Animation: Translating Reality

“We cannot do the fantastic based on the real, unless we first know the real”

 

 

As I am illustrating my graphic novel for my capstone class, I have been facing a challenge that I realize all animators have: the challenge of capturing a gesture or facial expression. There are certain movements and expressions that are so closely associated to a certain feeling, like an eye roll, lip bit, a eyebrow quirk. It is difficult to capture how this looks unless you do it yourself. With either a camera phone to take a picture to capture the image or a mirror (which is less constant and therefore more difficult), I would try and best relay the expression or gesture I made.

I was then thinking about the old Disney “making of” featurettes I so enjoyed when I was a child. I always found it so amusing, seeing those old reels of the Tinkerbell reference, in costume, pretending to walk on a giant mirror or Prince Philip fighting the “dragon” which was simply a stick.

I’ve really only recently sort of connected the dots between what they did then and what I’m doing now. To create the fantastic, you must know the real! You must study movement and expression so that it translates on screen and the audience believes it, doesn’t even question it.

Animator’s often study their own faces or the faces of the voice actors when they deliver their lines. Walt Disney allowed the animators to use him for reference once when he voiced Mickey Mouse. Though he was shy about it, Walt got into character by wearing baggy clothes and a felt hat. He made certain gestures, like referencing Mickey’s height or sort of springing up a little bit when he spoke.

The animators also admit to sometimes putting a subtle bit of the voice actor’s own facial features in a character. Jeremy Irons, who voiced the evil Scar in The Lion King, said he was delighted to find that he recognized a caricatured bit of his own face in the character’s final design. Irons was filmed while he recorded and said that certainly they must have “stolen” some of his face.

The animators want the audience to buy what’s happening on screen. The characters have to grab you and therefore have to be real flesh and blood. Their movements, their tiny little quirks and gestures are essential to making the audience identify with and understand the character. I look at these old live model reference reels in a different way, now, seeing that they are not only entertaining and old school, but really very helpful! Not only do I take photos of myself for reference, but sometimes I record myself performing something and slow it down when I draw. That way, I can try and capture any spontaneous moments. That, I think, is part of the magic.

 

Animation: The Rules of the Craft

The piece of animation that I selected to watch was the “Under The Sea” sequence in the The Little Mermaid. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC_mV1IpjWA)

What are the twelve definitions of animation?

1.       Squash and stretch – Gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. This technique is also useful in animating dialogue and doing facial expressions. The “Under the Sea” we see lots of examples with this, one in particular being a scene where a fish falls and lands. The sequence also features dialogue and facial expressions.

2.       Anticipation – This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about perform, such as running, jumping or a change in expression. We see use of this many times before a character is about to dance. We also see this with Ariel swimming and twirling.

3.       Staging – Cleary communicating to the audience the attitude, mood, reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the story or continuity of the story line, as well as the effective use of long, medium or close up shots and camera angles. The lighting in this sequence is especially effective because it goes from dark to light because in the sequence Sebastian the crab is trying to convince Ariel to be happy with what she has and he points out all of the good things about it.

4.       Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose – Straight ahead animation is animation that starts at the first frame and works frame to frame to the end of a scene. Pose to Pose is charted with key poses done at intervals throughout a scene. Seen at the beginning of the musical number.

5.       Follow Through and Overlapping Action – Follow through is when other parts of a character (a dress, floppy ears, hair, etc) catch up to a character in motion. Overlapping is when the character changes direction while his hair or clothes continues forward. This is all critical to the timing and effectiveness of the animation. This can be seen with Ariel’s hair, which is especially effective given that this is set underwater.

6.       Slow in and Slow Out – Slow-ins and Slow-outs soften the action of the animation by having many drawing at the beginning and end of a character’s pose, but not many in the middle. This serves to make the movements or lifelike (with fewer it serves to create a surprise element or shock appeal.) If you were to slow down parts of the number, you can catch moments where the animation fades from one scene to the next.

7.       Arcs – Arcs give animation better flow and more natural action. Head turns, arm movement, eye movements are executed on an arc. This whole segment is filled with great, smooth movements, from swimming to dancing.

8.       Secondary Action – Action that enriches the main action (ex: Adding gestures or posture to a character to indicate a feeling or emotion.) Secondary Action serves to add more dimension to the character animation and reinforces the main idea. This sequence is full small details, like Ariel’s little mouth quirk at 0:25, that indicates how she is feeling at that time.

