should be neutral (7.0) or slightly acidic (6.6 to 6.9) If the tap water pH is low or high, the store should have liquid or powder products that will adjust the pH.<br /><br />Don’t fill the container to the top – leave about four inches between the top of the container and the water’s surface. This will reduce the number of “jumpers” leaving the container and will help reduce losses due to nocturnal predators (cats, raccoons, opossum, etc.). Remember to take this reduction in water volume in mind when measuring additives like water conditioners and pH adjusters.<br /><br />Though not necessary, you can also add <a href="http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetrafish/catalog/productdetail.aspx?id=1276&cid=76">Tetra’s Blackwater Extract</a>. Many tropical fish come from soft water areas that have a brownish tint to them - almost like a very weak tea. This color is primarily due to plant tannins dissolved in the water. The Blackwater Extract helps mimic that environment.* *<br /><br />Even though we are setting up a freshwater environment, we’ll want to add a bit of un-iodized salt to the water. This will replicate the low levels of salt that naturally occur in many natural freshwater ecosystems and will also help keep disease pathogens in check. Add one tablespoon of un-iodized salt for every five gallons of water in the container.<br /><br />Make sure you set up the container with the water and plants a week before you plan to add fish. This will allow for the water chemistry to stabilize. You should check the temperature of the water several times throughout each day to make sure the sun isn’t overheating the container. It’s best to keep the water below 83˚ F. If needed, move the container to a shadier area to keep the temperature in check.<br /><br /><strong>Gravel</strong><br />It’s possible to have no gravel in the container. This makes cleaning the container easier. However, I prefer to make the container’s environment as natural as possible. Most “natural” aquarium gravels will work. For the best plant growth, it’s best to use one that contains iron-rich <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laterite">laterite</a>.<br /><br />Unless you decide to use plants that require a deep substrate for their roots, you’ll only need a layer about 1” think on the bottom of the container.<br /><br /><strong>Plants</strong><br />You’ll want to get some floating plants with long roots that hang down. These plants will shade the water, helping keep the water from overheating during peak sun periods.<br /><br /><div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339547870079001474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqEYe8TuCfjdk9hAAkTzzrArMuKYDqcjaAddUo5KW4RlEyWw8WXPL6FmemjNnR2bsexL8yZrI3GsWm4dUo8If6_kOxlvDzSW5Nnk9sHrFMCcC62QehenSZMJXvKRnjnWjfA0civgAnhI/s400/WaterHy.jpg" border="0" /><strong>One good choice is </strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_hyacinth"><strong>water hyacinth</strong></a><strong>, a popular floating pond plant from South America. One plant will soon multiply into many and cover the surface of the container. You may be able to harvest some of them and sell them back to the aquarium/pond store.<br /></strong><br />The long roots provide a place for egg-laying fish to spawn and provide cover for the fry (baby fish). The roots also help support microscopic life that the fry feed on.<br /><br />Another good plant is <a href="http://www.cbsbettas.org/doc/articles/WaterSpriteandBetta3.htm">water sprite</a>. It can be planted in the substrate or left to float on the surface. When lest on the surface, the leaves become much broader and looks like a different species than the bottom-planted version.<br /><br />A small clump of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_moss">Java moss</a> on the bottom of the container will provide cover and a feeling of security for the fish when they are deeper in the container. </div><div><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339548210334557938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxMTgPk1g5GA1-TMvZBte3hB3fylmrLo0nM6KZ49dAvx_mvFVkB13PejCWnaocnIVNWDgLnM-qqafyKxIPzWFkVEM_H9MVKBwp5-vMImqa6t4DPF1lx55jO-71OyE3uQJtsBFH9Cp2Hk/s400/Tub.jpg" border="0" /><strong>The tub set up and ready for fish!</strong><br /><br /><strong>Fish</strong><br />Not all species of tropical fish are hardy enough to take the weather and temperature swings of outdoor life during the warm weather months. Probably the easiest fish to keep and breed are the livebearers including guppies, mollies and swordtails. </div><div><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339548479803095426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76R4ZgEuNvMyQxRCtnDKL5kqk0f1hDpfMB9O-815F6nhbod8-gglk9wAU-D6RZ-XzSMhgNcvoUZ0yX4KCrxg3KmYDsU2OrDxz_Q6s77rBEmYzkhagzMa4iCSndK2lmJk9gh-zHcaR68Q/s400/guppy1-main_Full.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Guppies come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. Males exhibit flamboyant coloring while females’ colors are muted.</strong><br /><br />However, some egg laying tropicals can also be bred and raised. Killifish (killies) get their name from the Dutch work “kil” which means “stream.” They are egg-laying tooth carps that are distributed around the globe. There are hundreds of species of killies - and many species have a number of subspecies or populations exhibiting great color variety.<br /><br />Some killies lay their eggs in aquatic plants where the eggs hatch after a few weeks. Others are called annual species. This is because they live in bodies of water that are often temporary, drying up for part of the year. When the rainy season begins, eggs from the previous generation that have been sealed in the moist mud are stimulated to hatch. The fry grow and mature quickly and the adults then begin laying eggs in the mud to prepare for the next dry spell. Sometimes the waters do not completely dry up so the adults live on. However, they are genetically predisposed to mature fast and to not live more than a few years.<br /><br />Killies are not often found for sale in aquarium stores. They are mostly bred and distributed by hobbyists through clubs. Fish and eggs are exchanged via mail.<br /><br />With guppies and killies, be sure you have at least as many females and males. The males will drive the females hard during mating and if the ratio of male to female is imbalanced, the females will become exhausted and may die. This is another reason to have a lot of plants in the container. The plants provide hiding places for the females so they can rest between bouts of spawning. Ideally, you should try to obtain trios consisting of one male to two females.<br /><br />One of my favorite killes is Fundulopanchax garderni - the “masaj” population in particular. Its coloring is fantastic.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339549468103119666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 187px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ny1EQnd5l461s8HbSJPR3KzXlN71fhgjQt1e41RMAQYWtJQotu7XMdRSbvgzcbtJvhGVFNAe95iuHcqzyD-Ms0FPBmyn42IxLxXMIOFQzJ46F67ogPnbMf3pwKBiDqhDKnPfsTsArpE/s400/Gardneri.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Fundulopanchax garderni from Africa.<br /></strong><br />F. gardneri is not a true annual but their eggs can withstand a “dry” (moist) period. In fact, egg hatch rates for eggs that are stored in a sealed bag on some damp peat moss are higher than for those that are left in water.<br /><br />Check out this <a href="http://www.geocities.com/safishkeeper/garkilli.html">article</a> for details on breeding and raising this fish.<br /><br />You can learn about killies in general online. One great resource is the <a href="http://www.aka.org/aka/modules/content/?id=2">American Killifish Association</a> (AKA). You can order killies to be sent to you my mail form the AKA’s <a href="http://www.aka.org/UserFiles/File/felpdfs/currAKAFEL.pdf">Fish & Egg listing</a>.<br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Limit your stocking to about 1 fish per gallon. So, if you’re using a 10 gal. bucket wit 8 gallons of water in it, do not add more than 8 fish. 6 would be even better and will allow a bit of room for the fry to grow.<br /><br />Do not add any scavenger fish such as catfish or loaches to the container. They will probably eat the eggs.<br /><br />Feed the fish twice a day. Most feedings should be frozen brine shrimp or blood worms. Don’t overfeed and pollute the water. At each feeding, the fish should be able to consume all of the food you give them within a few minutes.<br /><br />Soon the fish will associate your presence with food and will come swarming to the top when you arrive to feed, or just admire, them.<br /><br />If the plants are growing well, they will harbor small life forms that the fish will pick at between your feedings.<br /><br />It’s a lot easier seeing and appreciating the colors and antics of the fish in a clear-sided aquarium. Since the buckets and tubs don’t allow for that, you’ll still have a beautiful top down view of them. If the diameter of the container is big enough, you can always put on a snorkeling mask or goggles and dunk your face in to get a better view – make sure you don’t have any sunscreen, makeup, hair product, etc. on you when you do so that you don’t pollute the water.<br /><br />When fall approaches and the evenings bring the water temperature down to 70˚ F, it’s time to break down the container for the season. Odds are, you will have more fish than you began with and may be able to sell them to an aquarium store. The rarer and more desirable the species, the more valuable it will be to the store.<br /><br />You can also set up a traditional aquarium in your home and place some of the fish there to continue enjoying them all year long.<br /><br />If you try setting up one of these outdoor fish breeding containers, let me know how it works out for you.<br /><br />*I’m not sure why but some species of fish love to jump out of their container. Most killifish can find even the smallest opening in a cover and leap through it.<br /><br />** You can also make your own blackwater by soaking peat moss in clean water for about a week. However, you need to make sure that the peat is not from a gardening source (since chemicals may have been added to it) and that it’s clean. Some aquarium stores sell aquarium safe peat. </div>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-36033909037288967932009-05-16T12:02:00.000-07:002009-05-16T12:16:03.344-07:00Together Alone: The Maori Creation Myth<div align="left">In keeping with the spirit of the title of this blog, this time out we’ll go with something completely different …<br /><br />In the early ‘90s I read an article about the New Zealand Maori and their conflicts with land-seeking British colonists during the 1800s.*<br /><br />That article sparked my intense interest in the Maori and over the years I’ve acquired a significant library on New Zealand** history.<br /><br />The Maori are of Polynesian origin and their migration to New Zealand took them across much of the Pacific.***<br /><br />Most cultures have a creation myth – a story about how the world came to be. I found the Maori creation myth to be very touching. Here is an abbreviated/paraphrased version:<br /><br />In the beginning, mother earth and father sky were so close that there was no room for even light to exist. Between the dark embrace of their parents, numerous young gods had no room to grow.<br /><br />After eons of struggling, the god of the forest and his siblings used trees to wrench their parents apart, pushing father sky into an arch high above the earth.<br /><br />Light from the sun revealed the world and the young gods rejoiced, even as their parents longed to resume their embrace.<br /><br />The young gods covered the world with foliage, clouds and other barriers to keep their parents apart.<br /><br />The parting of earth and sky also released a host of evil spirits and soon conflict raged between the younger gods.<br /><br />The war spirit, Tu, fathered man and gave us weapons to slay animals for food.<br /><br />It didn't take long for men to learn to use the god's tools to slay each other.<br /><br />Mother earth and father sky parted forever so that their offspring would have room to grow – but they never stopped longing to embrace each other again.<br /><br />And, without their parents' guidance, many of mother earth and father sky’s children used their freedom to hurt each other. </div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336500127952026690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 137px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivHdUSQwbFfCtvAfxOOBDOW3phUQstDWeq7mF5rLyj0AJSgpfEPSnH9_HOFqe6LzCTW15C8QIore8PKR1_v0VVnUMzBJ9m3BHReXrlKZqHRwzNsxCV8zDJvNNC5H4nFN9QZXpHC-TtxvM/s400/MaoriWarrior.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><strong>A model of a Maori warrior from the late 1800s.</strong> </p><p>As chance would have it, my favorite band at the time I first read about the Maori was New Zealand’s Crowded House. The title track on their <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002TME/ref=s9_simx_gw_s1_p15_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1Z6GMWG5SMAVQ8THMZXZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846">fourth album</a> was “Together Alone,” a song about father sky longing to be reunited with mother earth.<br /><br />It is an ambitious production that features a Maori choir, Cook Island log drummers and a Salvation Army-type band. The song starts out very slow and simply and then builds to an amazing complex tapestry of unusual (to the western ear) melodies and rhythms.<br /><br />I really like the female Maori solo voice - the phrasing is so different from any western music.<br /><br />Here are the lyrics, including the translation of the Maori chorus:<br /><br />Together alone<br />Above and beneath<br />We were as close<br />as anyone can be<br /><br />Now you are gone<br />far away from me<br />As is once<br />will always be<br />together alone<br /><br />(Maori chorus)<br />anei ra maua (here we are together)<br />e piri tahi nei (in a very close embrace)<br />e noha tahi nei (being together)<br />ko maua anake (just us alone)<br /><br />kei runga a Rangi (Rangi the sky-father is above)<br />ko papa Kai raro (the earth mother is below)<br />e mau tonu nei (our love for one another)<br />kia mau tonu ra (is everlasting)<br /><br />Together alone<br />Shallow and deep<br />Holding our breath<br />Paying death no heed </p><p>I'm still your friend<br />when you are in need<br />As is once<br />will always be<br />earth and sky<br />moon and sea<br /><br />The song’s performers include the Maori (choir), the Cook Island representatives of the Maori Pacific migration (log drummers), early white settler influences (the Salvation Army band) and contemporary New Zealand elements (Crowded House) - all combined in a way that represents the cultural mix that comprises New Zealand today. Brilliant.<br /><br />You won’t see this type of musical creativity on American Idol.<br /><br />Watch the first third of this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoySd1j1qnE&feature=PlayList&p=906881EDF58CE4CA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=13">link</a> to see part of the making of this song on You Tube.<br /><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336501144633918498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 381px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJSFU5MBV4meR2Wd1krRse23dcUp4Gk1cyFPL24eaFUjvD6FPkQuroY9N3yjC1GcoV_5PUMxGYxzJgFpfcOUBXyQio4xgRl4DxHZyYpHpUVbeod5xjyFb9013rJRQYb6vKwxVVZ3iUJY/s400/YM+GN+Pg+Crop.jpg" border="0" /><strong>As a result of my interest in 1800s era Maori/New Zealand, I wrote a screenplay, “Yankee Maori”, and have adapted it for a large graphic novel project. The story is based on real people and events. The title character was an American who joined the British Army, was shipped out to New Zealand where he deserted and joined the Maori in their fight against the British and colonials. A fascinating historical figure who most Americans know nothing about. Here are a few panels from the graphic novel by the fabulous Enrique Alcatena.<br /></strong><br />*During that same time period, similar conflicts were occurring in North America as the US military and settlers expanded westward and confiscated the lands of the native Americans tribes.<br /><br />**The Maori name for the islands we call New Zealand is Aotearoa<br /><br />***Lego’s Bionicle line of toys and games used a lot of Maori and Polynesian names and language. