Final Theme: Thumbnails, Sketch Page, and Character Sketches

Okay, I've got my "final-everything" here.

Some sketches of the "hero" of our first chapter, Seth, can be found here. (I was hoping to color them, maybe I will later.)

Thumbnails for the first ten pages of the story can be found here.

And finally, a very rough sketched out page can be found here.

That should be everything!

Final Theme: Script

The script for chapter 1 of Clockwork Cirque has been uploaded. It is viewable here.

Final Theme: Proposal

The finished word document for my Clockwork Cirque proposal is viewable online here.

Final Theme: Planning and Synopsis - REVISED

Dr. Denure’s Clockwork Cirque

by Lauren Burger
Presented by 4^th Wall Comics

Title: Dr. Denure's Clockwork Cirque

The Basic Idea: This comic will be presented as an anthology. It involves short stories based around invidiual characters, but each character's story is interconnected in some way. Characters who end up joining the circus are usually laden with some sort of baggage that keeps them from handling life properly.

The Cirque: The cirque is on a time-travelling (also flying!) train, designed and built by Dr. Denure. Depending on what time or place it is in, it appears to be completely different; in one era it may be a series of horse-drawn carriages, while in another it could be a steam engine, or even a spaceship. The train may even have a mind of its own, since the costumes change depending on the time or place of the show, and none of the performers really seem to be entirely human. Whenever one person joins this circus, another leaves. Eventually, everyone either finds where they are meant to be, whether it is the same time, or one they have never been to.

Characters so Far:
Edgar - The Juggler (a workaholic)
Jacques - The Contortionist (means well, but causes trouble)
Nathan - Ringleader (is uncharismatic and has little tolerance for others)
Seth - The Firebreather (a cynic)
Orion - The Acrobat (is afraid of taking risks, hates breaks in routine as well.)
Dr. William Denure - The Magician (feels powerless in his outside life)
Stella - The Lady in the Box

Danielle - Wheel act (Gets off the train when Seth is getting on, not a major character.)

23 Year-old Seth had given up on life by the time he stumbled onto the train. He had an obsession with trying to be accepted by others, and yet, no one seemed to pay him any attention. Because of this, he is very insecure. In stumbling onto the train, he actually resigns himself from everyone around him, despite the fact that many of the others are very welcoming. He finds that he's gone through some physical changes, including a newfound (though hard-to-control) ability to breathe fire, and make small flames arise on his fingertips (about candle-sized, no larger). He gets on the train to return Jacques' hat, thus earning the boy's gratitude and affection. Others see that Jacques likes him, and try to get him to open up. Orion asks him to cook for them, earning the acrobat’s trust as well, despite the fact that he is grumbling and irritable. He is filled with self-doubt, until he finally puts on his first performance, when he learns to accept that if he accepts himself, others will as well.

Edgar lives his life on a tight schedule. He sets rules for himself and guidelines for everything. He is organized and efficient. If something goes wrong that ruins his checklists and schedules, he is overwhelmed. He never allows any time for himself. One could even venture as far as to say that he has long since forgotten how to smile. He's forgotten how to interact with others, he feels he has no time for relationships, because he does not want anyone else having a say in his life. Even once he joins the cirque, he remains aloof. When they stop in a small North Carolina town in the early 1940s, they hold a freak show. While Denure thinks this is a good idea, Edgar is very vocal about the fact that he opposes it. Regardless, the show is held, and he must endure people talking about him in front of him, as well as the fact that he has no choice to do what he is told. Because of this, he sees that he must be patient in situations that are beyond his control.

Not sure if I will have a third story or not, one hasn’t really popped out in my mind yet.

Additional Backstory:

Dr. Denure hails from 1893, when he originally modified a steam engine to create the train that for now, has no name. He is traveling through time in search of a cure for his wife’s terminal illness. It seems that no matter how far into the future he travels, he cannot find a cure, but, he discovered that even the smallest coincidences can change timelines completely. Inspiration spawns great revelations, and he hopes to inspire many to do great things, perhaps even the person who can develop a cure for his wife’s ailment.

