Animation

Congratulations Alex Vickery-Howe !

Brilliant. Thank you everyone for your help. I'm a luddite so it'll take me a while to figure this place out...hopefully I won't accidentally bring the whole site down. It seems unlikely, but...

Haha @Alex Vickery-Howe. I'm sure you won't bring the whole site down.

Well, now it sounds like a challenge! :D

It's not. Haha

John Richard Sullivan be advised, depending on the degree of work you need done ( pencils, inks, lettering), hiring an artist can cost you around $100.00 or more per page. Depending on the page count of your graphic novel, that could get costly.

You can get an artist to do those things for a bit less. But, as the adage goes, you get what you pay for. Therefore, DON'T hire anyone who won't show you samples of what they've already done and at least, storyboard a page or two for you so you can see how they'll interpret the script. And, make sure they have software like Clip Studio Paint EX which will allow them to work on an entire book as opposed to Photoshop which only allows you to do 1 page at a time, leaving you to get additional software to put an actual book together,

Oh, and Cover Art is a separate issue. Covers can go from $75.00 to $175.00 each. And, choose the artist carefully and make sure they understand the story as your cover will be the first thing most people see and it needs to convey what the story is. ( I've included the cover of Book 1 of my current SciFi-Horror graphic novel wip as an example ).

Also, it will help you to have an idea of what art style you want: Manga, DC, Marvel, etc.

I have an Editing Client who uses Daz Studio to do the artwork for one of his comics. there's a bit of a learning curve, but it could save you money and time.

And, have you decided how you're going to publish the book once it is done?

Sorry, hit the wrong button. Here's the cover.

And, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Elaine Haygood, thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my post. An earlier version of my post acknowledged that most artists prefer to do paid commissions for clients. I'm looking for an artist (my version of a "unicorn", I guess :-D) who is interested in a collaboration where we share the rewards (as well as, of course, the risks). Does that artist exist? In today's landscape where it's every man, woman and child for themselves, probably not. Which is completely understandable. However, I thought I'd give it a try here and in other forums.

As far as publication goes, a completed work could be shopped around to independent GN publishers; or be used as a kind of storyboard for a live action or animated series (not personally a fan of adult animated series but I'll take what I can get). The important thing is to GET SOMETHING MADE. :-D Easier said than done, I know. How did you publish your horror/sci-fi GN (great cover, by the way)? Or is it self-published?

I looked at DAZ Studio and yeah, it's a bit overwhelming. But I will explore it further and see if I can make some use of it. In my desperation, I have also considered AI (the thumbnail for the GALLA logline was created on Night Cafe), but I'm not sure if the technology is there yet; and anyway, I'd prefer to work with an authentic artist.

Thanks again for your advice, Elaine!

John

Hey John!

You can find an artist willing to participate as a Co-Creator on the project. I recommend you get a very clear-cut contract that you both sign that clearly delineates what each party is required to put into the project, and what they will receive as compensation.

I would suggest you see if there are any artists that you know, first. A friend will often be more likely to go without pay in order to help you out. However, you can lose a friend if you don't have a clear agreement on what will get done and by whom.

You can contact your local Layers For The Arts chapter to get help with the contract.

I will offer you this caveat: Consider that we ALL have bills to pay and want to be fairly compensated for our work. So, if you get someone to agree to work pro bono. ALWAYS take into consideration that this person is working on spec. Depending on what's going on in that person's life, they may have to prioritize. They'll do the work. Just not that quickly, or they might blow through the work and not take as much time with it, Thus, you could end up with lackluster work.

As for my artwork. Thanks for the compliment. I will be publishing under my company's aegis via Amazon and Comixology.

Great! Thanks, Elaine! Yes, I'm a big stickler for everyone involved being fairly compensated and all agreements being legally binding and above board. Another future possibility would be to create a concept from scratch with the artist, with writing and graphic duties then divvied up respectively. I'll keep plugging away though. Thanks again! :-)

Thanks, Mike Boas. It says "This video isn't available anymore" when I click "The Simpsons" video, but I can probably find it. Appreciate it.

Love the Spider-Man one, Mike Boas!

Really well done, Mike Boas ! Congratulations!

If people know animator Bill Plympton, you may be amused by the "Your Face" Global Jam. This was a remake of the oscar nominated short film from the 1980s. I did a write-up of the animation process here: https://maddogmovies.com/2017/12/11/face-global-jam/

This is really cool and so clever. Thanks for sharing, Mike Boas!