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1627209.stm">Maori activists were incensed</a> that a toy company was using their language for commercial purposes and feared Lego was trying to legally secure the rights to those words. After initially contesting the maori claims, Lego eventually acknowledged its insensitive use of the words and made changes in the Bionicle line’s names.Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-7268089999518516712009-05-07T18:56:00.000-07:002009-05-07T19:02:08.666-07:00Guidelines for the Appraisal of Story Structure and Visual Storytelling<p>While digging through some old boxes, I ran across a document I helped draft as part of the Marvel Comics editorial training program.<br /><br />The title is a mouthful: “Basic Guidelines for Editorial Appraisal of Story Structure and Visual Storytelling”<br /><br />The document was probably drafted in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s. You can see the influence of <a href="http://www.mckeestory.com/">Robert McKee</a>’s story structure seminars in this document.<br /><br />The transcribed document is posted below. I’d enjoy getting your reactions to it. Do you think it was/is a good set of guidelines? Is it too concrete or creatively inhibiting? Is it missing critical information? Has time made parts of it more or less important/relevant than when it was drafted?<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />“Basic Guidelines for Editorial Appraisal of Story Structure and Visual Storytelling”<br /><br />Many writers and artists understand classic story structure and visual storytelling on an intuitive level. As an editor, you need to be able to intellectualize and put into words the various concepts of story structure and visual storytelling so that you can effectively communicate with your writers and artists. This outline is an attempt to boil down some of the basic concepts to help you do so.<br /><br />FICTION STORY STRUCTURE<br />The vast majority of stories we publish incorporate (or should incorporate!) classic story structure. There are several other approaches to structuring fiction. Both the minimalist and anti-structure approaches can and should be used on occasion. It should be a conscious decision by the writer and the editor when any approach other than classic structure is used.<br /><br />A writer should be able to understand and successfully create compelling classically structured stories before he/she attempts to use the minimalistic or anti-structure approaches. Picasso successfully painted and sculpted in abstract forms because he had such a firm grounding in realistic (representational) art. He knew what he was abstracting from. So, a writer should have a solid grounding in classic story structure before he/she tackles the minimalist or anti-structure approaches.<br /><br />The majority of prose fiction, TV and film scripts follow classic structure. Some tales will incorporate elements from two or all three types of story structure.<br /><br />There are no real RULES…only PRINCIPLES. The conventions of any structure system can be successfully broken if the underlying principles of the system are understood and accommodated.<br /><br />Some people, however, get so caught up in what they see as “rules” that their work lacks life or innovation.<br /><br />To combat this, encourage your writers to do the first draft of their story using an intuitive or gut-level approach. They should then go back and see where the story matches and diverges from the principles of classic story structure. Where there are variances, the writer needs to honestly ask themselves if altering the story so it’s in line with the principles will improve the story or make it worse. In the majority of cases, the story will benefit from observing classic structure principles. Occasionally, diverging from the principles, or modifying them, will result in a successful story told in a unique way.<br /><br />CLASSIC STORY STRUCTURE<br />-All story elements are introduced early<br />-Story elements remain consistent<br />-There is a “closed” (or resolved) ending<br />-The protagonist is active and directly affects the resolution<br />-External conflict is emphasized<br />-There is a strong causality chain of events<br />-Time is continuous<br />-External and emotional conflicts are resolved.<br /><br />An example of classic story structure is film is Casablanca.<br /><br />MINIMALISTIC STORY STRUCTURE<br />-Has an open ending<br />-Some elements are not resolved<br />-Emphasis on internal conflict<br />-Protagonists are sometimes passive (“a leaf in the wind”)<br /><br />Examples of minimalism story structure in films include The Big Chill, Breakfast Club and Fame<br /><br />ANTI-STRUCTURE<br />-Pseudo documentary style often used<br />-Time can be fragmented<br />-There is more coincidence than causality<br />-Reality is inconsistent<br /><br />Examples of anti-structure films include After Hours, Monty Python’s Holy Grail, This Is Spinal Tap.<br /><br />CLASSIC STORY STRUCTURE IN COMICS<br />For comics that are part of a series, clearly re-establishing the long term and short term status quos is essential for a successful comic. A major reason Marvel’s comics outsell our competitors’ titles is that we usually don’t assume the reader knows what the Marvel Universe (MU) is and what has been occurring in our cosmic playground. The same concept holds for titles that take place in “universes” outside of the MU – don’t assume your readers have read every issue of the title or have retained encyclopedic knowledge of the title’s world/universe.<br /><br />By giving readers just enough of the relevant back story and status quo info each issue, new readers are not left baffled (and alienated). By giving a new readers a good “hand hold”, we stand a much better chance of hooking them and turning them into regular readers. It is vital to grow, or at least maintain, a title’s readership. Most comic titles fight a battle of attrition as readers drift away for various reasons. Unless new readers are made to feel “welcome” that battle of attrition will end with the title’s cancelation.<br /><br />This does not mean you want your characters or narrator to be spewing lots of exposition. Getting the basic long/short-term status quo info into each issue should be looked at as an opportunity to make that issue’s story more relevant.<br /><br />Instead of revealing each bit of establishing info in drips and drabs, it’s possible for the same scene to—<br />-Give long and short-term status info<br />-Establish characters’ personalities and powers (and limits of those powers)<br />-Set up that issues primary or secondary conflict.<br /><br />Look for ways to work the establishing info into the story in relevant ways so that the info is not expressed as exposition. This is easier said than done, especially if you have to keep coming up with new twists on how to accomplish this feat month after month.<br /><br />For examples on how to do this, look at almost any early issue of Louise Simon’s work on Power Pack. An unusual way to recap an established character’s origin can be seen in Punisher War Journal #1.<br /><br />Learn from the masters. There are issues of Lee/Kirby comics from the ‘60s where you learn the names, personalities, powers (and some of the limits to the powers), conflicts –all on the splash page! That splash can also set up that issue’s main action. The dialogue and art styles may appear dated now but the craft concepts on display are timeless.<br /><br />Characters should be introduced early and in clear ways that show their personalities and powers in active ways. Comics are a visual storytelling medium –never tell what can be shown.<br /><br />By establishing the characters’ abilities and limitations early in an issue, writers prevent un-established powers or abilities from seemingly appearing from out of the blue during a climatic battle. At the climax, it should be the winning character’s knowledge, resolve, skill, new technique using an established power, etc. that win the day – not some power/ability that was not previously established in that issue. So, Dr. Doom can’t suddenly use telekinesis in a fight unless it was established earlier n that issue that he’d gained that ability.<br /><br />All stories/issues should have a strong central conflict and theme that all of the other story elements tie into and reinforce. If possible, even sub-plots should tie into an issue’s conflict and theme. There should be no gratuitous plot elements.<br /><br />The conflict will often (though not always) involve at least one major character making a conscious and active choice between two or more difficult choices. We reveal a lot about someone’s basic character when we put that person into a crucible, testing their motivations and beliefs in severe situations. Shooter used to refer to this as a “can’t/must” situation: due to ethical, financial, time and/or physical restraints, the character can’t do something that the situation compels him/her to do.<br /><br />We should see what tips the character’s conflict decision in a particular direction. Whatever it is that does tip the decision scales needs to have been set-up previously in the story.<br /><br />The classic story structure elements below do not always have to be established in the order presented. If, for the sake of story impact, it’s better to switch 1 & 2, go ahead. Clarity of the storytelling should be the key point for all story decisions.<br /><br />1. Establish long-term status quo: Character origin recap is often taken care of in the blurb at the top of the splash page. Characters names, powers, limitations, ongoing motivations, etc. should be re-established. Only long-term status quo info that is relevant to a particular issue’s story should be established.<br /><br />2. Establish short-term status quo: This is anything that varies form the normal long-term status quo.<br /><br />3. Set up the conflict(s) — internal and external<br /><br />4. Show conflict decision (what tips the scales of the conflict decision between difficult choices?)<br /><br />5. Show ramification of the conflict decision and the new short-term status quo.<br /><br />The protagonist(s) should have to deal with an escalating series of “roadblocks” or reversals as the story progresses.<br /><br />Primary character(s) should have conscious and unconscious motivations. These different levels of motivations are often at odds with each other and cause the character grief. A character may consciously desire to find love but, due to their unconscious desire for self-punishment, instead finds only hate. Taking that a step further, the character can lapse into self-hate, the extreme opposite of what their conscious desire to fin dlove. This is what McKee refers to as the “negation of the negation.”<br /><br />The character’s internal (both conscious and unconscious) motivation conflicts should spark or feed into the external/physical conflicts.<br /><br />The conflict decision that the character makes and the ramifications of that decision (along with the new short-term status quo) compose the remainder of the story.<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />The next section of the document, VISUAL STORYTELLING IN COMICS, will appear in a future posting.<br /><br />I look forward to your comments on the above guidelines!</p>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-75659131425122527472009-03-30T16:38:00.000-07:002009-03-30T17:15:46.481-07:00Marvelous Tales – Joanne, Get Back to Work!<div><div>The copy below is taken (and revised a bit) from the Friends of Ol’ Marvel Facebook ”<a href="http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=63353950184#topic_top">What Made “the Old” Marvel Fun</a>” discussion board to explain this set of photos.<br /><br />From ’87-’88, Joanne Spaldo was my Assistant Editor at Marvel. She had at LEAST three male assistant editors who were smitten with her and who were constantly vying for her attention. </div><br /><div>They would rotate through my office throughout day, distracting Joanne from her editorial duties for extended periods. On more than one occasion I’d say “Joanne, let’s get back to work now.” That was usually enough of a hint for the amorous male assistant of the moment to exit for a while. </div><br /><div>If that didn’t work, I’d ask the assistant if, since they had so much time on their hands, perhaps they could help with some of my office’s work. However, not long after one of the male assistants would leave, another of the ranks of the smitten would pop in. </div><br /><div>When I returned from a business trip, I found that every surface in my office had been covered with Xeroxes of my face with “Joanne, get back to work.” written on them. They were even in the light fixtures! It was impossible to get any work done with the office totally covered, so a lot of them came down later that day.Various staffers had further customized some of the Xeroxes. I picked the best of those and taped them up on the glass wall. I found most of the photos I had of the office and have posted them here. There is another one I remember that I have not yet located.<br /><br />I’m not sure who took these shots so I can’t credit them. If you were the photographer, please let me know.<br /><br />This was the creative and fun atmosphere that the Marvel's creative/editorial/production crew lived in and perpetuated for many years.<br /><br />Marvel had a culture that fostered creativity, camaraderie, harmless (mostly!) pranks and a love of the workplace that many companies could benefit from.<br /><br />I count myself lucky to have been a part of it and hope those of you who were not so lucky will get an idea of what it was like from posts on this blog.<br /><br />Coincidentally (?), this was also an extremely productive and profitable period for the company. </div><div> </div><div>You can read about more Marvel shenanigans on Facebook's Friends of Ol’ Marvel ”<a href="http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=63353950184#topic_top">What Made “the Old” Marvel Fun</a>” discussion board.</div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133033708303394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 246px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yAcVO9_2TG2gLEE3e0c_-5o8z57rJXw4vYJrlDqyV5vqlyZfkPZXW0e-p8IVMhkeVKo3-IuU7PzLcOXnu71ksjEcOo0aXPHwS6lkb0mnamwV11zZHNSRorLW6hFiJ5_-rWCKIm4uKGg/s400/Back2Work001.jpg" border="0" /><strong>The sight that greeted me as I arrived early that day, before anyone else had arrived. </strong></div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133477646361874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 313px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 226px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFsE1MP8p0RhKeOQ5bjaoD-bIG2LMQokmsAzN23RReIojn3yRgMR1xSIzEJeRo_zJSoNyj71sBbLzzSAXPdvdmgx958dDo85pvVsPPs7RduAYZIq9pJiPnCVnCSEXN7wUGHSpkFXQcSvg/s400/Back2Work002.jpg" border="0" /><strong>The portrait that was Xeroxed a gazillion times. Art by Brent Anderson (from Strikeforce: Morituri?). Someone else added the moustache. Anyone recognize the handwriting, hmm? </strong></div><strong><div> </div><p></strong></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319133767434786066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 268px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqSFN-Fis9AlTP7BTi4cQhoazOBkDRIb3b7lA55yofMwh9Slil7wDZlMiRsvbhZdcyIsJvSp2HkVCxSMZODpk0RyTua6xjbYKjt-3LuDci_jl4e2fnsqb946RapgsTepd88hmDaCO8ws/s400/Back2Work003.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Windows, bookcases – almost everything was covered. Even my model pterodactyl has one hanging from it. Only the fish tanks were spared.<br /></strong><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319134110117288210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYMnaKeh123el8eOIQBdOIsQTTqcD8BqHS2NNwG2cUP2ePjIdUb9H6Si37jkQUrjb96UuOin6r9vGsvu1cB3WTA2DRVwZERF5NRqk1aLZ2sjZJiXgMttJJIYmg4A_NqJzCVy09zMmfWg/s400/Back2Work004.jpg" border="0" /><strong>I believe that even the front of the flat files had been covered but, by the time this shot was taken, we had to get some work done so the Xeroxes taped to the drawers had come down. </strong></p><br /><p><strong></strong></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319134324670704850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 271px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-XexjMSBzE33IpDxca2kQcy7WRoD8bZ9Q1p8vNGEFPfh5d6eUEdwjsjqA74n4_VW5YzSTGHN0iC5fccpPXpJEdN-rMHxod4KcUHKrVZIc4Kq2Gl_sj7uQuZKhRisgcFSOCkUKiuXZIT0/s400/Back2Work005.