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on November 15
Ryan Bradford
Posted project update #11Coasting to the finish line
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on July 5, 2011
Ryan Bradford
Posted project update #10Image Obsession
Post Comment"I did that thing where I got seduced by a single image for awhile, but it's done now I think. I took pictures of progress along the way, but I couldn't do much at the start as far as documenting because I was using modeling paste and it gets all over my hands. So there's a face and arm carved out of stuff. Then I took pictures as I was working with the hair, which involves taping things down and then adding matte medium to hold it down then taping more stuff down. So I took pictures of that process (you can see the image being painted more too over time) but I'm too lazy to select out important ones. If you compare the first and the last of that series, you can see how it changed."
- Zandria
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on June 14, 2011
Ryan Bradford
backed a project
"Last Night On Earth" by Justin Hudnall
So Say We All is embarking on an enormous literary undertaking and we invite you to be a part of it.
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106% funded $2,335 pledged
- 41 backers
- Funded Jul 24, 2011
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on June 12, 2011
Ryan Bradford
Posted project update #9How to make comics the hard way.
Post CommentSorry it's been awhile. I just want everyone to know that we're still chugging along over at the Edgewater factory. Little by little, we're going to have a comic for you, even if you have to pry it from our cold, dead hands.
With this post, I'm going to try and let you in on some of the more cumbersome aspects of making a comic. As I've said before, I've never written a comic before, or do I have any idea how they're "supposed" to be formatted. Zandria has dabbled before, but still, the distance between us (her in Salt Lake City, me in San Diego) didn't make explaining images, themes, and such any easier...
...which is all the more amazing when she turns in images and they're exactly what I had in mind.
I'm going to pair up a scene from the original script with some of the images so you can see a a play-by-play analysis. The way I formatted my script was color-coded (which I can't format in Kickstarter but...):
BLACK MEANS “STAGE” DIRECTION
RED MEANS NOTES, ASIDES (not directly crucial to the story but helps with understanding thought-processes, etc)
BLUE MEANS DIALOGUE (MOST OF THE TEXT THAT CONSTITUTES EDGEWATER)
GREEN MEANS OMNISCIENT PROSE (Probably not used too much, but stuff like “In the future,there will be robots”-where no one is actively speaking those lines)Also, keep in mind that some of the images you are about to see are not finished/polished, or in Zandria's words: "The style looks different, but it's not . . . I just sketch in pencil and then paint and then erase the pencil and then sketch again and paint some more and erase again. So it looks detailed then not detailed then detailed then not detailed over and over again until it's done."
SCENE 3
Panel 1
A shot of a television. It’s almost disembodied; floating in space and old – the kind that has dials. The screen contains a still from Short Circuit - Johnny 5 (the robot) is up to some usual tomfoolery.
Pull out a little further and TV turns out to be situated at the end of a bar, haphazardly placed as if on loan. The bar is Rudy’s – a dive that one would expect in a small town. The layout of the bar is similar to Cheers to You [red]If you haven’t been, you should go![red] in Salt Lake City, but Rudy’s has more of a marine feel. There are fish-trophies on the wall, even though there hasn’t been a fishing industry in Edgewater for a long time. [red]This goes back to the notion of the town evolving at a different pace than the people, who have kept these trinkets/ideas to remind them of perhaps better times, perhaps. Or, it could just be that these town folks are pretending to be something they aren’t. Or they could just be tacky, and a fisherman-themed bar is as good as any. All interpretations are equally sad.[red]
Panel 2
Suddenly, there is a body (in profile) standing in front of the television—as if we were enraptured by what’s playing onscreen and watching it from 12 to 18” away—the body that has suddenly interrupted our viewing is only seen from the stomach down to mid-thigh. It’s a woman in a dress; her hand is relaxed at her side, fully visible.
The half of the television that isn’t obscured becomes static/distorted.
VOICE FROM OFFSCREEN: Shit Neil, get her out of here.
Panel 3
NEIL’s hand enters frame, holds lady’s wrist.
VOICE (cont’d) You know how these old TVs act up when they’re around.
Panel 4
Reveal of Rudy’s bar according to the description. VINCENT and SHANE sit at the bar. They are the “regulars”; RHODA bartends.
VINCENT is a skinny, corporate type. He’s older (mid 40s), balding (severe widows’ peak) and his eyes hide behind thick, wire-frame glasses. He wears a button-down and tie (untucked w/ sleeves rolled-up while at the bar, however) but also a goatee to look younger. He’s a meek, cynical person who admires SHANE’S cruel sense of humor.
SHANE owes a lot of his image/character to Severen (Bill Paxton) from Near Dark [red](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk_ZfUI4oPg)[red] He wears the leather jacket/punk/greaser look and sunglasses indoors. He’s mean, loud and has no friends besides VINCE.
