Piping Hot
TERRIBLE TITLE SORRY NOT SORRY
Alternate title, “why we probably shouldn’t make Piper too attractive”
The wild Piper used Attract!
It’s super effective!
More Piper
I’m torn about which direction to take our Piper. Do we want him to be scary or comely? I thought the plague doctor mask would make him frightening, but with the combination of the other elements I arbitrarily assigned him in these explorative sketches, he looks pretty elegant. On the one hand, it might be good that he’s appealing, if he’s supposed to have some otherworldly aura that draws children after him AND if we want to maintain our switcharound motif, where he’s a hero in a villain’s role. But I don’t want him to be bishie villain either. XD I suppose he could be really terrifying under his mask…
Vahaadi and Spark in Action!
Burned out and frustrated trying to color tonight, so I tried something totally different! Spark and Vahaadi are ready to KICK SOME TAIL!!!
Spark’s hair
Sometimes when you’re burned out and cranky the only answer is to play with Spark’s hair. Just trying something out.
I think it’s too…streaked looking? I was going for this:
Loose Canon Webcomic Speculations
I thought I would post my expectations/thoughts/plans for the published form of Loose Canon. As much as I would love it to actually be animated, I just don’t think that will happen. So, here are my ideas…
Posting
I was thinking I’d try building a site from scratch for the comic itself, with its own domain. Then we won’t have to deal with ads and stuff. We’ll probably want to link it to tumblr or something similar to connect with our audience, and just theme them both the same (like Tracy Butler does) so the two different sites feel seamless. What do you think about posting updates/links on dA? I know you aren’t crazy about dA, but I like it. It’s a good place to find like-minded people and foster a readership, anyhow…
Length
Aiming for 26 episodes, potentially hour-long. That may end up being too short, but I’d really prefer a crisp storyline to a bloated one. We can always use RP, OOC and one-offs to explore other adventures without derailing our plot. I want to have every episode planned out before I ever start illustrating so we’ll know well in advance what to plan for!
Rating
Obviously we aren’t going to have anything too lurid, but I anticipate blood/violence since Vahaadi regularly acts as a shield. Though Vahaadi would like to cuss on occasion, we don’t have to let him. XP There’s always “@&^!” if he needs to rage. XD And no smut. I’m probably going to dance around the true nature of Vahaadi’s relationship with Tryvnah, just because it’s sticky. All anyone really needs to know about them is that they were close and then they had a falling out. I’ve even thought of skewing it so it might look like Vahaadi left the troupe because he was in love with Aaliyah and not Tryvnah. Essentially, the readers will know there was a love triangle and Vahaadi didn’t win. Those that would like to believe he’s straight will be able to think so, and those who think he’s gay will be…right. XD But we won’t say officially either way. His romantic preferences had serious clout in Ashen Shard, but they don’t really mean anything in Loose Canon. Anyway! Do you think we should have a warning or a recommendation readily visible concerning the age group we’re aiming for? Who would you say we’re aiming for, anyway?
The Format
I love the way Ava’s Demon is a glorified storyboard. One panel at a time, but every one is beautifully painted so it also has elements of a storybook. I could so run with that. I don’t want to deal with paneling for a conventional webcomic. Much as I love Lackadaisy, I just couldn’t handle paneling like that. And I actually hate reading comic pages. My eyes always jump to to biggest picture, and I feel robbed of the build up. It’s like instinctively jumping to the punchline. I think treating our story like a storyboard will remedy that! And, it will make it feel that much more like it’s animated.
And, speaking of animation, in my fantasy, I think it would be cool to include animation in each episode. Here is my vision: Each episode will open with an animatic prologue ala Princess Tutu. It will include a basic synopsis or something of the story they traveled through to get to the canon featured in that episode. It will be heavily stylized to match the canon, and serve to emphasize the setting and theme of the challenge they’re facing, though it need not be a direct correlation.
After the prologue, we’ll have an illustrated “title card,” since I know you like those in cartoons. I think it should match the style of the prologue, but there may be an argument for making them all match each other instead, using some kind of over-arching stylization for Loose Canon as a whole to improve cohesiveness. Not sure on this yet.
