Story #9 Pre-Production Underway!

Hi Patrons!

Michael here, reporting that the tedious writing step of the series is done! I'm happy to let you all know that the next project I'll be tackling is the next entry in the Gildedguy stories - Story #9, currently titled "The Stellapen & the Eraser".

What is it About?

In this story, we will catch up on Gildedguy's new life at the castle, and how it has affected Lilian, Violet, and some other new characters. Now an accomplished knight, Gildedguy grapples with where the Stellapen wants to take him, and the life-long consequences of its creative power.

It's gonna be one of the most important stories (plot-wise) in the whole series, as it establishes a final arc of sorts for Gildedguy. I've done a lot of reflection and soul-searching the past couple weeks, and among all the smaller, light project ideas, I decided I'm going to just go for the most important story I can tell - and that involved questioning my whole enterprise of art & animation.

We'll be seeing a rather crucial flashback to the Life Factory in this animation - a scene I wanted to fit into the Story #0 web comic, but didn't have the resources. It'll tie past, present, & future together all through the titular Stellapen.

Please don't share spoilers about this.

But what about The Eraser part of the title? That's something I'm storyboarding right now, and will reveal at a later date.

Story #9 Project Progress

So btw, the image posted at the top (logo) is still just a draft. In fact, a lot of what I have so far on this project is just a draft as well.

• Writing (DONE)

• Song Selection (DONE)

• Storyboarding ◄ In Progress (70% done)

• Concept Art & Design

  -- PRODUCTION--

• Layouts

• Animation

• ..and beyond

I am currently in the storyboarding step of Pre-Production. I'd say the only more grueling part of the creative process than writing, is storyboarding. At least for me, it's tough. But it's incredibly important and rewarding.

The storyboards are where the major story decisions are solidified and committed to on paper. Before this step, the scenes, character decisions, & tonal choices are pure fantasy. The storyboards is our first REAL visual look at the tale we're telling, and it often comes out unclear, ugly, and just...uncompelling.

That is, at first.

If anyone out there is doing a comic, or an animatic of their own, you know the blissful feeling of satisfaction when you draw a scene that really grounds the story you're trying to tell. You may have to undo and erase several other sketches, but finding the drawing that MATCHES what you envisioned gives one a real sense of progress. These foundational scenes then allow you to branch out, to wander and have fun a bit.

I find that with enough foundational scenes, I have a strong, healthy skeleton (made of adamantium even) for my animation production to rely on.

Other News

The Hyun's Dojo website just had a massive makeover and re-launch, along with multiple collab releases. You'll find that I contributed a part for the rebuild collab here: https://youtu.be/V300VTMSqbE

The Dojo has been a long time source of community and inspiration for me and many others, so I encourage you guys to go check out the new website! (They're still working out some glitches though). I'd love to participate some more over the next year, perhaps with the idea of hosting my own projects.

That's all I have to report for now, back t'werk (to work).