Good news Ricketeers! I've finally finished the storyboards! Woo hoo! Now on to Wondrous Animatic land! I have some more mock Noir posters that are almost done. Take a look:
Sure it's just an arm, but what an arm! Compared to the Original.
There has been a serious rascals absence in these posters, so I thought I'd remedy that. I actually really like the original design for this poster.
Still working on the minor characters for this one. Dolly was stealing the femme-fatale show so I thought I'd put Roofie as the main character in this one.
I'm gonna take some time off this week because I'm just so darn happy with finishing the storyboards. See you next week folks!
This week I'm finishing up the storyboards. Hopefully finally. If I finish them all I'm throwing my self a "Yay me" Party with cake and everything. Then I can finally start on the animatic!
Also, if you've been following me on twitter or the facebook fan page, (which I'm sure you all do) You'll already know that I'm making mock movie posters of all the noir movies I've reviewed. This might take some time, but hopefully I'll get to a point where I'm caught up and with each new movie review comes a new poster! Wouldn't that be something? Anyways, here's what I've got so far:
I really like this one, even better than the original. It just works so well in high contrast. And the best thing about it is since everyone where's gloves, it could be anyone's hand! And in this version, does M stand for mouse?
This one I'm still working on. I think the problem I have with it is that I tried using solid blacks with no value. You can see the original here and a crazy colored version here.
I REALLY like how this one is coming out. I decided to go old-school shading with it, and I think it works out well. I changed the composition from the original a bit to make it work with the characters. I could have put Rickety in the main character seat but I wanted to see Stumbles as a boxer(Didn't Goofy do a boxing cartoon?) and I wanted to bring Blusto back.
The more I do these posters, the more I wish I could make little mock-movies, but alas, I feel that would be WAY too much to put on my plate. Maybe somewhere down the line I'll do it as a promotional tool when most of the animation is complete and I have time again.
No Noir review this week; I'm going to hold off until next week when I'll have most of the posters done. Plus, I haven't seen any new noirs lately.
Hey there Ricketeers! I'm sorry to say, I don't have much for you this week. I haven't had much time to work on any of the promotional materials, animation, concept art, or barely even the storyboards! I've been wrapped up in my other endeavors, the barber comics and other projects with Rocket Powered Dragon. But, Lucas was able to finish sorting through the Rickety Rat audio, so I'm at least hoping to get the opening sequence mock up done by next week!
I do have a little something for you, some outtakes from the recording sessions! I should warn you though, as we're all professionals here, there is some coarse language used when we trip over our lines. Enjoy!
I've also been doing some costume design for our heroines, look at this smart but cute attire for Dolly and Roofie:
That might be fur on her coat, not because she's an extravagant duck, but it's something Rascals would buy for her.
Don't have much else for you this week, Ricketeers. I've been working on the storyboards, and I might be at the half way point. I should really be doing set and environmental design, and I've scoured art deco books for reference, but it's probably going to be put off until I absolutely have to. I much prefer drawing characters than buildings. Who doesn't? YOU'RE HIRED!
For this week on Noir Review, I want to talk about something you're probably all familiar with and it may even be one of your old favorites as it is mine, Batman The Animated Series!
I think this old 90's cartoon is one of the best examples about how to do great noir (especially the first three seasons before the style changed). It's got a perfect 1930's-1940's feel from the buildings to the attire, it's filled with dark shadows and alleyways, and the music is some of the best scoring I've ever heard (when are they going to release a soundtrack?!) And the voices they got to play such iconic characters, Mark Hamil will always be the best Joker
What gave the show it's biggest noir feel is he stories. Many times they'd focus an episode around a normal person who spirals psychotically into the criminal trenches, or an already down and out criminal who's just trying to get back on his feet but society or his own urges won't let him. Many an episode ended on a sad note, or at the least a feeling of, "sure, the batman stopped him this time, but it doesn't matter much because he'll be back", that continuous downward spiral.
I could talk all day about my favorite episodes, but 'll only name a few:
Feat of Clay parts 1 & 2: voiced by the amazing Ron Pealman, a failed actor with a horrible facial disfigurement gets turned into the horrible monster Clayface and tries to get his revenge on the man who changed him.
The Gray Ghost: Voiced by Adam West, A washed-up TV star helps Batman stop a mad-bomber somehow connected to his old TV show.
A Bullet for Bullock: A whole episode revolving around Harvey Bullock, played out like a jazzy detective drama, as he figures out who's trying to kill him.
Almost Got 'im: I think this is one of everybody's favorite episodes. Siting around a poker table, the Joker, Two-Face, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and the Penguin share stories about how they all almost killed the Batman.
Two of my favorite scores:
Trial: Batman and Prosecutor get trapped at Arkham where all the villains put Batman on Trial for turning them into monsters. Let's face it, this should be the next Batman-Phoenix Wright crossover videogame. Objection!
But what's your favorite episode? See you next time Ricketeers!
Still working on the minor characters for this one. Dolly was stealing the femme-fatale show so I thought I'd put Roofie as the main character in this one. 
