Bella Dilemma or What I did with my Summer Vacation

Ladies and Gentlemen, here she is--in her first -ever film appearance: Bella Dilemma starring in the "Bella Dilemma TV Show Trailer" with music by the Duffy Jackson Big Band from Nashville, TN! 




  Bella Dilemma TV Show Trailer from Geoff Grogan on Vimeo.


The time off from my strip, "Jetpack Jr." has not all been spent lounging by the pool. Nope, 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week for six months or so has been eating, drinking , sleeping this one minute trailer.  Talk about compressing time! But that's what happens when you get older; 15 years goes by like a Summer afternoon.
So why Bella Dilemma, and why a trailer rather than a proper film?
To answer the first; there's a story to tell with that character, and readers of my strip seem to react positively whenever she appears.  I don't know, it must be the Bee-hive. 
The second: I had a relatively brief amount of time in which to make a film, and a lot to learn, designing and animating the entire project myself. Doing a trailer allowed me to create a broad narrative while spanning a variety of scenarios, all in just over a minute. 
And I wanted to try my hand at creating a TV series. "Bella Dilemma" is the kind of series I'd like to see, and I thought there may be others who would find it entertaining as well.
So there's not only the trailer, but a Pitch Bible (with lots of pretty pictures!) and  a fully-worked out premise. In coming weeks, "Jetpack Jr." will feature an introduction to the series in an "imaginary" Jetpack story( just like those old 'imaginary" stories in "Superman's Pal"Jimmy Olsen". It didn't really happen--but it did.). 
Every pitch starts with a logline, a 1-2 sentence summation of the premise that might get viewers to give it a shot on Amazon or Netflix--and here's mine: 

A Hollywood Movie Queen and a diminutive stunt-man in a monster costume, lost in an alternate dimension where every movie is its own reality.    

And the premise:
You say you’ve never heard of Bella Dilemma; “World’s Greatest Movie Star”? It’s no surprise really.
Bella Dilemma WAS the “World’s Greatest Movie Star” until one evening, while she slept soundly in the comfort of her Beverly Hills home, a shadowy figure broke in and absconded with her Oscar, after which she woke to find herself on the sound-stage of a world gone mad, where no one had ever heard of “Bella Dilemma” and she was just another stand-in on a Hollywood movie-set. This alternate dimension is the “Cine-Verse”, where all the movies ever made are their own reality and the Oscar is a mysterious Genie-like figure rumored to have the power to make dreams come true. Together with her unlikely companion, Al Z., a diminutive stunt-man in a monster suit and a grizzled vet of many a back-lot, she travels from one movie scenario to another in search of the elusive Oscar, and the life she once had.  

That only scratches the surface--and a blog post isn't the place to go into more detail, but suffice to say there are plots written for a bunch of episodes already, a variety of other characters with backstories and the whole bit.  So tune in to "Jetpack Jr." in September to see how Bella Dilemma unfolds. 

And now that most of the work on the trailer is done, I should have time to post a bit more than I have. There's a lot of stuff left over that didn't make it into the trailer- and lots of drawings-that I'd like to share, and I've kept up with my reading too, so there are books to talk about too!

Meanwhile, I hope you've enjoyed the Bella Dilemma Trailer--and I hope it makes you want to see more! If so, please share it as often as you can  and maybe together we can make that happen!  
Cheers!

Geoff 
  

Time off for some....

If you read today's "Jetpack Jr." at GoComics, then you know "Jetpack" will be on vacation for a month or so--but while he takes it easy on some interstellar beach somewhere in space, I'll be toiling away here at home on another project involving JJ's best pal.

Bella Dilemma comes to life!
Yes, indeedy--I'm working hard on the pitch for an animated TV show built around the babe with the biggest beehive this side of Planet Uterus!( *see my previous post) More to the point--I'm working on an animated teaser/trailer to whet the whistle of potential viewers and TV development execs! Check out this sample:



via GIPHY


 This gif is the result of a character model sheet I was doing for Bella( which means drawing her in the round,for those who don't speak the lingo). I got inspired and took it a little farther than intended--but I couldn't wait to see her move.   This is only a sample test run--the following piece is a slightly more ambitious bit of animation; a "pencil test" for a segment in the middle of the proposed trailer/ show opening:


