re-purposing comics and illustration into animation
The LA Times HERO COMPLEX blog shared a really nice Motion Comic by artist Dean Haspiel and animator Daniel J. Kramer with music by Moby. It really is a great example of what can be done with taking the printed comic page and animating it, text and all. The final result is bittersweet and worth the watch. They really have done a good job at bringing the comic to life while not trying to pretend it’s something more.
Take a look…
I am really excited about the new realm of Motion Comics, but at this writing I don’t see them as a replacement for a printed or web comic, but another way to extend the reading experience.
I was thinking this about this when I read the quote from the artist Dean Haspiel… (italics by me)
“Even though I’ve collaborated twice with Daniel, I’m still not convinced of a ‘motion comics revolution,’ but I like where Dan is going with these. I believe our ‘cinema graphique’ experiments complements the source material while adding a new dimension to the reading and viewing experience, keeping the work vital by iteration.
The HERO COMPLEX also has an interview with ground breaking comic artist Neal Adams who’s Continuity Studio/Neal Adams Entertainment is producing the Motion Comics for Marvel. Continuity studio’s regular output is producing animatics (pre-visualization animation) of storyboards which is where a lot of the techniques for Motion Comics comes from. Mr. Adams is really positive about the future of Motion Comics, but he is also profiting from them as well so what he says should be taken with that in mind. On the whole the Marvel motion comics are some of the most elaborate I have seen, but I so far prefer ones that are more simple and work with the limitations of the original art work.
Here is a small example of Continuity Studio/Neal Adams Entertainment Motion Comic of the X-Men…
