"A Smallville Man" Deleted Scenes & Lessons Learned

To round off the revisit of my Superman short film, I thought it'd be interesting to share with you some of my "deleted scenes." Of course these are just illustrations ranging from rough sketches to fully rendered images, but they're still valuable in examining the creative process as well as just being a fun look into the different directions the story almost took. Hope you enjoy!

DAILY PLANET SEQUENCE

Our first introduction to Lois and Clark takes place within their office, so I thought a shot showing the interior of the Daily Planet office outside their door would be an appropriate transition. Due to time constraints I had to cut this scene out, but I also realized that in the end it wasn't as crucial as I had thought. The transition from the exterior of the building to the shot of Clark's hand pinning the paper was more than enough to link the characters with the setting.

TAKEAWAY #1: Keep only the parts that are absolutely necessary to the story.

This shot was an additional part of the Lois and Clark Daily Planet sequence and was ultimately scrapped due to time limits but rightly so. I can imagine if the song was longer I might have been able to include this shot, but it would've been completely repetitive. The shot overhead tells the same story and much more interestingly in my opinion. 

TAKEAWAY #2: Avoid telling the same story with different beats.

This shot was intended to go right before the scene where we first see Superman flying from the Daily Planet. I thought it would be an interesting way to depict the goodbye between him and Lois but again got scrapped due to time constraints.

TAKEAWAY #3: Sometimes you just gotta lose some stuff even if you think it's cool.

SOUTH AMERICA SEQUENCE

In my original story I had the South American farmer joined by a group of his fellow farmers as he stood up to the construction company attempting to kick them off their land. I even got so far as to fully illustrate a few of these scenes. I ended up abandoning this concept for story reasons.

TAKEAWAY #4: Don't be afraid to backtrack just because you've already done a lot of work.

Really early on I played around with the idea of having large mechs serve as the machines used by the oil company to clear the farmers' land. I wanted Superman to have something physical to fight, but I quickly realized that I wanted the story to feel more grounded in reality. Yes it includes a superhero from another planet but that is the accepted premise of my story and for some intuitive reason including technology like these mechs just didn't feel right. So I quickly scrapped it in favor of the more realistic military/guerrilla conflict.

TAKEAWAY #5: Quickly decide on the rules of your story's reality and commit to them.

This is probably my favorite shot from the entire project and it never made the final cut. Why? Because I couldn't quite fit it organically within the story I wanted to tell. Originally Superman was supposed to attack the military once they had attacked the farmers, but I realized that that would have betrayed the nature of his character. Only after trying to safely deescalate the situation would he have resorted to using his powers just as his father had taught him.

TAKEAWAY #6: Always think through your character's decision-making process.

I really liked this shot of Superman emerging from the helicopter crash so much so that I even got around to almost finishing the rendering. However when it came time for the final cut, I had to scrap it in favor of the shot pictured below that catered to the actual storytelling by also showing the jet flying above.

TAKEAWAY #7: Don't compromise your storytelling just for the sake of pretty visuals.

ADDITIONAL DELETED SCENES

Sometimes scenes were cut for highly important reasons (as shown above), but sometimes it was also from just having gone down the wrong creative rabbit hole. The following shots are a mix between the two that I just wanted to share.

Thanks for reading!

My Interview for Iconicast Podcast is Online

I recently had the honor of being interviewed for ICONICAST PODCAST which is a podcast based around a more scholarly approach to superheroes, geek and pop culture and everything in between. I love that they view this subject matter through a more culturally conscious lens so it was my pleasure to be a part of it. In my segment of the episode I talk about the inspiration behind my short film "A Smallville Man" as well as the rest of my art and brand of storytelling. Check it out when you get a chance over at http://iconicastpodcast.com/episodes/

My Superman Film "A Smallville Man" Surpasses Previous Batman Film "A Gotham Fairytale" in Views

I simply cannot believe that my Superman film "A Smallville Man" has garnered more views in just two weeks than my previous Batman film has in over a year and a half! Wow! I must admit that even though I am a die hard fan of the Man of Steel, I wholeheartedly believed that this film wasn't going to be received as well since Superman's appeal tends to face more of an uphill battle than Batman's does.

It's been my experience that everyone loves Batman, and if they don't it's probably because they aren't a fan of comic book characters to begin with but at least they usually hold nothing against him. Superman on the other hand though - forget about it! Big blue definitely has his fair share of fans, but I've never encountered nearly as many in my personal life as I have for the Dark Knight. And conversely of those who are not his fans, I've encountered a significant number who actively dislike him whereas I've never encountered a single comic fan who wholeheartedly dislikes Bats.

Different opinions aside, this saddens me because I tend to discover that the majority of the hatred toward Superman results from a poor understanding of his character and/or the stories centered around him. Arguments relating to his over abundance of powers or his clean-cut boy scout personality are typically cited as to why most find him "boring", and while some people may genuinely be turned off by stories of that nature, I usually find that most people just jump to that argument out of instinct.

So you can see why I was so surprised to see my Superman film "beating out" my Batman one so soon. Of course I don't view them as competing with each other, but it is nice to see Supes get a warm reception by fans like me. Thanks for reading!

