Writing Outside the Lines

Underperforming Overcaffeinated. ~Young, Writing the times~ Writer & Scriptwriter & Poet

[aswriteasitgets]

Avengers: Endgame: from a step back, it’s taking a step back

I’ll start in 2018. I watched Avengers: Infinity War rather late for a fan (around July) and I was stunned. It is a rarity for me to watch a film so titillating and well-structured, I can deconstruct narratively as I watch it for the first time. There was visual gravitas, the storytelling and character development has powerful impetus and it was a great comics film and most importantly, a good film. So, needless to say I was keen on waiting (less than) a year for Avengers: Endgame.

So, taking a step back from my status as “fan” or “comic book academic”, I will say that the film had its moments but it was undoubtedly a step back. Back to the 2012-Avengers when the light misogyny that seems to be ever-present in the superhero was overt. Yes, Marvel Studios have a more diverse cast of female characters -they reminded the viewer and Thanos’s army in spades in that 60-second onslaught that they went on. The problem is that they don’t develop them.

           In Endgame, the main female leads are the Black Widow and Nebula. This being a superhero film means that everyone seen and everything said adheres to a character archetype, carrying on the idea that the characters themselves are ideals and bigger than human. So, the two archetypes-roles of Black Widow and Nebula is the Caring Mother and the Cause of all Evil.

           Post-snap Black Widow is tepid, caring and looking for a way to make up for something that wasn’t her fault. When the Avengers have a maverick (Hawkeye) she disciplines him with her words and soft touch rather than her moves and weaponry. So nice, so caring that she sacrifices herself for her “child” to be happy. Because that’s what mother do, right? Even if she has to kick Hawkeyes butt all the way back to the mountain.

           Then, there is Nebula, or the character they did most wrong by. The reason why Thanos finds out about the time heist, he rampages through time and decides to go full-comic villain (annihilate and destroy the universe) is Nebula. Not because she does anything wrong but because she simply went back in time and exists. Meanwhile, when Tony and Scott mess up and 2012-Loki (the evillest incarnation of Loki we’ve known) gets the Space Stone and disappears is all fun and laughter. Then the Nebula of the past infiltrates and betrays the Avengers and finally the 2024-Nebula manages something for the good guys: to kill does is kills her erring self, in a form of “absolution”.

           Avengers: Endgame is a superhero film, a genre whose de facto goal is to return to normalcy, vicariously brining no change. It’s a film with layers, a game-changer for superheroes film to come on some aspects. Then again, looking it from a distance, it is a film about American superheroes and it comes with all the problems of the genre. So, a step forward and a step back.

[aswriteasitgets]

Map Idea of V&A project - A day at the Museum

So, I have recently created three different museum maps for my project with V&A Dundee, and even though I can’t post them online yet, I felt the need to explain how I visualised every one of those maps.

The first and second are placed in the beginning of their welcomic as a form of contextualisation and narration-establishing devices. They are showing the course of the Visitor in the Museum and they are meant to work as splash pages.

After them, there will be the shorter, more web-compatible planes and actions I've created which are basically a close-up, zoomed-in shot of every picture seen on the splash-page / map.

This way, I’ve found a way of laying the background and place, as well as giving the story an interesting layout and composition, allowing the reader to delve in deeper into the story.

[aswriteasitgets]

2000 A.D. Future Shocks

“Remember to forget” is an original four-page script telling a human story in a dystopic, sci-fi setting. It is open-ended, allowing greater engagement and emotional investment by the reader. The Protagonist, an unnamed young alien has been up all night reflecting on his life. He is part of a race of intergalactic warriors who treat their atrocities casually and haphazardly. This bizarreness stems from the fact that each day, after they are done with the horrors of their conquest, they are submitted to a process which simply wipes parts of their daily memories and experiences away, mostly their negative emotions and any sedimentary and residual conscience they might have regarding what they have done. It is something which leaves everyone devoid of empathy and realisation.  This perpetual tuning up has the protagonist wondering, “What’s worse? The fact that they are harming others or ignoring that they have harmed others?”