9.       Timing – The basic idea of timing is that more frames between poses slow and smooth the action, while fewer drawing quicken the action. We see a lot of this during the middle sequences of the number, especially during the scenes when there there is a quick dance step and then a moment when there is slower action (like Sebastian singing.)

10.   Exaggeration – A caricature of facial features expressions, poses, attitudes and action. You see a lot of this is Sebastian’s character and the background fish and sea creature characters, especially when they are singing.

11.   Solid Characters – Applying the basic principles of form, weight, volume solidarity and the illusion of three dimension. Especially impressive given that the animators needed to provide a sense of weightlessness in the underwater setting.

12.   Appeal – In an animated character, this means an easy to read design, clear poses, and personality development that will get the audience’s interest. The two main characters featured in this scene, Ariel and Sebastian, have specific gestures and facial expressions that are unique to them. Even the background characters seem to have little personalities built in (some of the fish are exuberant, some are glum like the fish at 1:05)

 

Fred’s Fourteen Points of Animation

1.       Appeal in drawing – The character designs look complete, creative and colorful. Their movements are fluid and their gestures make sense with what is going on around them.

2.       Staging – The scene makes use of the lighting to set the mood, as the character of Sebastian is attempting to make the sea seem like an appealing place for Ariel to live, so the light and colors brighten up during this number.

3.       Most interesting way? The film makes use of color and creative designs for the set, colors and background characters in this sequence, which adds to the a

4.       Is it the most entertaining way? I think the sequence was well-done and entertaining. Lots of color, movement and details.

5.       Are you in character? The characters, particularly the main characters with established personalities, were in character. Ariel is a bit dreamy and is often looking away, whereas Sebastian is very stern and practical and is constantly confronting Ariel (and the viewer) directly.

6.       Are you advancing the character? While this sequence doesn’t further the main character as much as say, “Part of your World,” does, it does further prove Ariel’s complete disinterest in living under the sea, and Sebastian’s desire for her to conform.

7.       Is this the simplest statement of the idea of the scene?  Well, this is a musical number, so Sebastian could have just stopped at the line “The sea if your home!”

8.       Is the story point clear? This sequence is pretty clear in both dialogue/lyrics and animation that Sebastian is trying to make a good case for Ariel wanting to live under the scene.

9.       Are the secondary actions working with the main action? Absolutely! This scene features a ton of background characters that are

10.   Is the presentation best for the medium? I think that this was a very fun use of a musical sequence in an animated feature.

11.   Does it have 2 demensional clarity The animation is crisp and clear.

12.   Does it have 3 dimensional solidarity? The sequence feels real and everything has a weight and volume to it.

13.   Does it have 4 dimensional drawing? There is a sense of time and space in this sequence.

14.   Are you trying to do something that shouldn’t be attempted? I think this scene fit well at this point in the movie, and added a bit of lightness and comic relief.

The additional 12 points that you can find on pg. 137

1.       Inner feelings and emotion

2.       Acting with clear and definite action

3.       Character and personality

4.       Through process through expression changes

5.       Ability to Analyze

6.       Clear staging

7.       Good composition

8.       Timing Solidarity in drawing

9.       Power in drawing

10.   Strength in movement

11.   Imagination

 

The nine economical ways to build emotions in the imaginations of the audience

1.       Rear view – Not used in this sequence, as we seem to see most shots from the front.

2.       Shadows – Not really used to this effect in this number. In this film, you would see more of this type of shot in a sequence with the villain Ursula.

3.       Shadows over the character – Again, this would be more fitting of a scene with a villain or violent action.

4.       Overlays – Towards the end, Flounder seems to be struggling through schools of fish to get to Ariel, which makes it more rewarding when he finally gets to her.

5.       Dramatic Layout – The shapes and shadows in the back ground make for a dramatic layout in scenes when there is not much action, just a single character, like Ariel sitting on her rock.

6.       Pictorial Shot – There aren’t really any shots like this is the number (we do see this when Ariel is looking at Eric’s ship in another section of the film)

7.       Effects Animation – We sometimes see with bubbles or seaweed, but there is nearly always a moving character in the shot, so the feeling here doesn’t prevail.

8.       Held drawing with camera moves – I did not see any of this in the sequence, the characters are always moving along with the camera or they are moving when the camera is stationary.

