Saturday, November 16, 2013

Halloween For Thanksgiving

When the " muse " struck me at the beginning of October to create a " Snarky the Elf " Halloween story , I figured it would be a snap . That was , of course , before my " artist " got involved . Artists have a way of taking the simplest idea and turning it into the most excessively complicated cluster-( expletive deleted ) imaginable . The plan was to have a Snarky Halloween ready for HALLOWEEN - now we're approaching Thanksgiving and it has YET to go LIVE . Freaking ARTISTS !! 

Freaking Artist : C. Bradford Gorby

13 years ago ( hmmm , there's an auspicious number ) I was seeking a way to continue my work in comics using 3 dimensional imagery - I tried 3D graphics , but longed to utilize " real " 3D objects ( some would call them dolls ) ; I blame my childhood of watching Ray Harryhausen movies for this - you can NEVER replace truly practical special effects . There is an inescapable and intangible reality to things that ACTUALLY exist alongside us in this world . A good friend and fellow artist , Philip Lane had inspired me with his stop motion films using action figures for direct to DVD films Storm Cloud and Storm Cloud 1.5 , something I was not equipped to follow , but could at least pursue in a different format . 

The Twins' bedroom set

Fumetti , which is a comic book format utilizing photography of real actors in place of drawings was something I could accomplish , and so my work eventually navigated towards that incarnation . It was at its core the same as stop motion animation - it simply eliminated the frame by frame animation and used simply " key frames " to tell the story - just like comic books . Right up my alley .

Snarky the Elf's bedroom 

Creating three new sets for Snarky Halloween did not seem to be a Herculean effort , after all I had created 3 sets the year before for Snarky Christmas , I failed to take into account that the new sets for THIS new adventure were far beyond what I had created previously as far as scope . So what big deal . As an artist and creator you have to take into account that these things are going to be used A LOT - and in future works as well , so they have to be perfect ( or close , at least ) . These are not 1 shot throw-aways .

Come and Play with Us Snarky

I ended up spending ALL of October and half of November putting together the Snarky Halloween sets , way past my initial deadline and beyond the Halloween Holiday . . .but for Snarky The Elf - it's not so much the actual holiday that is concerned , but the spirit of it . Holidays are sorta timeless . 

Snarky the Elf

I was able to start principle photography on November 10 , 2013 and THAT is when DISASTER struck . A brown-out succeeded in goofing up my computer and rendering me somewhat " impotent " as far as importing and editing imagery . I'm currently in the midst of sorting thru the problems . Snarky will NOT be denied . Art is 10 % inspiration and 90 % slogging through BULLSHIT - so that's where I am at .

Buttercup and Hunnypie

My goal at this stage of the game is to have Snarky Halloween ready to go ONLINE by Thanksgiving - which will be another auspicious date . I am still hopeful for an early Christmas Miracle . . . ;)

The main set , decked out for Halloween


Given the situation , one might ask " Why bother ? " I'm not getting paid for this - surely there are alternative ways to spend my free-time . It is unlikely that the mass audience will even be aware of a " new " Snarky story . . . why waste my time ? Artists have passions , storytellers have a NEED to tell stories and I am both an artist and a storyteller , I am not so full of myself to think that my stories have any real relevance or that they make some sort of profound difference ; they are intended simply as entertainment - perhaps with a subtle message that might be received and taken away by those who pursue them . In the end they are just a small side of myself that I wish to share . 

Princess Vivian returns to add a little SPICE to the mix .

I also have taken a slight bit of " self-indulgence " to work Katy Perry into this years' Snarky - just in keeping up with prior storylines . . . or so I will tell .

This year , we are going to hear Snarky ROAR !!

Hopefully I live long enuff to complete the Snarky Halloween project .








Sunday, November 3, 2013

Behind The Scenes of " Snarky Halloween "

Maybe it's the PIXIE DUST , but Snarky always seems to come to life when the Disney Christmas Windows get pulled for installation . Perhaps it's just the magic that permeates the air during the impending " holiday season " - struggling to be noticed amidst the commercial madness that assaults us from ALL angles that starts earlier and earlier every year . I suppose it could even be attributed to the VODKA ! heh .



Snarky Halloween MISSED the ACTUAL Halloween festivities , I forgot that when I began her 2012 holiday adventure I was on vacation and had time to work on the story uninterrupted . I can deal with that . Who is to say WHEN Halloween ends ? Santa ? Okay - yeah - Santa . . . which means I still have time . As I did when I revisited Snarky the Elf in 2012 , the 2013 Halloween story also has me creating NEW SETS !! Woo Hoo !! Halloween is a more " personal " time for Snarky , Buttercup and Hunnypie so that meant inventing their space - their GURL CAVES . There is in addition , the hall that divides CHAOS from STABILITY - or the Elf Twins' room from Snarky's .


 
Although you might not suspect , a great deal of thought goes into the creation of a setpiece . You may NOT be dealing with the character her ( or him ) self - but YOU are approaching the space where they LIVE . It is a very introspective environment , it has to reflect the persona that dwells within . Both the bedrooms - that of the elf twins Buttercup and Hunnypie and that of SNARKY THE ELF herself ; needed to convey their individual personalities AND help to tell their story beyond words . designing and building the sets is just as important an aspect of character creation as the characters themselves , often it helps in DEFINING who those characters are ; many times BEYOND what you might have envisioned .

 


During the month of October when I began work on Snarky Halloween I realized that the characters are as much me as they are separate individuals . The twins represent my hopes and dreams and Snarky is my " real self " - needless to say perhaps , their environments encompass my own .

 


There is the whimsical and half-baked world of Buttercup and Hunnypie and the more grounded and pragmatic one of Snarky - very much if you were to take my apartment and separate the real from the imagined - cut it in half and separate it . I'm lucky in that I live in BOTH ! Looking deeply however , you will see signs of each world encroaching upon one another . That's how it is . Or as Katy Perry might intone " This is how we Do ! " She is forever my MUSE .

 


I've taken a little more aggressive route with my patronization of Ms. Perry this time around with Snarky the Elf , incorporating her " iconization " within the bedroom of the Elf Twins - it seemed natural given the personalities of Buttercup and Hunnypie . The simple fact that I came to recognize that both Hunnypie ( the " EVIL " one ) and Buttercup represented the innocent and faithful in me made it very reasonable that she that has become a spiritual and creative MUSE would ALSO find a home within the hearts of the two characters that are the breath of life and strength of Snarky . Snarky may NOT be the mother of the twins , but they are as much her children as those she might have birthed . I have fun with the idea that Snarky would likely NOT like Katy Perry . Love Hate . Sadly , I STILL have been unable to squirrel away enough " disposable income " to invest in casting and moldmaking materials for my " unofficial " Katy Perry dolls - so as yet the introduction of a " Peppermint Princess " is still ambiguously unforeseen in Snarky The Elf's future . Patience is a virtue I am told .

 
 
 


Anticipate some further musings on Snarky Halloween .