This was the basic premise of original story about a script submitted to 2000 AD magazine, for its short story excerpt titled future shock. “Future Shock” guidelines are rather simple: it’s needs to be an otherworldly story (preferably sci-fi or fantasy with a plot building up and a twist at the end. So, I decided have an emotional build-up rather than a physical one, focusing on a vibrant thinking process, but a contrasting slow-paced visual narrative.

Another primary guiding line for “Future Shocks” is that in generally is a black-and-white, monochromatic excerpt, leaving little room for creating a script that is reliant on colours.

So, at the end I created a script and page thumbnails, with these creator’s suggestions on top of the script:

“Guiding notes:

1)   I believe in creative freedom and even though I have a compact idea of where the story is heading, I prefer giving vague description and seeing what the artists will come up with.

2)   The Protagonist is nameless throughout the story to evoke a greater sense of empathy and universality. Also, he is the only one moving slowly, contemplating until the very last page, when there is some vigour in his movements. Other than that, the world moves around him, but he is just slacking along.”

In hindsight, this was one those stroke-of-inspiration creative works, when I had the idea and went on with it, in a way. There were some bumps down the road when I wanted to go a step further and try to sketch out the thumbnails. I believe that engaging myself with a visual element of comic-creation can be rather positive and allow me a versatility of visualising and composing that I din’t have before. So, keeping that in mind, I made the thumbnails and further on edited the story as I worked my way up through the problems and inconsistencies the script might have had.

After that it was a matter of editing and adjusting the already written-produced material to one that resonated more and was attuned to how I had pictured “Remember to forget” in my head.

[aswriteasitgets]

Logo design

Being asked to come up with a logo about our brand and designing line proved to be a gruelling task, as I had come up with something that was original but at the same it represented me. So, this is why I came up with the idea for LoudMouse: it’s short and snappy, it rhymes and most importantly, it proved a great opportunity to hone me drawing skills.

So, in order to design the logo, I followed a traditional approach. Firstly I drew out the cartoon mouse and the megaphone. Then, I scanned it and tweaked with it, using mostly Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. After the original design was completed, I redesigned the entire thing digitally with the vector tool and painted it. 

Finally, what was left was to give it minimalistic design, using only a few lines to highlight the shapes and silhouette (for a more up-to-date, contemporary look) and the font - after several tries I ended up with Punk Hawaiian, a font which is heavy on the lines and acute angles, balancing out nicely the design of the Mouse which is comprised mostly of round shapes (elliptical and ovals).

So, this is LoudMouse, the logo for my collective band of creators making comics and illustrations. 

[dailymilesmorales]

Spider-Verse Had to Get You to Love Miles Morales in 45 Seconds

“In Miles, we have a kid who’s not ready — he’s not ready for school; he’s not ready for this mission.”

Miles Morales, for fans of comic books and Spider-Man, is very well known. But for people outside of that world, he’s not very well known. With Into the Spider-Verse, we’re introducing a character who our audience already knows is going to become a new Spider-Man. But the audience loves Peter Parker, the Spider-Man they’ve got. It’s a challenging introduction of a character: Our movie doesn’t work if you don’t fall in love with Miles Morales.

We open the movie with a montage that introduces the real Spider-Man. The scale of that scene is enormous. It’s like seeing an entire superhero movie in 45 seconds, guided by this very confident narrator. Then we cut to Miles, and things slow down a lot. In an elegant script, everything is deliberate, and everything is a microcosm for something larger: When you meet Miles, we see him singing a song with headphones on. We made a very deliberate choice to spend the first couple of minutes we’re with Miles really just watching him. We wanted Miles to be kind of lovable. We see him drawing and making stickers; we’re establishing that he’s a creative person, he’s an artist, who is able to create without feeling self-conscious or encumbered.

The most important thing for this scene to communicate is that Spider-Man, as a character, is always punching up. In Miles, we have a kid who’s not ready — he’s not ready for school; he’s not ready for this mission. He doesn’t have all the tools, but he has spirit, and we fall for him because of that. We start the movie looking at Miles, and then we end it with him looking right at us.

