In the Contextual and Theoretical Studies classes held each Friday, we learnt of various stories and methods used in horror media, from the earliest examples and fathers of the genre (stories like Frankenstein, Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde and Dracula) to more modern and advanced examples like Tetsua the Iron Man and Akira.
One of the tasks we were asked to do was to create a horror story in 6 panels. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of horror, so this was certainly a challenge to me: my typical drawing style isn’t very scary, so I opted to try and write something scary, and then add drawings on top of the text to give it form. I wrote a short story on ghosts, and later separated it into 6 pieces and drew on top of it:
I tried using light and shadow as main set-pieces to build up fear. I was surprisingly happy with how it came out in the end: while not exactly scary, it still set a good mood, and I’m genuinely happy with the story that came out of it.
Because of this, I decided to make my Interim project an upgraded version of the comic: I turned it into a 30-second animatic, and recorded myself narrating the text to keep the story intact.
While I liked the texture the pencil gave to the traditional drawings, the digital version makes the juxtaposition between light and dark much clearer, so I’m happy with how it came out overall. The only thing I changed between the two versions is the ending, and I’m very proud of how it came out in the animatic.
While I don’t exactly have a passion for horror, the CTS lessons have still been very interesting and informative. I hope to keep learning from them in the coming weeks.