Hey artists. Wanna be in my band?

[CleverGirlComics]

Hey there to all of the talented artists and writers that frequent this board. After a little online research it looks like my forthcoming request is going to be something of a cliche but I'll try to avoid some of the more obvious tropes...

I'm going to stand up for this part.

I am a writer and I am looking for an artist.

I am going to try to be as detailed as possible about myself, my plans, my gaps in the business model, and my openness to collaborate.

I am a writer/film maker and my plan is to move into multi platform content generation. So movies, ebooks, COMICS. I want to self distribute, I want to build an audience, I want to tweak the machine. Not rebuild it, just shift some opportunities in content creators favour.

'Sure, sure we get guys all the time on these boards with their crazy plans to be the next Image, getouttahere.' Well I'm not trying to be the next Image. What I'm trying to see is if there can be a better cohesion between written, drawn, and filmed content. So shared continuity that all feeds in and out of each other.

Here is my film makers showreel of stuff I have shot in the last few months. Honestly it is pretty rough and I need to add a proper sound mix. But hopefully it shows I am serious about creating work and getting it out there. http://vimeo.com/86494448 Quite near the end is one of the first examples of what I am planing. A web series called SLEIGHT that feeds in and out of a comic book (one issue leads into a fifteen minute episode then back and so on). I have an amazing artist attached and it is going really well.

The project I am bringing here today is... unnamed. It's about a high school band. But the band is made up of monsters and the high school is actually a maximum security facility to house these creatures. So we've got a werewolf on drums, a zombie on bass, a banshee on vocals, a vampire on guitar and the son of satan managing. The concept itself is a little goofy but it is all in the execution. I'm really looking to make a teen comedy/drama with all that entails. It won't necessarily be action heavy but I am willing to write to an artist's strengths.

I notice a lot of the writers' posts on here are quite reluctant to give details about concept and content. So I'm going to go all in and post the first few pages of script to see if this might interest you.

I haven't written a ton of comic scripts before (I write screenplays predominantly) and I'm sure this post is going to format the script in fifty shades of wonky. But hopefully it will give a vibe of what I am doing. Early draft sans a lot of detail but hey, this is a collaborative medium and I want artist's who have a voice and can tell me what I am doing wrong.

So here's a snippet. (I'll be yammering again at the bottom).



PAGE 1

A series of six long panels stretching along the page like strips.


Panel 1

Classroom.

Bored kids sit behind desks. The usual assortment of goths, jocks, hipsters, beanies. In the centre of frame, JOEY. Face resting on his folded arms. Bored as shit.

JOEY (VO)
School. Chances are you've been there. I mean what else
needs to be said about High School.


Panel 2

Joey sits alone on the bleachers eating lunch.

JOEY (VO)
If I tell you now I am the most average, unremarkable kid on the planet...

JOEY (VO)
...Maybe we can avoid disappointment.

JOEY (VO)
...But I doubt it.


Panel 3

Joey stands in front of his locker. A pentagram has been spray painted over it.

JOEY (VO)
So you haven't heard my story.


JOEY (VO)
Really it's all variations of the same shit.


Panel 4

School bathroom. A long line of urinals. Joey stands in front of one, his back to us. Another kid has walked past Joey and is almost out of frame.

JOEY (VO)
I'm the son of Satan (or so they say).

JOEY (VO)
Kind of a harbringer of doom. End of the world stuff.


Panel 5

JOEY (VO)
Prophecies come and go. But yeah, nothing happened a bunch of times.

JOEY (VO)
People seem less interested these days.


Panel 6

Joey stands in front of a set of double doors.

JOEY (VO)
So yeah, looks like I'm just another usual.

JOEY (VO)
But just in case, they lock me up with the uns.


Page 2

SPLASH PAGE

Joey has walked through the double doors and entered the cafeteria.

There are other normal looking kids eating lunch, throwing stuff around, being teenagers. But looking a little closer we can see differences.

Boxes of close ups on students are dotted throughout the page.

A closeup of a toothpick scratching a fang.

A closeup of a green webbed hand applying nail polish.

A closeup of a finger on fire lighting a cigarette.

A closeup of a playing card pressed to a forehead, flanked by two horns.

A closeup of a decaying face, exposed teeth from one missing cheek, lips puckered as lipstick is applied.

Joey stands in the centre of it all holding his tray.

Thought boxes are also seeded throughout the page.

JOEY (VO)
Vampires.

JOEY (VO)
Werewolves.

JOEY (VO)
Zombies.

JOEY (VO)
Demons.

JOEY (VO)
Witches.

