‘Past Away’ is a new Kickstarter project that has a lot of promise. Combining motion comic aesthetics, drawn animation and interactive elements. The project certainly looks worthy of support, especially if the voice talent matches the visuals.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872423106/past-away-choose-how-youll-survive
Catch up on the latest adventures of ‘Dusky Diana’, the “online graphic musical that uses Funk, Soul, and Hip Hop music to tell the story of the citizens of Kartika”.
FACEBOOK PAGE - Dusky Diana – The Last Days of Kartika
The new webisodes come out Feb 28th on the following vimeo channel:
https://vimeo.com/channels/thelastdaysofkartika
From the website:
“The Last Days of Kartika is an online graphic musical whose intentions are to provide opportunities for upcoming artists, both local and international, to perform and collaborate with one another through this multi-media project. Through the use of Funk, Soul, and Hip Hop music it tells the story of the citizens of Kartika during its most troublesome times. Dusky Diana is the would-be hero recruited by underground rebel group Community Education in their fight to ruin the sinister Phercy Corporations. Will Community Edu save their city or be the cause of its destruction?”
Written, Directed and Produced by Edson Oda, ‘Malaria’ is a wonderfully innovative and well-crafted animation that combines various animation techniques to good effect. Furthermore, Oda’s script is both imaginative and deftly crafted, which further enhances the impact of his work.
From the Vimeo website:
“MALARIA tells the story of Fabiano, a young Mercenary who is hired to kill Death. This short film combines Origami, Kirigami, Time lapse, nankin illustration, Comic Books and Western Cinema.”
or check it out on Youtube:
The Dandy have just released their online digital comic, which uses html5 technology to have simple interactivity and navigation etc. I grew up reading this mainstay of British children’s comics and hope that it develops into a sustainable and profitable venture for them. Having said that, I do think that their current digital issue lacks a number of important details such as a clear ending to the narratives and a simple ‘back’ button to return the viewer to the main menu. Some further thought needs to be taken to bridge the gap between the comic book and the online version … Check it out now, the first issue is free: http://www.dandy.com/issue-zero
Astralojia is an ambitious ‘Filmcomic’, that features the creative talent of Mark Hans Avon. The sketchy, full-length animation is akin to an animatic with a full musical score and voiceOver dialogue. The visual style may lack the craft of a fully rendered motion comic or animation, but fans of action-based manga and anime will certainly identify with some of the themes within Astralojia.
Astralojia is a fantasy series, where magicians call upon the forces of astrology to do battle using martial arts.
Takuto, using the powers of astrology and martial arts, must fight his way to the top of the school system in this epic action packed fantasy universe.
And once again the promise of an accessible new media age comes crashing down around us. The Dark Knight Rises motion comic is unfortunately only available for users of Nokia windows phones.
I have a confession to make … I was never big into ‘Zelda’. While friends played around the clock to complete Nintendo’s flagship RPG title, I was playing Streetfighter II or Super Mario World. However, gamer and artist Zac Gorman’s illustrations ( a combination of comic strips and animated gifs) are a must for anyone who grew up in that era. While it might be a stretch to call them motion comics, Gorman’s quirky style and humour is quite simply infectious. N.B. Gorman also illustrates Mario, Donkey Kong and a host of other characters.
It’s been a while (way too long), since I posted my last blog here. A lot has happened in that time, including presenting a paper on motion comic adaptation at the ‘Contemporary Narratives’ conference in Nottingham university (featuring keynote speaker Professor Henry Jenkins), interviewing hypercomic creator Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, saying goodbye to my PhD supervisor (the gifted and erudite Dr Daniel Martin) who has left Queens for a South Korean university, and finally getting published in animation Professor Paul Wells’ journal, ‘Animation Practice, Process & Production’. Here’s a link to the latter: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-issue,id=2245/ .
There’s also the matter of the ‘Geek and Sundry’ adaptation of Dark Horse Comics Hellboy: The Fury into a six-part motion comic. After a lengthy exposition in the first episode, this series exemplified conventional motion comic practices with its style of motion, full-screen mise-en-scène and voiceover dialogue. It might have preferable to adapt an earlier Hellboy mini-series, however it seems that the motion comic is an attempt to draw attention to Hellboy’s plight and Mike Mignola’s upcoming series.
Hope you’re enjoying your summer wherever you are!
Craig
Help fund ‘Erfworld’ the Motion Comic, a strange fantasy tale which dares to cross gameplay culture, comics and surreal pop culture.
Erfworld is an ongoing webcomic about an obsessive strategy gamer named Parson Gotti, who gets summoned into a fantasy universe that works a lot like a game. It’s free to read at Erfworld.com, and it was named one of Time magazine’s Top Ten Graphic Novels of 2007.
via Erfworld Motion Comic Project by Rob Balder — Kickstarter.
‘The Art of Pho‘ is an ambitious interactive motion comic project that utilises a myriad of drawing techniques, mixed media and interactivity. Based on the graphic novel by Julian Hanshaw and animated by Lois van Baarle, ‘The Art of Pho’ manages to create a compelling and uplifting interactive experience that compliments both static and moving image sequences. The ambient soundtrack also provides a dream-like atmosphere that suddenly shifts as the protagonist enters ‘the big city’.
‘The Art of Pho’s’ artistic merits are beautifully realised throughout the episodes on ‘Submarinechannel.com’ and the playfulness of narrative, visuals and interactivity provide an utterly compelling experience.
“The Art of Pho is a deliciously surreal interactive motion comic about a lovable creature named Little Blue and his friends. Through an extraordinary sequence of events, Little Blue ends up in Ho Chi Minh City where he learns to master the Art of making Pho (Phở) – Vietnam’s ubiquitus noodle soup. The adventures that ensue set him on a marvelous path of self-discovery.
Based on the graphic novel by Julian Hanshaw, The Art of Pho is a moving story-slash-travelogue about friendship, love and discovering your roots, set against the backdrop of Vietnam’s hustling and bustling capital.”