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Even the ceiling light fixtures were covered – from the inside! That took some doing. </strong>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-69885409493852555212009-02-26T16:44:00.000-08:002009-02-26T16:59:55.193-08:00Drawing What You HateThe last post outlined a drawing exercise designed to help would-be comic book artists expand their drawing knowledge.<br /><br />This entry will outline another exercise that can help artists expand their knowledge and grow creatively.<br /><br />A good comic book artist has to be able to convincingly draw a wider variety of subjects that most other representational artists. Other types of representational visual artists often specialize in certain subjects. For example, a commercial artist might specialize in motor vehicles or architectural renderings or celebrity caricatures… the list is nearly endless. Many fine artists also stick to a tight subject grouping.<br /><br />When a comic artist is handed a plot or a script, it’s his/her job to render all of the subjects the writer calls for with equal credibility. If the writer calls for a shot of a baby in a crib and the artist can’t draw small children convincingly, the awkward results will look out of place compared to the art in the rest of the story. The unconvincing child will stick out like a sore thumb. (Or, the artist may try and “cheat” and use a silhouette, or only show the baby in a long shot.)<br /><br />This not only puts the artist in a bad light, it pulls the reader out of the story, disrupting the reader’s suspension of disbelief. That’s the equivalent of a Cardinal sin for a sequential visual storyteller.<br /><br />Some artists love a challenge and will, on heir own, aggressively tackle learning how to draw new subjects. Many artists, however, if left to their own devices, will usually stick to those subjects they already know fairly well and will avoid the discomfort of learning how to draw subjects they don’t have to.<br /><br />Many artists who try to break into the comic book business draw the same types of subjects repeatedly while avoiding other subjects like the plague. The subjects in these two categories vary from artist to artist.<br /><br />Those longing to work in super hero comics often generate art samples containing dynamic shots of figures flying and slugging it out. Even though many super hero stories feature city scenes and characters in civilian identities, samples by would-be comics artists often lack shots of civilians wearing street clothes with convincing drapery, or realistic-looking cars. Animals comprise another category often absent in comic book artist samples. Many samples also show a lack of basic perspective knowledge.<br /><br />Artists steer clear of some subjects consciously – avoiding what they don’t enjoy drawing, or what they don’t yet know how to draw convincingly. Artists also unconsciously avoid some subjects.<br /><br />Versatility and depth of drawing knowledge is one of the major considerations an editor has when deciding which artist to hire for a job. If all other considerations* are equal, the artist who can draw more subjects at a high level will have a distinct advantage over the competition.<br /><br />For an artist to expand the number of subjects that he/she can draw well, they need to concentrate on the subjects they avoid both consciously and unconsciously.<br /><br />If you are an artist and want to expand your drawing knowledge and increase your “subject quiver”, make a list of all of the subjects you KNOW you’ve been avoiding. Be brutally honest. If you hate drawing dog, add it to the list. If you avoid complex perspective shots, put it on the list. Can’t stand the thought of drawing toddlers, put them on the list.<br /><br />Next, to try and identify the subjects you don’t realize that you need to learn how to draw, list the various subjects that appear in a number of comics over the course of many months. Be attentive so you don’t again miss the items that have escaped your notice before.<br /><br />For example, the tires on a car have a number of multi-level planes and curves that need to be understood in order to be drawn properly, especially when seen at an angle. Up to now you may have unconsciously avoided this by silhouetting all of the tires you drew, or by awkwardly cropping your vehicles.<br /><br />Do your buildings really look like businesses or residences? Do they exist in convincing perspective? Does the way they are rendered reflect the materials they are made from? A old building made from masonry should not have the same feel or texture as a steel and glass structure.<br /><br />Or, when a script calls for an office scene, you may fall back on the same simple ciphers for a desk and chair that you’ve been using for years. It may be time to actually look at how different desks and chairs are designed. If you are drawing a story taking place in the 2009, you should not be drawing the same desk and chair that you’d draw in a story set in the 1959.<br /><br />After compiling the list, you should relentlessly tackle each item on the list. Try to make significant progress on at least a few subjects per week.<br /><br />If you have difficulty conquering a tough subject, refer to the drawing exercises in Betty Edwards’ “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.”<br /><br />You can also first break the subject down into its most simple shapes and build it up from there. Under some lighting conditions, if you squint at the subject you’re drawing, the subject will appear to be more high contrast. (Running photo reference though a copy machine or scanner with high contrast settings will save you the eye strain!) You can then use a large pen or brush to block out the high contrast dark areas to get a feel for the subject. Then you can attack the subject again with a more detailed rendering approach.<br /><br />Some people like to trace photo reference to learn how to draw new subjects. Tracing can be an effective learning exercise IF the artist concentrates on learning the structure of the subject as you trace. Be careful not use tracing photo reference as a crutch. There are artists who become slaves to photo reference. If they can’t find the right shot to trace, they either turn out an unconvincing drawing, or they avoid the subject and hurt the storytelling.<br /><br />If you truly learn how a subject is structured by tracing it, you’ll be able to draw the subject convincingly from a variety of angles without having to continue to trace it.<br /><br />Use whatever method that works for you.<br /><br />Often, after “mastering” a subject that he/she used to avoid, an artist will experience a great feeling of accomplishment.<br /><br />*These can include visual storytelling technique, dynamic figure drawing, use of light and shadow, rendering style…Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-76682420057944329092009-01-24T07:13:00.000-08:002009-01-24T07:22:31.501-08:00Why Copying Someone Else’s Drawing Style is a 2-Edged SwordMany of the art samples I received when I was a comic book editor had the same problem. The would-be comics artists had learned to draw by looking at other comic book artists. There are certainly a lot of things you can learn by looking at the work of others, and even emulating another artist’s approach to drawing.<br /><br />However, very often, when you copy the work of another artist, you are aping their surface rendering “style”. That surface rendering style is, to some degree, composed of the drawing tricks, shortcuts or techniques an artist uses to cover up weaknesses in their drawing knowledge. (Is all that decorative line work really defining how the drapery works or is it a surface stylistic flair that helps disguise the fact that the artist doesn’t really know where the tension points are on the drapery or how the anatomy under the drapery affects the folds?)<br /><br />As a general rule, the best you can be when copying another artist is a second-rate version of the artist being copied. How many Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Mike Mignola or Jim Lee clones have matched the quality of work produced by their idols? An artist who abandons copying the surface style of another artist in order to forge their own creative path has a chance of equaling or surpassing their idols.<br /><br />For example, when <a href="http://www.billsienkiewiczart.com/">Bill Sienkiewicz</a> started his comics career, to a large extent he was a Neal Adams emulator. When Bill began stretching himself creatively, he forged a great new and exciting style that was unique. Bill’s new stylistic approach was based on his expanding drawing knowledge.<br /><br />To get would-be comics artists to expand their drawing knowledge and stop copying the surface styles of other artists, I recommended some drawing exercises, starting with those in Betty Edwards’ “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”. Edwards’ exercises are designed to expand the way artists observe and draw, opening up their creativity. (See the link on the right for more info on this book.)<br /><br />There were a number of additional drawing exercises I used to recommend for artists trying to get into comics. Here’s one of the best:<br />At least a few times a week (daily is better), pick a different subject (person, landscape, household object – whatever) and draw that subject in at least five totally different styles and/or media. The styles might include—<br />-Dry brush<br />-<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Blind%20contour%20drawing">Blind contour drawing</a> (aka leading edge contour drawing)<br />-Charcoal or conté<br />-Paint (water color, acrylic, oil)<br />-Stipple<br />-Pen and ink.<br />-High contrast<br />-Sculpture (clay or similar malleable medium) <br /><br />Sculpting is a key part of this exercise. Artists sometimes get comfortable drawing a subject from a certain angle and under specific lighting conditions. By sculpting a human figure, artists can learn—<br />-Where their drawing knowledge is weak and needs beefing up. (Artists can’t cover up their drawing knowledge as easily on a 3D sculpture as they can with rendering styles on a drawing.<br /><br />-How the figure looks from all angles, including those angles the artist consciously or unconsciously avoids when drawing. This expands the number of angles the artist will feel comfortable drawing the figure from in the future.<br /><br />-Upgrade the ciphers for “objective reality” that artists program their brains with so they can draw “out of their heads” (without reference) more convincingly.<br /><br />-How the subject looks under a variety of lighting conditions.<br /><br />As always, comments are welcome!Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-47146275012946238962009-01-10T17:34:00.000-08:002009-01-10T19:44:35.825-08:00Fostering CreativityCreativity has long fascinated me.<br /><br />What exactly is it? Are there different types? Can it be taught or fostered?<br /><br />Finding a definition of creativity that everyone agrees on seems impossible. It is generally agreed that creativity often involves the combining of new and/or established ideas in new, innovative ways.<br /><br />Whether or not a creative innovation is good or bad depends on whether the new idea is effective in some way—does it make something easier, safer, faster or more aesthetically compelling?<br /><br />Many people associate creativity almost exclusively with the arts. However, creativity is not restricted to any subject, discipline or activity. It is very possible to be quite creative and innovative while doing things that many of us view as mundane – cleaning house, mowing the lawn and so on. Creativity is a way of operating.<br /><br />Some years back, I had the pleasure of attending <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cleese">John Cleese</a>’s lecture, “Creativity in Management”. This sparked my interest in how creativity might be taught or fostered. I looked for ways to advance my own creative development and for techniques to aid in the training of the comic book artists I was working with.<br /><br />Cleese’s lecture was incorporated into a series of videos that his business training company, Video Arts, produced. There are three Cleese videos specifically related to creativity:<br /><ul><li>Creativity in Management </li><li>The Importance of Mistakes </li><li>The Hidden Mind</li></ul><p>You have to pay to see the first two tiles but The Hidden Mind can be viewed <a href="mms://wm.interoute.com/%7b04b893a6-ffe1-42b7-b4eb-df11d84003f0%7d/%7b89ee175d-8c03-4382-bea0-2d5540204582%7d/JC5%20FULL%20HIGH_1000001843_NoDRM.WMV">online</a>. </p><p>In recent years, I’ve gotten involved with public education. This has renewed my interested in finding ways to foster creativity, especially in the classroom environment.<br /><br />Creative thinking is vital to student success in all subject areas. To prepare students for future success in and beyond the classroom, they need to have techniques that foster creative innovation.<br /><br />As educator, author and creativity expert <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Robinson_(British_author)">Ken Robinson</a> points out, we don’t even know what the world will be like in 5 years yet our schools are now teaching kids who will be expected to work productively for forty or more years from now. The education we give kids today can’t possibly anticipate the information and skills they will need years down the road. However, if they have the tools to be creative and to innovate, they will have a much better chance of succeeding no matter how the world changes.<br /><br />Here is a link to a great video presentation, “<a href="http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html">Do Schools Kill Creativity</a>” that Robinson gave at a recent TED conference.<br /><br />Other Robinson <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnGRIOECBt4">videos</a> can be seen on YouTube. I also recommend his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Out-Our-Minds-Learning-Creative/dp/1841121258/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231631709&sr=1-1">Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative.</a><br /><br />Based on the research I’ve done so far, here are some things that can be said about the slippery subject of creativity:</p><ul><li>Creativity is not a talent; it is a way of operating and it can be taught. </li><li>It is not related to IQ (providing you have a minimum level of IQ). </li><li>To get into a creative mood, creative people often get into a “playful mood” to explore ideas for enjoyment. </li><li>The best combination of environment and attitude that is needed to foster creative thinking involves having a quiet space and enough time to get into the proper frame of mind. However, these conditions are not practical to use in a classroom environment.</li><li>There are a variety of brainstorming techniques for individuals and for groups that are useful in the classroom. </li><li>For creative thinking/brainstorming, it’s vital to create a climate where people are not identified with/tied to/judged by the ideas they throw out off the top of their heads. They have to feel free to contribute without fear of being judged negatively. You never know what may turn out to be a constructive contribution. Seemingly ridiculous thoughts may spark a chain reaction that leads to a creative solution. </li><li>Creativity and humor are linked. The way seemingly dissimilar ideas come together when brainstorming is similar to the way a punch line works in a joke. The humor in a punch line is often derived by shifting to a different frame of reference when coming to the end of a train of connected thoughts or events in a joke. You laugh at the movement of contact/juxtaposition between two frames of reference. </li><li>Mistakes are a vital part of the learning process. There is a British proverb: The man who does not make mistakes is unlikely to make anything.</li></ul><p>Ideally, I’d like to discover a group of tools/techniques that enable students in an often boisterous classroom environment to be more creative and innovate across a wide range of subjects and endeavors. I’d also like to be able to measure the effects of adding creativity fostering techniques to various subjects. (That will be no easy feat!)<br /><br />As I get a chance to do more research on creativity, I‘ll post what I learn here. </p>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-57500498542709886832009-01-04T13:23:00.000-08:002009-01-04T13:24:48.073-08:00Comics by Fans for FansThe recent entries on the recruitment and development of comic book editors and creators generated a fair amount of interest.<br /><br />So, for now, I’ll table the blog entry on the merits of breeding African egg-laying tooth carps in large outdoor tubs in favor of another entry on comics editors and creators. (For those who think I’m kidding about an entry on breeding tropical fish in tubs, just wait until warmer weather returns!)