Forum

CCAS WEBCOMICS EXTRAVAGANZA - THE PRODIGAL SON
Will be based on Luke 15:11-32  (NASB)

PAGE CLAIMS UPDATES (will continue to post as they come in):

 1+2, (Martin Murtonen)

3(Sven)

4 & 5 TAKEN BY GER

6, (Enjo)

7+8,(R Jay

9 - Stephen Macdonald (UPDATED JANUARY 17, 2012)

10,(Mel Todd)

11+12, (Earnest)

13+14 (Gustavo Duran)

17+18, 20 (Elgin Bolling)

19 (Y.P.)

ONLY 2 PAGES LEFT!:  15, 16.

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD. Read it all carefully. You may wish to print this out.

Ok gang, we've been sitting on this for months - now it's time to launch. This is a summer project for all us CCAS board peeps, to have fun and let loose. Come and join the fun will you?

WHAT YOU WILL FIND HERE:

• INTRODUCTION
• WHAT IS THE WEBCOMICS EXTRAVGANZA?
• WHO IS ALLOWED TO JOIN THE FUN?
• WHAT DOES THE ARTIST GET?
• WHAT DOES THE ARTIST DO/NOT DO?
• PARAMETERS
• HOW DOES THIS COMIC / SCRIPT/PROJECT WORK?
• QUESTIONS?
• CHARACTER TEMPLATES
• SCRIPT: CCAS WEBCOMIC EXTRAVAGANZA THE PRODIGAL SON

INTRODUCTION:

Hello ALL CCAS ARTISTS. Several months ago Elgin Bolling presented the idea of doing a Webcomics Extravaganza using the talent of the CCAS Boards. I, Martin Murtonen of iHorace Media decided to grab his bull by the horns and run with it.

I sought permission of the CCAS Board of Directors - and they have said we can go ahead with this. Should there ever be a "book" created from this project all proceeds will forwarded directly to the ongoing maintenance of the CCAS Forum.

This will be an exercise in creativity, unity, and pushing the envelope of ideas.

For cohesion, and making everything work, I (Martin) will be dubbing myself:

• EDITOR/PUBLISHER/Illustrator - Martin Murtonen
• OVERSEEING EDITOR/Illustrator - Elgin Bolling

WHAT IS THE WEBCOMICS EXTRAVGANZA?
1. Using the talents of the CCAS Board, our goal is to tell the story of THE PRODIGAL SON from Luke 15:11-32 in sequence using a NEW ARTIST for EACH PAGE or SEQUENCE OF PAGES. (Approximately 20 pages).

FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED.

2. Your page(s) will then be posted to a specific website, along with link-backs and promotion of your website(s). Details below.

3. Your art should follow the character templates, which will be below just before the script. Use these as your "Guide" to draw the characters, but you can tweak and modify them by making them more real, less real, more cartoony, more abstract etc. Draw them in your own style. I'm ok with it even being fairly sketchy.

Outside of the core characters, any other characters ARE UP TO YOU!

WHO IS ALLOWED TO JOIN THE FUN?

• Anyone who is a member of the CCAS board is allowed to be part of this project.
• Any skill level artist
• Any age

A Note to Professionals: PLEASE do join the fun. This will do a few things: It will raise everybody's game, and it will also provide another outlet for you to promote your stuff. Please see below what the outcomes are.

Do note: some editorial suggestions might be made.

 

WHAT DOES THE ARTIST GET?

1. We are going to present this to the world at large on this  website: www.sketchbooktheatre.com (currently a holding page - but once the ball gets rolling it will develop)

2. Your page(s) will be displayed in sequence with everyone else's.

3. EACH PAGE/image on Sketchbooktheatre.com will have underneath it

• the name of the artist OR artists involved with that specific page
• A link back to your website or portfolio
• Possibly an additional promotional space for you to advertise your personal comic or project choice. For free. (i.e. You provide a page for this project, you get promotional options available to you).

Essentially, your page(s) become an advertising piece for your work. If the book is ever published, all of the above will be applied to the book as well.

4. If more than one person is involved in the creation of your page, we will need a alist of  who's involved, and they EACH get a link back to their website/portfolio. e.g. One person pencils, one person inks, one person colors - each get their own link.