9.       Offstage Sounds – Again, in any stationary shots, there is a character on screen ALONG with the sound effects.

Points to Remember when Animating Emotions

1.       Make sure the emotional state of the character is clearly defined. Ariel in particular is so well animated that even if the other character’s had more difficult to read expressions, you can get the feeling of what this sequence is trying to convey, which is that Ariel is disinterested and bored with the proceedings.

2.       The thought process reveals the feeling. Sometimes it can be shown with a single, held drawing or a simple move. Other times there should be gestures, body moves or full action. Determine which is best in each case. In a lot of cases, Ariel simply gives a look that communicates how she feels, no dialogue required.

3.       Be alert to use cutting and camera in helping to accentuate the emotion. The camera movement/angles are interesting when stationary, but are usually moving and the cuts are well done.  

4.       Ask yourself constantly: What am I trying to say here, what do I really want to show, and how do I want the audience to react? The number is I think meant to be a breather and a fun way to show how all of the other fish want Ariel to conform to their happiness with their situation, and Ariel couldn’t be less interested, even when they are singing and dancing.

5.       Use the element of time wisely: to establish the emotion of the character, to convey it to the viewers, to let them savor the situation. Don’t be ponderous, but don’t take it away from them just as they start to enjoy it. The segment does carry on for a little long, but you get the idea across and it’s a fun number. As an audience member, I always looked forward to it as an exciting highlight of the film.

These points of animation get you to really break a scene down. I’ve never examined this segment of The Little Mermaid, which I’ve watched about a hundred times, this closely. I think it’s interesting to really break down all of the elements that make this scene a successful piece of animation and story-telling, as well as being just entertaining in general. It’s interesting to see how so many pieces come together, like character animation, camera movement and angles, lighting, dialogue, timing, etc. and you really start to appreciate the animators more. It’s then that you realize just how complex a short piece of animation can be!

 

Animation: The Thinker

"In most instances, the driving force behind the action is the mood, the personality, the attitude of the character - or else all three. Therefore the mind is the pilot. We think before the body does them." - Walt Disney

 

As a filmmaker, I enjoy watching not only films, but any behind the scenes featurettes or documentaries about them. One I watched the other morning, in fact, was on the making of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” (1989.) This film was a return to the classic formula, revisiting the fairytale, which is something that last been done in 1959 with “Sleeping Beauty.”

In the documentary, made before the release of “The Little Mermaid,” we get an in depth look at the process the animators go through to bring their characters to life. Glen Keane, the animator behind the film’s main character, Ariel, explains that Ariel’s movements are integral to her believability, and not only the movements on her body, but focus on her expressions, on her eyes (“When animating Ariel, I’ve really tried to pay attention to animating the lower eyelids, make those eyes really communicate.”) Keane mentions that he often referenced the character of Alice in “Alice in Wonderland.” He said that there were many times when you could look at the character and seem to know what she was thinking just based on an eye roll or a squint.
Animator Andreas Deja, who animated Ariel’s father, King Triton, said “They have to be thinking. I think that’s the most important part. They HAVE to be thinking.”  

It’s not enough for the character to simply move to look alive, but the character also has to appear to be thinking. I’ve been on quite a Disney kick recently and have really come to appreciate the quality of the animation. Not just Disney’s incredible use of light, shadow and coloring, the fantastic sequences which I can just imagine being storyboarded to the most dramatic effect, but the small details in the movements of characters. Moments that may not seem necessary, but once added, really bring something to a scene to make the characters real to the audience. Just today I was watching “The Emperor’s New Groove” (one of Disney’s underappreciated films, in my opinion), and I was really studying each scene in a way that I don’t think I ever had before. I was catching certain expressions, gesticulation and movements that I never got before. Even in little scenes, there are interesting details. There is a scene at the end with a group of children standing from the behind. The shot is brief, no more than a few seconds, but all of the children have distinct movements. One little kid is even using his foot to scratch the back of his leg.

The scene that I chose to follow is when Ariel discovers that Prince Eric, who she is in love with, is going to marry someone else. At this point in the film, Ariel’s voice has been taken by a sea witch, so she is all pantomime for this part of the film. I’ve watched the film twice this week and I’ve got to say, the animation on her is just phenomenal. She can’t say a word, but her expressions say it all. At the moment of the realization, she has a certain movement with her hand, a type of fidgeting in a pattern that indicates that she is trying to figure something out. Her eyes dart around, her breathing picks up, she pushes her hair away from her face. These movements all together are a perfect marriage, because together they tell us everything that Ariel is thinking AND feeling.