We needed Miles to score a foolproof laugh at the beginning of the movie, right when you meet him. There aren’t exactly jokes in this stretch, or any clever lines. It’s just what a reasonably clever kid would say. We had this idea that if he sang a song that was out of his register, it would make the audience laugh. It got a big laugh in the preview screening a year ago, but there was one problem: The song we initially used was the Donald Glover song “Redbone,” and we liked the double-layered joke of opening with a Donald Glover song because of his history with Spider-Man. “Redbone” killed … until Get Out premiered.

It was critical that the song gag landed. We had a feeling it was because people knew the song, and they knew how he was messing it up. We were in big trouble when we couldn’t use it anymore — we needed to replace one of the greatest songs of the year, and we had to do it in time to spend the three months we would need to animate that shot. It turns out “Sunflower” is a massive hit song. We heard it as part of a batch of songs that Republic Records presented to us.

We also liked the metaphor this presents: Miles is singing a song that theoretically he’s a little too young for and he doesn’t know the words yet. That’s the metaphor we’re going to be working with for most of the rest of the movie. He’s going to be asked to step into shoes that he feels he’s not ready for, he’s not going to know the words, and he’s going to feel very self-conscious and nervous about that.

With Jefferson, we need to convey the authority he has in Miles’s life. His lines are delivered from either off camera, or passing. In a very subtle way, there’s a bit of a disconnect between these characters: Miles and his dad talk to each other, but they don’t necessarily look at each other, or face each other. Jefferson is a character who’s searching for a way to communicate with his son. This line — “you’re a grown man now” — was improvised by Brian.

Jeff and Rio are both helicopter parents in some ways. We were always riding a line, we didn’t want Jeff to feel punitive or naggy. We always wanted him to seem like he was a good dad.

We had to have Spanish in this scene. We worked really hard with Shameik [Moore] and Luna [Velez] to have enough Spanish in there that felt credible and that didn’t alienate English speakers when they heard it. It was important that it wasn’t subtitled, that it felt completely normal, and was never presented as foreign or other.

Sometimes we overdid it. And at one point we underdid it. We spent a lot of time fine-tuning that stuff. Even in recording sessions where sometimes Rodney would be on the phone with his mom, and Luna would be on the phone with hers, and we’d be saying, “What would you say if I didn’t do my homework, and you were going to call me out?”

We tried a lot of different versions of this scene, but sometimes the most down-the-middle structure works the best. A lot of these sequences were grounded in conversations we were having about how a lot of the characters in the movie were fighting against inevitable change, and were seeking to go back to a comfortable place in the past that didn’t really exist anymore. That was the intention behind Miles and his old school, and wanting to go back to it. We decided that Miles’s school was around the corner from his house, because it let us say a lot of stuff very quickly.

The initial versions of this scene, in some ways, hit a lot of the same things but in a different order. You saw Miles hanging out a lot with a specific group of friends that we no longer meet specifically. There was a dinner-table scene with the parents, and a lot of the dynamic of that was eventually moved to the scene where he drives to school with his dad. You had stuff about how Jefferson feels about Spider-Man. In those drafts, the movie started with him telling his parents that he decided to quit school.

You don’t get the sense that Miles is Mr. Popular, but you definitely get the sense that he’s a well-liked kid who has history and rapport with the people around him. In some ways we started to draft a lot on Shameik, and his charm. This is just a piece of flavor that popped up, between the writing and the recording sessions. Miles is not in control of his powers; it’s almost like setting up what’s to come. He is a charming kid. He is starting to make connections with other people that may or may not be romantic; it’s unclear. He’s capable of getting the connection, but he just isn’t quite in control of what he’s doing yet.

The stickers that Miles works on came from Bob Persichetti and his rebellious, street-art-skateboarder past. In the initial treatment, we wanted him to have something that was a little lie that he would keep from his parents, because it felt like a good microcosm of the big lie that he has to keep from them, going forward into the next stage of his life. What’s cool with the stickers, too, is that they literally say “My name is.” It very uniquely set up that Miles was someone who was still searching for himself and identity and wasn’t quite sure who he was, and was almost trying out different versions of who he was, graphically, on these stickers.

