Clean Up Your Acting Tutorial
Added 2016-09-03 02:16:58 +0000 UTCThe new tutorial for August!
Supplement worksheet is here for $10+ Patrons this month!
Phew! This tutorial took forever. I decided the past few tutorials were too text-heavy, so I tried to make this one more image-ful :]
This tutorial is about common acting mistakes that I've seen in webcomics, and how to correct them. I actually read a lot of webcomics, but the vast majority of them are bad or mediocre. The reason I do this is because I think there is a lot of value in looking at work that doesn't meet your standards, and explaining to yourself why you feel that way. The opposite approach would be to examine a great work and try to reverse-engineer it's greatness in your own output, but I find that a little backwards... comics, and any art, should come from a place of genuine self-expression. It makes more sense to me to do your best to create a work that only you could make, while making sure to avoid any issues that would take away from it's impact on your readers. Even if nothing else in this tutorial applies to you or your work, I hope that the concept of analyzing weakness to build strength does resonate a bit!
Anyhow, will update all of the links below when the supplement is up. Thank you all very much for your patience in August; my schedule is looking much more normal now and I don't anticipate any more slips moving forward~
Hope you enjoy the new tutorial!
Patreon Tutorial Series
- May 2016: Coloring with Masks / Supplement Worksheet
- June 2016: Writing for Webcomics/ Supplement Worksheet
- July 2016: Researching for comics/ Supplement Worksheet
- Aug 2016: Clean up your Acting/ Supplement Worksheet
- Sept 2016: Grow your own Brand/ Supplement Worksheet
- Oct 2016: Figure out Patreon (1/2)/ Supplement Worksheet
- Nov 2016: Build dat Patreon (2/2) / Supplement Worksheet
Comments
I've been working really hard on this in my current webcomic, so this tutorial was a godsend! Thanks Shing for the awesome!
Alyssa Read
2016-09-05 19:18:39 +0000 UTCYeah, I know! IIRC he got a lot of flack for that and changed his process after that video started going around. But, the point still stands.
Der-shing Helmer
2016-09-05 14:35:29 +0000 UTC(btw, in that most obvious example, faces have improved significantly over the years and they don't look like that any more. people do grow!)
Duke BG
2016-09-05 09:03:30 +0000 UTCIt would definitely hit me in the face. Or wherever it was heading.
Loren
2016-09-03 23:27:09 +0000 UTCNever XD Any lack of clarity (on a tutorial no less) is to be avoided. I fixed it up to be a bit more clear!
Der-shing Helmer
2016-09-03 07:06:14 +0000 UTCAh, gotcha. That's what Jessica thought you meant, but that's not how I read it and it seemed too open to interpretation to me, so I thought I'd throw it out there. But if I'm the only one having the issue, go ahead and ignore me. :) --Neal
NJGR
2016-09-03 07:04:51 +0000 UTCYeah, these files do NOT handle well on my computer. The text lags like crazy so I end up fixing and refixing things several times. Thanks for the catch! I'll fix that up tomorrow. As for the actual content, I meant adult as in XXX comics... while adult-only comics are trending towards more complex and interesting stories nowadays, I don't think having great writing is a huge necessity (for example, the "whores are stealing our lemons again" video), at least compared to non-adult comics...
Der-shing Helmer
2016-09-03 06:36:42 +0000 UTCPoor Peter Krause. He's Minnesotan and I loved him in Parenthood, but that "narm!" scene... yeesh. Question for you: in the second to last panel of this tutorial (starting with "Sorry, you'll just have to..."), besides a little spelling issue with "watch a lof of films," your last sentence is a little confusing. You say "but if you are not making an adult comic, you WILL need competent writing." Did you mean to say "if you are making an adult comic...?" That seems to fit with the your train of thought there, but we were both admittedly unsure what you meant when we read it. Not trying to be nitpicky, just help you out. I really do love these (and I hate it when I have little mistakes in my handouts, etc., for class. I teach writing and it is really embarrassing when I don't catch a mistake after reading something through like five times!). --Neal
NJGR
2016-09-03 06:18:47 +0000 UTCWell yeah obviously you have Professionalism and whatnot]
Thomas Whitney
2016-09-03 03:25:49 +0000 UTCHAHA unfortunately I have to take that info to my grave
Der-shing Helmer
2016-09-03 03:24:26 +0000 UTCYeah! The focus of the supplement this month focuses on brushing up on specific actions, but also determining if acting is part of the missing element for when comics miss the mark. For me it is often acting/ characterization that keeps me coming back when the art or story are not so good. And relatedly, if the acting is bad I just stop reading. There's something about bad acting that is actually offputting (vs something like bad art, which is forgiveable)
Der-shing Helmer
2016-09-03 03:22:50 +0000 UTCThe hardest part for me is identifying exactly what it is I don't like about a piece of content D: I can tell when something's missing the mark for me, but I often struggle with figuring out why. Thanks for the tutorial!
Boney
2016-09-03 02:55:03 +0000 UTCThis is good editorial advice! I need to be careful to apply this kind of critical lens to my own stuff. (Also because I am awful I am dying to know what the comics that made these mistakes are (save the most obvious example).)
Thomas Whitney
2016-09-03 02:44:51 +0000 UTC
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