 These brilliant sequences of animation showcases what Disney does best: make the character come to life. When you see if, you simply believe it without questioning. It’s only now that I’m an adult that I’ve been curious about the process behind making these characters real, but I’ve never questioned whether or not Ariel is real in the context of the film, because she thinks, she breathes, she gestures, she is alive! I think that is the true triumph these Disney films.

 

Animation: What is a Caricature?

             What is a caricature?

My first introduction to caricature was when I was in middle school and attending a state fair. A caricature artist was there and my friends and I got a little portrait made. And then years later, one at my high school graduation party. The point of the sketches, of course, is to take features that are unique to you and exaggerate them. I have large teeth, something that was exaggerated in both sketches. When I think of myself, I tend to exaggerate these features in my mind and perhaps I feel so affectionately about these sketches because I feel that there is a sort of sense of humor in this distorted sort of lens that pokes fun at not only how others see us, but how we see ourselves.

 

When asking which is more real, realism or caricature, there is not really an easy answer. The softer, simpler shapes of realistic characters are more true to life, but flatter than caricatured characters, which might make them less interesting to the audience and perhaps less identifiable.

But there is something in slight caricaturing that gives the illustrations charm and that endearing quality. A good example of this type of caricature being being the couple Anita and Roger in “101 Dalmations.” Their bodies are perhaps a little too gangly, their hair a little less realistic their features exaggerated (Anita’s small waist, Roger’s big nose,) but I think this tends to be more believable than say, the rather straight and realistic characters of Snow White and Prince Charming. This type of animation is more real to an audience that because you can Identify so strongly with those sorts of characters and their movements. A slight caricature in animation makes characters exaggerated enough to add excitement, but real enough to remain identifiable.

                So, both styles can be considered “real,” I think, but caricature is a much more interesting and powerful form of animation, which is something that can capture our attention and really become endearing to us as an audience, making the character that much more real.

Animation: Principles of Communication

A few principles of communication that I remember from our class discussion were discourse, ideology and audience. These three principles play a part in understanding key elements of communication and are necessary topics for communications students to understand.

Discourse is written or spoken communication or debate. You encounter this not only in communications classes, but in everyday life, with your friends, family, at work, on the computer. This way of relaying information and opinions to one another is one of the most common forms of communication we encounter on a daily basis.

Another topic that we discussed in class is ideology. Ideology is a system of ideas and ideals. This contributes to people’s thoughts and opinions, which contributes to what they communicate.

Another thing that we discussed is “audience.” The audience are the people who give their attention to something. It can refer to a subject having a particular audience, a certain type of group that the material would appeal to. For example, when “Edward Scissorhands” was being screened for the first time (in Orange County) it went over horribly, because the people were not the right audience for the film (they even supposedly sided with the villainous bully character!)

                These three principles are keys to understanding effective forms of communication. Discourse is necessary as participants of a discussion, debate or conversation can trade ideas, information nad opinions. Ideology is a belief system that many people may share, and when these people with similar ideas come together, they may want to communicate their ideas to the world. An audience is very important to understand when you are putting together any sort of production. That plays a part not only in the content (for example, you wouldn’t put a lot of graphic violence in cartoon aimed at preschoolers), but the marketing campaigns to advertise the product as well. With an understanding of these three principles, you can begin to better communicate with the world around.

Preparing for Presentation, Completed Scenes

I'm a little nervous for my presentation on Tuesday. I have been working over spring break to complete illustrations and re-write or cut any scenes/dialogue. Here are two scenes that I completed editing today that introduces the main human antagonist in the story, Chairman Rose, the most powerful politician in Vizarro Grand.

This scene is meant to illustrate the tension not only between Mr. Squelge and Chairman Rose personally, but racial tensions between humans and other races like "Tahnzi" people (like Barker) or rare people that have special magical powers called "Ethereals" (Squelge is one, as he can speak to rodents.) Though Rose is stoic and calm on the outside, he is, like many other humans, fearful and suspicious of these other races.

As described in a scene posted a few weeks ago, Mr. Squelge learns that the allowance promised him by the government following an enormous war that took place fifteen years prior has been significantly reduced. We see two powerful forces meet each other head on, displaying two different types of power, one magical, one practical. The second scene is brief and sends the villains off on their hunt for Snow, who is across the world now.

Scene Five – Squelge visits the famous “Glass House of Rose Court”

We are now in a beautifully lush greenhouse, with crystal windows and golden support beams. In the nursery, long tables held many different types of plants and flowers, from exotic orchids to hanging fly-traps that sway as insects buzzed by.

