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26
Holts / Re: River Twine Holt
« on: February 27, 2013, 02:20:29 PM »
02/27/13: congratulations to Fey, who adopted Pathmark! 
27
Holts / Re: River Twine Holt
« on: February 22, 2013, 12:33:39 PM »
02/19/13: congratulations to Ca-Twin, who adopted Greenweave!
28
Holts / Re: Help and advice
« on: February 06, 2013, 08:00:28 AM »
Hi! It's great to hear that you are going to try to revive SweetWater Holt!
My suggestion to you is that the easiest first step might be to create a web presence for it by creating a forum. There are a number of existing and active Holts that are primarily forum-based.
You might try to get in contact with the people running Oakleaf Holt, which is a fairly new group, and thus, they have recent experience in getting a forum set up for themselves! They are here:
http://oakleafholt.boards.net/index.cgi
Thunderwater Holt is similarly forum-based, although their forum is not publicly visible. But I'm sure you could contact them with questions for advice:
http://thunderwaterholt.freeforums.org
If anyone else has advice for free and easy to use ways to set up a group website, I hope they'll chime in. Unfortunately, River Twine Holt's website was custom-designed by two of its members, and thus requires that you have a member who is VERY knowledgeable about website coding and design. Thus, I haven't had to figure out what other options might be out there for folks to use!
Good luck, and once you get something up, drop me a note and I will add SweetWater to the active Holts list!
My suggestion to you is that the easiest first step might be to create a web presence for it by creating a forum. There are a number of existing and active Holts that are primarily forum-based.
You might try to get in contact with the people running Oakleaf Holt, which is a fairly new group, and thus, they have recent experience in getting a forum set up for themselves! They are here:
http://oakleafholt.boards.net/index.cgi
Thunderwater Holt is similarly forum-based, although their forum is not publicly visible. But I'm sure you could contact them with questions for advice:
http://thunderwaterholt.freeforums.org
If anyone else has advice for free and easy to use ways to set up a group website, I hope they'll chime in. Unfortunately, River Twine Holt's website was custom-designed by two of its members, and thus requires that you have a member who is VERY knowledgeable about website coding and design. Thus, I haven't had to figure out what other options might be out there for folks to use!
Good luck, and once you get something up, drop me a note and I will add SweetWater to the active Holts list!
29
Holts / Re: Holt Status Survey - Active, Inactive, etc. - August 2012
« on: January 10, 2013, 10:39:16 AM »
Updates: added Oakleaf Holt; moved Three Moons Holt to "On Hiatus" at admin's request; Mist Valley Holt moved to CLOSED.
30
Holts / Re: River Twine Holt
« on: January 10, 2013, 09:36:49 AM »
01/10/13: Some much-needed updates:
Congratulations to Tah-marien, who adopted Goldspice!
Congratulations to Tah-marien, who adopted Goldspice!
31
Holts / Re: River Twine Holt
« on: January 10, 2013, 09:28:44 AM »
Aw, Gina -- it's good to see you around! We miss you! 
32
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2013 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: November 01, 2012, 08:42:44 AM »
I'll be honest -- there's certainly enough time left for me to get something done, so I'm not concerned about that, but... I just don't have any ideas. I've been keeping the concept percolating in the back of my mind, hoping an idea would come up, but I've had no luck so far. 
I'm going to be renewing efforts to come up with something workable in the next week, but... well, if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to send me a message here! Or an email. Can't promise what will catch my fancy, but clearly, my brain needs a kick-start of some kind.
I'd prefer -- and this will be SUCH a shock, coming from me! -- something that involves the wolfriders from Bearclaw's time period. And I'd prefer wolfriders, overall. But will certainly consider anything at this point.
I'm going to be renewing efforts to come up with something workable in the next week, but... well, if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to send me a message here! Or an email. Can't promise what will catch my fancy, but clearly, my brain needs a kick-start of some kind.
I'd prefer -- and this will be SUCH a shock, coming from me! -- something that involves the wolfriders from Bearclaw's time period. And I'd prefer wolfriders, overall. But will certainly consider anything at this point.
33
Holts / Re: River Twine Holt
« on: September 27, 2012, 10:42:23 AM »
9/27/12: updates!
Linn switched from Starskimmer to Rill, and Kyna rejoined the group with Starskimmer!
