Filler: Behind The Scenes of Due East
dueeast on March 23, 2008
03-25-08 Update: Behind The Scenes of Due East updates today, Wednesday and Thursday this week!
Original blurb: Okay, it's probably going to be Wednesday before I can crank out the next page of Book 4. So, in the meantime, I found some old DE material from storage and it reminded me that this stuff is great for Behind The Scenes of Due East (DE BTS). I will be posting several more times this week at BTS but wanted to use the DE main page to remind everyone that BTS even existed!
About this page: This was supposed to be the original page 1 of Due East Book One. The final version ended up being Page 2. It was sketched/drawn in early 2003.
Sapphira was originally going to start out fat but my wife and I changed our minds. In fact, Sapphira and Brielle were originally supposed to be identical twins and both were plus-sized in our earliest story ideas. Eventually, we settled on Brielle being 16 and Sapphira being 20. Sapphira ended up gaining most of her weight after returning to Austin with her dad in Book One (between pages 1 and 17).
As you can see, the dream was much more surreal in the first version. The final version was “blurry” but seemed like a real setting. Elements of the original dream setting kind of resurfaced in the cover of Book 4, strangely (and unintentionally) enough. Go fig?
Click on the graphic below to go to the Behind The Scenes archives.
I'll reply to comments about this page on this page. Replies to comments from the previous page will return on the next Book 4 page (again, hopefully Wednesday now)!
dueeast at 8:51PM, March 27, 2008
JustNoPoint: Thanks for the compliment and sorry for the initial confusion. :) trevoramueller: I'm glad you liked the backgrounds. They were fun to make. Femme Noire: Thanks for the 5!
trevoramueller at 10:28AM, March 25, 2008
Great backgrounds on this page.
JustNoPoint at 9:00AM, March 25, 2008
I really love this creative layout and panel designs! I was a bit confused at 1st before reading your comment though =p Great work!
dueeast at 10:38AM, March 24, 2008
D0m: Thanks. Yeah, it is quite a change of scenery, isn't it? XD DAJB: Wow! I'm honored by the comparison. amanda: I'm glad you like it. Cool, mission accomplished!
amanda at 10:11AM, March 24, 2008
This is really cool - I didn't realize the behind the scenes stuff existed, so I'm glad you pointed it out.
DAJB at 7:51AM, March 24, 2008
Cool layout. Slightly reminiscent of Eisner or some of Alan Moore's trippier stuff!
dueeast at 5:50AM, March 24, 2008
usedbooks: Thanks. I do, too! ^_^ blntmaker: Oh, you want one of my [i]long[/i] answers, eh? Okay. Size acceptance, not obesity, figures strongly into work that I do, especially [b]this[b] work, because that's where I'm an activist and hopefully, educator. DE was conceived as a concept in 1999, which was 2 years after I'd help found a non-profit size acceptance organization called [url=http://www.size-acceptance.org]ISAA[/url] (which is still in existence). It wasn't because of my own size/weight or my wife's but learning about the discrimination and hardships that millions of others, plus-sized people, face around the world which gained my sympathy and support. ISAA has been active in the U.S., Europe (specifically the UK, France and the Netherlands), Russia, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines and amazingly, the Middle East. It's been my honor and privilege to be its Director. As far as how all of the things you mentioned work together when my wife and I write, it's all part of the story. It's what makes this family human and we aim to make them real and believable. Based on the comments we've received along the way, I feel very good about the "road" Due East is on and where it's going. :)
D0m at 5:42AM, March 24, 2008
Whoa, nice change of scenery, I love the winding panels and everything.
blntmaker at 10:30PM, March 23, 2008
Great - quite cool! Almost like a storyboard for where you want an arc to go. Why is the issue of obesity so poignant it your storytelling? I meant to ask you that after I read your interview. There are so many interesting complexities here already added to the girls - interracial relations, cultural identity, divorce, all the angst...How does it all work together when you and your wife write? Its quite compelling stuff, Allen! Really.
usedbooks at 10:08PM, March 23, 2008
Cool. I like all the scenery.