JOEY (VO)
Ghosts.

JOEY (VO)
And some other lame stuff nobody cares about.

JOEY (VO)
Like me.

JOEY (VO)
Not exactly a school. Not exactly a prison.

JOEY (VO)
Not Hogwarts. So don't even.







PAGE 3


Panel 1

This panel takes up two thirds of the top row.

We're back on the bleachers with Joey. He's sitting next to another scruffy looking teen, MOZART.

Mozart taps his legs with two drum sticks.

Joey looks out to the playing field. Bored.

JOEY (VO)
This is my buddy Mozart. He can play pretty much any instrument but he loves
to drum.


Panel 2

This panel is smaller and set next to panel 1 taking up a third of the row. It is a closeup on Mozart's face, zoned out as he drums.

JOEY (VO)
He's also a werewolf. So they call him Mozart. Clever huh.


Panel 3

A long panel stretching the width of the page.

JOEY (VO)
Most of the month he's average like me. So we get on okay. Plus I don't mind his
drumming.

Joey looks to Mozart.

JOEY
We should really do something with our lives.

MOZART
Cool. What?


Panel 4

The first of three panels in a row.

Close on Joey looking at Mozart.

MOZART
Something that will get us noticed.


Panel 5

Close on Mozart.

MOZART
Why don't you blow up the planet? That'll get you noticed.


Panel 6

Joey looks down.

JOEY
I'll think up some other options.


Panel 7

Another long panel stretching the page.

Joey stands picking up his bag.

Mozart continues drumming.

JOEY
Later dude.


PAGE 4


SPLASH PAGE

We're birdseye over Joey as he lies on his bed.

The bed is a mess of magazines, game controllers, chocolate bars, a phone, an ipod.

Joey has large headphones on.

He listens to music, looks up at us, and thinks.

JOEY (VO)
Why do people do great things?

JOEY (VO)
Immortality? Popularity? Or does one just come after the other.

JOEY (VO)
Well I know some immortal people and they're douchebags.

JOEY (VO)
Hmm... Talents. Y'know I read a bunch but I can't really write. I can't draw for shit either.
I dont play any instruments

JOEY (VO)
I have a genetic predisposition to destroy but I never felt much of an urge so...

JOEY (VO)
What a bust.

JOEY (VO)
I'm listening to Led Zepellin II by the way. There were rumours Jimmy Page
summoned me into existence with one of his Crowley incantations.

JOEY (VO)
So that could make him a kind of uncle. Which is cool.

JOEY (VO)
I guess rock music has always embraced Satanism... Huh.


PAGE 5

Panel 1

A long strip along the top of the page.

We're profile in the bedroom now. Joey sits up in bed.

Behind him we see a glass panel in the far wall of his messy room. Behind the window a team wearing biohazard suits observe Joey making notes on clipboards.

JOEY (VO)
Shit. I don't play an instrument.


Panel 2

Below panel 1. Joey and Mozart are in class. They sit next to each other as Mozart fashions a paper aeroplane.

JOEY
I'm going to start a band.

MOZART
You don't play an instrument.

JOEY
Don't worry about that. I'll worry about that.


Panel 3

Mozart lets the plane fly.

MOZART
I don't think anyone needs to worry about that.

JOEY
Are you in?

Panel 4

Mozart pulls drum sticks out of his bag.

MOZART
Am I in a band where the only other member is you, and you wont be playing?

JOEY
Yes.

Close on the sticks as they clack against the side of the desk.

MOZART
Sure. Sounds like every other day.


PAGE 6

Panel 1

A black panel takes up the top row. There is one line of light in the middle. A crack of white indicating an opening door.


Panel 2

The same length as the panel above. A wide shot of Joey standing by a doorway, his hand on a lightswitch, looking at...




Panel 3

In the centre of a room of computers sits a girl. Incredibly pale, with silver hair wearing a light blue dress. She looks at Joey sheepishly. She is MARY.


Panels 4, 5, and 6 sit alongside one another.

Panel 4

Close on Mary's face.

MARY
Uh w-would you like to book a computer?


Panel 5

Close profile on Joey.

JOEY
Yeah. I wanna print some flyers.


Panel 6

Mary smiles.

MARY
Great... I can help you


PAGE 7

As if we are a computer screen, Mary and Joey sit in front of us. Mary sits central holding the mouse. Joey is leaning on the table squinting.

JOEY
Maybe some more red or... I dunno, like more bold.

MARY
So whose in your band?

JOEY
Just me and my buddy right now.



Panel 2

Close on Mary. Her face is towards the screen but her eyes have shifted to Joey.