<br /><br />Since the late ‘60s, many of the writers and editors, and virtually all of the artists, entering the comics field grew up as comics fans.<br /><br />By the late ‘70s it was unusual for people who had not grown up as comics fans to enter the editorial or creative ranks of the comics business.<br /><br />Fans entering the business already had a great appreciation for the power of the comics format to tell compelling and exciting stories. These fans usually had at least a basic knowledge of the creative, editorial, production and manufacturing, marketing and distribution processes involved in publishing comics.<br /><br />However, some of these fans-turned-pros (FTPs) had attitudes that needed modifying before they could become consistently successful contributors to the field and to their company’s corporate culture.<br /><br /><strong>Ha! You Didn’t Know Wolverine is also Logan, Weapon X, James Howlett and…<br /></strong>Some FTPs assumed that their readers were as steeped as they were in years of character/story/universe continuity.<br /><br />For years, many comics were crafted so that the issue-relevant portions of a title’s long and short-term status quo was re-capped—integrated into the story of each issue. This information included character motivation, abilities/weaknesses and goals. (A very short blurb at the top of the splash page was often used to re-cap the character’s origin.) There were a couple of excellent reasons for this recapping.<br /><br />For younger readers, the time between monthly issues seemed like an eternity.* Many readers also read a variety of comics titles. So, giving readers a bit of a re-cap “on the run” (within the course of the story) was standard operating procedure.<br /><br />Perhaps an even bigger reason to give readers an “on the run” snapshot of the status quo was to attract and retain new readers. An ongoing comic title is engaged in a battle of attrition for readers. For various reasons, individual readers will stop buying a title, or stop buying comics altogether.** Unless an equal or greater numbers of new readers replace those who drift away from a comics title, that title will eventually end in cancellation.<br /><br />When new readers try to latch onto an established series, it is up to the creators and editor to hook them. Every issue of a comic series is going to be someone’s first issue of that title. If a reader who is new to an established series is confused due to a lack of status quo information, that reader will probably not buy that series again. Some FTPs assumed that new readers would be intrigued by the mystery of what the heck was going on in a established title and would therefore keep coming back to learn more. For every masochistic reader that this approach worked on, there were probably dozens who gave up and tried something else—or gave up on comics.<br /><br />Balancing the need to attract and hook new readers while not overloading regular readers with redundant information is a difficult craft to master. If done properly, within the flow of the story, establishing basic status quo info feels effortless and natural to the reader.***<br /><br />Today, some comics don’t bother to establish the names of the characters early on in each issue—if at all. The creators and/or editor seem to assume that all of the readers should know the names before they pick up the book.<br /><br />These days, the craft of re-establishing long and short-term status quo info “on the run” within each issue of a series seems to have fallen out of favor.<br /><br />Part of the reason may be that many writers and editors were not trained in the craft of “on the run” re-capping. If there is going to be a re-cap at all, it’s much easier to use a text blurb re-cap at the start of the book than to try and slip in into the flow of the story. Also, since many comics today are meant to be collected into trade paperbacks, some creators and editors feel re-capping “on the run” every 22 pages will seem redundant to the collection’s readers. It’s easier to edit out the prose status quo re-caps for the collection than to alter “on the run” re-caps. Ideally, since only the info that is needed for a particular issue needs to be re-established, the “on the run” re-caps should be done in a way that work for both individual issues and as part of a collection.<br /><br />Posting print comics online also throws a new wrinkle into this matter, especially if a 22 page issue is broken up into smaller chapters online.<br /><br /><strong>Are You Your Audience?<br /></strong>Some FTPs assumed that they were creating comics for themselves and their friends – that they <em>were</em> their target audience. Due to the magic of self-fulfilling prophesies, this is truer today than it was through most of the ‘80s.<br /><br />Until the late ‘80s, more comics were sold on the newsstand to “casual readers”. The dedicated fans who bought their comics in specialty stores took over after that.**** Sales in general were considerably higher then and the comics audience had a lot of casual readers who occasionally missed an issue of a title they liked.<br /><br />The readership covered a wider range of age groups than today. The tastes of those readers who did become pros naturally changed as they aged. Some of the aesthetics and editorial approach of the comics they grew up became un-cool for them to use when producing their own comics. So they produced comics aimed at their own ever-advancing age group of fellow fans while increasingly ignoring the younger and more casual audience. This, along with distribution changes and competition for the audience from other media, lowered the number of younger and casual readers getting into comics.<br /><br /><strong>Frustrated Creators Turned Editors<br /></strong>Some people who came on board the editorial department were frustrated comics creators. They could not get hired as writers but they were determined to get into comics. Being an editor was the next best thing for them. Some became very good editors.<br /><br />Unfortunately, in some cases, instead of helping hone the work of their writers, an editor would exercise their frustrated creative muscles by force-feeding plots, dialogue or detrimental changes to their creative team.<br /><br /><strong>The Hollywood Syndrome<br /></strong>As the direct market grew and the ability of star talent to sell books increased, some FTP editors became “star f@%&!#s.” Early on in his career, I published a book by Michael Allred at Marvel’s Epic imprint. About the time I started working with Allred, I was attending a convention in Dallas with a number of Marvel staffers and creators. The Marvel-associated creators in attendance ranged from star vets to newbies. Allred was in attendance and so the Marvel crew asked him along when we’d go to dinner after the convention closed. A FTP editor from another publisher asked us why we were wasting our time feeding and entertaining such a “non-A-list” talent as Allred. That comment confirmed my less than stellar opinion of this particular editor’s priorities and sensibilities. It’s also no surprise that this editor was not known for finding and developing new talent.<br /><br /><strong>Writer/Artist Editors<br /></strong>As Bill Rienhold pointed out in his comments on the last entry, a number of writer/artists did well as editors at Marvel. These included Archie Goodwin, Al Milgrom, Mark Gruenwald, Bob Budiansky, Larry Hama. There were others who were known more as writer/editors but who had drawing skills they didn’t demonstrate to the public very often (Mike Carlin, Joey Cavalieri...)<br /><br />There were also great Writer/Editors including Denny O’Neil and Ralph Macchio.<br /><br />However, one of the best editors at Marvel was Louise “Weezie” Simonson (known as Weezie Jones before she married Walter Simonson). She established herself as a great writer long after she’d established herself as a top editor at Warren and then Marvel. A fair amount of the credit for the rise of the X-Men franchise can be given to Weezie for her calm guiding hand and ability to—<br />-Recognize quality talent<br />-Get the best work out of her teams<br />-Nix bad ideas or work without killing the enthusiasm of her creators. (“The Weezie Effect” as Ralph Macchio referred to it.)<br />-Get contesting creators to play nice with each other.<br /><br />That’s it for this outing. As always, comments are very welcome!<br /><br />*I’ve always wondered what was behind the seemingly-universal feeling that the sense of time speeds up as we age. A history professor I know suggested that since 5 years to a 10-year-old is 50% of the child’s lifetime, those 5 years seem much longer than they do to a 50-year-old because 5 years is only 10% of the 50-year-old’s lifetime.<br /><br />** Competition for comics readers’ attention was always an issue but is even more intense today due to the universal popularity of electronic gaming. Comics readers sometimes lose interest in a title or in comics in general as they get involved with other media (especially electronic) or get involved with new social, academic or athletic activities.<br /><br />*** Shortly after Tom DeFalco took over as Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief, he attended a convention where the writer and penciller of a Marvel title complained to him that their editor required that, each issue, they re-establish annoying information like names, powers, motivations and story status quo. When Tom returned to the Marvel offices, he took that editor aside and said, “I didn’t realize how good of an editor you were until these guys complained about you.”<br /><br />**** This was due to the explosion in the comic book specialty store “direct market” and the decline of the newsstand market. Many newsstand retailers decided that they didn’t want to be bothered racking and returning relatively low-cost and low profit margin comics. Comics became too labor and time intensive to make it worthwhile for the newsstands to rack them.Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-74846904649118063092008-12-14T16:01:00.000-08:002008-12-19T09:54:09.915-08:00Marvelous Tales: Making Comic Book EditorsThe post “Diamonds Always Shine or Reviewing Art Submissions by the Ton” generated some interesting responses.<br /><br />I’d like to expand a bit on the reply I made to Roy Richardson’s comment. Roy teaches comic art at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta. He wanted me to expand on how editors at Marvel were hired and why a few of them seemed ill-suited for the job.<br /><br />Keep in mind that my comments generally refer to the period I was on staff at Marvel (1983 – 1996). The comics market grew substantially during most of that period. The editorial staff expanded accordingly as Marvel increased the number of publications it produced.<br /><br />During that time, there was also a fair amount of staff turnover. So, the total number of people who were part of the Marvel editorial staff during that period was quite high – many dozens.<br /><br />Also keep in mind that, despite the problems outlined below, the majority of those who served on Marvel’s editorial staff during my time there were, for the most part, good people doing a good job. There were only a relative few I’d classify as being highly unprofessional. Those relative few either didn’t possess the necessary aptitude or skills or had substantial negative attitude and/or other personality issues.<br /><br />From the early 80’s on, most of Marvel’s editors were promoted up through the ranks of the editorial department. *<br /><br />Some assistant editors transferred in from other positions and departments within Marvel. Occasionally, someone on Marvel’s staff would recommend a friend for an open assistant editor position.<br /><br />Many Marvel editors began as high school or college interns who worked at Marvel for school credit. Ohio’s Antioch College seemed to always have students interning at Marvel. Antioch was the alma mater of Marvel’s president at the time, Jim Galton. Over the years, a number of Antioch interns ended up on Marvel’s editorial staff including Marie Javins, Sara Tuchinsky, Andrew Perry, Kevin Somers and Polly Watson.<br /><br />The better interns were considered as candidates when assistant editor slots opened up. The best of those assistant editors became associate editors and, eventually, were promoted to become full editors. (Sometime in the early ‘90s, Marvel added the associate editor title as an intermediate step between assistant editor and editor.)<br /><br />This was, in general, a good system. It meant Marvel’s editorial staff had a nice mix of experienced vets who could oversee the development of new editorial staffers. The new editorial staffers brought new enthusiasm, ideas and aesthetics with them.<br /><br />In addition to whatever day-to-day hands-on experience the assistant editors acquired in the editorial office they worked in, they attended weekly classes for assistant editors. Executive editor Mark Gruenwald ran those classes. He sometimes had guest speakers present to the class (including Tom DeFalco, Bob Budiansky and me.) When Marvel added the associate editor position, I oversaw the training classes for that position.<br /><br />Mark’s classes helped a lot of people grasp of the essential skills needed for the job. For those assistant editors assigned to work in offices run by an editor who lacked some of the essential skills, Mark’s classes were a godsend. Despite the training safety net provided by the assistant and associate editor classes, things occasionally went wrong. Here’s how—<br /><br />-As Marvel and the comics industry in general grew through the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Marvel had to expand its editorial ranks to accommodate the additional publishing workload. A few people were promoted before they were ready due to the need for staff expansion created by the growing market. Some of those who were promoted before they were ready would have made fine editors if they had been allowed to grow and hone their skills at a lower editorial position.<br /><br />-There was also a mistaken assumption that anyone who made a good assistant editor would automatically evolve into a good editor. People were sometimes promoted beyond their level of ability or comfort. Each position up the editorial chain (Assistant Editor, Associate Editor, Editor, Group Editor, Executive Editor, Editor-in-Chief) had additional creative and management responsibilities attached to it. A good assistant editor didn’t always have the aptitude to climb that ladder successfully.<br /><br />-There was a period when then EIC Jim Shooter decided that he wanted to bring in some “blank slates”, non-fan boys that he could train to do things his way. This approach yielded disappointing results for Shooter and everyone else. In a somewhat related approach, during the early/mid ‘80s, DC hired some experienced prose novel editors with the idea that they could be trained to become comic book editors. Editing a visual storytelling medium is very different from editing prose (and vice versa). I don’t believe any of those editors lasted very long in the comics field. That doesn’t mean this approach couldn’t work. It just means that the candidates should have been screened for having an aptitude for visual storytelling.<br /><br />-Most of those who joined the Marvel staff were comics fans, sometimes highly opinionated and naive comics fans. With experience and maturing over time, their love for comics could be combined with best practices and professionalism. Occasionally, someone came on staff with a naive know-it-all attitude and never woke up to the fact that they didn’t know it all.<br /><br />-Some otherwise great editors had their sense of aesthetics stuck in an earlier time period. There were a lot of people who got into the business during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s who maintained their late ’70s aesthetic sensibilities as the world, and the comics audience, changed around them. Ideally, an editor should be aware that the audience’s aesthetics are changing and ride that fine line between being contemporary without trying to be too trendy.