Today I’m going to write about an interesting animated French/Czechoslovakian film from 1973, Fantastic Planet. Before I even try to explain it, check out the trailer.
So yeah. What is this thing about? Well it’s a story about humans living on an alien world. On this planet the dominant species is gigantic. They keep some humans as pets. Others are seen as pests and are exterminated. It’s a very strange sort of science fiction. There are some insanely imaginative visuals going on and just when you think you understand the logic behind some of what’s going on something weirder happens. It’s an interesting effect. The world we’re shown is truly alien and strange which gives us this uncomfortable feeling – the same as the humans in the film feel.
It’s not so much a “humans must rise against” kind of movie like Battlefield: Earth. It’s message is more about learning to co-exist rather than forcing dominance. It certainly has the look and feel of a 70s animated film with a style that reminds me of Yellow Submarine or Monty Python. I really recommend checking this one out for yourself and seeing what you can take from it. It’s easily found online but as always I encourage legit viewings of good films to support them.
Things are progressing nicely these days as I’m getting a handle on staying organized. I’ve been sorting and prioritizing my work, setting tasks and whatnot. Now that I’ve finally got my bookmarks and notes under control I’ve been putting calendars together. Before I’ve always had the trouble of writing stuff down and then never actually doing it when I said I was going to. This time around I’m getting into the routine and keeping on schedule fairly well. The two key things are to be consistent and realistic. I need to go to bed at a regular time and get up at a regular time. I need to be working on certain things at specific times of the day. There’s some wiggle room here and there. I like drawing in the morning when I wake up and writing in the evening to wind down but I’ve found I can color the comics almost any time of the day, even later into the evenings. There is a point to just stop and go to bed – when I’ll do more harm than good. I’m not in college anymore and I shouldn’t be pulling all-nighters but sometimes the work’s engaging and can benefit from that type of environment. And some nights I just can’t go to bed so I might as well be in the studio. Luckily that usually comes around on weekends.
You get what you give
I’ve seen people fail to visit their own sites regularly and then wonder why nobody else can be bothered to, either. I’m taking this to heart and I’m going to announce this here: The site will be updating every weekday for the foreseeable future. This could be blog posts that are newsy such as this one, they could be info dumps with useful links and advice, random pieces of art or previews of work I’m doing, hopefully more podcasts/reviews/interviews, or it could be comic updates. Rest assured I’m going to have something new on this page every weekday and I’ll try my best to make it worth everybody’s time.
Brand new comic “2071″ launches next week
Speaking of regular content – the new comic should finally be arriving a week from today on Monday the 15. Why the 15th? Getting all my ducks in a row, writing new blogs to be posted later, and to give myself time to hit the ground running working on the next section. I’ve already been doing research and collecting ideas. I’m eager to move on in the story from the part I’ve been laboring over lately. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished so far on this. I can’t wait for everybody to see it.
Pencils and preliminary inks on the prologue to 2071 are done. The next stage involves scanning all the analog work and touching it up digitally. This includes whiting out inking mistakes, straightening out lines, fixing some wonky circles, and over-all getting the best linework we can get before toning/rendering/lettering/what have you. I’ll be streaming it live and blogging about the errors I’m fixing. I haven’t settled on a streaming service yet but I’ve tried most of the ones out there. Everyone’s invited to come watch and join in on the chat. Following NoRights on twitter is the best way to keep up with me.
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