MARY
So uh, like do you know what I um... What I am?


Panel 3

Close on Joey. He is still looking at the flyer on the screen.

MARY
Ghost right? Yeah definitely more red.


Panel 4

Close on Mary.

MARY
I'm a banshee. I si-


Panel 5

JOEY
Cool. Can I have fifty of these printed?


Panel 6

MARY
Yeah of course.


Panel 7

Wider panel as Joey stands and Mary looks up.

JOEY
Great I'll pick them up this afternoon.

MARY
Okay, sure. I'll have them here. I'll have them... My name's -


Panel 8

Shot of the door swinging closed.

MARY
...Mary.

- - -

Okay so a slow a burn to start with but hopefully you see some potential in the setup.

Some points.

DISTRIBUTION... I want to distribute this via a website that will house all of the production company's output. However, I am excited by the idea of print runs as incentives for Kickstarter campaigns.

PAYMENT... (How many people scrolled straight to here). Like I say I have studied these boards along with deviantart and beyond and can see how these threads go awry when the 'no pay' subject rears it's ugly head. I'll be honest, I haven't paid anybody so far for their contributions to the cause but they are all 100 percent in it with me. People I have met on the internet, who live in other countries, we're all working towards the same goal. I'm not going to get into the whole 'well whose paying me angle.' Yes it's my story and my vision and I'm going to want to see it out there more than most. So I would love to meet somebody who I can share that vision with and who is excited about stepping into a few worlds with me. If you are an artist who has there own stories to tell (which I am sure many of you do) that's great, keep going and send me the link. If you have too much other stuff on your plate to take unpaid work, please don't be insulted by my proposal. If this whole thing just doesn't interest you at all, then absolutely move right on to something that does...

Saying that... I do respect the plight of the struggling artist (that's me!) So if you are interested in working with me but are insulted by the whole working for free thing (I hope you're not, anybody who has spent time creatively honing their talents has my total respect) then get in touch and we can work something out. I know that putting an ad on saying $10 a page can seem even more insulting to some (you're worth more). So tell me how you would like to proceed, what your fee is, what your ideas may be. I want to build the biggest audience I can and I want run successful Kickstarter campaigns with that audience.

If you are interested send me a PM or an email to truan.whiskydog@gmail.com Let me know what you think of the little script extract and if there are any glaring omissions I am guilty of. And thanks for reading this incredibly long post. Thanks.

[drawntowrite]

I really like the sound of this but my printer is broken so I'd only be able to do rough digital drawings. Bit if you want I could do some characters? Let me know at thewritemail @ hushmail.com thanks

[CleverGirlComics]

Thanks drawntowrite. I've sent you an email!

[CleverGirlComics]

So I haven't had many responses... I was kind of expected to get a few people PMing me with their page rate etc. Just wondering with the amount of page views, is the post too long, or is the writing just not grabbing people. I won't be offended by either, I like feedback and learn from it.

After looking around the site I saw a regular issue with artists looking to collaborate was that there was not enough details about the project and that there were no examples of the writer's work and style. I agree with both so I thought I would cover those in my post. But now I'm wondering if people see the size of the post and then move on. Should I re-post a little shorter? Maybe with a link to the script?

Thanks and any feedback, positive or negative is welcome.

[drawntowrite]

I'm still interested, the only reason I haven't replied is that my computer is messed up and I can't produce proper drawings. If you want I could try and put together a picture on my iPod bit it WILL look terrible

[Ruyei]

Well I'm not an artist (Though I've worked with plenty) but I can think of two possible reasons. Number one you try to be a little jokey and unconventional, and that drags out your post. Being professional and to the point could really help, also if people don't get your joke (Which I didn't honestly) they don't want to read the best. I think the most important thing is, hey, you're looking to pay? If that was your intention you should state so right away or in the topic of your post.

Hopefully this helps, I wish you the best of luck,
-Ruyei

[CleverGirlComics]

Thanks Ruyei,

I understand what you are saying about getting to the point. Of course I also want to find people who have a similar sensibility to me so it's a tricky line to walk. The post is long because I have included five pages of script sample and a fairly detailed breakdown including work samples. But yeah, I guess my tone isn't for everybody.

And while yes I am willing to pay per page, if that is the first thing somebody is looking for as opposed to the quality of the concept, writing etc, I'm probably looking for somebody else.

I've had some good responses recently so things are picking up and I'm also getting some good response from other boards so I may have just misjudged the demographic on this forum. A lot of talented people though that I would love to work with of course. Thanks for your feedback, it's appreciated.