So today I’d like to discuss some of the projects I’ve been working on specifically. I tend to avoid specifics because I’m a bit afraid I’ll lose interest if I share too much while things are in the conceptual stages. I’ve decided to do the opposite of that hoping to narrow my focus.
Librivox Audiobook Adaptations
I’ve mentioned this before but Librivox is a community of volunteers reading public domain works and releasing the recordings for anybody to use. (I particularly appreciate their collection on the Internet Archive for searching) They even have dramatic readings that are basically audio plays to work from.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Aligheri
This is an epic poem following the author through Hell, Purgatory, and eventually Heaven. It’s full of commentary on religion and the church of Aligheri’s day. Obviously because it’s so large I would need to break it down into manageable chunks. Librivox has both the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation and a dramatic reading translated by Courtney Langdon. I really love the idea of adapting it but know it’d be a long-term and drawn out project.
A House-Boat on the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs
Bangs wrote a number of stories where famous figures from history get together in the afterlife (hence named Bangsian fantasy) and this one was actually turned into a Broadway play in 1928. Charon, the ferryman of souls, gets hired on as janitor to run a houseboat. It’s a cute idea if you like the notion of supernatural characters being regular folks simply doing a job. It’s a short and fun read but I’d have to change things to make it appealing to animate, which kind of defeats the purpose of not using an original story.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I’ve been a fan of this story since reading it in high school. The last entry in Short Story Collection Vol. 050, it tells of a woman going mad while her physician husband imposes bed rest as treatment for postpartum depression. My main issue with adapting it is I don’t feel it’s my story to tell, as a man. I relate to it on a human level, obviously, but don’t think I would be doing it complete justice. That’s a reason I’m linking the Librivox version read by ashleighjane.
Original Ideas – Books
Futureproofers
I’ve had this thought for a while about agents tasked with protecting the timeline. (Think Men in Black with time travel instead of aliens) Ultimately I think it would make a good series of Amazon KDP books. It’s pulpy with lots of twists and turns so I wish I could try it publishing it episodically with Kindle Vella but that’s still US-only.
Paranormal Investigators
As a kid I of course loved the Ghostbusters, especially the Real Ghostbusters animated series which expanded on the world. I also enjoyed Disney’s Lonesome Ghosts short where Mickey, Donald, and Goofy run Ajax Ghost Exterminators. Most ghost breaker media tends to be setup for slapstick shenanigans, which can be fine if that’s what you’re wanting out of it. I lean more towards the supernatural fantasy genre and I like old-timey settings so I started creating my own ghost hunting team. They work under cover as a reputable private detective agency in the early 20th century, our entry point being a medium alerting them to a rise in otherworldly activity. The visuals make me really want to draw it but currently I’m unsure what format it will take.
Original Ideas – Animated Series
God Mode
Originally intended as a series pitch to Snapchat, a group of friends realize they’re in a video game. The vertical format is a unique beast that presents issues with repurposing footage for elsewhere. IGTV required it until 2019. The majority of Reels, TikTok, and Shorts use it today. I’m still using an iPhone 8 so, while I use mobile content, I wouldn’t say it’s my preferred way to consume it. (Even on desktop I tend to roll a different resolution than most folks. Properly sizing my webcomics was always an issue) I really should spend some time studying the mobile experience if I want to better design material for it. Hank Green made a video comparing the various platforms in terms of revenue and what their goals seem to be. I’d like to revisit this project, though my home office setup right now isn’t the best for recording dialogue. I want to work on the designs a bit more and see if I can refine the voices a bit.
Blues Man
Back in 2016 I made my first short for Quickdraw Animation Society’s Animation Lockdown, Bottled Spirits. This was meant as a standalone entry in a series I wanted to do around a roaming blues guitar player. I had to cut a lot of it due to production time and some time ago decided to remake it as Bottled Spirits (Uncorked Edition). I intended it as a pitch to a studio I saw looking for new projects, throwing in a pitch bible with details about the other episodes I had planned, and at one point I tried rolling them into the reel which caused things to go off the rails. This idea became like the Divine Comedy: an oversized epic where I didn’t realize I’d bitten off more than I could chew.
Original Ideas – Animated Shorts
Sun Up Gunned Down
I take a lot of inspiration from music. This time I even yoinked the title from a piece by Bryan Teoh. A small Mexican town in the wild west is being terrorized by a murderous bandit. The ghost of a gunslinger returns seeking revenge. Currently I think this is the project I’m going to spend my attention on since it’s self-contained, I can play with all the spooky elements, and hopefully get myself into a solid production routine.
Dispirited Spirit
This was another vertical animation experiment. The premise is a depressed ghost becomes frustrated he can’t kill himself. I was influenced by Chuck Jones, specifically a trio of comedy horror shorts he made starring Porky and Sylvester; Scaredy Cat (1948), Claws for Alarm (1954), and Jumpin’ Jupiter (1955). I know suicide is a serious topic, though there’s an entire argument to be had about the place for cartoon violence and horror in general. I have no desire to be an edgelord. I think relegating cartoons to children’s fare and expecting them to avoid any potentially questionable content is reductive. I’ve asked the question on Twitter a few times, why is it ok to consider kid stuff mindless? When a movie review praises the fact that parents won’t be bored out of their skulls sitting in the theater, that’s an incredibly low bar to set.