In fact, a graphic novel is the souped-up version of storyboarding. Just the way the director started with an idea that turned into a script, the writer/artist combo behind graphic novels starts out with an idea that turns into a script. The director would have an artist sketch out the shots as storyboards so he could get the cameras right and get the flow of the shots in his mind's eye. But the writer/artist combo working on a graphic novel aren't heading off to a soundstage. They're developing the script into the finished version right there on the page (or screen). The storyboards are the end product ... so make 'em phenomenal.
Most movies actually start their lives looking like this:
...and end up thrilling you after the color and sound and special effects have been added. But supposing you stopped at fantastic images ... each panel in the storyboard is fully developed into a finished "pane," accompanied by dialog and enough narrative to tell the story...That's quite an idea. And the end product would be more than a story, less than a movie -- something new(ish). Comics have beaten this path ahead of us! But not in this kind of resolution on the artwork. Even the recent digitally designed comics aren't like this -- well, not yet. Someone has to be first, put it to the test, see it it works.
Anyway -- as you can see, Michael 4 went out to meet someone. A tryst? With whom, for what? And by the looks of this, something didn't go quite according to plan. Now, if I can just figure out what's going on here --!
Jade, 21 August
