BATS IN THE RING: Behind the Scenes of Act II

Holy -- it's almost the end of January? Has BATS IN THE RING really been ongoing for nearly three months already? I guess we're overdo for another behind the scenes post! I'll continue to talk about the thought process that went into the art and visual side of it, as well as any neat wrestling references that worked their way in. Here we go! 

COLORSCRIPT

I've been calling these colorscripts, but they're also my 'storyboards' -- or maybe the most accurate name is thumbnails? Anyway, here they all are, from part 8, A Coronation Invaded, all the way up to the latest piece!

But wait, you say, where's part 7, the pinfall one?

Well. Part 7 wasn't in my original script, in either act one OR act two. In my original script, we went straight from Jason curbstomping Dick to the shot of Jason with the belt in front of an animated titantron. I think I wrote that pacing because I, the writer, knew from the VERY BEGINNING that Terry's invasion would start as soon as Jason had the belt, but I realized that to a viewer following along, that was a hella abrupt transition and offered very little in way of a conclusion to the match between Jason and Dick, so I went in and added the pinfall!

So....

PART 7: "One... Two..."

My original sketch and stab at the what I thought I'd do with colors! Honestly not much changed between this and the final image. I'm still not really that fond of where this one's colors ended up, but a lot of folks seemed to really like this one, so hopefully it all worked out!

Since the process for this one was fairly straight forward, I guess I'll take a moment to describe what's going on in this one! I was hoping that pinfalls (when one wrestler pins another wrestler's shoulders down and holds it for three counts to win the match) are common knowledge that it would be clear that Jason was in the better position here!

What I wanted to capture was Dick was attempting to break the pinfall, not by kicking out to lift his shoulders up (and I mean, if you look at it, he could just... lift his one shoulder off the mat, but SO COULD ALL OF THE WRESTLERS I LOOKED AT IN MY REFERENCE PHOTOS), but by going for a rope break!

What's a rope break? Well, a pinned wrestler, or a wrestler caught in a submission hold, can essentially get the other wrestler (in this case, Jason) to let them go by touching one of the ropes (most commonly the bottom rope, since it's nearest to them). I thought capturing this moment, where Dick has almost grabbed the rope would be a good conclusion to the match between Nightwing and Red Hood, and leave the audience in enough suspense knowing the match could go either way with Dick successfully breaking the pin, or Jason getting that final, third count in.

...Unfortunately for me, it was only after finishing this one and posting it that I realized how  this shot of Dick reaching for the bottom rope looks a lot like he's reaching his hand out to someone off-screen to tag them in. A few people thought that this was gonna lead into a tag-team match, and I Sokka-style forehead smacked myself because it should have occurred to me that this is what it looked like.

--

One of the biggest challenge of Bats in the Ring is that I'm trying to communicate large arcs of action and narrative in a single shot. Unlike a comic, I don't have adjacent panels to ease the transitions. Unlike an animation, I don't have more frames to see the movement all the way through. I just get ONE chance, one shot to communicate everything before we completely change camera angles and move on to the next sceme.

For this reason, I generally can't do mid-action shots, like Dick in the middle of flipping around. I've found a single frame of complex, quick action doesn't translate well and almost never has the same energetic impact as the movement seen as a whole.

For example, here's a shot of Neville completing the Red Arrow (the inspiration for Dick's finisher, the Flying Grayson):

But by this single frame, can you tell what's going on? Not... really. The wrestler on the ground could have been pinned for almost three counts, and is only now kicking the wrestler on top off him off. Really, Neville (white briefs) is landing on him after leaping off of the turn buckle and doing a bunch of flips in the air, but you don't get ANY sense of that from a single frame alone.

So I've had to be really, really thoughtful to which single frames of action I've chosen for each Bats in the Ring shot. And, generally, I've found that the shots immediately before or immediately after a big action visually look the most stunning. But sometimes, like with part 7, I mess up and pick a shot that doesn't clearly communicate what I was trying to - or what it's communicating could be easily confused for something else.

Part 7 was a good live and learn moment because of this!

Anyway, moving on to...

PART 8: A CORONATION INVADED

This one was a headache until, suddenly, it wasn't. You know?! This part combined what, in my very early scripts from November, was two separate shots: 1) Jason holding the belt triumphantly to show he'd won it from Dick, and 2) the announcement somehow that a different wrestling promotion was invading.

I guess I should start off explaining what wrestling invasions are! Essentially, they are when wrestlers from a second, entirely unrelated wrestling company (promotion) shows up, unannounced and unexpected to the audience! So Dick and Jason are wrestlers from DCW (which I was careful to include the logo for in several of the act 1 shots! Go find 'em!), while Terry is from an entirely different wrestling promotion called NJW. I'll get into that more later!