At a table pruning potted white roses was Chairman Rose, the most powerful man in Vizarro Grand. Rose was a at seemed to sway  sway d.  that passed. om exotic orchids to hangingbeams for support. en. While the nurse and missionary fit, handsome man in his forties, with a thick mustache and a deep tan, leftover from years of cricket, golf and rugby on the country club grounds. He wore thick goggles with small magnifying lenses on them, to look for imperfections in his roses and quickly dispose of them. Thorns, bad leaves, insects. All were swiftly eradicated.

Through the doors, wrought iron and decorated with intricate curls and rose patterns, strode Squelge. By his side was Lucinda, now free of her leash. At the guarded door, Barker stood on the other side and leaned against the wall.

Chairman Rose look up for a moment from his roses.

“Oh dear,” He said to himself. “A couple of rats in the garden.”

Squelge bowed deeply and swept off his topper, a few rats falling from it.

“Chairman,” He said with his forced annunciation, putting his hat back on. He looked around, smiling a forced close-mouthed grin. He waited for the Chairman to speak but he did not.

“The garden is looking…splendid as ever.”

“Have you any information, Squelge?” Chairman Rose was abrupt and tired-looking.  

“I’m afraid that’s not why I’m here.” Squelge said.

“Hmph.” Rose said, without looking at Squelge. “Then Mr. Grulling in the Treasury department owes me ten notes. I knew you’d be the first one to come crawling on your belly for your pocket money.”

Squelge furrowed his bushy grey brows and opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again. The Rat Master was attempting to rethink his strategy, but was coming up short.

“It’s funny, you wif all these roses, ain’t it?” Squelge commented, watching the Chairman clip the thorns.

“The irony is not lost on me.” The Chairman said, without looking up.

An uncomfortable silence settled, only interrupted by the steady hiss of the sprinklers misting the hundreds of leafy green plants and the occasional squeak of one of Squelge’s mice.

“Chairman, I have it in writing.” Squelge pulled out an old document, faded with age. “It’s old, but it should still 'old up.”

“Yes,” Rose said. “And I’m sure the treasury department will be hearing that at least ten thousand more times this week.”

Squelge gritted his teeth and began to feel anger bubbling up inside.

“I’m not just some boy who served a week and was sent home with a broken nose!” Squelge spat, clenching his fists. “Years! Years and years of my babies and I making sacrifices for this country! I brought over information, I was tortured, I freed a work camp myself, JUST ME!”

“I’m familiar with your service at Greycliff.” Rose had finished with one rose and moved onto the next. “Resourceful, courageous, patriotic. Even putting your…affliction…to good use.”

He cast a glare towards Lucinda and back at Squelge.

“You were given three medals and everyone knows your name. But…no matter if you’d saved us all singlehandedly, I can’t authorize it. Not for anyone.”

Rose brushed his hand across the table, sending little dead leaves fluttering to the floor.

 "The compensation you fellows received was always far too extravagant to my way of thinking anyways. I suppose when a war ends, we’re so happy it’s over, we simply lose our heads and give our heroes everything.” The Chairman clipped a few stray leaves from the stem of the white roses. “I had to do something for the relief effort."

“Are the human’s compensations being cut at all? Hm?” Squelge said. “Or are you letting the Tahnzi and men like me go first?!”

“My, my. You certainly are in rare form today, Squelge.” Rose said. “You’re not going to send your mutt in to rough me up, are you?”

Chairman Rose looked out the glass door to Barker, who still leaned against the wall, cross-armed.

“Strange,” Rose said. “Always with a companion, but never a wife. One would think you had no interest to marry. How very odd.” 

“Mind if I take yours then? I hear she’s not getting any use from you anymore.”  

It was the most well-known secret in the capital that Chairman Rose kept several mistresses and rumors persisted that his wife was frigid.

Rose walked down from his platform and stood in front of Squelge. Squelge was slightly taller, but Chairman Rose was still intimidating none the less.

“Believe me,” He said, his eyes narrowing. “I’ve much more on my plate than listening to you beg for money to piss away. Take your filthy rat and leave.”

Lucinda hissed at Chairman Rose. 

“You ain’t the only one with power, mate.” Squelge said darkly, stepping away from Rose. “My darlings…”  

A rat came creeping from under a table and then another and another, till nearly fifty rats had flocked from the crooks and crannies of the green house to Squelge’s feet.