Note: This is not for pay - however, as noted above, you provide a page or pages, you will be endorsed and promoted from the site.

*WE WILL ONLY ALLOW A LINK BACK TO YOUR SITE SO LONG AS THE CONTENT ON YOUR SITE IS SUITABLE. If your site is deemed unsuitable (highly unlikely) you will still get credit if you provide pages, just no link-back e.g. No Porn/Smut or overly distasteful images (someone eating someone's intestines = NO. Someone getting punched = probably ok). I don't think this will be an issue though, since most people on this board, your art is in fine taste. If there is a question of suitability, I will definitely run it by several folks first before making a decision.

 
WHAT DOES THE ARTIST DO/NOT DO?
So long as you follow the template of the core characters you can:

1. Draw/illustrate in any style you like from sketchy, cartoony, humorous, realistic, to abstract - to final full color inked renders  or  painterly or collage or whatever you can come up with.

2. The era will be the modern day - but again you can draw/paint/color any style you like.

3. Extend or limit your sequence to as many panels/pages as you feel is necessary.

4. DO NOT create any word balloons, or dialog. For the sake of conistency ALL dialog or text will be based on the Scripture reference or context of the images and be implemented by myself (Martin Murtonen). ANY extra-biblical dialog will be written and cleared by Elgin and myself.

If you feel you need to provide your own dialog, you can do so by submitting it via email - we will review it, and possibly make editorial alterations.

5. You can illustrate 1-3 pages. (3 pages maximum).

6. The story is broken down below to approximately 20 pages.

7. If you feel that your segment of choice needs to be expanded (i.e. the script indicates one page, but you think it would be better as 2 or 3), then immediately when "claiming pages", let us know that you wish to expand your segment.

8. Use the Bible verses as the script for your page. In some cases, verses can be taken as individual panels unto themselves. In other cases, you may wish to break down one verse into multiple panels/pages. (Some panel break downs have been provided, you may change them as you see fit)

9. IF YOU FEEL YOU WOULD LIKE SOME EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, you can either post thumbnails to the boards here, or I will make an e-mail available for that process.

10. DO post your progress on these boards - it's fun to watch peoples process.

 PARAMETERS:

• FINAL IMAGE must be 6.25" WIDE @ 300 dpi saved as a TIFF. (If you wish to draw at a larger scale, by all means do, as long as it's in scale to the final size)
• OR put another way MUST FIT A FINAL WIDTH OF 1875pixels wide @ 300 dpi.
  No height restriction.

    HEIGHT, for this project doesn't matter. IF you want to pull a SCOTT McCLOUD (http://scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/porphyria/index.html ) and do an ongoing sequence where images flow into each other for an extended length - by all means go to town. AS LONG AS IT'S ONLY 1875 pixels wide.

Do consider if we decide to take this to print, that you may wish to have a chop line or crop your "page" at every 3075pixels in height (or at every 10.25")

You must submit EACH PAGE as a hi-resolution TIFF (300dpi, CMYK). I, Martin Murtonen, will:

• Size it
• Letter it
• Do all file conversions for Web (or Print if it comes to that).
• Present/Post it to www.sketchbooktheatre.com 
• Submit the image along with your name (or whomever worked on the page) and the appropriate links back to your website/portfolio.

Send your final images to: martin@ihorace.com

   ==============================================================================

 
HOW DOES THIS COMIC / SCRIPT/ PROJECT WORK?

1. Below you will find the script loosely chopped up into pages and panels

2. The script to follow and to use as your guideline IS the Biblical text along with panel suggestions. You may choose to change things if you wish. Everything is a "suggestion"

3. Essentially you will have a plot outline with no dialog or only the actual SCRIPTURE Dialog. I give some basic instructions as to what might be in a panel  or how many panels might be on a page.

It's up to YOU the artist to fill in the holes, or to create  the right amount of panels to tell the story. USE the directions or panel suggestions as guidelines - if you come up with something better by all means do it.

You can add panels, or take out panels, as long as it fits within the story AND DOES NOT DEVIATE into flights of fancy or into weird off story things.