I knew that the most effective way to show a wrestling invasion was gonna be using the logos on the Titantron (giant screen in the background we've seen repeatedly), but it became clear very quickly that the coolest and most effective way to do this was going to be by animating the Titantron. Did I know how to animate the Titantron? NO! Was that going to stop me? ALSO NO!

Some early layout concepts to try to make an shot that included Jason looking at the screen, but left enough room for us to view the animated screen as well:

Then, I tried an early video test to see if what I was thinking was even possible, and lo and behold.... it absolutely was. 

Apparently I can't embed videos in an image post on Patreon, so I have to link it! Boo! Here's the early test. 

You can see I was thinking I'd have the NJW logo shatter the DCW logo, accompanied by audio of Terry's laugh I pulled from Return of the Joker. Eventually, when it became time to flesh out part 8, I redid the composition because it just wasn't interesting enough. That's also when I realized I could two birds-one stone this part to have Jason holding the belt, essentially eliminating the need for a separate shot of it:

Then, once I had this new composition that I LOVED, it was time to learn After Effects! Over the course of a week, I taught myself how to use AE and made the Titantron screen and then the composited video of the screen with Jason you've all seen!

I was so incredibly stoked that I was able to accomplish a color transition from Jason's red/orange lighting to Terry's purple lighting. A Coronation Invaded probably got the least amount of traction of all the Bats in the Ring posts, but honestly I don't mind because it's one of my favorites and I'm SO proud of it.

In the final video, I switched from a glass shatter effect to a glitch effect, which I feel is wayyy more on brand for Batman Beyond. I also redid the logo to have Ace from Batman Beyond instead of a bat, and I'm so stoked I did.

I guess this is about time where I should segue into talking about Terry and Neo-Japan Wrestling! If you read my trivia thread on twitter, you probably already know this, but it bears repeating:

Neo-Japan Wrestling, or NJW  is an entirely separate wrestling promotion from DCW. Whereas DCW is a spoof of -- you guessed it -- WWE, Neo-Japan Wrestling is a spoof of New Japan Pro Wrestling, a real wrestling promotion in Japan (that I love!)

On the left is NJPW's actual logo, and on the right is the fake logo I made for NJW. I am still so pleased we were able to fit in the "Neo" reference from Neo-Gotham, the setting of Batman Beyond (which I've always just assumed was a reference to Neo-Tokyo from Akira, but you know, I never looked into it.) All credit for that name comes from my sister. I told her I was planning on making Terry the ace of a Japanese wrestling promotion and she immediately leapt on the chance to Neo-fy NJPW, haha!

At this point, Terry's impending arrival was supposed to be hinted at, but not explicitly stated, and I'd say maybe... like... 30% of viewers understood? (*sobs* I'd hoped it'd be higher). The massive clues were Neo-, Ace the dog, and of course the audio of his laughter.

PART 9: THE TOMORROW KNIGHT

You could probably see it in the colorscript thumbnail for this one, but part 9 was straightforward from its original thumbnail all the way to its execution.

Again, sorry if you already read this on Twitter, but: "Tomorrow Knight" was an early working title for Batman Beyond back in the show's development. I'd have to rewatch the special features, but I think it was Glenn Murakami who said he had an early sketch of Terry's character design with Tomorrow Knight written on it. (The name was scrapped because they felt it'd get too confusing for ad spots: "Tomorrow night on Tomorrow Knight! On Todays' episode of Tomorrow Knight!" kinda thing)

Luckily for us, I get to use Tomorrow Knight because it sounds hella campy, just like wrestling!!! Woooo! 

And the reason Terry is from a different wrestling promotion than Dick and Jason (and eventually, the rest of DC's roster as wrestlers) is my direct nod to the fact that Terry is from the DC animated universe, and his existence has continuously struggled to find its place in mainstream continuity and the batfamily pantheon at large. I loved the idea of Terry forcibly invading DCW to earn his time in the spotlight.

Terry's entrance helmet was inspired by some fantastic fan concept art I saw of the Batman Beyond suit reimagined to be like a skydiving flight suit. I also chose it because I knew from the very beginning that Terry's wrestling mask would be a half-mask, but I'll get into that later!

Finally, on wrestling invasions: invading wrestlers often have some sort of personal connection or history to the wrestlers involved in the match they're invading! I knew wrestling fans would pick up on this, and immediately know that Terry has some sort of connection to either Jason or Dick. Then I'd hoped Beyond fans would know that the answer to who Terry has a connection with would have come from the 2.0 comics, where Dick and Terry are a partnership. ....I'm realizing now that the intersection of Batman Beyond fans and wrestling fans who would have this knowledge may only be me.

....Well.