“You know, I can always weed out the diseased rats, even if they don’t tell me.” Squelge said. “Every year, I lead ‘em to a cliff where I tell ‘em there’s lots of food waiting and…I push ‘em off into the sea. It hurts me…but I do it for the “Grand City.”

He walked back to Rose with all of the rats following behind.

“It would be just as easy for me to bring them in as it would be to push them out.”

Rose’s face remained stony and hard as he went the wall and pressed a button. The heavy doors opened and soldiers with masks with eerie blank faces with only slits to see and breathe, came pouring through, large guns slung across their shoulders. Squelge could see Barker being surrounded by a few of them, as he himself and his babies were.

Rose nodded to the General Paperface. Squelge quickly grabbed Lucy up in his arms as a soldier yanked him out of the line of fire. The Paperfaces mowed down nearly every rat with their fire. 

“Stop!” Squelge cried out, holding a wriggling Lucy. Two pulled Lucy from Squelge’s grip, one ramming the butt on his gun in Squelge’s stomach. Squelge fell to the ground Lucy bit and clawed at the soldiers, but they seemed to take no notice. They held her to the ground and a soldier stood above her, his rifle pointed directly down at her head.

“Is this a display of your power, Squelge?” Rose said, mockingly. “Please, let me show you mine.”

“I HAVE INFORMATION!” Squelge shouted, hoarsely. “ABOUT THE SNOWFALLER! I DO! I DIDN’T TELL YOU BEFORE!”

“Indeed?” Rose raised his brow.

“Y-yes, yes, just away from Lucy!” Squelge cried, looking to Lucy who struggled under the weight of the men.

“Go on, then.” Rose said.

“The Snowfaller was pregnant, with…I dunno, something,” Squelge said. “And she gave birth.”

“You’re lying.” But the tone in Rose’s voice was unsure.

“It was swollen when it was last seen.” Squelge said. “I gave all my information years ago and I’m giving information now.

“Where did you hear this?”

“Where do you think?” Squelge said, looking to the dead rats on the ground. “They gossip, but they ain’t smart enough to lie, rats. They’re simple, ya see.”

“When did this happen?”

“Must have been a while ago.” Squelge said. “Enough time for it to grow.”

“Then it must be…found.” Rose said. “Where is it?”

“Now that I ain’t tellin ya’” Squelge said. “And ain’t no one but the rats know.”

“You’ll tell me or I’ll have your head.”

“I won’t and you won’t find it till it’s a big enough problem ta knock on your front door, Chairman.” Squelge said. “You give me what I’m owed and Barks and I’ll bring it back to you. Lucy can track it. Rats can describe smells. She already knows what this thing smells like.”

Rose seemed to be thinking for a while.

“Well, it would get you out of my hair…” Rose pondered aloud. “If what you say is true, you are to find the beast and bring it back to me alive. If you do, I’ll triple your allowance. If not…don’t bother coming back.”

Mr. Rose went back to his table.

“Men, you will escort Mr. Squelge on his journey.” Rose turned to the General. “He has six months. If he comes up with nothing, shoot him.”

 

Scene Six – Squelge and Barker set off

 Squelge, Barker and Lucy-Darling leave with a small band of Paper-Faces. Barker can hardly believe what is happening.        

“Once we get to the car, I say we make a break for it, mate,” Barker gruffly, in a hushed tone. “Clean getaway.”

“You outta yer gourd, Barks?” Squelge whispered. “Then we’ll never be able to come back to the only good city in this wasteland! We’ll have ‘em on our backs forever and I’ll never get my money! My precious money! All of my cute, darling little notes! We’ll have to work for them! Me? Work for a living?!”

“I mean…we could do that.” Barker said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous!” Squelge said, waving his hand dismissively. “Besides, rats are too stupid to lie. They’re just a bunch of bloody, little gossips. There must be something out there. Besides, Lucy knows the smell of the thing, don’t’cha, darling?”

The Rat chattered excitedly as hoped into the shiny orange automobile. Eight Paperfaces, loaded and dressed in military uniform, crammed into the car behind them.

“We know it’s somewhere in Light Island.” Squelge said. “And we know it’s a kid. I’m pretty sure we’d be able to spot some little monster-spawn. Oh, think of the money, the possibilities, Barksy!”

“If we find it.”

“We will! We will find it!” Squelge revved up the car. “Look out Snow-Baby! Squelgey’s out for the big bucks! Hahaha!”