• YES:  Son is out and about with friends partying it up - he might come across drug dealer and buy drugs. This is plausible.
• NO: Son is out and about and comes across aliens and a rocket-ship from space. THIS IS NOT PLAUSIBLE.

 
4. IF INTERESTED IN JOINING THIS PROJECT: In the forum below - respond with YOUR NAME and LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE.

 5. CLAIM YOUR PAGE or PAGES (maximum 3) you wish to draw. Make sure they are in sequence.

Example:

• You can make the claim: "I will take pages 8 and 9"
• OR "I will take page 6!"
• OR "I will take pages 12, 13 and 14"
• BUT NOT "I will take pages 5 and 10 and 16".

6. ONCE A PAGE IS CLAIMED IT'S YOURS. Please read previous posts to see which pages have been claimed. Then claim what's still available.

7. IF YOU CLAIM PAGES 1-3 you may start immediately.

8. IF  A SET OF PAGES ARE ALREADY TAKEN, TAKE THE NEXT ONE(S) that interest you.

9. THIS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL ALL PAGES/Verses ARE TAKEN.

10. YOU MAY NOT WANT TO START until the previous artist has finished their pages. This will allow you to see how they left off their page, and you can use it as a start point for your page.

11. IF you feel your segment will go over the listed page count - TELL US HOW MANY PAGES YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT.

12. ONCE THINGS START YOU WILL HAVE ONE WEEK to complete your page or segment, AFTER the artist previous your page finishes. (4hrs./page might be a suitable measuring stick. It's not too long, not too short. That way it's a fun exercise and doesn't eat into the rest of your life. If you wish to spend longer on it, that's up to you.)

13.  IF you cannot complete your page or segment in the allotted time, let us know AS SOON AS POSSIBLE so we can find a replacement person. IF you have a fast loose style give it a shot. Any style is relevant.

14. IF YOU ARE NEAR COMPLETION OF YOUR PAGES...but won't finish on time, we will give you grace. But please, don't hold out. If you go over 2 weeks, we will need to move on.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions, by all means ask below. 

==============================================================================

CHARACTER TEMPLATES

Note: I attempted to make the characters as distinct, but generic as possible. The father and the boys have tan, or olive skin. The Pig Farmer is an obvious Red Neck.

Does anyone have issues with these designs? Please comment below.

All additional characters are up to you. Any translation of the above characters is up to you. THE SETTING IS THE MODERN DAY. The Father runs a ranch, and the boys work on the ranch.

=======================================================

 
SCRIPT: CCAS WEBCOMIC EXTRAVAGANZA THE PRODIGAL SON

Because of the nature of the story and the hints that are within, we will make the Father a well to do SHEEP RANCHER.  The son's work on the ranch - but they dress well, and will be "rich and spoiled".  We will place the setting in the MODERN ERA.

 

Core cast - stick to the templates for these:

                *Father

                *Elder Son

                *Younger Son (The Prodigal)

                *Hog farmer

 

Secondary/Tertiary characters all of these can be made up:

                *People who waste Younger son's money

                *More people who waste younger son's money

                *Girlfriends, other...

                *Hogs

                *Servants/Ranch Hands

 

PAGE 1

11And He said, "A man had two sons.

• Full page:  Show the father and two sons in Father's office, with a safe in the wall.  Large ornate desk with typical rancer stuff. Younger son excited and eager. Older brother fuming mad and sulking.

 

PAGE 2

12"The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me (A)the share of the estate that falls to me ' So he divided his (B)wealth between them.

• Break this page down into the father and sons discussing things - waving hands, bemused looks
• Finish with a panel where the money is divided between the boys.

 

 

PAGE 3- have the SON leave in fancy truck of some sort.

 13"And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country,

•     Can have panels where the father is sad, the older brother angry, and father asks if this is really what the younger son wants to do...

 

PAGES 4-8

13 (contiued) and there he squandered his estate with loose living.    

    Pages 4-8 will be representative of the above segment of verse 13.

PAGE 4

• Have "friends" help him find an expensive apartment and fill it with the latest gadgets and toys

 PAGE 5

• Have "friends" make him pay for all their excursions (restaurants, paintball, going to the theme park or other...)