Edgar is a French phone operator from the early 1990s. Part of his frustrations come from the fact that his profession is dying out as he is laid off from job after job, despite the fact that he continues to work as hard as ever. He is already a part of the troupe at the start of the comic, perhaps his backstory will be told in flashbacks later on.

Jacques, despite being one of the most outgoing characters, is the most mysterious. He has been on the train as long as Dr. Denure can recall, and no one really knows where he comes from. He appears to be about eleven years old, and is almost always cheerful.

Seth is from the near future, possibly 2015 or 2020. He worked as a pizza delivery guy and was generally unmotivated to try to move forward in his life otherwise. He couldn't keep a girlfriend or any friends whatsoever, probably because of his stubbornness and irritability. He harbored grudges for longer than most.

Final Theme: Planning and Synopsis

Title: Dr. Denure's Clockwork Cirque

The Basic Idea: This comic will be presented as an anthology. It involves short stories based around invidiual characters, but each character's story is interconnected in some way. Characters who end up joining the circus are usually laden with some sort of baggage that keeps them from handling life properly.

The Cirque: The cirque is on a time-travelling (also flying!) train, designed and built by Dr. Denure. Depending on what time or place it is in, it appears to be completely different; in one era it may be a series of horse-drawn carriages, while in another it could be a steam engine, or even a spaceship. The train may even have a mind of its own, since the costumes change depending on the time or place of the show, and none of the performers really seem to be entirely human. Whenever one person joins this circus, another leaves. Eventually, everyone either finds where they are meant to be, whether it is the same time, or one they have never been to.

Characters so Far:
Edgar - The Juggler (a workaholic)
Jacques - The Contortionist (means well, but causes trouble)
Nathan - Ringleader (is uncharismatic and has little tolerance for others)
Seth - The Firebreather (a cynic)
Orion - The Acrobat (is afraid of taking risks, hates breaks in routine as well.)
Dr. William Denure - The Magician (feels powerless in his outside life)
Stella - The Lady in the Box

Danielle - Wheel act (Gets off the train when Seth is getting on, not a major character.)

23 Year-old Seth had given up on life by the time he stumbled onto the train. He had an obsession with trying to be accepted by others, and yet, no one seemed to pay him any attention. He worked as a pizza delivery guy and was generally unmotivated to try to move forward in his life otherwise. He couldn't keep a girlfriend or any friends whatsoever, probably because of his stubbornness and irritability. He harbored grudges for longer than In stumbling onto the train, he actually resigns himself from everyone around him, despite the fact that many of the others are very welcoming. He finds that he's gone through some physical changes, including a newfound (though hard-to-control) ability to breathe fire, and make small flames arise on his fingertips (about candle-sized, no larger). He gets on the train to return Jacques' hat, thus earning the boy's gratitude and affection. Others see that Jacques likes him, and try to get him to open up. He continues to push people away, until he (does some kind of honorable act, I don't have it figured out yet) learns to accept that if he accepts himself, others will as well.

Edgar lives his life on a tight schedule. He sets rules for himself and guidelines for everything. He is organized and efficient. If something goes wrong that ruins his checklists and schedules, he is overwhelmed. He never allows any time for himself. One could even venture as far as to say that he has long since forgotten how to smile. He's forgotten how to interact with others, he feels he has no time for relationships, because he does not want anyone else having a say in his life. Even once he joins the cirque, he remains aloof. When they stop in a small North Carolina town in the early 1940s, they hold a freak show. While Denure thinks this is a good idea, Edgar is very vocal about the fact that he opposes it. Regardless, the show is held, and he must endure people talking about him in front of him, as well as the fact that he has no choice to do what he is told. Because of this, he sees that he must be patient in situations that are beyond his control.

Not sure if I will have a third story or not, one hasn’t really popped out in my mind yet.