The car takes off from the property and out of sight.


So in these scenes, I wanted to bring all of my villains together and give them motivation and even a little bit of sympathy. Though Chairman Rose is corrupt, brutal and abrasive, he is a frazzled man who just wants a moment alone in the garden to relax, which is partly why is so annoyed by Squelge. And Squelge, who is greedy and conniving, only wants what he was promised. Squelge also has moments of vulnerability to him, revealing the personal sacrifices that makes to keep the city safe and then how much he loves Lucy.

I have tried in these scenes to make sure that the character's personalities are correct and that all of their motivations make sense. I want this story to have as much life and depth that I can bring to it.

Further Progress: Finishing "Snow"

I am progressing with this story and plan to complete it by the end of the week.

I have been giving a lot of thought to backstory in my graphic novel, as well as the aesthetic. My mother own a wonderful book series entitled "This Fabulous Century," which has a book dedicated to every decade of the 1900's. This has been helpful research to me. I am particularly studying the 1920s. The book covers the history, the Crash, the fads, the fashions and pop culture of the decade. This is helping me write what leads up to the events of "Snowfall," which is set in an alternate 1929. For what is going on in the story's present to make sense, I have to flesh out the past.


Many of the characters in my novel are older to help establish some of these references to what happened in the world before my character, Snow, came into it (many older characters often reference "The Greycliff Siege," my world's version of WW1.)

I have also decided to include segments that are in the style of radio broadcasts, so that I can provide some exposition and still have these transitions fit the period (well, the fantasy version of it, anyhow) that I am writing for.

I am also continuing to experiment with creative transitions. I have taken an interest in pages that have no formal separation, but chunks of dialogue. I find this style interesting and I think that it can add a feeling of surreality and the abstract to my story.

For example, in the illustration on the top left, Snow is at a ceremony commemorating the life of her late adoptive father, a world famous physician and philanthropist loved the world over. The event is being broadcast over the radio and as part of the ceremony, people can speak about any experiences they had with Dr. Light.

A man gets up tells a story of Dr. Light saving his sons life. This experience can be paralleled in Snow's life, as Dr. Light also saved her life. I thought that to keep this feeling, I wanted this sequence to all be one page. For me, it just made sense.


Another thing that I want for a lot to be shown, not told. The "telling" is a common and tempting pitfall as a writer (or at least for me it is), but it is so much more powerful to show and with the ability to show through descriptions AND illustration, there is so much potential for a really striking image that says everything.

Snowfall Scene: Squelge and Barker

According to the syllabus, there is not a blog due this week, but I wanted to share with you a scene that I have written for Snowfall that introduces two of my villains.

In the last scene that I submitted on this blog, my main character Snow was delivered and rescued by the retired physician Dr. Light from her frightening mother, The Snowfaller. The only other witness to this event was a wood rat. Nearly a year later, through a chain of gossip between rats, the news reaches the other side of the world, in the enormous, thriving Vizarro Grand.
Here, we meet Illius Squelge, a man who speaks to rats and his friend, a half-dog man, named Barker. Squelge, a man who speaks to rats, finds himself in a situation that threatens his frivolous lifestyle (and suspects that racism may be behind it.) Luckily for Mr. Squelge, a rat delivers some very, VERY important information to him, information that would be very useful in negotiating for what he wants.

Scene Four - Mr. Squelge and Barker

On the other side of the world, in the gigantic city of Vizarro Grand, we see a rat running through the street. It gossips to another rat who takes off down a long alley. We see the rat turn and run down several more streets. As he whispers to another rat, we see two men walking down a narrow, back alley street.

 On the left is a man, skinny as a rail, his grey braid swaying with his hoppy, dance-like movements as he walked. The man would occasionally twirl or tap his cane, fitted with a silver handle in the shape of a rat’s head, on the ground. His beaver-skin topper and long, patched overcoat stuck out oddly among the people walking by, not only because the outfit was nearly twenty years behind the current fashion, but because out of his many pockets little rodents peeked out, whiskers twitching, and round the brim of his has was a tiny wire railing, which kept the mice from falling off.

The man beside him was opposite in nearly every way. He was a towering, grim-faced fellow in plain clothing. His boxy shoulders, hulking arms and a severe underbite with a single tooth jutting out, gave him the appearance of a Neanderthal. The cap that fit snuggly over his head did a poor job of hiding the pointed ears that protruded underneath the fabric.

