Inkthinker
07-06-2005, 12:36 PM
STEP-BY-STEP RETURNS!!!
Yay! :D
I was beginning to worry that you'd faded on this, Grant... it's really been an invaluable series for me, as a career artist who's trying to develop that sense of storytelling. This long-form series of breakdowns is just what I've been needing, and it fits well in conjunction with things like Stackpole's ongoing series "The Secrets".
But this statement you made early in the most recent installment struck me well:
...story is what we're really selling...
I'm really coming to believe this more and more. The art must be good, the writing must be good, but in the end it's a combination of both that tell the story. And questions of format (color v. monotone) genre (superheroes v. everything else :D ) and so forth should all be secondary to the simple question of, when all is said and done, "is it a good story?"
Of course, figuring out what makes a good story and how that is built is the hard part... but that's at least part of what the "Down & Dirty", "Step-By-Step" guide is about, yes?
Would anyone care to counterpoint that art or dialogue or packaging is more important than content? I mean, I've had plenty of art directors who have taken that stance, but I've always felt they were wrong (and gotten in trouble more than once for saying so). I suppose a marketing manager would disagree as well, and lord knows hype has nothing to do with content (just read the most recent Basement Tapes last night, but you can't work in entertainment media for long without encountering the beast that is Hype) but it does sell books...
But in the long run, when it all sifts down after a few decades and you lay upon your deathbed, I think the only way for your work to survive is strong content.
And if I'm reading Grant's article right, then content=story.
I've been enjoying the writing aspect of the series a greatly... now that we're moving into more familiar territory (for me, at least) I'm looking forward to seeing where the Step-By-Step Guide goes next.
Yay! :D
I was beginning to worry that you'd faded on this, Grant... it's really been an invaluable series for me, as a career artist who's trying to develop that sense of storytelling. This long-form series of breakdowns is just what I've been needing, and it fits well in conjunction with things like Stackpole's ongoing series "The Secrets".
But this statement you made early in the most recent installment struck me well:
...story is what we're really selling...
I'm really coming to believe this more and more. The art must be good, the writing must be good, but in the end it's a combination of both that tell the story. And questions of format (color v. monotone) genre (superheroes v. everything else :D ) and so forth should all be secondary to the simple question of, when all is said and done, "is it a good story?"
Of course, figuring out what makes a good story and how that is built is the hard part... but that's at least part of what the "Down & Dirty", "Step-By-Step" guide is about, yes?
Would anyone care to counterpoint that art or dialogue or packaging is more important than content? I mean, I've had plenty of art directors who have taken that stance, but I've always felt they were wrong (and gotten in trouble more than once for saying so). I suppose a marketing manager would disagree as well, and lord knows hype has nothing to do with content (just read the most recent Basement Tapes last night, but you can't work in entertainment media for long without encountering the beast that is Hype) but it does sell books...
But in the long run, when it all sifts down after a few decades and you lay upon your deathbed, I think the only way for your work to survive is strong content.
And if I'm reading Grant's article right, then content=story.
I've been enjoying the writing aspect of the series a greatly... now that we're moving into more familiar territory (for me, at least) I'm looking forward to seeing where the Step-By-Step Guide goes next.