MOVING ON~

PART 10: THE ONCE AND FUTURE RING

This one was kind of a struggle for me, because we've already seen a face-off shot in A Feud in the Family, and I didn't want it to be be a complete repeat. I think I managed to change things up enough by having Terry still OUTSIDE the ring while Jason seethes at him from the inside.

Also, hopefully it's clear by now that one of the visual signs for Terry is the color purple, so ever since his arrival the ring lighting has been intense violets!

Here we can see Terry's actual ring gear: a half-mask that lets me draw the best of both worlds: Terry's eyes and hair, but ALSO his BIG OL' POINTY EARS, MMA gloves, kneepads, and kick pads! Remember how I mentioned last time kickpads are worn by the more kicky-flippy type of wrestlers?

Finally, Terry's Mortal Kombat-esque half-mask was inspired by the Mortal Kombat-esque half-mask of one of my and my sister's favorite wrestler's, Shingo Takagi, the RAMPAGE DRAGON:

Oh wait - real quick - The Once and Future Ring is a pun from the Justice League Unlimited episode, The Once and Future Thing where the League time travels and meets up with Terry and old!Bruce. (And The Once and Future Thing is a pun on The Once and Future King, the King Arthur story so PUNS, PUNS EVERYWHERE)

PART 11: VIGILANTE VENGEANCE

Another one that was fairly straightforward from its inception to its final execution!

I REALLY loved this one, although I am still not sure if my experiment with a heavy purple/yellow palette works. I'm still kinda fond of it, though. I love that Terry is about to launch himself into that yellow lighting and Jason. Originally, I was going to have this shot taking place in an opposite orientation within the DCW arena, so the Titantron would have been behind Terry and therefore out of shot, because even I'm getting a little sick of the Titantron, but then I experimented and got it so that the enlarged camera shot of Jason on the screen makes it so you can read Terry's line of sight as either at Jason himself, or at Jason's visage on the screen, and I thought that was neat.

Terry's about to do a sling blade, which is another huge giveaway to the inspirations for Terry the wrestler. (Yes, it's Prince Devitt/Finn Balor.)

The title was another hint at to why Terry is invading in the first place. He's seeking vengeance for the fallen Dick because they're friends!!

PART 12: "You could have prevented this"

This was  the riskiest shot in terms of narrative, because I wasn't sure it'd be clear that Jason is directing his attention and his taunt of "You could have prevented this" to an off-camera Nightwing, whose reaction is being filmed and broadcasted on the Titantron. I mean. I hope that was clear. I dunno though. (Also, this marks the first time the Titantron screen has been different than the action at large in a still shot!)

I wanted the color palette to be purple/blue on the left, for Nightwing and Terry, while Jason's warmer colors overpower the scene from the right.

Oh hey, this is a good time for me to mention I've been taking some tips from cinema in my lateral direction of every shot.

Generally, we view left-to-right movement more positively, and so almost every shot that involves our protagonists, or faces, Dick or Terry, carrying out an action, that action is done from left-to-right. (Seriously! Go back and look!) Conversely, any time Jason performs an action, as our resident heel, his actions are done from right-to-left. I think this has been my effective shorthand for quickly establishing conflict between the characters, and also to set up Jason as the heel.

Also, Jason is about to do the Tye Breaker/ushigoroshi, or a fireman's carry neck-breaker on Terry. "You could have prevented this" is a reference to the fan vote for whether Jason would live or die, and fans could call the 1-900 to "prevent" his death. Cool? Cool.

PART 13: EYES ON ME

This is my favorite piece of this series thus far, but it wasn't always this way. I knew Terry had to perform a move strong enough to both1) unmask Jason Todd, and 2) get Jason out of the ring. My sister said a dropkick would be perfect and Terry-esque, but it took me a while to compose a shot of a cool-looking dropkick.

Early attempt. It's meh.

When I landed on this angle and composition, I got MUCH MORE excited for this shot. 

It's now my favorite. I just. I love these dramatic low-angle shot that have the blurred out ropes SO MUCH. (Thank you, wrestling photographers, for being a constant source of inspiration.)

I was hoping the ropes would help lead you through the action to the impact of Jason getting kicked in the jaw and FINALLY losing the mask. I had this written in the script from the beginning, but it was tough to put up with so many requests for an unmasked Jason knowing that if I filled those requests, I'd essentially be giving away one of the biggest spoilers/climaxes of this series.

Annnnd this marks the end of Act II, on another cliffhanger, because  that's just how we do around here. I've put so much thought, time, and energy into the logistics of every shot in this project, I'm so happy to have a place to talk about it, and I really appreciate you for reading it all the way through.

Bats in the Ring continues to be one of the best decisions I've ever made, and I'm still having so much fun doing it. We're on the home stretch now. Act III is the shortest, and the final act of this series. I hope you continue to enjoy watching this show to its conclusion.

Love,

Kira!