I just have to say, the photography and effects are very nice. Well done. The internal monologue may be a bit wordy, but then again, it does such a good job of painting Mirage's character and history that I still enjoyed it. Then again, dialogue is a tough thing for me to write, and I'm never quite happy with it, so I'm probably not the best judge. Keep up the good work. I'm enjoying it.
*clap* *clap *clap* Alternators mirage is just looking better and better. Great storytelling. And judging by the hand shots your getting better at posing that alternator.
Thanks. With Mirage, his arms and hands are quite easy to pose. It’s his legs and his balance that cause extreme forms of swearing to occur… Thanks Shane. Yeah, I struggle with dialogue as well. I’ve spend quite a bit of my life writing fiction in various forms and, whilst action, plot and descriptive prose always come with relative ease to me, dialogue is always an absolute swine. It would be so much simpler if people just SHOT each other, rather than talking things out... Oh, most definitely. The existing bios a nice foundation for an author to build on, but they work even better when you mix your own ideas in. Otherwise your version of the character is the just same as everyone else’s. Thanks. Exactly. Straight up good or bad characters are nice and there will be a few of them in this story, but I really love the guys who exist in shades of grey. They’re less predictable and it’s easier to write surprises and twists with them.
I'm liking how you've gotten into Mirage's head. He's a character that wasn't followed through with as much as perhaps some of the others. You know, we've only seen these two characters, and from your portrayal of them we should already know that anyone else you bring into the mix is going to get a pretty good representation. Oh yeah--SFX, rockin'!
I find the straight up characterizations tougher to work on. My mind has difficulty simplifying them. My villians are never completely evil and my heroes never completely good enough to meet my satisfaction. And I struggle with dialog too.
I think a lot of writers have that problem after a while. I think it's because deep down we "know" that no-one is 100% good or bad. So when we see a purely good or evil character, there's a little voice in our head telling us that they can't be real. That's my take on it anyway. Even most classic "bad" guys have an element of good to them. Hell, even Vader thought he was doing the right thing! Thanks. I'll try not to dissapoint with the rest of the cast. Not every TF in the story will strictly follow thier original bio, but when I deviate it's either because I couldn't make the orginial bio "work" as a character, or because I think my tweaked version suits the story I'm trying to tell a little better, or is more fun for me to "play" with. Hopefull I won't outrage anyone too much! If you see him and can afford him, get him. He's SUCH a nice toy. Coming up today, a small update. Coming up tomorrow, a slightly bigger one.
A quick cut back to Silverstreak... (I apologise for the slightly funky lighting in the first panel. I have no idea what happened there)
Nice installment. That last shot was particularly brilliant. The way Silverstreak is looking at the camera, it appears as if he's really got an irritated expression on his face. Indeed. When I watch a movie or show where a character is being particularly nasty or sweet, I'm always second-guessing their motivations because no one is that clear cut.
Thanks again for everyone’s kind comments. Yeah, that was a nice camera angle accident...uh, no wait, I mean, yeah I spent AGES setting that one up, totally intentional effect, meant to do it, planed it all long...(cough cough, shifty eyes…) The fire’s dead easy to do, but you need GIMP to do it (I think-only ever used GIMP so the principle might be the same in other photo software.) Just build up the rough shape of the flame using the paintbrush tool with the “sparks” special effect brush and then smudge it into the final shape, and it looks like flame. It’s got more to do with GIMP being awesome than with any real skill on my part. I’ll put together a more detailed tutorial if people would like one and post it in the funnies thread. Let me know. Next update to follow:
Another great update. Love the bullet casing coming from Mirages gun. As always the writing is brilliant bringing out the characters personalities. Wonder who the mystery attacker is? My guess is Decepticharge. I think i can see a yellow shoulder but i could be wrong