“Well, Barks,” We overhear the man begin, annunciating things sharply to mask a common accent: “we have already imbibed and gambled at the three penny parks and said “’Ello” to nearly every painted Lulu on the street, and it’s not even 2 o’clock yet. Ha! What a life, aye?”

 “I don’t really think that counts as saying “’Ello” to ‘em if ya’ jus’ play Mah-Jong wif ‘em.” Barker observed. 

“I pay ‘em to do what I want to do wif ‘um, which is to play a lovely tile game with me. Besides, I can always get a laugh out of ‘um, unlike you.” Mr. Squelge said. “Ya know I love ya, Barks, but you’re about as cheerful as an undertaker.”

From above, a red-faced man on the balcony of a building called down to Mr. Squelge.

“Top o’ the morning, Mr. Squelge!” The man called, smiling broadly.

“Good morn’in and e’ryblessin!” Mr. Squelge called, tipping his hat.

“Where you off too?” The man called.

“Off to pick up Lucy and pick up the ‘ol paycheck!” Squelge called. 

“Oy, never enough is it? Especially these days!” The man called, with a hearty laugh. “Have a good day!”

“And you!” Mr. Squelge called up.

The pair stopped at a pretty blue shop, with a wide viewing window in the front where several ladies in matching blue uniforms were washing and grooming several dogs. The pair went in and came out a few minutes later with not a dog, but an enormous white rat, the size of a basset hound, on a leash. Around her neck was a collar, with a bright pink bow and a tag that read: “Lucinda.”

The white rat walked like an iguana, feet turned in and hissed and sputtered at those that passed. Her blood red eyes narrowed at the rats who followed at Squelge’s feet and she bared her long sharp teeth menacingly at them.

“Now, Lucy-Darling,” Mr. Squelge said. “Do you feel much more a lady?”

The rat squeaked and chattered at Squelge, as a woman walking a dog passed. 

“No, we’ll feed you when we get home.” Squelge said, firmly as Lucy-darling eyed the dog. “We’ve got to stop at my mailbox first. Time for my allowance! After the motorcar, I’d thought we’d be eating scraps for a month.”

“Still dunno why ya bought the damn thing,” Barker muttered. “You can’t even get it through these narrow roads ‘ere.”

“Now, now, Barks,” Squelge said brightly, tipping his hat to a lady that walked past. “I worked and waited my whole life to be an extravagant fool, and by god, that’s what I’m going to be.”

The pair stopped along the side of a building that had many brass mailboxes in rows along the wall. Mr. Squelge unlocks the little door and removes an envelope. He continued to chatter as he opened it.

“So, I was thinking, how about that new place that opened on Rose Street. Steaks and ribs, I think. I dunno, either way, I’m just absolutely famish-“ Mr. Squelge’s eyes widened as he counted the notes that were in the envelope.

“This isn’t right…” Squelge said. He reread the message, his eyes growing wider and wider.

 “WHAT?!” Squelge cried out, hands shaking. “I-I-GAH! They can’t DO THIS to me! I’m a bloody national hero!”

“What you on about?” Barker said, as he leaned up against the wall.

“Dear Mr. Illius Squelge,” Squelge growled through gritted teeth. “The Treasury Dept. of Vizarro Grand and Greater Greycliff territories wish to inform you that until further notice all superfluous outflow is to be temporarily suspended. Your monthly allowance will continue as promised, but with the state of emergency that we are in, we ask for your patience in this time. For any questions or concerns, please contact - blah blah blah! HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO ME! HOW DARE THEY? I'M A BLOODY NATIONAL HERO!”  

“I knew we was gonna get crowded out when it got bad enough.” Barker grumbled. “The humans’ll be getting their paychecks cut last, wif’ out doubt. Us Tahnzi-folk always gettin' the shaft.”

 “I’ll go straight to Chairman Rose himself!” Squelge spat, crumpling the letter in his fist. “I’ve got it in writing! I am getting what I was promised! They ain’t rippin’ me off!” 

 A rat soon begins to squeak at him by his shoe.

“Wot are you on abou’?” Squelge said. The rat repeats himself.

“It can’t be. How? Where?”

The rat squeaks again.

Squelge’s jaw has dropped and then he seems to get an idea.  

“I have just received some very valuable information, Barks,” Squelge stuffs the letter in his pocket and straightens himself up. “C’mon. We’re going to see the Chairman.”

The pair set off down the street, Squelge with a spring back in his step.