RHODA is an attractive woman with rough edges—like she’d been a popular girl in High School but too much partying and lack of ambition have trapped her as the bartender in Edgewater. Still, she dolls herself up for the work and all the patrons are in love with her. She wears a flannel shirt tied off to reveal her mid-riff and her hair in a high ponytail. Her complexion is darker (ethnicity: Pacific Northwest Native American)
Panel 5
NEIL ushers his pleasurebot, RACHELLE away from the group at the bar. She looks serene, he looks embarrassed.
SHANE: Nothing personal ma’am. We’d prefer you to your boyfriend in any other circumstances.
RHODA and VINCE laugh cruelly.
Panel 6
Shot from outside the bar as NEIL puts RACHELLE out in the street. It’s raining steadily. SHANE & Co. are visible through the open door.
SHANE (cont’d): But come back in a little bit and we’ll have a round on you!
More laughter. NEIL’s embarrassment is now sadness.
Panel 7
SHANE: Speaking of… why are we still watching this robot shit? Rhoda, sweetie, can you change the channel to the game? And get us another round, will ya?
RHODA: Sure thing, hun.
RHODA holds a blocky remote control.
CLICK
Panel 8
Shot of the TV. The picture is a beautiful woman with the word ROBOUTIQUE written in beautiful cursive [red](same ROBOUTIQUE font as the poster)[red]—an advertisement.
SHANE (offscreen): Well goddamn. Speak of the devil…
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERCIAL - …the human touch.
[red](Begin series of quick panels)red]
Panel 9
Pull back as patrons of Rudy’s stare at commercial, transfixed. RHODA washes some new glasses, NEIL sulks in the corner.
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERICAL (cont’d): Invaluable. Esssential.
Panel 10
We float out to Rudy’s exterior, where RACHELLE waits outside for NIEL, waits complacent as the sleet soaks her.
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERCIAL (cont’d): SSSensual.
Panel 11
Float further up the street. JOSH COEN brings out a bag of garbage to the trashcan on the curb.
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERCIAL (cont’d): We are created in your image.
Panel 12
Low angle of, aimed up, of JOSH putting trash into the can. His face is under-lit and slightly disgusted.
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERCIAL (cont’d): You have dominion over us.
Panel 13
Inside the trashcan, the bag has come open and robot body-parts spill out: an arm, a blown-apart head.
ROBOTIQUE COMMERCIAL (cont’d): We are at your disssposal.
Panel 14
We float further up the street. LORI steps out of her house, bundled up against the cold weather. JOSH is still faintly visible in the background, standing over the trashcan. Wind/wetness plaster hair across LORI’S face.
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERCIAL (cont’d): Your every desire, and we are so.
Panel 15
Shot again from JOSH’S side of the road, JOSH holds his face in his hands. The weather has no effect on him. Across the street, LORI walks swiftly against the wind toward Rudy’s.
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERCIAL (cont’d): We are so… good.
Panel 16
Outside of Rudy’s, LORI pushes past RACHELLE, troubled by the pleasurebot’s indifference to the cold.
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERCIAL (cont’d) Roboutique: Unrequited no more.
Panel 17:
LORI enters Rudy’s, and the people are still enraptured by the commercial
ROBOUTIQUE COMMERCIAL (cont’d) Roboutique: Real Connections.
[red](End commercial, quick panels)[red]
Panel 18
LORI sits next to SHANE and VINCE.
SHANE: Damn, even the commercials get me hard.
RHODA: Hey Lori, how’s it going? Where’s Sebastian?
Panel 19
LORI: He’s um… busy tonight.
SHANE: I bet. Busy with his friends Beam and Daniels, more like it.
RHODA: Watch your mouth, Shane. What can I getcha, Lori?
Panel 20
The two guys ease off, converse with themselves/discussing the game while the focus turns on RHODA and LORI.
LORI: No, he’s right. He’s so shit-faced right now that my lingerie couldn’t get a er… rise out of him.
Panel 21
RHODA sets a beer in front of LORI.
RHODA: I’m sorry hun. It happens to all guys over time. This one’s on the house.
LORI: Thanks. I guess you’re right. But he’s been different since that… factory opened up out there.
SHANE (OFFSCREEN): You call that a foul??
Panel 22
RHODA: Well, they have been showing up a lot more around here.
LORI: Is that one of them out there?
RHODA: She’s with Neil. Who woulda thought him, right? I mean… Neil.
Panel 23
LORI (close-up): I don’t think it’s very surprising. Roboutique changes people. I just didn’t think Sebastian would get caught up with it.
SHANE (OFFSCREEN): A fucking fumble!?
Panel 24
Pull out a little, take note of NEIL in the background opening the door to Rudy’s, checking up on RACHELLE.