There were many versions of this scene, even in its current structure. We tried over and over again to write more jokes for Miles. Beyond meeting Miles, this first scene with him is about mapping out the visual contours of what you’re doing, and the tonal contours of what you’re doing. You’re conveying the overture for your whole movie, and the audience is paying attention. Sometimes if you don’t establish that stuff early enough, it feels jarring later on if you take a sharp turn and do something that you haven’t set up as one of the colors you’re playing with. A lot of jokes just didn’t work. They either felt fake, or written. So we just said, “Forget it.” All we want to do is fall in love with this kid, fall in love with his family, and convey a couple of very simple things. The kid feels a little overwhelmed; he’s not prepared. He’s a regular kid who fibs to his parents, parents who have very high expectations of him because they love him and are trying to do as much as they can to help him. And, of course, we had to do all that in 45 seconds.

[aswriteasitgets]

Dealing with Writer’s Block - going at it, till I break it through or I’m broken through (6/2/2019)

So far, I am two weeks in doing the V & A webcomic, I have to do for one of my modules and I am kind of stuck. I mean, this is writer’s block, which is something I am familiar with, seeing how, I am a writer.

There has been some progress being made over the past couple of days but I am pretty much in a deadlock with creativity and putting it together. It is vexing, having a vision that is ineffable and inexpressionable, in a sense that it might be challenging to visualise it and put it together in a style that I can actually create something I would be proud to present.

So, for this post I will be posting the general pitch and idea below:

Ideas for the script

#1 Comic strip one

Clio as a tourist guide – focus on human nature, related to history.

History is there for the sake of better understanding. Not simply of the human nature but human in the world. History is only a taste of probing and enquiring, so it reinforces you to look out for more. But in

   Inspiration from the Museum – the Museum as a brain and the visitors as its brain cell

Creativity in the sense of seeing, and being able to revaluate what’s seen in a completely novel angle and thus they can create from what is already seen.

 Something worth seeing – What should be part of the Museum?

From presenting what was taken, to what was created.

 Knowledge in museum – being an active part of the museum

Museums are tangible knowledge, selected and displayed in order to convey a story. But how can a narration be told

What is the Museum if not the people? -  how can the museum be a place for everyone, regarding the part of themselves that they are seeing. Could this be that they are appealing to their natural curiosity with a mix of what is familiar to them but also in a disruptive, challenging way.

Museums can control what is displayed in them and so they are able to give something to the visitors. Then it is up to them, in the very end. At least they can provide the bare minimum, despite any other narration that might be provided to them. Giving them a reminder in order to reshape and rethink.

    The primary questions which are going to be asked by the Visitor, which will be the main plot-driving devices:

 What if  - inspiration

This reminds me of – relation

Who knew – rediscovery

I had no idea – learning

[aswriteasitgets]

News from the Gutter: I love writing letters, but lettering?  Uh, how about no?

So, for the past semester I was busy creating my own comic. And the thing is I can’t draw, so I decided to do it by using edited photos. It’s a novel and interesting take, trying to put it together, because suddenly it allows you to visualise stuff in another, radically different manner.

Suddenly the entire world can be captured in a panel so you have to be on edge and trying to take in all the angles and corners that could be useful. 

So yeah, I was doing a comic about a breakup through edited photos. For the greatest part of the process I was using online software like Adobe Photoshop.

Here are some progress photos:

(This is Page 2 of my comic Blurred -ing Lines, by Thanos Kyratzis)

(This one is page 5 from Blurry -ing Lines, by Thanos Kyratzis - still in progress). 

As it can be seen, the whole monochromatic and sombre undertone is defined and refined through the edited pages. It was a much of task to put together these images, because I had no earlier knowledge of how to operate the software I was using but it all came through in the end.

So, seeing how I couldn’t learn to draw in one semester (despite the fact that I have already takes some steps towards improving my self - I have a sketchbook and everything! All I need is time, will and patience to practice without frustration), I decided to focus on the lettering. Scriptwriting is my forte so why not keept it in the narrative?

Oh how little did I know. Lettering is a tough and complicated process, much more detailed-centred thatn any other comic book preparation stage. This is what I was getting myself in. 

So, in this entry I will be talking about lettering. No ComicSans (default comic book font) was a no-no, so I had to endeavour into finding what would be suiting for my comic style and narrative? 

Got any font shaped like trickling tears and jarring, jaded sharps of memories? No, didn’t think so. So, I visited blambot, a website specialising on comic book fonts to find my ideal one. It was a rough patch, because as it can be seen from the picture above the original one wasn’t really professional, albeit really personal. So I did the lettering for the whole comic, from cover to cover and then I received feedback about my font being “deplorable”. So, this being constructive criticism about my work, I decided to tackle it professionaly and make some changes. So, this is a previes of the new font:

It is much more eligible and clearer and at the same time it has a minor resonating effect carrying that personal tune I wanted my comic book to be about.

There are many issues and intricacies that one needs to take heed of when doing lettering: how the capital or lowercase I should be depicted (I learned it the hard way), about equible slace and not suffocating captions and speech-balloons. But similar to this there are just as many tutorial, guides and people willing to give you feedback and help. 

One of the greatest recommendations for lettering is The DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering Comics by Mark Chiarello and Todd Klein. It has some tips that can get you out of a rought spot.

So this was the entry about lettering. As far as digital one goes, I look forward to profess myself some more into this domain, but I need to become more familiar with the necessary software.

Until the next one.

[aswriteasitgets]

News from the Gutter: A bit down the road of the creative process (a.k.a. state of utter panic)

 Still here, creating and writing the comic book. After consolidating with options and a session of brainstormin/writing and editing, I’ve made a second draft of the comic book script (with a title and a final page number)

You can check the script right here

Moving on, I think there are some attributes and aspects of the script I need to point out, as well as highlight some of the references that help me make this.

To begin with, the metafictional aspect I am invested in highlighting in the book. So, what is going to be an intrinsical feature of the book will be the deconstruction of the Narrator-figure, assaulting the alleged objectivity that goes hand-in-hand with their figure. This will happen through a mildly challenging process for the reader, as they will have to be immersed and realise the weakness of the framed story.

Basically, like I mentioned in the primary journal, what unfolds is a story by memory rendering it completely subjective and thus, it will be steadily and gradually deconstructed, through verbal and visual representations in the comic.

Another important notice on the comic, is that after having a session with a professional comic-book writer, I’ve elucidated the story more. Following the narration of the short story it was written, the story will be depicting an ancounted or two disgruntled and fallout people, who are breaking up for the umptinth time.

References-wise, I find that the more comics I read the more I am inspired to immerse all the creativity in my comic. Although, it’s not only comics that I am limiting myself to, but some interviews and critical approaches on creators’ work (For example Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling has offered quite the insightful way of designing some of the pages.) Other references and inspirations for this comic book have been:

Fraction Matt, Hawkeye: My life as a weapon (NY: Marvel Publishing, 2013), p. 11

Gillen Kieron, Origin II, Issue 1, page 10. (2013) Marvel Publishing

Talon, Durwin,  Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling (NC: Twomorrows Publishing, 2007), p.79.

[aswriteasitgets]

Second Draft of Script of  “Blurred Lines          -ing            “

(So, this is the second draft of the the script for the comic book I am creating. The idea has solidified and I have reached a(current) final number of pages - 10. Title’s also there as well and I am working with solid visual references)

“Blurred Lines       -ing”

 Page 1: Following a typical six-panel separation format, the panels would be in clear-cut frames, with each frame focusing on close-up shots of minor, insignificant details – referencing 3’’

Panel 1: A lit cigarette smoking.

Panel 2: Bicycles at rest.

Panel 3: A paper cup of coffee steaming.

Panel 4: Reflection of a full-bodied figure and sunlight’s glare on a glass door.

Panel 5: Some leaves rolling by, signifying autumn.

Panel 6: Books stacked together.