via GIPHY

 Befitting a geezer of my years, all of this material is old-skool, hand-drawn animation on paper. Exactly the method I learned forty years ago studying animation at PCA (before it was the University of the Arts in Phila.). I'm not entirely a dinosaur, as I work into the project I'm utilizing ToonBoom software to help bring it all together.
If you've read some of my previous posts, you know I've been moving towards animation for over a year now. The gravitational pull has been irresistible-so I stopped fighting.  "The project" at this point is attempting to give the viewer a feel for what the proposed "Bella Dilemma" TV show would be like. The theoretical show opening, or teaser/trailer, will take the viewer through the series scenario in thirty + seconds or so; and if all goes well--excite he or she enough to make them want to tune in.
If it's not as complete a view as a pilot episode can provide; certainly it's as much as I can do on my own within the limits of the time allotted to me to work on it. As this is my first animated project in many years, I felt my best chance for success was to limit the scope of the undertaking--and even at just 30 seconds or so, it's a lot; there's so much to do-aside from just animating the characters!

In the next few weeks I hope to post some images of all that "so much to do" and maybe some more animations, and maybe I'll clue you in to the show scenario; it's quite different from the world of "Jetpack Jr." and the Bella you know there.  
So-- that's why I'm taking some time off "JJ".   
But when this project is done, it's back to the drawing board! 

Not Fade Away

 I'll be 56 in May. I try not to focus on that, but it does rear its (bald) head now and again--in particular when one is traveling along a well known path, and something unexpected happens, something that requires...attention. I thought at this age all the decisions had been made, all the difficulties of youth had been settled and all I had to do was ride it out until retirement--and then sail on off into the sunset with my wife and pets at my side. Isn't that what "old people" are supposed to do?
Instead-at (almost) 56--I've decided to start over again--well, almost. For the last few years I've been drawn more and more into the study of animation, picking up where I'd left off as an undergraduate art student back in 1981. It began with animation history( for a course I began teaching at Adelphi U.)  then design and layout (to adapt into my comics work)--and now, the practice of the medium itself. Over this last weekend I received my idol Richard Williams' great The Animator's Survival Kit, along with Marcie Begleiter's book on storyboarding, From Word to Image--and I've been immersed in both books to the neglect of everything else ever since.
That's not all, prior to that I'd read (and written about) David Levy's From Pitch to Production, and I recently finished Joe Murray's Creating Animated Cartoons with Character-both of which were excellent introductions to the world of TV animation. As a result, I've spent the last month or so, working on a project I never thought I'd do--a pitch bible for a possible animated TV show.
Yup! And I've got to say--while it was one of the most challenging projects I've ever worked on, it was also a blast!  What's the show, you ask? Well-here's a sneak peek:

Whaddya think? I don't want to reveal too much about the idea just yet, but obviously--it's a spin-off from "Plastic Babyheads" & "Jetpack Jr." and starring my most popular character; Bella! Just a word--it's very different from the worlds of my comics; a different scenario and a different Bella too. I'm pretty excited about the results, excited enough that I'm working on a storyboard for a proposed episode, and may even work up some sample animation. And while I don't have any connections in the industry, I've been trying to get it in the right hands. 
"Bella Dilemma"' isn't the only pitch in the works. I have a bunch of different ideas, many spun off of different aspects of my comic strips--and I'm going to try and see them all to some sort of realization--even if it is only a two-page pitch. But TV isn't the only avenue--I'm hopeful that at the very least, I'll be able to make my own shorts and pick up where I left off 35 years ago. It's late in the game, I know, and I frequently ask myself, "what are you doing?" 

The answer is simply, living life.  Our culture places a premium on youth, it's built into the cultural DNA--but such a view shortchanges life post-40, which for many can be half of the experience--and in many ways, the better half. As generation succeeds generation, and one pop culture replaces another in the economic "mainstream",  a tendency to dismiss those no longer tethered to consumerist cycles becomes a prevailing cultural attitude. It has nothing to do with vitality or experience, and everything to do with economics (and technology-as it is tied to the economy).  What I'm trying to say is, we shouldn't be so dismissive of people who don't sit on pins and needles waiting for every next tune or music video, or who haven't kept up with who's on "Jimmy Kimmel". But we "older folks" sometimes allow that thinking into our own conception of self, and it can be self-defeating. It's no minor thing, to work past that little voice in your head that whispers every morning " you're too old, you don't have time, you're irrelevant, you're not a kid anymore. What do you expect to accomplish?" But working past it is what we have to do. What I have to do.
*********************************************
Having said all that, I've gotten great information and inspiration from the suite of books on animation I've been reading, starting with the aforementioned David Levy's book, "Animation Development: From Pitch to Production".
Prior to Levy's book, I'd read-and thoroughly enjoyed The Noble Approach:Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design ably adapted from Maurice Noble's lectures and notes by protege, Tod Polson. 
Filled with terrific illustrations from
Maurice Noble's work for Chuck Jones
at Warner Brothers and elsewhere, it serves both as retrospective catalogue and a course in layout and design from one of the great masters.  I continue to refer to it for inspiration in both my comic strip work and my designs for pitches like "Bella Dilemma".
Similarly, Joe Murray's book, Creating Animated Cartoons with Character: A Guide to Developing and Producing Your Own Series is chock full of terrific advice from an experienced animation producer, and includes insightful interviews a wide variety of pros such as Steve Hillenburg and Craig McCracken.

