Episode 214 - Good character, Bad character? Part 2
Apr 12, 2015
Continuing our theme from last week, Bravo1102 joins us to discuss good and bad character creation, along with two very well written characters; PitFace and Tantz Aerine! We use our best silly voices to read out the words of the smart people who had something to say on the subject in question and then we all get together to pick apart and discuss the points they made. Bravo joins us for the first time as a participant and not an interviewee and showcases his excellent and versatile vocal talents! Also- Gunwallace's tune for Joy To The World is especially funky. Please enjoy Quackcast 214!
Topics and Show Notes
Topics and Show Notes:
Featured comic:
Sentiments - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Sentiments/
Links:
Based on Banes' forum post - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/176844/
Contributions from:
Bravo1102 - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/bravo1102/
Special thanks to:
Awesome music by Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
The theme song by Gunwallace this week was for:
Joy To The World - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Joy_To_The_World/ by Wrathborne.
Episode 213 - What makes a good character? Part one
Apr 6, 2015
After several interesting discussions about Mary Sues, we'd like to talk about characters a little more. We asked people to let us know their thoughts on what makes a well written character VS a poorly written one. People talked about their favourite and least favourite characters in fiction and why they dug or don't dig them… as well as their own characters and how they put them together! Banes and I blather on a lot so this will be a multi-parter as we talk about what makes good characters. And as usual there's the great theme by Gunwallace! This time a classical number for the Adult comic Tina's Story.
Episode 212 - Gateway Comics
Mar 30, 2015
Tantz Aerine, Pit Face and Abt Nhil join Banes and Ozone to discuss the kinds of comics that are good intros into the medium for people who aren't into them: Gateway comics! You know the sorts of people; "Comics are for kids", that sort of thing. Well the idea here is to show them different! What comics would convince someone to give the medium a second glance? What comic or strategy could possibly convent people to the glorious cause of comics? Tantz, Pit, and Abt tell us what they think, we also read what HippieVan suggests (the topic creator), and the people who contributed to HippieVan's original newspost.
Episode 211 - How Mary Sure Are You?
Mar 23, 2015
Hello hello hello! This week Ozoneocean and Banes pirate another of HippieVan's much discussed newsposts. When the test for Mary Sue was brought up in our recent writing tests Quackcast it generated some heated talk so HippieVan went a little deeper into it and people responded again. Banes and I discuss those responses and try to come up with some sort of consensus on how to more properly use the Mary Sue test and some of its pitfalls: i.e. it's highly context sensitive and can't be used easily on certain genres (Superhero etc), it's also something you as a writer typically don't have to worry about unless you're inexperienced- or so Banes and I believe.
Episode 210 - DD Fashion Show!
Mar 16, 2015
Have you heard the word about the DD Fashion Show Free For All that's currently going on? No? Well now's your chance, so listen up good! Banes and Ozoneocean interview VinoMas aka Travis Michael Moore about the great community project he's running. Here's the low down: You go to the Fashion Forum in the links here (http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/13117/), desing an outfit for one of the figures there and post it in the catwalk thread for all to see and admire! You can put the outfit on your own figure and offer your own figure up for use as a model too if you like. Join in the fun, it's super easy. As long as you're a member of the forum and know how to host pics on photobucket.com or some other image sharing service you're all set! NOW GO TO IT!!
Episode 209 - lurv triangles
Mar 9, 2015
Around about Valentine's day, HippieVan's mind turned to thoughts of love... and she conceived of a great newspost idea that was very popular with people! Love triangles are very good for generating drama in your writing without having to worry too much about forcing that through external events. And because they're primarily driven by you characters as well as affecting them it's a great way to build on your characterisation through the drama. In HippieVan's words we outline a few notable love triangles in fiction, both classic, and contemporary, then we include the contributions the DDers who were good enough to add their two cents to the subject.
Episode 208 - Testing Your Writing
Mar 1, 2015
In this Quackcast Banes and I discuss some methods for testing your writing, well mainly your characters, to see how well you really know them. We use a comedic character creation template that we have found is perfect for testing and learning more about your established characters, no matter how serious they are. It consists of four interrelated elements: Point of view; Exaggeration of the point of view; Faults; Relatability / Humanity. We also talk a little about the dreaded dangers of the Mary Sue... you never want your writing to fall in that putrid, cancerous hole of smelly excrement where your main character is perfect and all the others worship them. And lastly the very useful Bechdel test for seeing how rounded your female characters are. There are 3 rules: You have to have at least two named women; They who talk to each other; It's about something besides a man. We were both a bit sad about the death of Leonard Nimoy. R.I.P. Mister Spock.
Episode 207 - A question of bodyshape part 2
Feb 22, 2015
In Quackcast 207 we talk about bodyshapes in comics again; as a follow up from the chat we had about it in Quackcast 205 we thought we'd let the community weigh in with their thoughts... so Banes and I could get the chance to practice our voices. We wanted to know what others thought about the subject of about bodyshape in comics; Ones that they draw, read, or have just seen and think that it needs commenting upon. These Quackcasts were inspired of course by the images of athletes from the 2002 book "Athlete" by Howard Schatz. The photos show various athletes who're at the top level of their respective sports, it also shows that they have wildly different physical attributes: there IS no one ideal, and there IS no “normal”. This got us to thinking how body shape can define a character as much as facial features, hairstyle, clothing etc. Anyway, people had their say and it was enlightening! Also, Gunwallace's music this week was for FUNK! And funky it was, give it a listen.