<br /><br />-Except for the latter part of Shooter’s reign as EIC, it was actually pretty hard to get yourself fired from Marvel's editorial staff. I witnessed one editor repeatedly exhibit gross dereliction of duty. That editor was “taken to the woodshed” by his superior many times over an extended period before finally being fired. I too was reluctant to end anyone’s editorial career, so I have to take the heat for not pulling the trigger quickly in a couple of situations. I had to be pushed hard by one editor’s long series of professional and ethical blunders to finally put that editor on probation, a probation the editor ultimately failed. In another case, an Assistant Editor showed such bad judgment, unethical conduct and insubordination that I should have quickly axed him/her. However, the assistant’s pleas, and the support of that assitant's supervising editor, stayed my hand, allowing the assistant to repeat the offenses.<br /><br />-Some editors were very strong in certain skill areas and almost useless in others. Someone could be a great plot and dialogue editor but couldn’t give an artist useful feedback on how to execute clear visual storytelling. Or, they might have great creative editing skills but were weak when it came to managing teams, projects and schedules.<br /><br />Again, I want to make it clear that, out of the many dozens of editorial staffers who worked at Marvel during my time there, there were relatively few who did not do their job well.<br /><br />Marvel also was blessed with a high number of exceptional editors and I was blessed with the opportunity to work with many of them. Marvel was a fabulous place to work and the vast majority of us working there couldn’t have asked for a better job or, during the latter ‘80s through the early ‘90s - the Hobson/DeFalco era, a better corporate environment to work in. We loved what we did and enjoyed hanging out together during and after work hours.<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279815108643467026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 225px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqLmBNH4l9YBxq-c_JmiwsCT1gTyndVAOUPtF_h3OP4hvw6CxMpOKylZKYh5fruaeHkm7OLyiy3_wVn-0m9DwgIBTYXFkRNnxsCgKujj55qZq0Tp8OpOtKiz6_dxJ-MMEImamuRuPXu0/s320/RalphsPool.jpg" border="0" /> <strong>Marvel editorial and bullpen staffers often hung out outside of the office. In this shot from the late ‘8o’s, a group of us are enjoying an afternoon at Ralph Macchio’s pool. From left to right: Jack Morelli, Ralph Macchio (hidden inside of the inner tube), Eliot R. Brown, Carl Potts, David Wohl, Danny Fingeroth, Belinda G. (Mark G’s wife at the time), Walter Simonson, Mark Gruenwald, Louise "Weezie" Simonson and Bob Budiansky (Also pictured are Ralph’s sister and nephew)</strong><br /><br />*Shooter hired some editors from “outside” Marvel around 1980. By outside, I mean they did not work their way up Marvels’ editorial ranks. They were hired as full editors. These included Denny O’Neil, Al Milgrom, Louise “Weezie” Simonson, Larry Hama and, in 1983, me. Denny had a long editing and writing resume in the comics business. Al and Larry, both artist/writers, had served short stints as editors at DC. Weezie had been in charge of editorial at Warren Publications (Creep[y, Eerie, Vampirella) I’d spent a lot of time in the advertising biz which, combined with my limited comics creative output and endorsements by several key people, impressed Shooter enough for him to ask me to join the staff. There were also a few cases of former Marvel assistant editors leaving staff to work freelance for a while before returning to become staff editors. Bob Budiansky and Danny Fingeroth come to mind.Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-4349885249020783152008-11-28T20:01:00.000-08:002008-12-13T19:48:19.255-08:00Out of the Box: Stereolithography<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolithography">Stereolithography</a> is one of several rapid prototyping systems that product designers use.<br /><br />A 3D modeling program is used to build a virtual model of a product or part. The 3D file directs a pair of UV lasers in a vat of special resin. Wherever the lasers meet, the resin solidifies. A physical prototype of the model is created layer by layer.<br /><br />Although stereolithography was introduced by <a href="http://www.3dsystems.com/products/sla/viper_pro/viper-pro-video.asp">3D Systems</a> back in the late ‘80s, the process still looks like something from a science fiction film.<br /><br />Different resins have different properties. For instance, some resins are more flexible than others.<br /><br />Many manufacturers use rapid prototyping models to create molds for everything from kitchen appliances to car parts.<br /><br />I used stereolithography to create prototypes of a fishing lure design, The prototypes helped me refine the lure and I was eventually awarded a utility patent on the design.<br /><br />Another rapid prototyping system uses ink jet technology to spray material and build up a physical model in layers.<br /><br />It’s conceivable that in the future, as the range of resins and materials increases, stereolithography and other rapid prototyping processes will begin turning out finished products.<br /><br />Recently, inkjets were used to spray living tissue (including stem cells) to create a functional two-chamber heart – how’s that for a finished product!<br /><br />Imagine wanting a specific plastic product. Instead of driving to a store or waiting for an online order to arrive, you go online, download the product’s 3D file and have your own stereolithography machine “cook up” the part for you.<br /><br />If needed, you could also customize the 3D model before building the part. Perhaps you’d want to shave off a corner in order to make sure the part fit just right on a specific irregular surface.<br /><br />If you lived in a remote location, far from stores or FedEx/UPS/DHL delivery routes (Alaska? Tahiti? The moon?), you could not only create your own products, you could build your own replacement parts. Say the drive belt for your vintage Kirby vacuum cleaner breaks. Assuming you have the right resin, you could get the proper belt’s 3D model online and build a replacement part. You’d be back to sucking up dust devils in no time.<br /><br />Could this be the next big app?<br /><br />Well it’ll be a long time before stereolithography machines are priced low enough to be affordable to the masses. Perhaps, things will progress along the lines of Kinko’s. Printers and copy machines were once so expensive that few individuals and small companies owned their own. Kinko’s filled the niche. Now that’s no longer the case, Kinko’s deals mostly with large copy orders, oversized printing and offers other services that have yet to become affordable to the mass market.<br /><br />As the technology and range of resins progresses, maybe the number of stereolithography service bureaus will expand Kinko’s-like, filling the need for consumers until the technology is affordable and small enough to go into their homes.<br /><br />Your thoughts?Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-67331912315718677742008-11-07T19:20:00.000-08:002008-12-13T15:45:44.737-08:00Diamonds Always Shine or Reviewing Art Submissions by the TonWhen I was trying to break into the comicbook business as an artist, I was frustrated by the responses, or lack thereof, to the submissions I mailed to the various editors. My submissions consisted of Xeroxes of story pages and character pin-ups.<br /><br />I couldn’t see it at the time but my drawing was weak and the visual storytelling even weaker.<br /><br />In some cases I’d get no response at all from the editor. Others would eventually send a “thanks but no thanks” form letter that contained no information on why the work wasn’t up to snuff, or what I could do to improve it.<br /><br />That’s not surprising. Editors are generally very busy and are under no obligation to give detailed responses (or any response) to unsolicited submissions.<br /><br />Years later, I joined Marvel Comics’ editorial staff. Due to the frustration I experienced when I was mailing samples to editors, I decided to respond to every submission I received. The office I inherited contained a large stack of unopened submissions, so I started there.<br /><br />Envelope after envelope after envelope contained samples of very weak work. However, in that stack I found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Adams">Art Adams</a>’ samples.*<br /><br />It was like going through a mountain of coal and finding a diamond.<br /><br />Adams was the first of a number of talents I discovered in the submissions that poured into Marvel daily.<br /><br />Since many of the submissions had similar weaknesses, I worked out a set of response letters to cover most situations. The letters were easily customizable so each response could be quickly tailored.<br /><br />The responses basically thanked the artist for making the submission, told them that they needed to do a lot of work if they wanted to have a chance of improving to a professional level. The letter then outlined some drawing exercises to help them improve. The suggested exercises varied depending on what weaknesses the samples showed.**<br /><br />The letter also recommended that the artists go to their library or otherwise try to hunt up these books:<br />For drawing skills—<br />-Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards<br />-Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis (Also released under the title Three-Dimensional Drawing)<br /><br />For visual storytelling techniques—<br />-The Five C's of Cinematography by Joseph V. Mascelli<br /><br />When Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics - The Invisible Art was released, that title was added to the list.<br /><br />There are Amazon links to all of these tiles along the right side of this blog.<br /><br />Years after I left Marvel’s staff, artists still come up to me at conventions and express thanks for the drawing exercise and book recommendations they received when they sent submissions to Marvel.<br /><br />My office became known as the place to send your samples if you wanted to get a response. So, the number of unsolicited submissions increased dramatically.<br /><br />More mountains of coal with the occasional diamond mixed in.<br /><br />I was careful not to tell artists of even the weakest work to give up drawing, even if I felt pretty sure they’d never be good enough to be hired.<br /><br />Some editors and established artists sometimes bluntly told would-be comics artists to give up drawing and go into some other pursuit. A menial job (digging ditches, pumping gas) was often suggested as an alternative career.<br /><br />These harsh reviewers had an interesting rationalization for their approach. Supposedly, if the would-be artist had the determination needed to improve his/her work to a professional level, he/she would get mad at the insulting remarks and try their best to prove the reviewer wrong.<br /><br />That approach can work with some personality types but not others. It’s very possible that some extremely talented artists with very meek personalities were emotionally crushed by such comments and gave up drawing. In such cases, a more nurturing approach would have been more productive.<br /><br />Insightful constructive criticism combined with targeted drawing exercises and research suggestions should do the trick for most personality types.<br /><br />When <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Windsor-Smith">Barry Smith</a> (aka Barry Windsor Smith) began drawing comics for Marvel in the late 1960s, his work looked extremely <a href="http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=fullsize&issue=25912118544%20179">amateurish</a> to me. At the time, I thought that Smith would never amount to anything and would probably disappear from the scenes as soon as Marvel found someone else who could hold a pencil. Smith, however, continued getting assignments from Marvel.<br /><br />Over a year or so, Smith’s work didn’t improve much. He finally kicked into high gear when he was assigned to the Conan comic where he rapidly developed into one of the <a href="http://www.barrywindsor-smith.com/galleria/saga4study.gif">better</a> artists of his generation. The change in the quality of Smith’s work was amazing.<br /><br />A lump of coal turned into a diamond. (Or, a very rough diamond that needed time to get polished.)<br /><br />Smith’s dramatic example makes it almost impossible for me to tell an artist of even the weakest work that they should give up their dream of ever drawing professionally.<br /><br />Instead, when confronted with very weak art executed by an under-motivated artist, I’d tell them—<br />-The odds of him/her making it to a professional level were extremely poor.<br />-Their only chance of reaching that goal will require hard work every day for years.<br />-They must decide if they have the dedication to put in all of that hard for just a small chance of making it.<br /><br />Sometimes a little bit of knowledge is worse than no knowledge. This is true when reviewing art samples. One editor in particular comes to mind. He’d been observing me giving reviews at the Marvel’s booth at the San Diego Con and picked up on some catch phrases I used. He then began reviewing portfolios at the other end of the table I was sitting at.<br /><br />As I continued to review portfolios, I occasionally heard snippets of what the other editor was saying to the artists lined up in front of him. At first, it sounded like he knew what he was talking about. I was pleasantly surprised because I’d never known this editor to have a sense of visual storytelling or any drawing knowledge. (How he came to be a comicbook editor is another story.)<br />However, when I stopped to observe him more closely, it was clear that the editor was using my terminology and phrases out of context, giving the artists some confusing and very bad advice in the process.<br /><br />The young artists had just been given criticism and advice by a Marvel editor and I was worried that they might not know enough to dismiss the editor’s bad advice. So, I memorized the faces of some of these poor artists and later tried to track them down and “deprogram” them.<br /><br />The work involved in reviewing and responding to all of the submissions the mailman dropped of daily was considerable, but then so were the rewards. Many talented diamonds turned up. Helping people to improve their work and begin successful careers was very satisfying for me.<br /><br />I wonder what would have happened to my own artistic progress if someone had responded to my early submissions with solid criticism, advice and reference.<br /><br />As always, your comments are welcome!<br /><br />*I showed Art’s samples to my assistant editor, Ann Nocenti. She had been working on a new character and was looking for an artist to work with. Ann and Art eventually produced the Longshot limited series that helped launch both of their creative careers.<br /><br />**I’ll go into some of these exercises in a future entry.Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-56167742370326200602008-10-27T18:40:00.000-07:002008-10-27T19:23:52.971-07:00Marvelous Tales: Halloween in the Comicbook Biz<p align="left"></p>I was going to get back to visual storytelling or design this time around. However, I ran across some old Halloween photos and since that time of year is upon us, I thought I’d share them now.<br /><p></p>During most of my years at Marvel Comics, there would be a Halloween party in the office. Many of us would attend in costume. Mark Gruenwald was a major force behind these office events. The photo below is from either 1985 or 1986 when I was an editor. I’m in my Alien Legion costume. With me is my fabulous assistant editor at the time, Pat Blevins. Pat is dressed up as a bunch of grapes!<br /><br /><div align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262021099608589794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 217px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxKLXKLnomAaEFZD8doTJBl-3TB_Re9Qh4IX-PGoSFeB7FJ_o-8x1_R4wwkzcSfU0ilB8ZFsohiQHpief37-CtpdS5V1NQSXePlHvlMnVngCqA1Kj5z2hsvYzPNAaTvli-AMjiRSD3nQ/s320/MarvelHWeen2.jpg" border="0" /></div><p align="center"><strong>Pat Blevins, Carl Potts</strong></p><div align="left">Pat is the wife of the very talented artist, <a href="http://www.optimisticstudios.com/">Bret Blevins</a>. Both Bret and Pat are among the nicest people on the planet. I enjoyed working with both of them a lot. </div><div align="left"><br />During the ealry 1980s, when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Wrightson">Bernie Wrightson</a> lived near Woodstock, NY, he hosted an annual Halloween party. Much of the comics community attended.<br /><br />The shots below are, to the best of my knowledge, from Bernie’s Oct. 1982 party.