How It's Made: Lost and Found - 8

New page of This Mortal Coil: The Rabbit and the Moon. This is the last page of the current chapter "Lost and Found." Click through to read how it's made and see the storyboard and pencil sketches.

Script

I use Scrivener to do my scripting. When I wrote Rabbit and the Moon I used the comic script template that came with the software. Here's a shocker: I don't really know how to write a script, but I pieced it together overtime. Obviously, this is work you'd never see, but I'm showing it to you, because I think seeing the stuff that goes behind-the-scenes has a lot of value. I hope it's also motivating for you to realize that it's not magic: just a willingness to learn and try things creatively.

This script is by no means complete, so if I were handing this off to someone else they'd be lost in the woods. Since I'm the writer and illustrator, I can leave certain things and descriptions out and introduce them in the storyboard phase.

So here is the script for this page:

Script Start

Frame. Tachibana runs into the forest after the wolf.

TACHIBANA

Stay here! I'm going to kill it! (He has to protect everyone from the wolf.)

NATSUMI

Senpai! (Off screen)

Frame. She runs for the forest but Kamiko grabs her by the collar. We see Kamiko's hand and Natsumi's head as she looks behind her at Kamiko. She has a scowl on her face. Kamiko's hand is a fist holding her collar.

KAMIKO

Are you insane! Take Hana and Jade and go home!

NATSUMI

Don't tell me what to do, old lady!

KAMIKO

I'm not an old lady!

Natsumi doesn't listen. She's in the woods chasing right after Tachibana and the wolf. Kamiko is angry now, but she can't do anything except to run after her.

KAMIKO

(To Hana) You go home! Go home! Hana is ready to run home, but she runs after Kamiko.

KAMIKO

I said--

HANA

Not without Natsumi!!

Her eyes look tearful but she's forging ahead anyway. Kamiko closes her eyes and balls her fists up. She's aggravated that Natsumi, Hana, and Tachibana don't seem to listen. She runs after the three of them.

[END SCRIPT]

By the bye, I wrote this script almost 2.5-3 years ago. I did it on my Macintosh using Scrievener and now I'm on my Surface. Literature and Latte makes the software for Windows now. The script isn't set in stone (I've mentioned that before). In fact, I've re-written the next two chapters. So I can't wait to show you those chapters (once they are finished) and discuss them.

Storyboard

Here is the storyboard for the current chapter. Again simple shapes. I started to block out the dialog bubbles so I could get a sense where they would cover the images. If you compare the storyboard you can see where I changed things in the pencil phase (especially that middle frame with Natsumi).

Pencils

Here are the pencils (without the frames since those are apart of the painted page. I'll point you again to the image in the middle with Natsumi giving Kamiko the finger. It's different than the original storyboard. I like that the bubble hides her rude gesture in the final page.

Another detail is the first frame: the wolf's got a line of blood along his coat. I wanted to show that to reveal more of the damage that Kamiko caused when she cut him.

In the close up of Hana running, I only bothered to draw the part that was in frame.

I really liked the drawings of Kamiko in the middle set of frames. I pulled the chibi one out as it's own image and you can see it in the art gallery.

 

So there you go, that's this page. Onward to the next chapter.