Photoshoot Comic - WIP
- GenreChowderStudios
- May 10, 2017
- 2 min read
There really is quite a lot to be said for changing gears at the penciling stage. Most of it is beyond me, but I can point a few things out here:
1. I'd actually forgotten that I needed Sheriff's presence (as seen with the newspaper) to be established in one of the first few shots with both Hudson and Jay together. It's not "cheating" to just draw a forgotten element somewhere else on the page and compile the pieces together in post. Granted, it may or may not be too late, but it may also be unnecessary to get frustrated and redo the whole thing over again or to try to rewrite your script on the fly to fit your mistakes in "seamlessly." The latter is often more needed than the former, but it's nice to keep your options open.
2. The original plan for the pacing here was for the following:
J and H see pictures
We look at Pic 1
We look at Pic 2
J and H are still looking at the pictures
We look at Pic 3
J and H are STILL looking at the pictures
J and H are STILL looking at the pictures but H's face looks shocked
H points out the Pic 4 is odd
J reacts to H
S delivers punchline
Now, the issue with the pacing is how often we see Jay and Hudson looking at the pictures. How long those two were looking at the bloody photos dragged out the setup and very quickly leaves you with the distinct impression of "Get on with it already!" Yes, I'd drawn things for it. Yes, I would need to dump said things to make it right. But here's the thing...
It's a gag comic. We all know it's supposed to, at the very least, attempt a joke about halfway through and deliver a punchline at the end. The continuation of the "normal" pictures only delays the inevitable weird thing that's bound to pop up later. In a strange twist of fate, the fastest way to kill a joke is to give it an abnormally long life. No one wants to sit through the dead air of phony banter while they wait for the funny to show up DOA. I am no great comedic writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I can detect when a joke has really overstayed its welcome. Heck, even if it still doesn't work as well as I'd have wanted it to, it's certainly over more quickly this way. Fortunately, the solution was simple, and all I had to do was drop three panels.
The new pacing goes as follows:
J and H see pictures
We look at Pic 1
We look at Pic 2
J and H are looking at the pictures
J and H are looking at the pictures but H's face looks shocked
H points out the Pic 3 is odd
J reacts to H
S delivers punchline
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