Additional Backstory:

Dr. Denure hails from 1893, when he originally modified a steam engine to create the train that for now, has no name. He is traveling through time in search of a cure for his wife’s terminal illness. It seems that no matter how far into the future he travels, he cannot find a cure, but, he discovered that even the smallest coincidences can change timelines completely. Inspiration spawns great revelations, and he hopes to inspire many to do great things, perhaps even the person who can develop a cure for his wife’s ailment.

Edgar is a French phone operator from the early 1990s. Part of his frustrations come from the fact that his profession is dying out as he is laid off from job after job, despite the fact that he continues to work as hard as ever.nHe is already a part of the troupe at the start of the comic, perhaps his backstory will be told in flashbacks later on.

Jacques, despite being one of the most outgoing characters, is the most mysterious. He has been on the train as long as Dr. Denure can recall, and no one really knows where he comes from. He appears to be about eleven years old, and is almost always cheerful.

Comic Script: Relationships

For this particular assignment, our group agreed that we would work on a comic pertaining to relationships between the characters that will be present in our final assignment.

Seth, my main character, is lost and frustrated. Edgar tries to make him feel welcome, with mixed success.

The script can be viewed here.

Final Theme Ideas

I have a few separate ideas for my final script project. Both require some research, but they require totally different kinds. However, I really want to find a way to incorporate time travel into whatever I do decide to do in the end.

- A man who has given up on life joins a time-traveling circus. Not only does he have to adjust to this bizarre new lifestyle, but he has to find something he's good at enough to actually contribute to the show.

- A professor from the mid-to-late 1800s has created a device so that he may randomly jump through time. He wants to find a cure for his wife's illness, but there's no way to be sure if he can find one in time, or if it won't have a serious effect on the future.

Edit: Definitely favoring the circus idea.

Comic Script: Family Story

Whoops! Forgot to post this earlier! Here it is now, though, so no worries!
My family story is about a vacation to Ireland, in a simple venture: grocery shopping for the week.
View story here.

Comic Script: Slice of Life

So, for my slice of life comic, I listened in on a particularly odd conversation that two of my roommates were having. We're all pretty close friends, so we talk about some really weird stuff.

The script can be viewed here.

Speed-Writing Exercise.

My plot is probably more like a cartoon episode than a comic, so please bear with me. Haa, I love Doctor Crock.

Who?

Ryan is a bit grumpy for a boy genius. He doesn’t really have any motivations to stop Dr. Crock from destroying his hometown except that it makes a lot of noise and disturbs his sleep. Not only that, but the screaming and yelling of random people around him always wake him up. He’s only 15 years old, and loves building robots. He has a younger sister, Casey, age 6, who is the only person he really cares about. Whenever she is threatened or in danger, he rushes to her rescue.

Need?

Ryan’s life almost revolves around his little sister. Even if he absorbs himself in his studies, and is intent on building a secret research facility so he may conduct research towards building the perfect robot companion for his sister. He also needs Doctor Crock to stop destroying the town so he can work on building his research facility in peace and quiet. Not only that, but he must collect special “solar rocks” to power his robots.

Go:

When Doctor Crock destroys the town water tower, Ryan has had enough. Without an adequate water supply, his secret research facility will never come to operation. Though a very ridiculous montage, he suits up and prepares to stop Doctor Crock and his giant….town-destroying-contraption-of-the-day.

Search:

Ryan rushes off to stop the town-destroying-contraption-of-the-day. But the contraption knocked over a wall of the school which is threatening to fall on a few children. Ryan grumbles and flies over in his mech suit to help them, pulling them out in the nick of time. He then flies off to reach the contraption, but is blocked by a force field. He then uses a giant magnet to disperse the field, and when he finally thinks he’s gotten to the contraption, it grabs him and begins to crush his mech, making it inoperable. It takes him a few moments of thinking before deciding to use a grappling hook to pull out the “safety shut down” pin that was conveniently placed on the contraption’s back. (Doctor Crock never was very bright when it came to designing contraptions.)