RHODA: It riles the guys up, that’s for sure.
SHANE and VINCE are glued to the screen, eyes wide with anticipation.
SHANE: What a catch! They’re going for it!
Panel 25
LORI (close up, lost in her thoughts): Not just the guys though. When I was a little girl…
Panel 26
Close up of television, playing static.
KSHHHHH
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on April 15, 2011
Ryan Bradford
backed a project
Phil McAndrew Is Making A Book! by Phil McAndrew
I'm collecting some of my best comics together in a book... and drawing 100 pages of NEW COMICS!
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154% funded $6,172 pledged
- 153 backers
- Funded May 30, 2011
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on February 14, 2011
Ryan Bradford
Posted project update #8Happy Valentines Day from Edgewater
Post CommentMay your day be filled with sex and violence and robots (and love).
Also, check out and download Zandria's wonderfully-dark Valentines, which recently got some play at The Spooky Vegan.
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on January 14, 2011
Ryan Bradford
Posted project update #7Fianally, an update!
Dear friends and supporters of Edgewater,
It has been just over a year since our little comic project got funded through Kickstarter, and it's an understatement to say that our updates have been lagging. The truth is this past year has been incredible in terms of self-growth and discovery for me and Zandria, but it's also been a harsh lesson in biting off more than you can chew. You've given us the opportunity to pursue our dreams with making this comic—a fact that still keeps us reeling—and we're forever grateful. However, none of us have embarked on a project like this, and initial estimates of when we were going to finish it have been thrown aside in favor of just finishing it.
I could offer a multitude of excuses why our book isn't done yet: money, computers and that pesky thing called real life. Blah blah blah, I say. There was even a time when Zandria and I were neck and neck at each other, which culminated in a dramatic climax where she was forced to kill either me or her beloved pet dog. I'm glad she chose me. That was a weird week.
To get an idea of the rollercoaster this project has taken us on, here are some direct quotes that I stole out of Zandria's diary:
"I've hated Edgewater more than I've ever hated anything."
"Edgewater has ended up deeply tied to my personal growth and that's made it among the most painful experiences of my life at times." "My sister asked me on Halloween if I would do anything like this again and I said "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.""
But also:
"There is motion with Edgewater. And each time I try, I do get better and better. And I feel so much clear about it than I have in awhile. And I'm talking about it right now, so we're on pretty good terms, after much counseling. ;)
And that clarity counts for a lot. Because it's easier to see shortcuts and it's easier to tap into those places of empowerment.
And god dammit, the work is really beautiful. I've got some panels just hanging around for me to see so that I'll be musing on something else and then I'll notice one and suddenly be like, "That hand looks really good." or "I like how that composition came out." or "That breast is really gorgeous and sexy." (cuz I'm a perv. :))"
and
"I worked on Lori's underwear for like 8 hours today!!!!!!!!" (see images below for detail)
Basically, we're just trying to give you the best work that we think you deserve. And it will get done. We're not asking for more money, just a little more patience (and also to not think we ran off with your money). We feel so blessed to have so many people believe in this project (especially you Lambert fans! Jeez Lou-eez you guys are awesome).
Anyway, if you guys still have questions or anything, I'm still available at avclub.bradford@gmail.com. Or if you know people who still want to support this comic, spread the word by sending them over to Zandria's page at www.littlezas.net. While you're there, you should drop a line and tell her that she's doing a fantastic job because I'm just one man and can't possibly keep up on the accolades she deserves.
Happy New Year and Cheers,
Ryan BradfordAnyway, without further ado, some images of the forthcoming Edgewater:
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on August 21, 2010
Ryan Bradford
backed a project
Last Night At Sweetie Poops by Trent harris
Unrequited love, a death by gunshot in a hotel room in Phnom Penh, then the discovery of the Tachyon Converter, that’s how it all begins.
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111% funded $6,670 pledged
- 87 backers
- Funded Sep 15, 2010
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on March 19, 2010
Ryan Bradford
Posted project update #6Super sneaky peek.
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on January 31, 2010
Ryan Bradford
Posted project update #5And the work begins!
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Post Comment -
Ryan Bradford
San Diego, CA
Ryan writes things sometimes and likes roller coasters. Here are his sites: fridayfiction.com peopletalkingonbananas.com chuckthescout.com Please employ him.
Wow, the detail on that underwear IS amazing!!! As is the rest of the work. I agree that your Lambert fans ARE awesome, and most of us will be just thrilled with this update. I, for one, admire your ambition, and determination to put together a quality product - it looks like it will be worth the wait! I think that many of us have just supported another Lambert connected project, so have been wondering about yours. The work looks amazing. I will be so happy to see the final project whenever it gets done! I'm a believer - Sending positive thoughts for both of you!