"A Smallville Man" - My Superman Film is Now Online

I must admit that when I finally posted "A Gotham Fairytale" online, I never had any intention of making a second film. I thought that if I was lucky I would get maybe a couple hundred views and then move on to one of my other pet projects. So you could imagine my surprise when what I thought was just a silly little Batman video suddenly started generating a huge positive reaction all over the internet. It was being lauded on several of the most popular comic and entertainment websites, even got a plug on Canadian radio (thanks, Fearless Fred!), and inspired several Batman fans to personally write me to tell me who much they enjoyed it.

So now it is once again my honor to share with you all my second film entitled "A Smallville Man," which features an original Superman story set against the song "Walk" by American Rock band Foo Fighters. It explores the relationship between Superman's past and present through separate stories that take us from the jungles of South America to the quaint streets of his hometown of Smallville. For those not familiar with South America, it's like America but south. The two story lines ultimately converge thematically to show that the "S" on his chest represents not just the power of his alien abilities but also the strength of his humanity. 

You can watch the film on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7n3-Ea3BW8

I conceived the story shortly after I posted "AGF" online and then serendipitously found the music for it on one of my evening jogs. As with "AGF," I worked out the story first and then let the music help influence the pacing of the narrative. The first spark of inspiration came originally after watching 2013's "Man of Steel." While I enjoyed the intent of the flashbacks in the film, I felt like they missed the mark of the importance of the Kents' role in teaching Clark the morals that would eventually guide him when he becomes Superman. 

What I've always enjoyed about the mythology of Superman is that he becomes this great hero specifically because it was the Kents who found and raised him. If he had landed anywhere else, he would have become someone entirely different. So "A Smallville Man" became my outlet for emphasizing that part of the mythology. It became a story about how what makes Superman the hero that he is can be traced back to the influence of his parents, in this case his father's willingness to do the right thing by standing up for someone else.

Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy the film!

"A Smallville Man" Coming Really Soon!!!

"A Smallville Man" is practically finished, and I am hoping to debut it to the world as early as next week barring some unforeseen fix or problem. Here's a never-before-seen shot from the movie showing Superman having a bit of a bad day.

In case you haven't been following my other posts about this project, "A Smallville Man" is my second short animatic film featuring an original Superman story told through illustrations set against the pacing of a contemporary rock song. I'll post more about it when I officially present it. Until then I hope everyone has a great weekend!

"A Smallville Man" - Official Announcement For My Next Film Featuring Superman

I must admit that when I posted my 7 min animatic film "A Gotham Fairytale" in the summer of 2013, I never thought I'd actually make a second one. I figured that maybe only a couple hundred people would ever see it (if I was lucky), and that I'd just continue with my other art projects such as my children's books. So when I saw my first subscriber notification from YouTube, I honestly felt a bit bad at first because I thought that this person had gotten the wrong impression. After all I specifically made sure to not say anything about subscribing, especially with those annoying pop up requests during the video that block your view unless you close them, because I wasn't ever expecting my channel to have more than that single video.

But then another person subscribed. And another. And then three more. And then several more. And before I knew it, my subscribers were numbering in the hundreds and all without me ever prompting them to. Now I am fully aware that my subscriber count isn't anything special, especially when compared to other Youtube accounts, but it was special in what it did for me. These people were subscribing to my channel by their own choice without any incentive from me simply because they enjoyed my film and were hoping to see more. So it is without a doubt that I can say their show of support was what motivated me to want to make a second film.

At that point it was just a question of what story that film would feature. Would I try to flesh out one of the other Batman stories that I had in my head, or would I try my hand at the other half of the World's Finest team? While I felt that my Batman story was in fact solid and worthy of my creative attention, I have to say that I was pulled more to the Superman idea I had because it provided a few different benefits. Most importantly it offered a bigger challenge for me as a storyteller because the story was more layered than I had previously attempted with "A Gotham Fairytale." Also it required me to push myself artistically by giving me the opportunity to design a new art direction more in line with Superman and his story than sticking with the very moody black and white illustrations that were more appropriate for "A Gotham Fairytale." As expected it took a little while to really nail down the story and art direction, but once I did I was flying fast toward the finish line.

So it is with great pride and joy that I officially announce my second animatic film entitled "A Smallville Man." It features an original Superman story that shows that the "S" on his chest is meant to represent not just the power of his alien abilities but also the strength of his humanity. Just like with "A Gotham Fairytale," I came up with the story first and then serendipitously found the best song for it. The creative process then became somewhat more organic as the music helped influence and even structure the pacing of the narrative until the initial storyboards were completed.

Coming in at under 5 minutes, "A Smallville Man's" 150+ black and white illustrations are set to an amazing rock song by a widely popular American rock group. I'm proud to say that the artwork is 99% finished with only minor adjustments required. Once I complete the compositing of all the artwork with the motion effects to create the final animatic, I am hoping to have it up on my YouTube channel in early January 2015.

As the official release date gets closer I will announce the name of the band whose song will be featured, but for now this is all that I will reveal. Fear not though as I will be posting some scenes from the film in the coming month in anticipation of its release. Until then, thanks for reading!