After the animatic and the static title card, the story will progress one static panel at a time, as mentioned above. However, I absolutely love the idea of animating really key scenes, complete with music and voice acting. Full-blown animation will be reserved for the scene that just couldn’t be done justice in static illustrations. Scenes I’m thinking of specifically are Spark’s first wish/transformation, the introduction of Piper, Spark and Vahaadi’s deaths (hahahah XD leave it to me to kill BOTH main characters…but they get better!), the scene where Piper causes Spark’s wish to backfire and/or controls her, and maybe introductions of other characters, like Elwen, Ignite, and the Merchant of Lost Things. I plan to only do one per episode. We’ll have to find voice actors and music, of course…but I REALLY want to do this. It would MAKE MY LIFE.
To end each episode, I think it might be cool to have the final scene match the style of the prologue (+title card, maybe). I think that would give a neat sense of “conclusion,” and tie it all together tidily. It’s like movies that start with the book opening and then showing it close at the end, or the way animes sometimes end with the art changing into a more hand-drawn look as the characters walk off into the sunset. XD That’s probably campy, but…I don’t care! *flails around* It actually fits for Loose Canon because it’s all about different kinds of stories, so…there.
Opening Cinema
This is one of those things I’d probably be able to live without if I just couldn’t pull it off, but it would be super cool to make an opening cinema, like most cartoons (and most shows in general, actually). Of course, we need not show it with every episode between the prologue and the meat of the plot. I envision it as a promotional thing, perhaps before we launch the story. I have a vision for what it might look, sound and feel like, but it’s hard to explain…I’ll just have to try making it!
Credit Roll
When we conclude the series, I’d love to have an animated credit roll with a stylized montage of Spark and Vahaadi adventuring through the canons. As the credit roll progresses, the style would change to reflect all the different styles we used in the prologues, title cards, and final scenes. The “credits” would mostly be us, but if we do have voice actors, musicians, or any other contributors we’d definitely acknowledge them. Also, it might be a neat way to shout out to supporters. Regulars, major fans, even (perhaps especially?) people that contribute to crowdfunding/kickstarter/patreon campaigns, if we have them. We want a strong and satisfying ending! It will be sad to finish, I think, but I’d rather end it with a cool bang then have it flounder indefinitely or feel abruptly cut.
Teaser
This is another silly pipe dream which may not be practical or even necessary, but it makes me smile. I always liked those trailers that show artists, actors, or whatever being interviewed about the movie, cut together with shots of in-progress roughs, maquettes, and stuff like that. It would amuse me to no end to make a studio “set” with footage of ourselves working on the project and talking about it, with pieces at various levels of completion. There could be a segment of you talking about who Spark is, what she’s like, what motivates her, cut together with expression studies, animation roughs, and footage of you recording lines for her–maybe one of those fun side-by-side things showing you recording the line and the animated Spark saying it in sync with you. I’d talk about Vahaadi and the drawing process, what to expect from the story, and so on. We could use it to drum up interest long before the comic launches, or to entice people to the site after it has already launched. If we’re able to do this AND the opening cinema, this would be like the “Coming Summer 20xx” kinda deal that’s far in advance, and the cinema would be like the premiere kick-off. It’s terribly self-indulgent. XD
Ask Spark!
Now, the really fun part! I plan to handle the bulk of the narrative (writing, art, coding the site, etc), but only you could possibly speak for Spark. You know exactly what kind of sassy answers she’d give. I think it would be awesome if you actually recorded her responses and paired them with an animatic, if that wouldn’t be too much work. The questions you’d respond to and how often you respond would be up to you! (and Spark, of course. XD ) If there is fan art or gift art, I think it would be cute if she responded to it! Spark is good at…effusing. <3 She can be the “voice” of the comic and our “front” or sorts.
Ask Vahaadi…?
As much fun as it might be to have Vahaadi answer questions, I think I’d rather have him not respond. It preserves his air of mystery. XP And, underscores his bad attitude. Vahaadi is definitely the type to just clam up and let Spark do all the talking. Besides, if you are willing to voice Spark’s responses, it might be awkward to either not have him voiced or have to work with someone to voice him, since neither of us have the right set of pipes for him, haha! It would be like that old animation you did where Flint had happy noises coming out of his mouth instead of an actual voice. Concerning the animated key scenes, if we can find a guy to do Vahaadi’s voice (if we even need one–it will depend on the scenes I pick to animate) I think I’d want to record all of his lines in a few sessions up front and then just be done so that I wouldn’t have to worry about losing contact with the guy and having to find someone else later. It’s a consistency concern more than anything. And, let’s be honest–Spark’s a lot more vocal and opinionated, anyway!
“We Go Where No One Goes”
After seeing “How to Train Your Dragon 2” it occurs to me that if you can fly, why wouldn’t you free fall through the clouds for the heck of it? Yet, somehow, this had never occurred to me before seeing Hiccup do it. Anyway, here’s this. It’s probably not at all how Vahaadi’s carpet works, but it’s a cute off-idea.
Inspired by this song:
“I want to show you something.”
Spark took Vahaadi gently by the wrist as she leapt in the air. Grudgingly he unfurled his Carpet, the tapestry snapping to life as he sat expectantly in its center. Letting go of his arm, Spark gestured for him to follow then shot upwards, through the clouds. She speed further and further from the ground, the horizons bending and vanishing around her. Concentrating with all her might she held her breath and plunged through the atmosphere, breaking into the utter stillness and silence of space. Though normally this sort of feat would be impossible, even for her, Vahaadi’s mood had required a change of surroundings. (read: Spark asked and Evie said ‘yes, you can go into space just this once.’)
Delighted at the complete lack of gravity, Spark felt even lighter than usual. She oriented herself as best she could, looked over her should to make sure Vahaadi was still following her, then sped towards her goal: the brilliantly glowing full moon. As soon as she was close enough to have landed on it if she had wished, she turned to Vahaadi. Edging close enough to be shoulder to shoulder she directed his attention towards the planet from which they had just come. “That.” She said with satisfaction. “The Earth. Look how small is seems from here! And so white too. It’s a little blueish green, but mostly it just looks like a ball of clouds, like a marble floating in the universe.” Spark paused, glancing at Vahaadi and trying to read him. He didn’t meet her gaze. In fact, he hardly seemed to be listening. But he wasn’t scowling or rolling his eyes, so she continued. “But YOU know and I know that there’s so much more to Earth than just a bunch of clouds. Once you get closer, you can see all the things that live on the Earth, what’s been built, what’s been destroyed, what each person is doing right now! Some things will be terrible. But some things will be grand. You can’t say that everything on Earth is right or wrong, because there’s too much going on and it’s too complex. Vahaadi, you’re like the Earth. You can let people get to know you better, exposing your faults but also your strengths, or you can distance yourself, and just seem like a marble.”
She placed a hand lovingly on his shoulder and smiled. “I know you don’t want me to know the real you, because you think its too bad, too terrible. But that isn’t ALL you are. I know there are good things about you! I just wish you could also see them.”
((This was inspired from listening to “Demons” by Imagine Dragons after CallyAnn and I both agreed it’s a very fitting song for Vahaadi. She was so right when she said it’s the feelings expressed in that song that Spark wants to respond to with the song “Brave.”
Spark’s anti-gravity hair is fun to draw, but frames her face weirdly. Her head looks too big for her body with all that wild hair XD))
Guardian of the Lamp idea dump
Originally I was envisioning the monster that guards Vahaadi’s lamp to be kind of like the giant dragon in HTTYD. Big and bulky but with crazy metal parts sticking out everywhere. But, then I had this idea that maybe instead of being a metal-eating monster it just eats *anything*, and whatever it eats becomes part of it. So instead of being like some weird metal-plated dinosaur it would be this abomination composed of the remains of anything and everything that enters its cave…including people. Just to up the horror factor. So, it would sort of be like a Mistwraith, where you can see the bones of people it’s eaten, but different from a mistwraith because it’s also made up of their weapons and armor and ANYTHING else. Also, because it’s surely eaten more than a few djinn, its body is also swathed in fire and smoke, since that’s what djinn decompose into. And then when it starts rampaging on Earth and eating cars and telephone poles and whatever it can get a hold of it just keeps getting bigger and more horrific. I guess it’s going to be like a combo of a Mistwraith and a Cybug. But huge. And on fire.
The hero that wished for the monster knew it had to be something so awful that most people wouldn’t dare go near it to try to get the lamp, and so dangerous that anybody that did would die a horrible death trying. But of course he didn’t want to unleash something like that to roam freely through his world or he would have totally shot himself in the foot, so he also wished for an inescapable pit to keep the monster (and the lamp) inside. The only way to get out would be to wish your way out, but the monster would kill you and eat you long before you could get to the lamp.
Of course our villain the Piper makes his own rules and just yoinked the monster out of the “inescapable” pit and dropped it on Earth to go on a killing spree.
Kala’s Unpleasant Surprise
Playing with expression transitions. Wanna guess what’s happening? XD (I’ll just tell you, but I always love to hear your interpretations).
Spark’s Happy Place
Diggin’ around in some old files. Lookee what I found. I believe this was from a very short-lived RP when Spark took Vahaadi to a remote cave.
