SS7 Under Construction
skyangel on Jan. 15, 2019
Hi guys,
I hope you all had a nice and pleasant break. Some people think me a bit weird but I actually enjoy the atmosphere of Christmas much more once it's over. I tend to feel more stressed than excited before the big day these days but now it's all over, I feel very relaxed and I'm just taking it easy, reading comics, playing games, watching too many good movies and of course… working on this final chapter.
Looking at the stats I can see a lot of you have either been reading the archive or checking for a new update and we're still bouncing in and out of the top ten despite not having posted anything since the beginning of last November, so I thought I should let you know how things are progressing.
What you see above is the page layout for the final chapter. I've reduced it to save spoiling the story but you can see roughly which pages have been scripted and which still remain blank. I always work off a basic skeleton so that I know where each scene or incident comes on the timeline before I do it but it's only when I start fleshing out and writing the script properly that I can see how many pages each event will take. If it's a big scene or a really dramatic moment, I tend to stall for a lot longer as I love playing it through in my daydreams as if I were watching a movie and that tends to make the art and writing stronger. In all the previous chapters I've followed the timeline but written the scripts a few pages ahead to keep moving with the art which is why my eventual page count often ends up horrifying me! So this time I'm writing the entire script first so I know almost exactly where we are at all times. I think originally I might have said 30 pages, which then felt more like 60 but as you can see it looks like I've finally nailed it down to 100 now the scripts are almost finished!
I still have some linking pages to write in those blanks and one or two tie-ups I'm undecided on at the moment but I'm hoping to be able to put a preview poster up fairly soon to give you an idea of what you're
in for. I can't make any promises about how exciting or absorbing this last chapter will be but once the posters up I'll be able to get some idea how keen you are too!
Happy New Year!
Infected Blood at 3:13PM, Jan. 31, 2019
Really interesting process! So, 100 pages it is, looking forward to it :) I'm also happy to see previews, those are enticing.
PBandJ at 4:24AM, Jan. 24, 2019
Hi, Since you're doing your layout I'd like to make a small suggestion. Move the "Janey!" dialogue bubble to Janey's splash page to give the reveal a bit more oomph. Sort of a take on the superheroic "You!" (turn page) then splash page of villain at the end of the book. :)
skyangel at 5:33PM, Jan. 24, 2019
PB: Funnily enough that was my original intention but I often tend to overthink things and I was so sure most readers would guess it was going to be Janey anyway from the conversation Sarah was having with Nik just before the doorbell rang, that I thought it might not seem very dramatic. I could still do that edit tho for future readers.
tommym at 9:53AM, Jan. 17, 2019
Dear Sky, Hope you had a enjoyable time these past few weeks. It's great to know you are going to do another 100 pages or so. Yet in the back of my mind I know someday SS might end for good, a most horrible heart breaking thought for me. So I will enjoy it while it lasts. tommym
skyangel at 5:16PM, Jan. 24, 2019
Tommym: Somebody said I might feel lost when I finally complete this and that's probably true. When I take a break I always feel an urge to do something comicky again before long and I have had so many ideas over the past years that it would be nice to finally devote some time to those without having to think about SS as well, but this is the baby that will probably always be closest to my heart for obvious reasons.
BearinOz at 7:55PM, Jan. 16, 2019
Ah ! SO we can relax. 2 more years. B-)
skyangel at 5:11PM, Jan. 24, 2019
Bear: I think so yea. I'm going to get a good head start on this before we upload anything so I can cover unforeseen breaks in the future and also take rests if I want to. :)
DarkVisor at 10:42AM, Jan. 16, 2019
At first, seeing that page like that, thought something bad had happened to the site :(
skyangel at 5:07PM, Jan. 24, 2019
DV: Haha Sorry, I'm not sure how it looks on a mobile phone but my original thought was to leave some of the labels under the 'stamps' visible as a sort of teaser but I felt it might ruin the reading to know too much so I blacked the lot.
BearinOz at 7:55PM, Jan. 16, 2019
Yeah, ditto
BarryCorbett at 6:38AM, Jan. 16, 2019
It's good to know we'll be seeing more of Sarah!
skyangel at 5:04PM, Jan. 24, 2019
Thanks for the morale boost Barry !
Ashley.Grenstone at 9:01PM, Jan. 15, 2019
Awesome!!!!!!!!!! Also this is super insightful and helps new creators to learn how to do this kind of thing
skyangel at 5:04PM, Jan. 24, 2019
Ashley: Rather than waste time doing filler art I thought it would probably be of more interest to show the progress we are making instead. I am devoting all my spare time to working on the new pages so hopefully within the next few weeks we will have better and better stuff to share with you guys. :)
fredhedges at 8:59AM, Jan. 15, 2019
100 pages... = two more years! You may be horrified, but we're delighted! I'm a fan of silent movies, where (in better films) the story is told visually rather than through the dialogue, and one of the things I've so enjoyed about Simply Sarah is the way you've come to use almost cinematic ways to create interest panel-by-panel and strip-by-strip. One can see your skill at this grow over the years.
skyangel at 4:59PM, Jan. 24, 2019
Fred: Haha yea It's still hard to actually nail the page count down as I intend to be more ambitious with my art and make use of larger panels more often, which will stretch some scripts into more pages. It's funny too you mention my 'cinematic' approach because I've been asked in the past if I was storyboard artist! My love of the cinema has always been a big influence on my art and that will be even more apparent when we enter the last chapter ;)