Retrospective videos
Added 2018-02-04 14:30:19 +0000 UTCHi, friends!
I realise the retrospective videos have been pretty slow to come out lately, but I wanted you all to know that I still want to keep making them and eventually get all caught up with them!
The reason they are slow to make is because I'm finding it hard to think of interesting things to say about each individual chapter that doesn't just feel like I'm retreading old ground.
With this in mind, I'd like to get your suggestions on what you might like me to talk about in the chapter videos going forward. The next chapter is Chapter 44: Crash Course, but if you have any suggestions for things you'd like me to focus on going forward (or in specific future chapters) then I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.
This doesn't mean I'll be doing a mail-bag style question and answer format for the videos, I just wanted to take into consideration the things you might find interesting and work them into the structure of the videos. Mainly I don't want them to be boring!
Thanks!
Comments
I like when you talk about the myths and personal stories that relate to the things you put in the comic!
Katy Kania
2018-06-11 16:32:09 +0000 UTCI never find the videos boring! I look forward to every one. I guess if anything I'd like to know how much research you do and how you go about it, since there are so many complicated things laced into almost every character. I'm a historian so it seems like you must do a lot of work in that department.
Nessa
2018-02-10 16:40:53 +0000 UTCI believe that most people that watch these videos thoroughly are interested in your thought process and inspirations. A lot of times it is the minor details that people haven't noticed that get an avid response, like for example the importance of Jonesy opening her eyes for the very first time. A lot of people can interpret art, but often times artists include these very slight hints that even the keenest reader is unaware of, and you have insofar done a splendid job in unveiling these and I have more than once seen the youtube comments gasp in awe at the revelations presented. Of course on the other hand your reluctance to reveal everything, like for the treatises adds to the mystique, because you still leave the big mysteries open to the readers. It might sound like a platitude, but if you were to ask me what I would change about the videos, I would honestly say nothing. Your creative process is fascinating, as are your inspirations and your personal charm and quirky but not forced humour as well as your soothing voice makes these incredibly enjoyable.
Josip Andric
2018-02-10 06:20:25 +0000 UTCI love the videos so much, and I'm super fine with any repetition bc occasionally I get the vibe that you're avoiding being repetitive on a thing when actually I'm SUPER KEEN to hear how it particularly pertains to the each chapter. But maybe that's just me!!! For the crash course chapter... I'm interested in the monsters and what they mean about the societies in the forest... the forest people don't go to the ruins, so those monsters... aren't forest people? Also are they based on particular folklore monsters or did you make them up or a combo of both? And that whole bismuth trick/dream sequence thing... but 'what is coyote up to' is quite the spoiler so that probably won't come up lol!!!
Ira Francis
2018-02-08 00:33:40 +0000 UTCI've read Gunnerkrigg through 4 or so times at this point, and I love the retrospectives because they give more context to overall story and art choices. The stuff about color palette choice and how you'll choose to draw details of characters to enhance symbolism is fascinating. For this particular chapter, I'd be interested in why you wove in the seed of bismuth—even though the creature was lying, there also seemed to be a lot of truth in what it was saying. I'm curious whether you were intentionally introducing some story elements or whether the focus was more on the deceit.
Sarah Manx
2018-02-06 13:58:57 +0000 UTCI absolutely adore the retrospective videos, and I definitely enjoy the ones where you take time to explain process through the arc of a chapter. One chapter that could be cool would maybe be like, explaining the life of a single page, by talking about all the steps of your process (from research to story to inking to colors, like, the whole way through) and explaining the different parts of different pages? I'd also find it interesting if you talked about your website at some point, how you chose what sections to have and how you set it up, explaining like the choices you made in it, like how you handle archives and comment sections and stuff. I'd also love to hear you talk about a chapter and how you choose to end every page? When I write serial fiction stuff I find it so hard to make each page end well, and with the combination of drama/comedy stuff that goes on in Gunnerkrigg, I'd love to hear how you write a comic that doesn't always end on a punchline but still updates in pages as opposed to chunks of pages. In general, though, I absolutely adore your retrospective videos and have referenced them like a million times. Thank you for making them, and I look forward to every next one!
Bridget Schiffler
2018-02-05 19:12:36 +0000 UTCDang thing. I just wanted a return, not a new post. Anyway, as a wannabe comic artist, I particularly like insight into the process, like why specific panel layouts were chosen, color choices, reasons for switching scenes, etc.
Michelle Gawe
2018-02-05 14:08:20 +0000 UTCI always find them interesting, and the chattering teeth add a lot of humor. :-)
Michelle Gawe
2018-02-05 14:02:51 +0000 UTCI have not yet found any retrospectives you made boring. I have them in very high priority when it comes to spending my free time. They are very interesting. If you find yourself saying the same thing again, try to think about other aspects of the world that you can talk about contextually? Or maybe more about what makes a good comic in your eyes. I like a lot about your thinking on the technical stuff of making a good comic, myself. I also like a bit of unraveling the mysteries of the world you made.
Christina
2018-02-05 13:40:14 +0000 UTCHmm even with some repetition, I've really enjoyed hearing about your process, story beats you're trying to hit, and character development. So more of that would be wonderful? In my personal life I'm looking to work as a story artist, so insight on how you 1) build up a story and 2) execute it in an interesting way, would be what I'd be most interested in hearing :)
Kris Lee
2018-02-05 06:25:55 +0000 UTCI like hearing about your own thoughts of certain panels/story elements. I find it interesting to hear what you like/don't like about your work, since I rarely think about that aspect of storytelling.
Ama
2018-02-05 02:50:56 +0000 UTCI love the videos and never find them to be repetitive! I especially love hearing about the symbolism you subtly include, how you've been foreshadowing plot points, and what inspires you to make different artistic choices.
Jessica
2018-02-04 23:35:29 +0000 UTCI have watched every single retrospective video thus far and found them very interesting and informative concerning your creative process and overall thoughts/intentions behind what's happening. Judging from the comments on the videos, so did many others. :) I would likewise be interested in hearing about the remaining chapters as well, but only if you feel up to it of course.
Papp István Péter
2018-02-04 21:47:44 +0000 UTCIt was fun to read that one again. I really enjoy some of the art from that chapter, like the use perspective and everything involving bismuth (which is awesome to look at), and it’s fun to see Ysengrin enjoying himself for once. Also I noticed for the first time that Annie slips into the Ether when talking to the wisp before recognizing the trick. Didn’t see that before. Is there somewhere you draw inspiration from for the design of the monsters? That would be interesting to hear about!
Kristian
2018-02-04 17:49:27 +0000 UTCGood Day, thanks for asking for some input, I'll try to be helpful if I can. I have been reading Gunnerkrigg Court for years, but alas I have not watched all of the retrospective videos, yet. With not having watched them all I can only think of this in an abstract way. It is bound to be slightly repetitive over time, and that is ok. Sometimes a refresher is good. Or if you feel that an individual video for just one chapter is lacking in content, perhaps group them together in bundles. Perhaps give a brief summary of where the story is at, refer back to some previous chapters that would be helpful if a detail had been forgotten, etc. Maybe give some more detail about a particular character that wasn't thought of before but is relevant to the content of that chapter. Regardless, I look forward to watching them all. Thank you for sharing your creations with us and I'm happy to finally be able to start giving back a little for all of the work you have done.
Redfeather
2018-02-04 16:16:40 +0000 UTC