(possible suggestion - the panels could be rearranged to giving the idea of a motion in progress – as in moving from the inside out, exiting a building – maybe a library)

 Page 2: Here there would be only four panels but this is where the dialogue in captions would commence. The captions could be placed in between the panels, like some kind of bridge or connection.

 Panel 1: Notes of a song could be hovering above someone wearing headset.

Panel 2: Narrator’s hand holding their phone (from their own POV – suggesting time)

Panel 3: Close up on an apparent clock which however shows a different time than the one suggested by the phone.

Panel 4:

A nearby poster, garish and loud (could also by a sign)

 Page 3

Panel 1: Distant shot of a person’s silhouette at the far left end of the panel. In the background there is the dim outline of a building fading as it goes higher and progresses to the right end of the panel, meaning that the right end would be slightly frayed.

Panel 2: wide panel (although smaller than the first) Close up on a pair of eyes staring directly at the reader.

Panel 3 and 4: one pressed next to the other. Another pair of eyes looking anywhere by the straight ahead.

Panel 5: Distant shot. A wide panel, similar to the first. There is one figure moving from the right to the left side of the panel, where this end is frayed this time.

 Page 4

Notes: Should be emphasising time-passing and mobility, so the panels would be motions which would be second-guessed by the Narrator. This way the major discrediting of them by the reader would initiate.

The captions of the monologue would be in-between panels.

Panel 1: Hair tucking motion.

Panel 2: Apparent correction over it – thinking that it was different – maybe the hair was all pulled up from the beginning

Panel 3: With the new information there is another personal habit or caprice given to the reader.

Panel 4: A more bleak and blank panel, with some gapped lines, like various staccatos adding up to various sketches like they are all pressed on one another.

 Page 5

This page could be focusing on the disassociation from the Narrator through depiction of sound. The page following a six-panel design that are only depicting sources of sound and at the same time you have in captions or word bubbles the name of the sounds rather than SFXs

Suggestions – Hawkeye by Fraction

Panel one: focus on the headset worn by someone passing by. Involuntarily the Narrator hears to the blasting music <some kind of 00’s sounding pop>

The word-bubble/caption could be right above the sketch focusing on the linguistic aspect of the panel

Panel two

<bird-cawing sound> over the sketch of a bird

Panel three, four, five and six would follow respectively

Idea (the panels could be sandwiched by two short panels showing abstract-minded eyes or a fretted blink)

Page 6

This page will be focusing more on the graphic depiction-progression of the story. Beginning with Panel 1, there will be a wide frame of the paper cup of coffee from before being spilled over.

Panel 2: The Woman the Narrator was facing is seen talking.

Panel 3: The dripping continues – the visual will be similar to the manner of coffee dripping off the table’s edge, in a manner that’s invading the next panel

Line of panels where the coffee drops gradually come to look like steam off the coffee which had never been spilled.

Final Panel-caption ‘There were points when I was too bored. So, bored I dozed off for a moment imagining what would happen, making “what Ifs” with my mind.’

Page 7

The Narrator proceeds with the “what if” scenario in their head, allowing it to escalate in the ultimate possibility. For this page he will be placing his self in the mentality of the person he has come to encounter, so there will be focus on what he looks like and most importantly what he thinks he looks like, as the one-sided dialogue goes one.

Page 8

The conclusion of the talk. Describing feelings, depicting two faces in reflective shots.

The page doesn’t have any panels - instead there are the two faces, cropped in half, in disharmonious syzygy.

The word bubbles form on their skin and features, covering the simple banal ending of the encounter.

With a final thought bubble, right on her lips, saying ‘I think we kissed. Or I just kissed her.’

Page 9

Overhead shot (showing them both moving to opposite directions) Wide frame but short frame – emphasis on the width, not the height – reference Wolverine Origin 2 – issue 1, page 10, bottom panel.

Could be a progressive shot as the page goes on – indicating the two of them moving on in separate directions.

Page 10

(First person point)

Panels that indicate progression back to the way he came, like in page 1 or 2

CAPTION: Around we go, around we go… (still in progress)

Basically, the narrator is heading in the say way he came out or we can see basically the same shots as before, till it all fades out in bleak detail.

Final panel would be a blank panel, the same way the panel.

 (Possible suggestions of tasteful antithesis – the beginning of the comic could commence with a dark panel – suggesting shut eyes – blinking, while the mirror image of that panel would be the final page, showing gradually bleaching panels.)

[aswriteasitgets]

News from the Gutter: creating a comic (MY comic to be exact)

My mind’s in the gutter. 

All the time. 

No, not the proverbial gutter, but the technical one. I’m talking about comics. I’m reading comics, studying comics, writing comics and soon will be stepping it up to creating them (enter the sound effect *gulp* in dramatic fashion).

Part of a module for my postgraduate degree (MLitt in Comics and Graphic Novel, by the University of Dundee), I will be producing a script and illustrations for the comic, my comic Blurred -ing Lines.

An original work, the inspiration came from the similarly-titled flash fiction of mine (Click here to read it ) and it elaborates on a number of issues, like the deconstrucion of the Narrator-figure, distancing the readers from the Narrator, along with the subjectivity of memory.

Concept: The Narrator will be telling the events of an impactful encounter they had (before, during and after). Now, as the main figure and storyteller, the Narrator should be a paragon of stability and candidness. However, the fact that they are only human, that they are experiencing a stigmatising moment and finally, the fact that the even it told some time after do critically impair their credibility. So, in the fleeting panels of the recounting, the destabilising of the Narrator will become more apparent, as the Reader (that’s hopefully all of you) will realise that they cannot trust the Narrator’s point of view; for whatever reason, overt or obscure.

Influences: There are two major influences that were of significant importance on how I put the concept together. One of them is the Theatre of the Absurd, with its quintessential feature: nothing is true off the stage and everything can be debuckled. It’s coarsely put here, but the idea is that even if something is stated by the Narrator of the story does not instantly define it as truth.

So, the Readers will come to evaluate what they are given to read, scrutinising over their credibilty (talk about the experience of a lifetime - who said comic books can’t be drama-tic?)

The second influence comes from the french graphic novel 3″ (Three Seconds) by Marc-Antoine Matthieu.

Here are some examples of its style

Page from 3″ by Marc-Antoine Matthieu

Page from 3″ by Marc-Antoine Matthieu

The sublime and exemplary focus on details is captivating and at the same time so definitely atmospheric. This is exactly what I am going for in my own comic.

Here is the first draft of the script (Pages 1 to 4 without any captions).

The structure that the comic will follow will be based on a novel approach of storytelling, focusing on how to tell the story as well as the content. 

There will be more to come. So, stay toon-ed and wait for the co-mic drop.

[aswriteasitgets]

First Draft of comic book script -without captions

(Here is the first draft of a script I’m writing for a comic I will be soon creating and this is a rought first draft - rough as in ‘why is this so hard, I’m dying’- 

The story will be approximately 10 pages and it will be the retelling of an eventful, emotionally-stirring meeting from one of the participators. 

There are the first four pages, with a simple outline of the pages and some suggestions. The captions -which will come from a short story I’ve written will be added later.)

Page 1: Following a typical six-panel separation format, the panels would be in clear-cut frames, with each frame focusing on close-up shots of minor, insignificant details – referencing 3’’

Panel 1: A lit cigarette smoking.

Panel 2: Bicycles at rest.

Panel 3: A paper cup of coffee steaming.

Panel 4: Reflection of a full-bodied figure and sunlight’s glare on a glass door.

Panel 5: Some leaves rolling by, signifying autumn.

Panel 6: Books stacked together.

(possible suggestion - the panels could be rearranged to giving the idea of a motion in progress – as in moving from the inside out, exiting a building – maybe a library)

 Page 2: Here there would be only four panels but this is where the dialogue in captions would commence. The captions could be placed in between the panels, like some kind of bridge or connection.

 Panel 1: Notes of a song could be hovering above someone wearing headset.

Panel 2: Narrator’s hand holding their phone (from their own POV – suggesting time)

Panel 3: Close up on an apparent clock which however shows a different time than the one suggested by the phone.