 PAGE 6

• Have "friends" make him pay for drugs/dancing in clubs/other??? (the older brother later indicates the use of prostitutes...but if this is done, it will need to be depicted in a very specific and tactful way.)

 
PAGE 7

• Son begins to run out of money - starts asking for friends for help, they all turn him down.

 

PAGE 8

• Have repercussions show for actions of previous pages - i.e. Car re-possesed for missed payments, friends leaving him in disgust, payments mounting for other things, other issues - girlfriend break-up etc.

 

PAGE 9
14"Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.

• Show headline in newspaper/or television with report about a famine/or panel of bleak dry landscape
• Show more panels of the situation he's in - this should all be pantomimed - so if you are really good at this type of stuff jump on board.

PAGE 10

15"So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

•  Show him going to a hog farm and asking the head guy for a job
• Head guy should be somewhat portly and an absolute jerk (See template)

• Have a panel/image where the guy kind of points vaguely get out there and work...the prodigal son's head hangs in shame.

 PAGE 11             
16"And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

• Show any amount of panels of him feeding the pigs - perhaps befriending one
• Show him hitting rock bottom and eating the pig slop

 PAGE 12

EACH VERSE BELOW should be an individual panel on this page. The panels should show the son gaining the resolve to go home. Additional panels can be added to show either remorse, or a steely glint indicating he's on his way.

17"But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!

•  Perhaps have the son  have an "ah-ha" moment.

18'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;

•  Thinking about what he's going to say - maybe with the look of a beggar.

19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."'

• Have his head hung in shame, possibly biting his lower lip - but it needs to look like this is part of the thinking process.

 
PAGE 13 + 14 This can be a two page sequence.

 20"So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and (C)embraced him and kissed him.

 
PAGE 15 (Each verse here will be a panel total of 4 panels, possibly 5)

21"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

•   Show son kind of clinging to his dad - in a begging manner? Maybe on his knees?

 22"But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out (D)the best robe and put it on him, and (E)put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;

•  Dad waving at the other Ranch hands  - or maybe each thing is a panel unto itself - putting on "robe", a ring on the finger, sandals on feet.

 23and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;

•  Have father pointing off to the barn - maybe break it down to two panels - pointing to the barn and asking for the calf, and then arms outspread in joy.

 24for this son of mine was (F)dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'

•  Hugging his son - with joy/tears or however you percieve this.

 
PAGE 16  This will be 1 page of a giant party,

And they began to celebrate.

 

PAGE 17 - Again each verse will be a panel.

 25"Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

• Fairly obvious, son comes and sees the house lit up like a christmas tree and have noise blaring etc. Happy people outside

26"And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.

• Have Elder Son waving down a ranch hand

 27"And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.'

•     Obvious?

 PAGE 18
28"But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.

• make 4- 6 panels of the son sulking throwing a temper tantrum - and then have the father come out pleading.

 

PAGE 19 - really work with the older Brothers expressions. 5 panels.

 Panel 1

29"But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours;

•     Have Older brother pointing at his chest

Panel 2:

and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;

•     Pointing at his dad in an accusing manner

Panel 3:

30but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your (G)wealth with prostitutes,

•     hands waving about in exasperation

 

Panel 4: you killed the fattened calf for him.'

    Have the sone have a look of absolute disbelief on his face

 
Panel 5:
31"And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.

•     Hand on shoulder of son...other hand waving showing off the Ranch?

 

PAGE 20 - FULL PAGE

32'But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was (H)dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'"

 

• FULL PAGE - showing the celebration in the background - younger son in the light, the father partially in the light, and the older brother in the dark - sulking and angry. OR maybe, he sees the truth of the situation and realizes, this really is a good thing after all.

 

About Martin Murtonen and iHorace Media: I have been running my company in some form for 3+ years, and doing art/design for hire for 10+ years. I have done a comic book, comic panel gags, comic strips, children's books, layout, illustration and design for a novel, and more. My ultimate goal is to eventually provide missionaries contextually relevant materials for the environment they're in, and to get as many kids as possible into the Kingdom.