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262014535725126834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1ixz76XYywvITgmpCTNd-Dw1VG0sX7LqCimIiophDxanZo0jjxbrFZPNp43yKXrpPoVObONbmyoiFfNFMHpIB8FmfViPCof-mZa5H9BSjQYGgJcDGiEhyvSe_wTnqpY99diQZ-YV2JU/s320/HWeen+BillS+Milgrom.jpg" border="0" /></div><p align="center"><strong>Bill Sienkewicz and Al Milgrom</strong></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262015398849797266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 310px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBX7NPOWe9fM90-RQtRLNfk15ohTe45k4_R0Bsli046YWQdC1U2cEpCiAzPd4LQBr6kbKN7qzCqRD9z5o1oEd01qWUiOAEfMkgGH_3ilxpOg3JPiK8UBwZsgVKy6y6bG1rUD1ZoyPg2pM/s320/HWeen+Wrightson2.jpg" border="0" /> <strong>Bernie Wrightson</strong></p><p><strong></strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262016231138272834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 317px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiHYiWZREXHP-KoP89FwmbQ-1K1Bx2pz4GHAuJKBOft6CBlHcUmFSdHCmU4GpWdQKcbBO_NNYIIEfo5AJoYOM8yyOh-SBvz2hkHTCax3KIjM9qXdr4Kkzmbh2W-f0LORQYrKeK7ibSjI/s320/HWeen+WSimon+RSliferMWolf.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><strong>Walt Simonson, Roger Slifer, Marv Wolfman </strong><br /></p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262018752143634146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 317px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbB8vKaNl_IKLxi9ll85AkgSah-QHGyt8V5VCAD_bAOiTvQLbZeCP4XP2tqTD3CVQQcu0dpJxbCR2_RQ_es4uy2FysPnlSW7TS3diLgYnZs2Q7hv6zAc8Mi1jXCi9A84kPWUHktuXl08/s320/HWeen+GruMac.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <strong>Belinda Gruenwald, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio</strong><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262015752115048610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUPQZBRGckC355THLPUY225eaZTsa9itgjWiIpVNFgt0GvB_2sjWdIkrBLDQwD0VeQ8NO4uuAMvOvybh2SWtfhMq51zPtJmdCF1gSzRjxqaOHCJMbI_29LwSb6qTcvRqtq6PnBzSXDrLM/s320/HWeen+Chiodo2.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><strong>Joe Chiodo</strong><br /></p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262016967466823058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 314px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhayzqPaYYa0VCXzzXKsGTKJSTS5n1EkRUdPAgnXfGhLrqVtuh7QEevTnbGy-tC0xp8A_PeHfqbnm1kU9NG81k1HnviX_fy2MF9thETdUxLF7u0yNBk8Amc1Em4bJMktYFdkppNrwvPNvU/s320/HWeen+Potts.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><strong>Carl Potts</strong><br /></p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262017390348937746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 311px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1fNB6kupQDeFjEqEx9N6hNRkLVLACqFt6ka9n47SzRCs60FiCOeOT4w1WWxTSKYxQjjQR15iBK481opcCaegwoxGRhaDU7RCkjFmUV487EntclPlr6oKTynMi7EOm2FcYMuVCki8g0Us/s320/HWeen+Chaykin.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <strong>Howard Chaykin</strong><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262017666701307506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 310px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCqAhVQdllsZs4c4qQrHVW2Am0CRNdUh1uQX5D_oxoTB6J-DSyedHhfQkTEgeXyuJTP9FBvrQAlsHX9ORhmvHhJjFDU9QikJR_vqxDZVMT-oBlTUWg2kw0rXbKVMRtKIzS20nP38qfVA/s320/HWeen+MilgromWein.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="center"><strong>???, Al MIlgrom, Len Wein</strong></div><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262019133305934914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 311px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7pxwlE4LgDMR0xC2dVKqZlC0jlcCfglCX0axkuKjm7MZzV412L2b3Yy2InOlV8tPey11qG6a3ufQIUkiojapUykZw9b7UNrQvrHRnNPyMULxRbh0WrW9VoM7rAOjTkC2tuLo_7s8U60/s320/HWeen+LSion,AGOod,JMilg.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><strong>Louise "Weezie" Simonson, Ann Goodwin, Judy Milgrom<br /></strong></p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262019569599958578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 318px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGo00PsWOd6CuezxR6R8sZ35q65SzqZZuDBxq_mWl2E2aAQjFA29ea3Vq5qXsjgcMzOACn-xXvpC-SkG65btsa2GYkCx5AjtjMeyUkXtBs717bWiZiEKnaYShlH_XVA0GvGp3fmTIcV_s/s320/HWeen+LeslieZ+BrentA+BillS+.jpg" border="0" /> <p><strong></strong></p><p align="center"><strong>Leslie Z., Brent Anderson, Bill Sienkewicz</strong><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262020013312875362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 314px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHRihxnA83t5YjxXHlAHVaLqQIOAG3eXwhynoPZPm358l7zl8m9XrNUjf4_YQJTRseihGlmIFuHFOZ4F1n9LM6khscAUaMSrAXQyhvSOnguSoVuiO73TrN0cUnjd7CMhpJw7S4bdyYLn8/s320/HWeen+WolgDufCockrum.jpg" border="0" /><br /><strong>Marv Wolfman, Jo Duffy, Dave Cockrum</strong><br /><br /></p>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-71387131604839018632008-10-17T07:59:00.000-07:002008-10-17T16:43:50.908-07:00Marvelous Tales: Steve DitkoIt always baffled me as a kid when people told me that could not tell the difference between the art styles of various comicbook artists.<br /><br />To me, most of the artists creating the comics that I devoured had very distinctive styles. How on (or off) Earth could anyone not see the difference between the styles of Neal Adams, Alex Toth, Joe Kubert and Jack Kirby?<br /><br />Apparently, if it’s in a comicbook, a lot of people see through invisible filters that render everything into a homogenized <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Lichtenstein">Roy Lichtenstein</a>-esque aesthetic.<br /><br />When I was reading early Marvel Comics, the work of <a href="http://www.ditko.comics.org/">Steve Ditko</a> really stood out and inspired me. He co-created Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, my favorite Marvel characters.<br /><div><div><br /></div><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258270787714994322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAifonJle17CHAdZMXfS_XFzvm83wzyE0Sn2YW8OKvUbv0SCDbffpEcOD3hcLL0zVbOXWTz4e2ivaEbKDpqkYWUjHKxvsy6QZ2j0s-z2kS02Uu7gHtDBSeIaK2NnNejHxtH7b7vxirzM/s320/SpiderMan23Cover.gif" border="0" /><strong>The great Spider-Man #23 cover</strong><br /><br /><div>Ditko’s work was like no other comics creator at that time. For the most part, his characters were not idealized in their appearance.* The everyman-who-can-be-identified-with-by-anyone look for Peter Parker that Ditko created helped Spider-Man comics attract legions of empathetic readers.<br /><br />Steve’s characters moved in unique poses and with unusual gestures. Spider-Man swung and leaped just like a Spider-Man should and Doc Strange’s spells were cast unique hand gestures.<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258271763889314434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIA03O0Y9fzxBydT7MjV3OwcCUDErtwhf4Gka2KI0A7j_H5hHW5d39rIIvpNFLe1sSzTqS_W9YAdCuDc8h3mYzK64vopGcTRzwRyzdUomu2S1unGASMUaJ-z1Gz07w4P1yU79Bb3PwKCY/s320/DrStrange+Page.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Doctor Strange on the defense.<br /></strong></div><div>He created a fantastic visual language for casting magic spells that is still emulated today.<br /><br />Steve’s philosophical beliefs were as unusual as his art style. As the 1960s progressed, Steve became more and more entrenched in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)">Objectivism</a>, a very strict and uncompromising philosophy championed by author <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand">Ayn Rand</a>. These beliefs are a major reason why Ditko left Marvel at the height of his popularity.<br /><br />By the time he left Marvel, Ditko had stopped giving interviews, signing autographs or attending comics conventions. When I moved to NY about a decade later, I figured I’d probably never get to meet him.<br /><br />However, around 1978, Neal Adams convinced Ditko to attend one of the monthly gatherings of NYC-based comics community that Neal hosted at his midtown apartment. It was there that Jim Starlin introduced me to Steve. I was pretty much tongue-tied but must have not made too horrible of an impression since Ditko occasionally stopped by to visit me when I became a staff editor at Marvel. By that time, Ditko had been back at Marvel for a number of years.<br /><br />Ditko had some rules about the jobs he’d consider during the ‘80s. He wouldn’t work on stories featuring Spider-Man or Dr. Strange, the characters he rose to fame on in the early ‘60s. He also wanted to only work on stories where the heroes didn’t have major flaws or weaknesses (hard to do since that described many of Marvel’s heroes!).<br /><br />One of the jobs Ditko agreed to draw for my office was in the first issue of <a href="http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=bibliography&issue=95088358688%201">What The--?!,</a> Marvel’s self-parody humor comic. Ditko had drawn short humor jobs in the past so I asked him to do one for our first issue. He was up for it as long as only villains were the targets of the jokes – Ditko felt making fun of true heroes was not appropriate. So I asked Mark Gruenwald to write such a story parodying Secret Wars. He did so (under a pseudonym) and legendary comics artist John Severin agreed to ink it.<br /><br />During his occasional visits at my office, Ditko would talk at length on a variety of subjects but he’d really get going if the conversation turned to politics or philosophy. He was indeed a true believer in Objectivism and that belief seemed unshakable.<br /><br />In the late ‘80s, Ditko told me that, when he quit Marvel in the ‘60s, he didn’t turn in two Dr. Strange stories that he’d plotted and penciled. My jaw hit the floor.<br /><br />This was amazing news and I urged (begged) Ditko to bring in the story! He politely declined, saying he didn’t want the pages to ever be published or copied. I told him that I’d be happy to look over his shoulder as he flipped through the pages/ That way the pages would never leave his hands, but he still declined to bring them in. Since then I’ve fantasized about what those pages look like and what the story was about. I wonder if I’ll ever find out!<br /><br />Also during one of his visits to Marvel, I asked Steve to sign a page of original Creeper art I’d bought at a convention years before. His reaction that day and a few weeks later when he returned to my office were very memorable. If you want to hear that story, it’s at the end of the audio <a href="http://www.ditko.comics.org/ditko/newBKeve.html">recording</a> of a panel on Ditko that author Blake Bell moderated at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con. Blake’s recently published hardcover book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560979216?ie=UTF8&tag=beofmoof09-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=1560979216">Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko</a>, has already gone into its second printing. Anyone interested in Ditko needs to check it out.<br /><br />You can access the audio recording of the Ditko panel on Blake’s website on all things Ditko right <a href="http://www.ditko.comics.org/ditko/newBKeve.html">here</a>.<br /><br />On all levels, Ditko is a unique creator who has the courage of his convictions. I can’t help wishing, however, that he’d relent about keeping those “long-lost” Dr. Strange pages under wraps.<br /><br />I’d love to hear your thoughts on Ditko and his work – and if you’ve had your own personal Ditko encounters, please share them with me!<br /><br />*As stated in the San Diego panel, some actors look, to me anyway, like they were drawn by Ditko with a broad nose, strong jaw but short distance between mouth and chin. <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/David_Duchovny_cropped.jpg/600px-David_Duchovny_cropped.jpg">David Duchovny</a> is one of those actors. </div>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-84459514053127125982008-10-08T18:17:00.000-07:002008-10-08T19:03:01.741-07:00Composition, Layout & Design: Types of BalanceAs a general rule, positive space in a picture is composed of the items or subjects depicted within the picture’s frame (people, vehicles, buildings, etc.).<br /><br />Negative space is the area not occupied by positive space items (often backgrounds like sky, simple landscapes, etc.).<br /><br />Artists and photographers can arrange the positive and negative space in their pictures to emphasize the picture’s storytelling and to create interesting compositions.<br /><br />The two main terms describing how subjects are arranged or “balanced” within a picture are “symmetrical” and “asymmetrical”<br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254958472799010226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTl1lFIdBcGkg1JRJwNPmm1LJ1hmSl_o_Ci-tA1xf8kq4tt0ZVOnVSm2mvaBNa23cd3fXkKb9BUmy-9jxOxQyF4WMSjDQsN06dzNVuGA99kYl2Qf54feQzrGNAGpAkkUKWCDs-nXpNgLY/s320/PeopleBal.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Symmetrical balance is where the subjects are arranged so that they are in the middle of the picture frame or are even distributed throughout the frame.</strong> </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254959412627982834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1cKBmn_IcP1ggUI2vm4XMNebHMtrtVvz9_hMBgRuUpBr8jVgkog13DIdWlokIA-Bs1TgD8lwDuUaO3u_ZUmM7QQtZcRMW92j3v9b6D-l9GyWiLp58BN8DkUEoYuKviq0fzZH3r5LEjI/s320/PeopleAsym.jpg" border="0" /><strong>The subjects in a picture with asymmetrical balance are distributed in an uneven pattern.</strong><br /><br />Here’s another way to think about balance in a picture - imagine the bottom of the picture frame as the surface of a see-saw or teeter-totter with a fulcrum under the middle.<br /><br />Now imagine all of the subjects in the picture frame falling straight down onto the surface of the teeter-totter. If the teeter-totter stays level, you have symmetrical design. If the teeter-totter drops to one side, you have an asymmetrical design.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMUxcrf5Tt1xKZKaRPDj0MJb0cVeqC29t-G_o3HY3WTAvPAF59Rg2JozM-jwlvwNnQZUNzHKPpQwZX5YEutM3CoLdg3oD0_TtkKG4YW7HnUHo3dAHQaZaUxkzXLCrvKT9Az3Z8kRKRQc/s1600-h/Symmetrical.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254959729450629426" style="WIDTH: 266px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 147px" height="199" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMUxcrf5Tt1xKZKaRPDj0MJb0cVeqC29t-G_o3HY3WTAvPAF59Rg2JozM-jwlvwNnQZUNzHKPpQwZX5YEutM3CoLdg3oD0_TtkKG4YW7HnUHo3dAHQaZaUxkzXLCrvKT9Az3Z8kRKRQc/s320/Symmetrical.jpg" width="302" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiliDrdHk4VplogOjSUjK8c9qTPcY0fUoPQtGLE2pLXmWwKfAMcYtpjH36l_R2zqqHZvrgXz53XIyUb6n9666vjJxyunvHcl_g4Mk9RyUxTKvYMzyDNAZTlx7X4O86Io-ykUbLZ2yGZ6Kg/s1600-h/Asymmetrical.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254959972337625698" style="WIDTH: 264px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 146px" height="164" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiliDrdHk4VplogOjSUjK8c9qTPcY0fUoPQtGLE2pLXmWwKfAMcYtpjH36l_R2zqqHZvrgXz53XIyUb6n9666vjJxyunvHcl_g4Mk9RyUxTKvYMzyDNAZTlx7X4O86Io-ykUbLZ2yGZ6Kg/s320/Asymmetrical.jpg" width="258" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Keep in mind that the further away form the center/fulcrum an object is, the more downward pressure it will exert on the teeter-totter. So, a large object near the center of the frame might be counterbalanced by smaller objects positioned farther to the opposite side of the frame.<br /><br />Symmetrical designs often impart a feeling of formality, stiffness or solemnity. Asymmetrical design can impart a very wide range of feelings.<br /><br />There is a sub-category to asymmetrical design – the seemingly oxymoronic “balanced asymmetrical design”. This is where the subjects are arranged asymmetrically within a picture but would still not cause the teeter-totter to tip.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZYgfkHVb5mk1SD2Jqn142Z7bplKx6h51Hl3meMGlL2yOCyGLgXpQzGG0zd_tSYeNVI_S_CGKziBkD6h70yj6Wy-lCLzaF90nM07vU9El94MVAggY0Vhj7t6WVBwWsSqRcZiNxRQE1oU/s1600-h/BalAsymmetrical.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254960338929543106" style="WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 157px" height="157" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZYgfkHVb5mk1SD2Jqn142Z7bplKx6h51Hl3meMGlL2yOCyGLgXpQzGG0zd_tSYeNVI_S_CGKziBkD6h70yj6Wy-lCLzaF90nM07vU9El94MVAggY0Vhj7t6WVBwWsSqRcZiNxRQE1oU/s320/BalAsymmetrical.jpg" width="283" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqd6iphJuL_lDnyf38-PvIY0ydRa15fPD3GOvmVoOsUI9w80v1pUTm2cU4jsMaRJQCM3hhEmPI_N70VSCFj-_07E9QeuZnrma0PBs4QKkQVlxP3ZgvYWnsbhQd9lnG4_0bOcjXOvFLApc/s1600-h/PeopleBalsym.