You probably won’t find executives in this lounge, but if you post a link, members here can give some feedback!

Mike Boas, thank you for the great suggestion! :)

Hey, Joseph Costa! Great to see you again! Stage 32 has a pitch deck review. It's called a TV Pitch Bible or Feature Pitch Deck Review + 30 Minute Talk with an Executive. www.stage32.com/scriptservices/coverage/buy?id=60

Maurice Vaughan, awesome! Thank you so much!

You're welcome, Joseph Costa.

Mike Boas I can see why. His animation is fantastic. The one where he's in a chair and transitions from human to claymation was very well done!

Nice. Thanks for sharing Laurie Ashbourne

Awesome share Laurie Ashbourne !

Very cool, thanks Laurie Ashbourne!

Haha nice

Thanks for sharing this little gem, Laurie Ashbourne !

This is a great share - glad I got to see this. RIP Jimmy. He brought a lot of joy to a lot people. Thanks, Laurie Ashbourne!

That's amazing, Laurie! As a lifelong parrothead, well done!

Thanks for sharing, Laurie Ashbourne! Very cool!

Laurie Ashbourne Wonderful! Thank you. Made me smile!

RIP Jimmy Buffett...

Studios rarely accept unsolicited scripts and pitches primarily for legal reasons, and that is true across the board, not just in animation. It reduces their liability, so you need your pitch to come through an agent or a producer. It's also very difficult to get an external pitch picked up by an animation studio. A lot of them have pitch programs that allow people who work there to submit ideas, and the established artists, directors, story artists, et al, who are already known commodities inside the studio, are constantly pitching ideas, so that's your competition when pitching from the outside.

I'm not saying it's impossible. It's just very challenging.

Brian Smith you are on point! I already pitched at the studio i was working at. They had open door policy for their employees. And it’s almost impossible to find an agent they want you to already have a form of media or a WEBTOON before they will even consider you.

Andria Besancon Funny how there's that catch 22 in this industry where you can't pitch without representation and you can't get representation without something credited under your belt. That's the bane of the existence for nearly anyone in this industry. I think that's why we need more communities like this one to find like minded people that are willing to collaborate and bypass the gate keepers.

Most studios and networks can't take scripts from non-represented people for legal reasons unfortunately

Geoff, please don't get into NFTs now. The bubble has burst.

Thanks for sharing @Kevin! Incredibly important topic, especially right now when people are looking to do more and more things independently!

This is encouraging and depressing simultaneously, Raised 8mn via NFTs wow !! and GOVT is cracking down on these investments

One of the reasons the SEC has gotten involved is that you have to file with them if you're looking to raise that much capital.

Suppose you raise $5M or less. You file a form that basically states that the money you're raising doesn't fall under their jurisdiction because you're raising $5M or less.

These guys raised $8M. The SEC immediately takes a look at the transactions and they have stringent rules about what you can offer in return for the money raised (i.e.: equity in the company/production, stock, etc.).

NFTs are NOT considered a safe investment-Especially if there's no guarantee of a secondary market for them.

I would suggest ANY filmmaker looking to raise money check out the SEC site just to ensure you don't nd up on the wrong side of things.

That's crazy!

Zane Wickman I suggest looking at the website below. It has examples of Animated feature screenplays. I think what you will find is that they use camera directions when it's necessary for the story, but they're omitted otherwise. Most of the camera directions and framing will be worked out in the storyboards and then finalized in the layout/cinematography phase, so as Mike Boas said above, use only when needed.

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/animation-scripts/

Yes, you have to give the animator some idea of the choreography of the scene.

Both my animation screenplays are written the same as if they were live action; no camera directions. It's still a spec script (shooting scripts are different, of course) and I try to make it visual through my descriptions("he sees" instead of "camera on") etc.

Hi Zane Wickman - here's a Stage 32 class taught by the writer of Toy Story that I recommend checking out: https://www.stage32.com/classes/From-Pen-To-Pixels-Writing-Your-Animatio...

Make visual descriptions instead. The directors won't like when you include camera directions

It looks like there are a lot of possibilities here for indie filmmakers to generate something approximating big budget looks.

This is incredible, @Kumar Sambhav! The picture without color grading and the picture with color grading is like night and day. It's amazing how Blake looks like he's actually in the movie.

It's so easy to colorgrade at home with even basic softwares, it's incredible to see! Kumar Sambhav

Always been a difficult process for me and this looks amazing. Thanks for the share Kumar Sambhav!

Interesting