Christofer Emgård's Blog
November 18, 2021
Character Studies
One of the many things I love about writing comics is discovering how the artist has interpreted my words and translated them into images. On a typical project, the initial collaborative steps involve me writing bios for the main cast so that the artist can create character studies. I usually do this soon after locking down the outline and getting started on the first script.
A typical bio will include a short background and personality description--not necessarily directly pertaining to what the character should look like, but helping me and the artist understand how they might act and react in any given situation (which in turn might affect facial expressions, body language and so on). If I have a very clear idea of any visual details, and if these are vital to the story for some reason, I’ll add those as well--could be a broken nose, an unruly mop of blonde hair, or a specific piece of clothing, jewelry, or tattoo. But in general, I prefer giving as much leeway to the artist as possible by keeping things a little vague (unless the artist prefers a more detailed framework, in which case I’m happy to accommodate them).
Getting those first studies back is always a joy, and especially when I work with Tomás Aira who seems to always understand on an instinctual level what I’m after, while also adding his own take on any given character--the combination of which makes them come truly alive. Tomás often creates a bunch of expression for the main characters, as well as some poses, which provide an excellent idea of how they might look in different situations.
We usually do a couple of iterations, as I might have realized along the way that a suggested look might be better suited to a different character, or a specific detail doesn’t work out as I had hoped. But soon enough I have a whole cast of characters to look at while writing, which is a great aid when creating their voices and visualizing panels.
There is a similar joy found in hearing an actor interpreting a script of mine in the VO booth or on a performance capture shoot, but that’s for a another post.
A typical bio will include a short background and personality description--not necessarily directly pertaining to what the character should look like, but helping me and the artist understand how they might act and react in any given situation (which in turn might affect facial expressions, body language and so on). If I have a very clear idea of any visual details, and if these are vital to the story for some reason, I’ll add those as well--could be a broken nose, an unruly mop of blonde hair, or a specific piece of clothing, jewelry, or tattoo. But in general, I prefer giving as much leeway to the artist as possible by keeping things a little vague (unless the artist prefers a more detailed framework, in which case I’m happy to accommodate them).
Getting those first studies back is always a joy, and especially when I work with Tomás Aira who seems to always understand on an instinctual level what I’m after, while also adding his own take on any given character--the combination of which makes them come truly alive. Tomás often creates a bunch of expression for the main characters, as well as some poses, which provide an excellent idea of how they might look in different situations.
We usually do a couple of iterations, as I might have realized along the way that a suggested look might be better suited to a different character, or a specific detail doesn’t work out as I had hoped. But soon enough I have a whole cast of characters to look at while writing, which is a great aid when creating their voices and visualizing panels.
There is a similar joy found in hearing an actor interpreting a script of mine in the VO booth or on a performance capture shoot, but that’s for a another post.
October 14, 2021
Saying farewell to The Secret Land
The Secret Land #4 was released yesterday, wrapping Ben and Katherine's story. Though I finished the script almost two years ago (with everything delayed due to Covid), I still feel a pang of post-project blues.
Luckily, me and Tomás have the next thing in the works already, with a tentative release starting in August 2022. Looking forward to sharing more about it with you down the line.
