Bootcamp Breakdown: Class 1

No, I'm not talking about the marching and shouting, drill sergeant type of bootcamp. This is the Ty Templeton's Comic Book Bootcamp, from the people that brought you Ty Templeton's Writing for Comics and 4 perspectives on Inking, The Toronto Cartoonist Workshop.

I meant to write up my trials and missteps after the end of each class but between life and trying to find a job so I can continue life, I've fallen a little behind. Today I bring you class 1 (and hopefully by tomorrow class 2), for your enjoyment, and perhaps to my embarrassment.

In one small paragraph, I have already broken rule #1 of what I like to call Ty Templeton's laws of creating comics.

Do not be self deprecating.

If you start your idea pitch with "It's not that good but..." or "I don't really like it however..." Ty Templeton will call you out on it. Everyone is creative and everyone has good ideas. If you don't believe in your own pitches, why should anyone else? Good question.

After a short introduction to the history of comics (and cave paintings), we were introduced to law #2.

There is no such thing as talent

What does this mean? PRACTICE! Everyone can learn the tools to be a good writer or a decent artist. Ty thinks artistic skills are like an alphabet--When you learn the basics, they can be put together to make pretty much anything.

But don't take my word for it. Here's a clip of a similar lecture from Ty.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iEqencK8j8


For many of us, this is our first plunge into the world of creating comics, so Ty starts with the basics. We enter the WORLD OF THREES

The Unified Field Theory of Writing
1. What is Normal?
2. What Changes Normal?
3. What Results from Changing Normal?

3 Kinds of Drawings
1. Close-up
2. Action (medium shot)
3. Establishing shot (wide shot)

3 Reasons
1. Entertainment
2. Emotions
3. Information

3 Kinds of Stories
1. Plot
2. Tale
3. Character Study

We were introduced to the building blocks of all things artistic: the cube, the sphere, the rectangle, and the cone. This was only the beginning. In the next 2 hours we tried our one hand at traveling through space by jumping the gutter, reading panels left-right and top to bottom, and drawing cracker boxes in perspective. Walking out of class 1, there was no doubt you'd be getting your money's worth. The class is so packed with information that I could probably write 3 or 4 more post on just this first class. Instead I hope you'll all come back to read Part 2, in which we learn about joints, Ty and I argue about the political correctness of the word midget, and we find out how to carry a reader's eye across multiple panels. Excelsior...and such.

Scottish Vikings Train Dragons!

Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson
What: Outcast viking befriends a dragon and saves the day.
Rating: B+

What would you do if you grew up in land where dragon attacks were a daily occurrence, loosing a limp was common place, and the village chief was not only a gruff warrior, but also your father? This is the world of Hiccup, an awkward and inept viking teenager, voiced by Jay Baruchel and he does what most would do in his place-he tries to appease his dear old dad. The best way? Bring down the most feared dragon of them all, the illusive 'Night Fury.' While dragons carry away sheep and burn down the town (it's a very old village with a lot of new houses) Hiccup sneaks away with his latest invention. His canon fires ropes, and with a strike of luck he manages to hit the invisible menace. Of course no one believes him and he seeks out his fallen foe. Like all good children's movies, Hiccup befriends his enemy and teaches his village a little something about tolerance.

It's fairly formulaic and you generally know what's going to happen, but that doesn't take away much from the actual movie. It's cute and it's funny. The dialogue is clever and there's enough in it that parents are going to enjoy themselves too (in a touching moment Stoic gives his son a viking helmet...made out of half of Hiccup's mother's breastplate). Gerard Bulter channels his role in 300 to play the overbearing dad, and Jay Baruchel does awkward and quirky better than anyone(...well...except maybe Michael Cera...) Tv's Craig Ferguson voices Gobber, the blacksmith/Hiccup's dragon killing coach. From top to bottom the voice acting is great.

Like Box-office toppers Alice in Wonderland, and Clash of the Titans, How to Train Your Dragon was in 3D. Some critics have even compared it to Avatar. I enjoyed the visual of the film. It was lively and detailed. The 3D didn't seem out of place or distract from the movie in anyway, but I'm getting sick of it. I don't think this movie needed it. It would still be as enjoyable if it was in 2D.

I had one tiny, nit-picky problem with the movie, one clever reference that they didn't use. While Hiccup is feeding Toothless (the Dragon) he finds out that he don't like eels. More than that, he's afraid of eels. Hiccup uses this in his training battles to force other dragons into their cage. It's not just Toothless, all dragons are afraid of eels. Then, we find out that the dragons are actually SPOILER subservient to some gigantic cave dwelling creature that is--wait for it--NOT AN EEL. It would have been perfect. It would have made so much sense. It didn't have to be actually an ell, maybe just a huge dragon that really really looked like an eel, an eel with wings, a dragon that controlled eels. But no, it wasn't a eel dragon. Instead we get the T-rex/Godzilla monster/dragon that has been in a dozen other films (including clash of the Titans, stay tuned). I'm not saying that it was bad, I'm just saying one little change would have tied back in a throw away joke from the beginning of the movie. It would have been clever.

Favourite Line: Hiccup (to Toothless the Dragon) Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile!