Hey everyone, welcome back or if its your first time here welcome to ‘Digitopia – The Web Comic’, as promised here is the third page of ‘Digitopia’, it’s been another busy week as we stick to our schedule of uploading a fresh page each week from now till the middle of Jan 18.  My name is Farhan, I’m the writer of Digitopia.

As well as uploading a fresh page each week we try to tell you something about the making of the web comic, our plans to complete the web comic and ultimately turn it into a full graphic novel and even a little more about ourselves.

If there’s any other topics or anything specific you’d like us to go into more detail on, just leave a comment below.

This week I’d talk about how we are all managing to create this web comic while balancing our time between our family and our jobs.

 

So how do we actually do this?

 

In many years from now when I look back on this, I’m going to be quite surprised that we actually did this.  I used to think I worked really hard, made lots of sacrifices for and suffered for my art – then I met my two collaborators, Simon and Seb, trust me these guys work way harder, put in more hours and sacrifice more sleep than I do.

Typically I will aim to get up before 6 am and try to get half an hours work in before the rest of the household will get up.  I help get the kids ready and off to school and then aim to get in another half hour before I head out on the road.

You’ll notice I use the word ‘aim’ quite a lot in here, but I don’t always get a hundred percent success rate in this plan – I then try to stick in an hour or so after the rest of the household has gone to bed and after I’ve cleaned up.

Life has this habit of getting in the way of making comics

But as I said, thinking about how long my working day is pales into insignificance compared to my Seb and Simon.  I’ve seen these guys work later in the evening and earlier in the morning than I do – how do I know, well when I IM in the group some feedback or an update, these guys are messaging me back instantly, and I’m like ‘isn’t it 6 am where you are’, and they’d be like ‘yep, been working for the past hour’ – these guys put my work ethic to shame.

I know this as there is a thirteen hour time difference between Seb in Buenos Aires and Simon in Melbourne and when we meet which is typically every fortnight it means either a very early start for one of them and a very late evening for another one of us – and not once did anyone complain about having to get up too early or stay up on a call too late.

When I was looking to create a team, I went with the idea that I not only need to find people who are creatively and technically better than me, but I needed to find people who have a better work ethic than me. People who believe in the story just as much as I do.

I’m really glad that I found this team and we’ve managed to work so well together and also I have someone to visit when I’m in Buenos Aires and in Melbourne.

As part of these weekly blog posts I like to show how the final page gets iterated from the original script, to blocking, to inks and script.

Hope you enjoy and be sure to subscribe to using the mailing list to the right and below.

 

Original Blocking

Original Inks

Original Script

 

PAGE THREE (eleven panels)

Panel 1.
Jay helps carry Reema and baby up the rubble steps, Silas
joins taking the pack and supporting where he can.

20. SILAS:
Brother!  Congratulations on your child!
21. JAY:
Have you found a safe route out?
22. SILAS (thought):
Yes, I’ve found a safe route out.

Panels 2,3,4,5 & 6 all smallish and in one row and quick
succession to emphasize a panicked tempo.
Panel 2.
JAY, REEMA, new baby and SILAS exit the shell of the building,
there is all out carnage ahead of them.
Panel 3.
Silas gestures to Jay to the east, there are a series of cave
mouths up high that people are fleeing towards.
Panel 4.
Most of the evacuees are being shot in the backs as they flee
unarmed.  The cave mouths themselves are being pounded by
mortars and missiles reducing them to dust and debris.
23. SFX:
Explosions
Panel 5.
Jay advances with his family keeping them as low as he can.
Panel 6.
Reema stumbles, falling violently to the floor – it’s clear
she is unable to go ahead.
24. REEMA (in pain):
Jay, go without me!

Panel 7.

Digitopia – an original screenplay by Farhan Qureshi

Farhanq_uk@yahoo.co.uk 30 th October 2015
A mortar explodes less than fifty feet from them, covering
them in ash and debris.  Reema falls.

25. REEMA:
Jay, take the baby and go!
26. SFX: Motar explodes

Panel 8.
Jay goes back to gather her up.
Silas pulls him back.
27. SILAS:
Jay, You can’t save her!
— You can save the baby though.

Panel 9.
Reema kisses her baby hugging her for all she’s worth.
28. REEMA:
Goodbye, my baby!  Go with your daddy!

Panel 10.
Handing the baby back to Jay, she collapses back in silent
agony.
Jay instinctively goes back for her.
Panel 11.
Silas pulls him back, looks him deep in the eye.
29. SILAS:
There’s no point in us all dying here today –
30. JAY:
— —
31. SILAS:
— Jay, you can’t save them both, choose one!

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this, if you’re joining us part way through the journey you can start from page 1 here.  Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter to get a whole host of exclusive content including how you can get your own printed copy of the first issue of the comic and ultimately the graphic novel too.

Be sure to hit these ‘Like‘ buttons to tell your friends and other people who may be interested in the comic – have a look around while you’re here.

Thanks

Farhan