One of the things to come out of this electric age of easy to access software programs is motion comics. Some people are making their own, using programs like Flash to animate their webcomics. Others have used this technology to create adaptations of comics currently out there, such as the motion comics adaptation of the Watchmen comics. I've seen a couple recently that caught my eye. One was a indie made endeavor and the other is from a group with large pockets behind it.
The first was the intro to an online flash video game - Foreign Creature 2. The intro was pretty well done and was completely in a motion comic style. It worked very well for this free endeavor. The other is the latest release from Moving Picture Books with their Sesame Street collection. While not a comic per se, it was very much in the style and spirit of current motion comic books.
Of the two, the first was free (obviously) and the second costs $1.99 per book. Either way its a pretty cool way to see this kind of technology used. I've noticed that the whole motion comic thing really doesn't seem to be blowing up in the comic book world. The ones that do seem to be using it are in other pop culture realms such as the motion picture world to promote their movies or add extras to DVD's. I don't know where you stand on the topic, but I much prefer my comic the old fashioned way. I do like these bits, but they all have this sort of cheesiness to them that reminds me of the really old cartoons and the first motion comics to come out in my opinion. These videos were basically the original art from the comic cut out and had some basic motions added to them. I still just can't get past that feeling. Can you?
Image Copyright Moving Pictures Books
Comments
So far, real animators have not truly taken a stab at the comic book Motion Comics. They are using cheap inexperienced talent, or they just aren’t committed to making it really work well. They want it easy, so they end up with something that is, as you put it, cheesy. It is similar to the difference between a low-budget B-movie and a properly budgeted A-movie with capable talent.
They are afraid to spend proper money on it because it is an unproven market. What can be passed off as ‘cool comic book art’ is not as easy to do with animation, because the animation takes away a lot of the space the reader’s mind use to fill, which made up for the ‘incompleteness’ inherent in comic art. With animation, if you don’t deliver a minimal amount of ‘completeness’, it looks cheesy. Comic art has a threshold for cheesiness, too, but crossing that threshold to ‘cool’ is much less expensive than it is for animation.
But it is happening! The best I have seen so far was “Black Panther” which was animated by TitMouse and broadcast in Australia (was up on YouTube briefly before being removed). But there is another level that can be reached, and I am aiming for it. Look for some exciting productions later this year. Here is a test I did at the end of 2009. It will only get better.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sluiceE?feature=mhw4
Hmm, guess I don’t get it. What is the purpose of Motion Comics? Appears to be under developed cartoons or animated series to me. There are comic books then the cartoon or series equivilants. How does Motion Comics fit in? Thanks.