The Dark Red Chronicles

Well, here we are, the last page of Issue #3. Next week is the bonus page, compiled by Jo, and the week after is the behind the scenes page. Which I'm really looking forward to doing.

Page 88 - Hell or High Water

Daniel always was the one for grandiose ideas. If the water gets blessed then Sarah will be able to see it. This was one of the really old pages from the very first draft of the comic. It's great to see it finally. And as far as I know it's one of the webguy's favourite pages. I hope he likes the final version.

This page was filmed at Victoria Pond in Whiteinch. It was a beautiful day and we had loads of fun.

Sorry, this page is late. I got about half way through the update last night and fell asleep. Go figure. Anyway, we're back with the Nephilim for a page. Now you know how he survived the flood.

Page 85 - Rainy Days

This was the quickest page to shoot ever. It actually started to rain just as we started. And poor Calum had to jump up and down from the steps about seven times really quickly. When we shoot the Nephilim I need a photo of him and then a photo of the plain background so I can enlarge him and stick him on the background without too much bother. It seems to have worked out okay though.

I'm really looking forward to next week's page. So it's back to work.

I decided to go all out on panel 5. I just kept increasing the brightness. It had to be big. It's the dramatic conclusion after all.

Page 84 - Lending a Hand

Also panel 3 was mad to shoot. I was hanging over the edge of the mezzanine. I couldn't hold on to anything because I needed both hands to keep the camera steady. And I kept thinking I was going to fall over the edge, right on top of the action. But it was totally worth it. You have to take a chance now and then, in life as well as comics.

It's Friday again and that means another update from the Darkest of Reds. There were a couple of things I forgot to say last week. So I thought I'd add them in just now.

Firstly, if you look carefully at the panels from the last two pages you'll notice that the cake was never seen until the very last moment. That was actually quite difficult to do and made the photoshoot really challenging. And secondly, there's the interview you should check out with Brighid the Bright.

I love the photo that goes with that and can't wait to see it in the hard copy. She makes everyone else look very dull and ordinary but I suppose that's what being a faery is all about.

Page 80 - Idle Hands

Today we're back with Iain and Sarah. I adore panel 4 and will be including more of these high up shots soon. Thinking about it there was one last week with Melita and Brighid. To me, there's something extra comic-like about the birds-eye-view approach. And it's the one that's quite hard to do in a photocomic.

Anyway, I've rambled on for long enough.

Have a great weekend,
Lynn

I really have fond memories of this photoshoot. It was such a girly day: make-up, jewellery, clothes and cake. And bizarrely enough, the pages have turned out all pink and sparkly. Katie, our newest cast member, loved the last page, 'insanely cool' were her words if I remember right. Wonder what she's make of this one? :D

Page 79 - Taking Sides

By the way, those wings are really enormous, as you'll see if you check out the gallery for Issue #3. We used real faery wings with only a little faery-dust sprinkled on top from paintshop. And Brighid's wearing a real tiara, on loan from my sister from her wedding. It was the last thing Katie put on and the first thing to come off afterwards. I was under pain of death to ensure nothing happened to it. Brighid is rapidly becoming one of my favourite characters. I hope she appears again in the upcoming issues.

But I am really glad these two pages are over with. They were soo much work. Page 80 is half done already, and I've only been working on it for a day. That's how bad the last two were. They took weeks and weeks.

From Your Friendly Neighbourhood Webcomic Creator,

Page 73 - Ins & Outs

I'm relieved this page is finished. Filming from the outside going inside was harder than I imagined it would be. Firstly it was really windy and raining. Thanks to the Webguy for holding a large golf umbrella over me while I shot the first two panels. Secondly it was a bit tricky to balance the light and colour for the page. It ended up that the inside panels looked just a little warmer than the outside, but that's as it should be, I suppose, considering the weather for that day.

There's something I like about this page. Coming in from outside, to warmth, friendship and understanding. Maybe. It wasn't something intentional but it seems to be there.

We've had terrible weather this week in the UK. It seems to be an endearing British foible that when we get bad weather we're always surprised, unprepared and then the country shuts down. This is strange because of the amount we moan about it. *laughs*

I hope everyone gets to come in from the cold when they need it. And I hope the Webguy doesn't mind me stealing his intro. :D

Page 72 - The Sacrifice

Just a quick blurb today, got loads of comic stuff to be doing. I love the picture of Melita in Panel 4. Our actress nailed that perfectly. Also I loved the way this page turned out in general. Melita pages are cool. And the 'squelch' is brilliant, the best squelch ever! Thanks Jo!

Hope everyone is having a more laid back week than me. We're arranging one of the last photoshoots of the issue for this weekend. It's got Bella and Jo in it. After that, there're just two pages to do. One with Calum and one with the other guys.

I'm also really behind in replying to people's emails. I'm going to get on top of it this weekend. Apologies if you're still waiting.

Page 69 - Descent Part II

I hope this year has started well for everyone. It's also Dark Red's 2nd Birthday this week. I'm glad we've got this far. I never wanted to look this far ahead when I started. Thinking about it, I'm kind of glad I didn't, otherwise I may never have continued.

We've been online two years and I've worked on Dark Red the two years before that. And I think that the timing is great for these two "montage" pages, since we get a good look at the past and present of the comic. I told you it would work okay with the previous page. And they look good side by side too. I'm going to stick both of the pages together in the Issue #3 Gallery for the curious.

I've got loads of things lined up and I need to start organising the last little photoshoots for this issue.

Have a great weekend!

Page 66 - This & That

And so we're back with Sarah finally, an updated Sarah with new hair. Yes, we've managed to find a real white streak for her, hence the joking around at the end. Also there's more weirdness with Sarah's hands. And Gary is back. About time too!

The outfit I'm making for our next photoshoot on the 20th is coming along. I don't really want to say too much about it. But I'm hoping it will look really good. Dark Red is a strange beastie. As soon as I start designing and making a costume for the comic, you never guess what, I find a real-life, honest-to-god, costume designer living next door and going out with a friend of mine. Bizarre much? She said she'd give me a hand if I get stuck. That's such a relief.

I also broke the Dark Red MySpace page recently. Shhh! Don't tell the webguy but I managed to lose some of the code so it had to be redesigned. It looks a bit more generic but more advanced now. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I might even upload pictures and use it more often. Who can tell?

That's such a nice feeling, I finished page 14 this week. And in a week's time I have a week off, so I'm just going to glide through this week. I have three pages I want to do in two weeks. I'll try to do the rendering this week and all the mad fight effects on my holiday. No probs.

The only thing I need to do urgently is to organise the next photoshoot. So I should really get going on that. I've sent the email out today. We'll see who's free!

It's actually one of the hard parts of this. Getting everyone together at the right time and in the right place, with me bringing the right things and nothing untoward happening.

Luckily Jo and the props guy are such a help.