Murray lays out a clear path from imagination to pitch to production, and while success of the kind he's detailing may be elusive,  he is both an encouraging mentor and engaging raconteur. This attractive book is also filled with Murray's illustrations, which is a big plus.  

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!

Stops and Starts

I just finished David Levy's "Animation Development: From Pitch to Production". This book is helpful on many levels, not merely for the next potential Matt Groening, but for writers and cartoonists of all stripes, whether you're working on the next "Rick and Morty" or just slaving away on the next "Jetpack Jr." comic strip. The first few chapters alone, detailing the content necessary for any good "pitch bible", forced me to think, and re-think, character over and over again, as "Plastic Babyheads" gradually transitioned to "Jetpack Jr." this past year.
Character is the honey that keeps the flies coming back; whether to comic or cartoon, novel or TV series. Of course, that's no news to even the most inexperienced writer, but artists are most interested in pretty pictures--and so it was a lesson learned late for me. Nevertheless, I worked and worked at it--and put Levy's book aside until I felt I knew who my characters were. That didn't come easy. I didn't start with a defining concept(other than an Earth invaded by plastic babyheads), or the idea of pitting this character against that one. They developed more or less organically as the strip has evolved, and it's taken time to get to know them. 
Picking up with Levy's book where I'd left off  last Fall, I found the remaining chapters no less educational, and just as challenging. The life of the creative animator/story-teller described within its pages is fraught with ups and downs, loads of disappointments and rare success. Frankly, I finished it feeling defeated before I'd begun, so difficult is the world of television animation development Levy describes. If you have illusions about overnight success, this book will wake you up to reality pretty quick.  It's loaded with a lot of insightful information that should help budding young animation developers pitch their ideas and navigate the rough waters of development, should they be so lucky. But it's clear, animation development is not for the faint-of-heart--and if you don't want it badly enough, this book will ward you off the attempt.
Levy might as well have been writing about the world of comic strip development; for while the details differ, the trials are the same. For every Phoebe and Her Unicorn  there are hundreds
(thousands?) of strips that never get off the ground, and many more that get to one stage of development but not the next. And every step of the way is fraught with the same emotional highs and lows. It's not for the faint-hearted.
Obviously, the subtext of this post is that I've been thinking of the next step for "Jetpack Jr.", both as comic strip and as animation. In both cases, the chances are slim; realistically next-to-nil, and I know that(accepting it is another thing).  At this point in my life, I still have dreams( yes--geezers still dream!) but very few illusions. I work on "Jetpack Jr." because I love it, I'm obsessed with it- it's great fun and, go figure, I have to know what happens to these people.  
If I put together a pitch bible, or a submission package, it's not only because I have a hope for success(sure I do), but because it's a learning experience, a creative endeavor in itself.  The process teaches me more about the strip, its world and its characters--and makes the strip better.  Putting together a pitch, or working on sample animation--can only be a plus for me.(All of the work on character this past year wouldn't have happened if I'd not been challenged by David Levy's book.)  Not only will I be creatively engaged in a medium I've always loved and admired, challenging myself to broaden the range of my abilities--  I'll bring my experience back to the classroom, to my students! And... if I'm very lucky, I might make something good, something I can be proud of. 


via GIPHY
Jetpack Jr. may never make it to syndication, and it may never be an animated TV show. I mean, get real--right? But there's always the next step--and continually stretching oneself, as a story-teller and as an artist--will have a different payoff.
If I were to let the challenges posed by David Levy's fine book dissuade me from trying, then I never wanted it bad enough in the first place--and the only one who loses in that equation....is me.

via GIPHY
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GIF Crazy!

Here are two new GIF's of Jetpack Jr. comics! Be sure to check out the Jetpack Jr. channel on GIPHY.com! Meanwhile,  enjoy!

Career Choice: 

and "Art Therapy"

Too Long Away!

Wow-it's been awhile since my last post. I've been trying to catch up on Jetpack Jr.-trying to give myself a little lead time so that deadlines( self-imposed) aren't breathing down my neck before I post. Unfortunately, it just takes me too darn long to get the strips to completion and I can't seem to gain any time. And that means, on the list of priorities, the blog--and then social media--(all the stuff you have to do to get the word out) falls lower and lower. I find that a disappointing turn of events; I like writing the blog. Not that I have many readers, but if popularity was my main motivator, I don't think I'd still be doing the blog, the comic strip--or much of anything, for that matter.
Nevertheless, here's the news:
If you read my UPA post a few weeks back, or if you're interested in the history of UPA and animation; be sure to check out  When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA by Adam Abraham(Wesleyan University Press).  This is the definitive history of the ground-breaking animation studio that brought us Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing, filled with all the backstage info and gossip you could want about animation luminaries such as John Hubley, Bobe Cannon, Paul Julian, Jules Engel, Gene Deitch, David Hilberman, Zachary Schwartz and Stephen Bosustow. It's a story by turns inspirational and heart-rending, as the studio travels to the heights of innovation and achievement in its mid-50's heyday, to its inglorious ending, sold off as so much scrap in the early 1970's by a rather callous and tasteless producer, Henry G. Saperstein.  The research is thorough, the voices are clear, and the writing is thoroughly engaging. I couldn't put it down. Do yourself a favor--get yourself a copy and head out to the nearest beach, lakefront, pool--wherever you do your summer reading.
And if you're looking to stay in a UPA frame of mind--check out this wonderful, career-spanning interview with the great Gene Deitch at BOING! the podcast!  Settle back and enjoy a relaxed yet informative  hourlong discussion with the genial host, Todd (also know as Togotooner) and the legendary Gene Deitch as he discusses his career from its beginnings at CBS radio through his halcyon days at UPA and Terrytoons( Tom Terrific and Silly Sidney)  right through to his most recent work. 
I'll close today's post with something I've been fiddling with--hoping to bring a few more folks Jetpack Jr.'s way--a couple of animated gifs of recent strips. I've done gifs before, but not of my comics. A student of mine, Doug Hurtado, actually constructs his comics as gifs--and they works so well, I thought it was worth a shot with my own stuff. (talk about an old dog learning new tricks. But it goes to show--you're never too old to learn something! Thanks, Douglas!)
So, then--without further ado, Jetpack Jr. --in GIF form! Hope you dig 'em! See ya soon--

Geoff

 1.) Dollars & Sense

 

and: 

Career Opportunities....

UPA

I've been watching a lot of the original UPA cartoons lately--over and over again. It's driving my wife bananas. (You may know UPA  for Mr. Magoo. While Magoo remains their most popular work, the UPA studio was responsible for much, much more.)
I picked up the "UPA Jolly Frolics" DVD set. I suppose it'd be redundant to say I'm enjoying it. They've done a great job with it--the color restorations are wonderful--and these are cartoons wherein color is everything-so if the color is murky( as on the UPA cartoons you'll find on Youtube), you're missing half the story. It's a joy to see them as intended. 

The classic UPA cartoon that set the style for which the studio is justly revered is Gerald McBoing Boing (1950), a lovely Dr. Seuss tale directed by Bobe Cannon, animated by Bill Melendez( of A Charlie Brown Christmas fame) and beautifully designed by Bill Hurtz and the great Jules Engel.  I've watched it over and over again and still marvel at the fluidity of its movement, the seamless transitions and the emotionally charged modernist design. Watch the scene when Gerald approaches his father in the bathroom, and dejectedly climbs the stairs. Or when he climbs out the bedroom window and chases after the train. It's wonderful in its economy. 
These qualities are repeated, with varying degrees of success, in many of the animated shorts included in this DVD. There are three more Gerald McBoing Boing cartoons, none of which repeat the magic of the first film, but which are enjoyable nonetheless. My particular favorites are John Hubley's "Rooty Toot Toot", "Madeline"( yes, that Madeline), "The Unicorn in the Garden" ( by way of James Thurber) and "The Tell-Tale Heart" brilliantly adapted from Poe's famous story and featuring the paintings of Paul Julian and the voice talent of the great James Mason, whose extraordinary performance propels the narrative to its shocking climax.

 I hope this little taste of UPA's animated magic will send you to the DVD store or elsewhere to pick up the UPA Jolly Frolics collection. Classic Animation  from the 1950's with an eye to modernist graphic design.