Writing Down and Drawing the Story, Scene by Scene
I’ll keep this introduction brief since the title is pretty explanatory. My focus hasn’t changed much from the last post. I don’t have much art for this because I’ve been adapting the chosen YouTube videos into a script, then turning each page into a thumbnail. It’s a tedious process, but the project would be hell later on if I didn’t. It’s not glamorous, but I find it interesting. Enjoy!
I don’t draw thumbnails for every page of my comics. I only drew a few thumbnails when I was working on The Guardian of the Winter’s Edge. The first draft of the comic was nothing more than a single thumbnail, while it was still in its developing stage. I didn’t know where I wanted the story to go. So, I drew some rough sketches before drawing the real thing. I even created several timelines beforehand. Until I figured it out, I just goofed around.
The difference between this project and my current one is is that I am not working on a blank slate. I’m adapting a show into a comic. Comics are usually adapted into movies, I’m doing the reverse. So, I need to do a bit more planning before going in for real. I haven’t drawn a timeline this time (though I probably should), but I have drawn more thumbnails and work on the script. The script (for me) is mostly a place to store dialogue and to keep a timestamp for each thumbnail. I have never written a script for a comic before. I just write down the dialogue on a sheet of paper next to me and keep it close until I need it. That process is a bit faster than writing a full-blown script, but I want to be a bit more thorough this time around. Plus, the dialogue already exists, so I don’t need to make stuff up.
The best thing about adapting is is that the story is already there. Each scene is set in stone. But the rest is up to interpretation. You can add or take away whatever you feel is necessary to the plot, you can keep it true to the original or loosely based on it. The decisions are endless if you are open to anything. The most tedious part of this, however, is that I have to go back and forth between the episode- to the script- to the thumbnails. I’ve been writing/ drawing down each episode, scene by scene, pausing and combining it to make a full one perspective narrative. The thumbnails that I have completed only take up approximately five minutes of the total run time. There are two perspectives and each episode is over 30 minutes long. I have. along journey ahead of me. But hey, it gives me something to think about.
-Bellapinkpen