Panel 4:

A nearby poster, garish and loud (could also by a sign)

 Page 3

Panel 1: Distant shot of a person’s silhouette at the far left end of the panel. In the background there is the dim outline of a building fading as it goes higher and progresses to the right end of the panel, meaning that the right end would be slightly frayed.

Panel 2: wide panel (although smaller than the first) Close up on a pair of eyes staring directly at the reader.

Panel 3 and 4: one pressed next to the other. Another pair of eyes looking anywhere by the straight ahead.

Panel 5: Distant shot. A wide panel, similar to the first. There is one figure moving from the right to the left side of the panel, where this end is frayed this time.

 Page 4

Notes: Should be emphasising time-passing and mobility, so the panels would be motions which would be second-guessed by the Narrator. This way the major discrediting of them by the reader would initiate.

The captions of the monologue would be in-between panels.

Panel 1: Hair tucking motion.

Panel 2: Apparent correction over it – thinking that it was different – maybe the hair was all pulled up from the beginning

Panel 3: With the new information there is another personal habit or caprice given to the reader.

Panel 4: A bleaker and blanker panel, with some gapped lines, like various staccatos adding up to various sketches like they are all pressed on one another.

[aswriteasitgets]

Blurred -ing Lines (First Draft)

-This is the first draft of a short story I wrote and I will be using it as the basis for a comic book script I will be puttin together. The story is a simple one, but like most of the times, it does take a sudden twist. Some dabbling and jotting that’s all-

(Original short story written by Thanos Kyratzis)

Remembering is always a tricky, gruelling effort. It has to do with what you want to remember.

I want to remember her. The way she was. The way I met her. That last time I saw her. As Nina. As my love, which was worthy of a song. As the beginning of the greatest, most painful and most moving words I can think of: ‘What if?’

The conundrum rises: do I remember her, me, everything as it actually happened? Or do I the way I want to?

It was the weather that made you listen to music because of it, not really for any other reason. Music that you had heard once, as the rain drizzled down and you never felt it on your skin. I looked across the road, with a heaviness weighing down on me.

I was cold. I was tired and sleep-deprived. My eyes were dry and raw like scars that were ripped open every time I saw her.

Only problem was that she was right there, down the sloppy turn talking to one of her classmates.

I sipped my coffee, not bothered by blistery sting on my tongue. Closing my eyes, tilting my head back, it was a shower of relief. I wished they would be sealed shut, by the raindrops, like an envelope pressed shut with hot wax.

I opened my eyes once more and looked at her. There were waterdrops slipping in my coffee. My legs were moving towards her direction, her classmate moving on.

She glanced her phone out and she looked busy, with a squint and a pout.

My eyes were arid and aching me. Maybe my heart was beating over my shirt. Maybe the rain was dropping, kissing softly the ground.

I couldn’t hear it.

I was there, you know, the time freezing, as I was looking around, suddenly acutely aware of everything that was happening. Like it the camera snapping pics continuously.

I blinked once and could still gaze at her. I breathed out and could still smell her. But it was over by then. I passed right by her.

I caught her glimpse.

And I didn’t move anymore. I can’t vow about remembering that moment exactly as it was for everyone and everything around us. But I could remember everything that had happened until then.

The pillow talks and hand-holding walks, the kisses on lips and neck, the sound of unseen breaths. All that we had lived came and went sharp notes, like a match catching fire and it was a flaming stick conducting the choir.

There was a song I could hear, some beat that was there between the two of us. I’m not sure when it came along, but I was having it reverberating in my organs, in my soul. I can’t really put it in a paper. I can’t even hum it. But it was a song we started but never got to see the end.

There it was, the works as I recalled it in these moments of locked eyes. Pandora’s box was open and everything was fading fast.

Her eyes were the same song, the same melody, but it was different every time mine met hers, played for another moment. The notes were there, the same. Only the performance had been radically changed.

She didn’t speak. I didn’t talk. My eyes were bloodshot and tearing up. I was wet and getting colder every passing moment.