Monday, December 28, 2009
Secret of the Kraggler!
A goose kid tells us about a monster...
Since these are the Magic Geese, I originally was going to have the show they were watching presented in a magical context- appearing in a fireplace or a crystal ball. But it looked distracting and wasn't necessary for the story, so I dropped it.
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13 comments:
Much as I hate the idea, it seems this is a universal truth. "There is nothing new under the sun."
I remember the anticipation over the movie Cloverfield, and what the monster was going to look like. When the monster finally appears in a way that you can see it for all its detail, I was underwhelmed.... it looked like a mismash of everything I've already seen before.
Some of the drawings of the monster that had been circulated as speculation before the movie came out actually looked scarier or cooler than what it had actually turned out to be when the movie arrived. I guess that is a downside of insta-communication, ease of self-publishing, and ease of insta-search.
Perhaps this could serve as recommendation to avoid introducing the internet into the Geese Magus lore? ;-)
Hi Ghostbuild,
It's true that there's nothing new- just new combinations, some working better than others (or as one author put it "The Yeti you find in your bathroom is more frightening than the one you find on Mt. Everest")
There seems to be a rule a monster (be it in a fairy tale, a movie, or a real life) is scariest when there's a lot you don't know!
Sure there's hints- dead people, clues, some sketchy descriptions, even just-caught-a-glimpse-of-it close calls...
...just knowing something weird and dangerous is out there and will strike again, but you don't know when is way more scary than seeing the creature stomp around in all his glory.
The 3rd panel is my fave.
Interesting conversation w/ GhostBuild.
Hi Linda,
The third panel was defiantly the trickiest for me to draw. I find background detail to be difficult. I'd wanted to add more trees so it'd look more like the woods, but wasn't sure how to do it without distracting from the characters.
interesting monster talk. I think a monster that knows you very well might be the scariest of all, if you didn't know it knew anything about you.
Hi Sally,
"I think a monster that knows you very well might be the scariest of all." Yep. That's the last monster I'd want on my trail. As one movie tag boasted, long ago, "It knows what scares you!"
These cartoon strips are great. The quote "teeth that looked like slug butts" cracked me up.
Familiarity breeds contempt. The best scary movie I ever saw was the original version of ‘The Thing from Another World’ in 1951. It was where you never saw the monster (played by James Arness) until the very end of the movie. And then, you only got a fleeting, blurry glance. See the link below for details.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/
Thanks, RHSteeleOH.
The metaphor was kind of goofy, but so was the cartoon, so I went ahead and used it. :)
Hi Uniblogger,
You're correct about the familiarity thing. For the last 25 years or so, technology has allowed movies to show off very realistic (or very fantastic) monsters, gore and effects- but such things have a marginal utility when it comes to scariness. The novelty wears off quickly.
I suspect that the older movies like "The Thing" didn't have high end visual effects to use, and had to rely on good story telling instead.
It's such a pretty format you're using these days.
Thanks, Stray G.
I have more spare time than I usually do, so I'm trying to take advantage of it.
Working on my next animation too.
As always, I love your storytelling style. Love it, love it.
Thanks, Pile Girl. :D
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