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254960540199394914" style="WIDTH: 266px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 159px" height="199" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqd6iphJuL_lDnyf38-PvIY0ydRa15fPD3GOvmVoOsUI9w80v1pUTm2cU4jsMaRJQCM3hhEmPI_N70VSCFj-_07E9QeuZnrma0PBs4QKkQVlxP3ZgvYWnsbhQd9lnG4_0bOcjXOvFLApc/s320/PeopleBalsym.jpg" width="302" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It’s good to be aware of these types of design balance when producing photos, illustrations or sequential media (comics, storyboards, film, etc.) If you are producing sequential media, it’s usually a good idea to mix the various balance types in order to get keep things visually interesting.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlZz4hmP4Umfm0SrPZGbHnF0cXvp43NaPqe7OcMMJduYXlAqda18U-2muc_sSIQGN6d1cM7NdMx1Gvx48twmPAHltTHHSFyuepC_uGG-jj4C3O2GJmZv20bIWnPmY5oFuv8Fog7m5bM4/s1600-h/ChineseAsym.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254961274983062274" style="CURSOR: hand" height="175" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlZz4hmP4Umfm0SrPZGbHnF0cXvp43NaPqe7OcMMJduYXlAqda18U-2muc_sSIQGN6d1cM7NdMx1Gvx48twmPAHltTHHSFyuepC_uGG-jj4C3O2GJmZv20bIWnPmY5oFuv8Fog7m5bM4/s320/ChineseAsym.jpg" width="264" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfI8yr3zcFEohjCcNIv9pSlX0AOu9aQa2q6uyiUJkpeFtj9s7QJgKWGgH-Q6a0Df0gwwkx-3wf-uTE7dgkmNjUl9zjVFb9Yrzfd-5k7Fzgy7ApaNzjCwautmsxD3EddlcDoYNqz2sFkXo/s1600-h/ChineseBalAsym.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254961472997182354" style="WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 175px" height="171" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfI8yr3zcFEohjCcNIv9pSlX0AOu9aQa2q6uyiUJkpeFtj9s7QJgKWGgH-Q6a0Df0gwwkx-3wf-uTE7dgkmNjUl9zjVFb9Yrzfd-5k7Fzgy7ApaNzjCwautmsxD3EddlcDoYNqz2sFkXo/s320/ChineseBalAsym.jpg" width="272" border="0" /></a><br /><strong>These panels by an un-credited Chinese comics artist show great design. It’s easy to see the positive and negative space in these frames! The frame on the top is asymmetrical design while the one on the bottom looks like it could be asymmetrically balanced.</strong>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-83607760447087376642008-10-04T06:15:00.000-07:002008-10-07T08:12:22.634-07:00Unnatural Selection in San Diego (No, this doesn’t have anything to do with Comic Con)Human impact on the natural world is often negative — overpopulation putting a strain on natural resources, global warming, pollution, the extinction of numerous species, etc.<br /><br />Would it surprise you that man’s activities have also made some of Earth’s creatures “smarter?” (Or, probably more accurately, conditioned them to act in ways we consider as being smarter.)<br /><br />A prime example of “educated” wildlife can be found in the lakes that surround San Diego, CA.<br /><br />San Diego may have the most “intelligent” <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largemouth_bass">largemouth bass</a> (Micropterus salmoides) on the planet! This is due to the “unnatural selection” that the bass population has experienced through human activity.<br /><div><div><div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253291294788424706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzmWqtp6_aB3J7CQEjT5_VpeZMA9hWRzKwSVxBalXkMYyuPFP9j_FfxXVxJ6raC-eAXHg8vorfi0gUmUEQWNtvmi4NI9whQ6HpxHHDxmCI1r5FU22q_gAzn6kFv8nxAp4JSR9ZEDY8-Q/s320/LM+bass.jpg" border="0" /><strong>An aggregation of largemouth bass</strong><br /><br />Bass are not native to California. They originated from North America’s east coast and the southern states. Bass were planted in California waters well over 100 years ago.<br /><br />The lakes around San Diego are generally small but deep with gin-clear water. They receive a tremendous amount of “fishing pressure” (meaning a lot of anglers spend a lot of time fishing these lakes). The fish in the San Diego waters see a lot of different lures and baits dangled in front of their noses.<br /><br />Most San Diego lakes were stocked with “Florida strain” largemouth bass. Floridians are naturally harder to trick into biting a lure than the “northern strain” of the bass. No one knows why.<br /><br />The long-standing record for largemouth is 22 ¼ lbs. Many anglers think that the next world record bass is swimming in one of the San Diego lakes. In fact, we know that’s the case — a few years ago, Mac Weakley caught a 25+ lb. behemoth at Lake Dixon, a small body of water north of San Diego. Since that fish was not caught according to International Game Fish Association (IGFA) rules, it was not eligible to become an official record. Weakley released that fish back into Lake Dixon.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253291467313295330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnGgqkr4aUhb0n1s14DlYAsAjBZ3ndsKdVm9uDklXcPgi-O226Lla8SsyXoRRisJZvnNXO3Gu16yBKrtIFfN57L38WNoimCI2gupbRPo7qAJL1-rpU0Hao7ySUzM0lg_Tu5r9P_zHQOM/s320/DixonBass.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Mike Winn holds the 25.1-pound bass caught by his friend Mac Weakley on Dixon Lake near San Diego, CA.</strong><br /><br />The gargantuan size of San Diego’s fish keeps a steady stream of anglers visiting the area’s waters. Fishermen try new techniques and ever more realistic lures and presentations to get the wary fish to bite. Some of these techniques work well for a while. Then, the bass population seems to wise up and the effectiveness of the new techniques fade. </div><br /><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253291688553425874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBCxm4cSve6Hwfde3oqhS42qx0pH-mbBfFLVVdktmcrgX4u6IK0Bhu8m64LLyfLySTiySNVXMnVy7JQb1cCM3dm4HoEgi_QcxQOevjixhAjwEEgHXZlF7r4KWQr8cKqXkp38EZYPfRbc/s320/Huddleston-Trout-8.jpg" border="0" /><strong>One of a number of highly-realistic “swim baits” used to mimic the rainbow trout that are stocked in San Diego’s lakes during cooler months. Rainbows are a favorite bass dinner item.</strong><br /><br />As noted in another blog entry, bass that are caught and released back to the water seem to learn from the experience. Perhaps they retain an association between what they were doing (attacking a lure) with the resulting experience of being hauled out of the water, unhooked and returned to the water. They tend to avoid making the same mistake again.<br /><br />Bass are regarded as a fairly intelligent group of fish, as indicated by the high degree of mobility their eyes have in their eye sockets.<br /><br />Due to the fishing pressure over the years, all of the more easily caught bass around San Diego were either harvested for the dinner table or caught and released.<br /><br />This left the less-easily caught fish to reproduce, creating generations of fish that became increasingly harder to fool by anglers. These hard to catch fish grew very large over time.<br /><br />Unlike colder parts of the country where the water “gets hard” during the winter and cold-blooded bass greatly reduce their activity, the bass around San Diego grow year round in their moderate environment. These bass get easy calories to grow on during the winter when their lakes are stocked with rainbow trout. The trout, raised in hatcheries, are “naive” and are easy prey for the voracious largemouth bass. So, instead of experiencing little or no growth during the colder months, San Diego bass get larger.<br /><br />The water in the San Diego lakes is very clear, allowing fish to easily spot fishing line and notice differences between their natural live prey and lures. To test how sensitive bass are to fishing line, some anglers tossed live night crawler worms off a San Diego lake’s dock. The bass sheltering under the dock would rush out to consume the wriggling food. The fishermen then threaded virtually invisible 1# test clear monofilament fishing line through a night crawler and tossed it off the dock. There was no hook on the line or in the worm. The worm wiggled just like the others crawlers but the bass refused to touch it. Somehow, they either saw the line or otherwise sensed that there was something different/unnatural abut that particular crawler.<br /><br />The intense fishing pressure may also prompt the bass to use their senses in different ways than they might normally.<br /><br />Some years back I was fishing on Lake Miramar near San Diego and the bass were chasing schools of baitfish just under the surface of the water. There were splashes all around my boat as the bass charged up to engulf the shad trapped against the water’s surface.<br /><br />I was surrounded by other boats filled with fisherman. These anglers were casting a wide variety of baits at the schooling, feeding bass but the fish refused their offerings. Even in the midst of a feeding frenzy, the bass seemed to easily tell the difference between their live prey and the variety of lures being tossed at them.<br /><br />I plowed through my tackle box, trying a number of different lures before finally tying on a <a href="http://fishing.zb.lv/MiniMinnow.gif">Snag Proof Minnow</a>. This is a soft plastic lure with a hollow body.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253291931477850754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigE3rxKr13Mx42WY3AinzXioJVw7L-u-vh-7glQzycNIG-l5kSSPoMWpskl71lucPPizVj_eQUp2-hABeQT5CXq3GIoxqvSVjI8kjOca3ube18opsucqOIwRp7sWuMB8J_NbX2aU4aQao/s320/SnagProofMinnow.gif" border="0" /><strong>A hollow Snag Proof Minnow</strong><br /><br />I chucked the Snag Proof Minnow and jerked it erratically, like a fleeing and disoriented baitfish. Wham! One of those genius San Diego largemouth bass fell for it. I reeled it in, took it off the hook and slid it back into the water. I repeated this sequence many times while jaws dropped in the boats around me.<br /><br />Many of the other fishermen were throwing more realistic looking lures than the Snag Proof Minnow, yet the bass refused to bite their plugs and bashed mine. Why they behaved this way was a mystery to me for some time.<br /><br />Years later I spoke of this episode to <a href="http://www.kencookoutdoors.com/">Ken Cook</a>, a professional bass tournament angler who used to be a fisheries biologist. Cook thinks the bass have senses in their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_line">lateral line</a> that we can’t comprehend. The fish may possibly be able to sense (similar to sonar?) whether their potential prey has an air bladder inside of it. Baitfish have air bladders but most lures are solid plastic, wood or metal. The Snag Proof Minnow, however, is hollow, possibly mimicking the air bladder of a real baitfish.<br /><br />Rationalizing how a fish senses and reacts to things is probably a foolish exercise. However, Cook’s guess sounded viable to me — so much so that I’ll usually include a void space in the lures I use when fishing in heavily pressured waters.<br /><br />Our fishing pressure has made the San Diego bass “smart”. This is “unnatural selection” in action.<br /><br />Okay, we’ll get back to something visual storytelling or design related next week.</div></div></div></div>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-80497989636418808702008-09-21T17:59:00.000-07:002008-09-25T17:40:06.261-07:00Team Management and Development (or How the Baseball Farm System Model Worked In the Comicbook Business)During my time as a line editor at Marvel Comics, I was responsible for the production of five monthly comics along with a variety of one-shots, graphic novels, annuals, limited series, posters and other projects.<br /><br />Each of the comics titles had a five person creative crew (writer, penciller, inker, letterer and colorist).<br /><br />If an ongoing monthly title was on schedule, it would have four or five successive issues in various stages of production. While the latest issue was being prepared to go to the printer, the following issue was being inked, the one after that was being scripted and the one after that was being penciled. At the same time, the next issue in the pipeline was being plotted.<br /><br />In professional baseball, the “big leaguers” play for the major league team (let’s use the <a href="http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nym">NY Mets</a> for an example). Each major league team has three levels of minor league teams: AAA (<a href="http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t588">New Orleans Zephyrs</a>), AA (<a href="http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t505">Binghamton Mets</a>) and A (<a href="http://brooklyncyclones.com/">Brooklyn Cyclones</a>), Each minor league team plays in its own league against other teams at the same level.<br /><br />As a general rule, as young players improve, they move up the ranks from A league level to AA then AAA and finally to the major leagues. The AAA level is usually where the most advanced minor leaguers play, along with those who have struggled in the major leagues and have been assigned to AAA to hone their skills or get back in shape after an injury.<br /><br />At Marvel, I viewed those creators working on my monthly titles as my big leaguers. These were the pros who could be counted on to turn out quality work on a regular basis.<br /><br />The AAA team consisted of talented young creators who had been in training for a while. They produced stories for annuals, fill-in issues, pin-ups and other projects.<br /><br />The AA crew consisted of creators with raw but obvious talent. They were usually found by going through mounds of unsolicited submissions or during portfolio reviews at comicbook conventions. These artists were paid low rates to work on six-page stories as training exercises. The work they produced was not meant for publication.<br /><br />Single A level creators were those with very raw talent. It was hard to tell if they would evolve into an employable talent. In addition to a letter outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the submitted work, I often sent these creators Xerox copies of two (then) out-of-print books that contained a wealth of knowledge:*<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOYG_Mjm72C5-9ghvvETBZkUeuRngFViYN_YBlC4_BDqeCovlqLjqChJmVmq2M3ZfP-kBmwvSAnPBv775Zd9QK8ioyt944dUxU1TC4Q3at45kEClwmkjEEzR3EYJFs-pMTUhz_feLzr7M/s1600-h/Successful-Drawing.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248648043422079362" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOYG_Mjm72C5-9ghvvETBZkUeuRngFViYN_YBlC4_BDqeCovlqLjqChJmVmq2M3ZfP-kBmwvSAnPBv775Zd9QK8ioyt944dUxU1TC4Q3at45kEClwmkjEEzR3EYJFs-pMTUhz_feLzr7M/s320/Successful-Drawing.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_AGBf83FjRlLH-k6Rv3vc_1QloQCVJwbuD-md6yG40ZChdBOHOj7j2P6AhOYNiTkiIXGbAL8b6xJrkbP0BnQlX_9DeHRwJpsgdBMjqWnCgX8nuWSSsBCNi-_I8HPbinWDLOIwoHegc8/s1600-h/successful.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248648307886858786" style="CURSOR: hand" height="309" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_AGBf83FjRlLH-k6Rv3vc_1QloQCVJwbuD-md6yG40ZChdBOHOj7j2P6AhOYNiTkiIXGbAL8b6xJrkbP0BnQlX_9DeHRwJpsgdBMjqWnCgX8nuWSSsBCNi-_I8HPbinWDLOIwoHegc8/s320/successful.jpg" width="231" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Successful-Drawing-2-Andrew-Loomis/dp/0670680907/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219113364&sr=1-1"><strong>Successful Drawing</strong></a><strong> by Andrew Loomis (Also released under the title Three-Dimensional Drawing) (Available as a PDF </strong><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/2175907/Andrew-Loomis-Successful-Drawing"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.)</strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEive568QBu0gMVdmkHbWidpU1F6KWqzj7aCpbOAO7PKjQl8xO_QXJvQldJ-vJBV_qhFoO47SpXwZwqqSGqhsJX5iar8vM3ZUh5Ih-5miZ6R322Bry9C4xy9lDqqWPHmDiMA3pYERiPRqms/s1600-h/5Cs.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248648591358730434" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEive568QBu0gMVdmkHbWidpU1F6KWqzj7aCpbOAO7PKjQl8xO_QXJvQldJ-vJBV_qhFoO47SpXwZwqqSGqhsJX5iar8vM3ZUh5Ih-5miZ6R322Bry9C4xy9lDqqWPHmDiMA3pYERiPRqms/s320/5Cs.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Cs-Cinematography-Picture-Techniques/dp/187950541X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219113215&sr=8-1"><strong>The Five C's of Cinematography</strong></a><strong> by Joseph V. Mascelli</strong><br /><br />If the submitting artist had the drive to make it, they would devour the drawing and visual storytelling information they received and send in a new set of much improved samples. Those who did so successfully usually made it to the AA level.<br /><br />AA talent needed to be trained in three primary areas—<br />-Drawing<br />-Visual storytelling<br />-Professionalism<br /><br />Many of the artists trying to break into comics had never worked at any sort of job. They often drew only when the muse struck them. They didn’t even know what it was like to work on a schedule at the local McDonald’s, much less produce quality art on a periodical schedule.