Find:

Doctor Crock climbs out of the contraption and goes on his big “evil plan” rant as always, holding the solar rock that had been in the top of the water tower high. He declares that he is the victor regardless of the fact that his contraption is broken, and starts to fly away on his jet pack, but Ryan grabs him by the ankle, resulting in a hilarious emptying-balloon-type flight scene around the town.

Dr. Crock: “You think you’ve beaten me, brat? I’m just getting warmed up! So my contraption has fallen, but it does not matter! I have the rock! It will power another of my machines on my quest for TOWN DOMINATION!” He pumps his fist in the air.

Ryan: “Town domination? I thought you were after the world?”
Dr. Crock: “Well yes, yes, brat! I am shooting a little low, but baby steps, baby steps. That’s what my motivational books on tape say!”

Ryan facepalms.

Ryan: “Just hand it over!”
Dr. Crock: “You think I would give up so easily? Haha! Well, you’re dead wrong, brat! Ta-ta!”

Dr. Crock presses a button on his vest and his jet pack comes to life, and he slowly ascends into the air.
Ryan: “No!”

Ryan tries to tackle Dr. Crock, but only manages to grab his ankle.

Dr Crock: “Hey, kid! What do you think you’re doing? Get off! You’re weighing me down!”

Ryan tries to reach up and turn the jet pack off, but instead hits the hyperdrive button, making them fly all around at a high speed, doing ridiculous loops and slamming through walls.

Take/Cost:

Even though Ryan gets the solar rock in the end, Doctor Crock gets away, and will terrorize the town again another day.

The Return:

Ryan climbs out of the rubble, victorious. Everyone congratulates him.

The Change:

Ryan lies back on his bed in his room, feeling proud of himself. Not only is he one step closer, he is more motivated to not be as lazy or grumpy next time around.

Comic Script: Dream

Since my dreams are really random, and occur in the third person (they're about a person who isn't me), I tried my best to arrange this into a narrative that you can follow while still maintaining the dreamlike movement.

The script can be viewed here.

Five-Minute Story

Here is a post of the five-minute story exercise from in class.
I decided to follow this format to re-create my own type of mythological creation story, using Norse Gods as the characters.


The Five Minute Plot:

Loki wakes up in a cave, discovering that he has been eternally banished from the realm of the gods. He feels aggravated and vengeful, and wants to get back at Odin for banishing him, but he doesn’t know how to get back to the realm of the gods.

Loki goes off in search of gods who live on Earth, hoping he can find someone who can help him. He sends a beetle up to the heavens, but it is burned by the sun, and falls back to the ground, dead. He then sends up a raven, in the middle of the night, but it gets lost among the stars.

Frigg is enraged by the loss of her animals, and comes down to punish Loki. However, she is compassionate, even when Loki tricks her and tells her that he wants to get back up to the heavens so he may make her a shawl of raindrops. Flattered, Frigg sends him back to the realm of the gods on a cloud, only to await his return with the shawl.

But Loki does not return. He has what he wants, and, instead, dumps all the raindrops from the sky at once. Frigg is saddened by this, but knows that there is nothing she can do as long as he is safe in the heavens.

Comic Script: Fairy Tale

For my fairy tale, I decided to do Father Frost, an old Russian story about how wickedness can kill, and kindness can earn great rewards.
The PDF file can be viewed here.

Comic Script: Short Story

For the first assignment, we are supposed to write an 8-12 page comic of a short story by a deceased author.

I, personally, chose The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe.
The script can be viewed here.

4-Panel Manga

Here's a 4-panel manga from the in-class exercise. In the first panel, we introduce a character, the second, a conflict. In the third, we heighten the conflict, and in the final, there is a resolution. As shown above, we have a penguin who sees some birds in the air, and thus, tries to fly like a bird using a catapult. Ultimately, this ends in failure as he smacks into the side of an iceberg.