<br /><br />Waiting for the muse to inspire you before getting your pencil in gear doesn’t work when you’ve committed to producing a 22 quality pages of comicbook art every four weeks!<br /><br />So, when I handed the plot for the six-page training story**, I asked the AA artists to set their own deadline for the delivery of their storytelling layouts. That date could be days or a month away. However, whatever date they set, they needed to meet that date. If they could not be relied upon to meet their own deadline, how could they be trusted to meet deadlines set by others?<br /><br />If the layouts came in on time, I’d go over them and sketch out ways to improve the storytelling on overlays. The artist would then set another deadline for when he/she would deliver the finished pencils.<br /><br />Those who did well creatively and professionally were slated to move up to the AAA team.<br /><br />Sometimes artists would come along who were good enough to start at the AAA or even the major league level. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Lee">Jim Lee</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Brigman">June Brigman</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Stroman">Larry Stroman</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Bogdanove">Jon Bogdanove</a> come to mind.<br /><br />If a creator working on a monthly title left to take on other projects, or ran into a problem producing on time, I usually had a quality replacement in AAA that could be used to temporarily or permanently replace the departing artist.<br /><br />In some editorial offices, the loss of a monthly creator initiated a competition with other editors for talent. All too often, talent-hungry editors tried to lure away artists from other editorial offices within their own company.<br /><br />I had no qualms about trying to lure talent away from another publisher. Starting a tug-of-war within Marvel for talent often caused counterproductive friction.<br /><br />However, when another Marvel editor needed an artist and there was a good match between the talent and the project, I’d suggest someone from my AAA pool. I’d rather have the AAA artist working for Marvel regularity than remain stuck in my AAA team, or have the artist take on work from other publishers.<br /><br />A number of artists who began their careers in my office were eventually lured away by the siren call of the X-Men titles. These artists grew up reading and loving the X-Men. That combined with the creator royalties the high-selling X-tiles generated made a call from the X-office hard to resist!<br /><br />I must admit that I felt some pride when much of the X-line was being created by talent I mentored. Those creators included Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Scott Williams, Larry Stroman, Jon Bogdanov, Steve Scroce and Terry Shoemaker.<br /><br />Would running a comicbook editorial office with this system work these days? Aspects of the farm team system should still hold up.<br /><br />My biggest concern is that there is little “forgiveness” in today’s comics market.<br /><br />When Jim Lee started out on Alpha Flight, he was already a very good artist but he was not yet the polished pro he turned into within a few years. In the ‘80s, sales on monthly comics were high enough to support the development of a new artist over the course of a year.<br /><br />These days, comics sales are lower and the fans expect a high degree of professional polish right out of the gate. If today’s smaller audience stops buying a title because the artist isn’t yet polished, the title will probably be cancelled. If Jim Lee were starting his career right now at the same creative level he had on his first Alpha Flight issue, the book might not survive long enough for him to turn into a star.<br /><br />There are probably many other businesses where the baseball farm system model, or a variation, would work very well.<br /><br />* Marvel Publisher Mike Hobson negotiated agreements with the original publishers of these books so that we could make copies for training purposes. The Five Cs… has since been reissued in paperback. (See the Amazon link on this page.)<br /><br />** The 6 page plot most often used for art training was “Double Vision” written by Tom DeFalco. At one point I had a pile of Double Vision stories drawn by many different artists. I’m not sure what happed to that stack or pages. It would be fun, but probably embarrassing to some of the artists, if all of those try out jobs were published together!Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-30859996791523376122008-09-17T19:59:00.000-07:002008-09-23T18:40:30.803-07:00Marvelous Tales: The Secret Origin of the New Universe (A bit of behind-the-scenes Marvel lore, along with a thought on branding.)Interest in the history of Marvel Comics’ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Universe">New Universe</a> line of titles seems to be in the air. I’ve recently heard about several people seeking more information on the origins of the line.<br /><br />As an editor at Marvel during the birth of the New Universe, I can tell you that it was not an easy labor.<br /><br />Sometime during a 1985 editorial staff meeting, then Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter announced a new publishing event – the New Universe* -- to help celebrate Marvel Comics’ 25th anniversary.<br /><br />What Shooter proposed at that meeting differed substantially from what eventually emerged.<br /><br />Here are the conditions he initially established for New Universe projects—<br />-They needed to be new properties<br />-They could not have any connection to the Marvel Universe<br />-They could cover any genre or time period and did not have to share continuity with any other title in the New Universe line.<br /><br />The editors were informed that any solid concept with commercial potential would have a reasonable chance of being approved.<br /><br />Celebrating the anniversary of the Marvel Universe with a publishing event that ignored the Marvel Universe seemed rather odd to me! It didn’t seem to bother Shooter.<br /><br />Around this time, my writer on Doctor Strange, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_B._Gillis">Peter B. Gillis</a>, approached me with his idea for a science fiction series set in the future. It focused on an ever-changing band of short-lived super-human fighters who defended Earth from an alien horde.<br /><br />I teamed Peter with top artist <a href="http://www.brentandersonart.com/">Brent Anderson</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikeforce:_Morituri">Strikeforce: Morituri</a> was born. The concept was quickly approved by Shooter, becoming what was supposed to be the first title in the New Universe line.**<br /><br />At that early point, there was no hint that Shooter would take a very heavy editorial and creative hand in the New Universe.<br /><br />Gillis and Anderson began work on the book and I was very happy with the results.*** After some weeks had passed, I became aware that Shooter was calling New Universe editorial meetings that I was not being invited to.<br /><br />I visited Shooter’s office to see what was going on. The EIC informed me that he’d decided to alter the concept for the New Universe, making it a group of interrelated titles anchored in a shared universe that had no connection to the Marvel Universe. These books would have a very limited “fantastic” element to them and focus on how the characters responded to that fantastic element.<br /><br />Shooter was now up to his eyeballs in the development, creative work and production of the New Universe titles. There was also a growing negative mood around the office from many of those working on New Universe. Shooter often overturned the creative decisions of the line editors causing much consternation for the editors and their freelance creators.<br /><br />So, when I was informed that Strikeforce: Morituri was no longer a part of the New Universe, I was relieved. Although, up to that point, Shooter had not interfered with our work on Strikeforce: Morituri, Gillis and Anderson had heard rumors from other freelance creators about Shooter’s disconcerting involvement with the New Universe. So, the Strikeforce: Morituri creators were as pleased as I was to be back in the “old” Marvel Universe.****<br /><br />My biggest concern about Strikeforce: Morituri leaving the New Universe was making sure the book got promoted properly. Much of Marvel’s marketing resources for the year were focused on the New Universe, This could shortchange the marketing efforts for non-New Universe tiles coming out during that period.<br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247191446008350546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pUhLP__FxK8ySjVRmEkPth88ZY5uYGjUo4AiXE5LFmSWmXfZZMBbUBlEzRfG-faR4S0431BaJCWfNKZE8VqwPhcsXP2Jk_lL9n_9af_0u0WAQ3wWLendBH40Y55xgbfB8uWSCS29bCw/s320/NewUnivCounterDisplay.jpg" border="0" /><br /><strong>Bet you wish you had one of these ultra-rare 3D New Universe countertop displays!</strong><br /><br />The New Universe was previewed for the fans in a dedicated room at the 1986 Chicago Comic Con. The walls were covered with art from the upcoming titles. I watched the reactions of the fans visiting the room. Few seemed impressed. The main bright spot for the fans was John Romita Jr.’s Starbrand art.<br /><br />So, Strikeforce: Morituri was launched in ’86 under the Marvel Comics imprint and any association with the New Universe was forgotten.<br /><br />Whether or not Strikeforce: Morituri took place in the Marvel Universe was left somewhat ambiguous.<br /><br />Strikeforce: Morituri went on to have a decent run from ‘86 to ’90, and, at one point, was optioned for a TV series by Sci Fi Channel.<br /><br />The eight titles that made up the New Universe also launched on ’86. The line lasted until ’89, almost as long as Strikeforce: Morituri.<br /><br />When Shooter was fired from Marvel in ‘87, the New Universe line was revamped. Some of the creators involved in the changes truly wanted the line to succeed. Others seemed more interested in getting their kicks by sinking their claws into Shooter’s baby.<br /><br />If the original concept for the New Universe had gone forward, I wonder how it would have fared. Marvel may have missed a chance to break new ground and establish new genres in a growing marketplace it dominated.*****<br /><br />What’s old is new again. In 2006, Marvel did celebrate the 20th anniversary of the New Universe by having NU characters appear in a series of “Untold Tales.” <a title="Warren Ellis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Ellis">Warren Ellis</a> and <a title="Salvador Larroca" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Larroca">Salvador Larroca</a> then revamped the NU concept and came out with the sucessful “newunivresal.”<br /><br />The New Universe name always bothered me. Using the term “New” as part of a title or brand is a bit awkward. While putting “New” in a blurb on a product often helps it get some initial attention, you can’t keep the “New” on the packaging forever. Assuming that you plan for the product to be a success, how do you justify the “New” when you’ve been around for years? If the New Universe had been in continuous publication for two decades, a 20th anniversary for the “New” Universe would have sounded even stranger than it did.<br /><br />It’s better to use terms like “new” and “improved” in temporarily blurbs on a product instead of incorporating them directly into the brand name. Otherwise, on some level, it seems like there is no expectation that the product will have the longevity needed to outlive its newness.<br /><br />*Among the staff editors at that time were Archie Goodwin (in charge of the Epic Comics line at that point) Tom DeFalco, Mark Gruenwald, Louise “Weezie” Simonson, Ralph Macchio, Bob Budiansky, Larry Hama and Howard Mackie. (Apologies to anyone I left out.)<br /><br />**I recall considering another Gillis concept about the medieval Crusades but can’t remember if that project was submitted for consideration as part of the New Universe.<br /><br />*** Whicle Portacio made his first appearance in a Marvel comic as a penciller in Strikeforce: Morituri #1 where he drew several pages of a comicbook-within-a-comicbook. Up to that point, Whilce’s professional work for Marvel had been as an inker.<br /><br />****I did eventually end up editing one New Universe title. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickers,_Inc.">Kickers, Inc</a>. had the dubious distinction of being the latest title at Marvel. The series creators, Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, had left the series early on in its run due, at least in part, to Shooter’s heavy-handed involvement. Since the books in my office were on schedule, Shooter told DeFalco to inform me that I was the new editor of Kickers, Inc. and I was to get it on schedule ASAP. Making DeFalco force feed me DeFalco’s own now-corrupted creation was a pretty severe move on Shooter’s part. I felt bad for Tom. I did get the book on schedule just in time for it to be canceled (along with several other New Universe titles).<br /><br />*****Marvel’s Epic Comics line was doing a lot to expand the genres and subject matter that the company published but Epic didn’t get the promotional attention from the company that the Marvel titles did. Most of Epic’s titles were creator-owned. The company saw little reason to pour marketing resources into titles they didn’t own and fully control. This is a faulty line of reasoning and the subject of a future blog entry.<br /><br />NOTE: A number of you have sent in great email comments. If you feel comfortable doing so, instead of emailing me directly, post your thoughts in the comments section (link at the end of this post) so others can see the brilliance of your insights. </p>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6471799055212978504.post-36917799916932403832008-09-12T19:00:00.000-07:002008-09-12T21:33:19.696-07:00Frame Formats and Visual Storytelling<div><div><div><div>Whether you are producing a single illustration or a panel that’s part of a comicbook sequence, the way you format/frame the graphic can dramatically affect your viewer’s response.<br /><br />The format and size of the frames in a comics sequence can affect a viewer’s perception of mood, time — and the importance of a panel’s content<br /><br />When a relatively large comics panel is preceded or followed by smaller panels in a sequence, it’s implied that the larger panel contains the most important or more dramatic information.<br /><strong>See below.</strong><br /><br /></div><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244219703695161106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="103" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFR3FFMVvcZ64THFFRypzDgOEDPMgNVsxw3Z5eEGNQH-M8nxcQI_fnJC5w34TdBPKV0y4DILl_6q0FvIQ6F1i7sjcYYwJ23RtoOJ4olU3ZgDDVgEj8bBoba18PZ9mtO8DTgyyI6k25ay4/s320/FramesSeq.jpg" width="335" border="0" />We read sideways, left to right. So, long horizontal panels can give the impression of a slow pace due to the relatively long distance between the left and right panel edges. <strong>See below.</strong><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244220366834983346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIh2Sdij3R0xNP42NJTwHpcfBc1qeuc7UqB0A-66BfZztwVFUIxvD1no7ftnJ-LNV0bDdATsw_rfc5oAQqYKg-BQ_WiCtbBAIPhj4u9Q4LxZVKHbkoDNB6yegAGxbWs2ump9AlwYJ7p0/s320/FramesHoriz.jpg" border="0" />Thin vertical panels give the impression of a fast/staccato pace due to the relatively short distance between the left and right panel edges. <strong>See below.</strong> </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244221176108838610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB_eEGmbn10G-Y1wI-FPZAYjjTUDcxE_C6h0XdJHeFhZy9PNPdjJ_VLPl_CA4sYo-Xru88kzsoCPWfGV6sjqkCgrWujjqi5-An6-QbsS-ltjLxXCpdwOi97HKFO4NodCeT3zBSjyF7y4/s320/FramesVert.jpg" border="0" />Of course what the panel contains can dramatically affect the sense of time! <strong>See below.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244221414115326402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_9-X5ZruHIgXU73L1mRrG4wEgrFSCy4v4rwxdicex3QoGo_KlvPmhtdVpRg3NM9JVEYxNbttUioLKh0au2RPSynAReAIK7MMEUUCAJOsf_wyFju_7XXA7Om0sAa8PcQT4_O-ZryCodI/s320/FramesVertSeasons.jpg" border="0" /></strong><strong>A tree viewed over the course of the four seasons certainly slows down the sense of time, even in thin vertical panels that normally indicate a fast reading clip.</strong><br /><br />Please add your thoughts on this subject. </div></div></div>Carl Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324208070766818833noreply@blogger.com1