Linn switched from Starskimmer to Rill, and Kyna rejoined the group with Starskimmer!
34
Art and Elfquest / Re: Final Quest starts on Monday September 10th!
« on: September 10, 2012, 08:07:37 PM »
Yeah, I read several 1-page-a-week webcomics where it feels totally fine. And only one where that pace feels like watching a glacier move. So it's all in the storytelling... and even if they didn't plan for it, it's not like WaRP aren't very experienced at storytelling and pacing.
I really am liking the line quality on that first page! Nice start!
I really am liking the line quality on that first page! Nice start!
35
Art and Elfquest / Re: Final Quest starts on Monday September 10th!
« on: September 10, 2012, 07:11:13 AM »
So -- for now, it's going to be released as a webcomic, one page every Monday? That's going to be the schedule?
Just wanting to make sure.
I'll be interested to see how that pace feels. A lot will depend on the comic itself, of course. I can totally understand wanting to stretch it out by releasing it that way -- it gives Wendy the most time to build up a buffer of finished work ready to go, whereas releasing more pages as a time, or on more days per week, would run through that buffer more quickly.
But in my experience, 1-page-a-week webcomics can be kind of frustrating to read, unless they're multi-page releases on that day, or unless they're particularly well-paced.
If this is the release strategy they've been contemplating for a while, it'll be interesting to see whether they've tailored the pace of each page to compensate.
Just wanting to make sure.
I'll be interested to see how that pace feels. A lot will depend on the comic itself, of course. I can totally understand wanting to stretch it out by releasing it that way -- it gives Wendy the most time to build up a buffer of finished work ready to go, whereas releasing more pages as a time, or on more days per week, would run through that buffer more quickly.
But in my experience, 1-page-a-week webcomics can be kind of frustrating to read, unless they're multi-page releases on that day, or unless they're particularly well-paced.
If this is the release strategy they've been contemplating for a while, it'll be interesting to see whether they've tailored the pace of each page to compensate.
36
Holts / Re: Holt Status Survey - Active, Inactive, etc. - March 2011
« on: August 02, 2012, 09:16:34 AM »
Thanks for those, Sofia!
The list above has now been updated for this year, although the only statuses I checked were those of the Holts last listed as "Active", in order to determine if they are still active or not.
The list above has now been updated for this year, although the only statuses I checked were those of the Holts last listed as "Active", in order to determine if they are still active or not.
37
Art and Elfquest / Re: Calendar Theme Discussion 2013
« on: June 20, 2012, 08:00:11 AM »
I'm generally willing for whatever theme folks decide on.
For me, I think, the main challenge of the "Every Picture Tells a Story" theme is that I usually find coming up with subject-matter to be the most difficult thing. Most other themes suggest a topic that helps to narrow down ideas, and then if you are deciding for yourself which characters you'd like to do, that often helps narrow it down even more. But for this one, the topic is really wide open, and that's when I find it harder to come up with something.
Still, I think it would be a really interesting challenge!
Folks who are worried about the amount of work represented by a multi-panel piece can take heart from a few things. One: if the only requirement is that it be multi-panel, then don't forget that "multiple" can also mean "two". If you're trying to tell a story via sequential art, you can do that in just two panels. (Technically, you can of course show a story in ONE panel, but that isn't "sequential art".) So start thinking about it like that -- "I only really have to draw two pictures that go together". Obviously, you can get more ambitious than that (although I really like the idea that this theme would put an upper limit on it, too), but if you're trying to assure yourself that you really can do it, start out thinking of it that way. If you've got months and months to do it in, you can surely do two panels, right?
Two: there are plenty of mechanical tricks you can use to cut down on the amount of sheer work that multiple panels can be, so that's another way of reassuring yourself that multiple panels isn't such a daunting task.
Windrider kindly pointed at a multi-panel piece I did as an example, and one of the key things about that piece is that I totally did NOT redraw each panel from scratch each time. So I didn't need to do four complete drawings. I drew various elements and re-used them from panel to panel (like the sleeping wolves, the sheep skull, and the postures of the sitting elves). Yes, I inked and colored each separately, which helps keep them from looking completely the same. But in cases where I needed to change something from the previous panel only slightly, I used a lightbox so that the previous drawing became a foundation for the next one. So again, the finished product is less ACTUAL work than it looks like.
If we end up going with this theme, maybe it will be a good idea to start up a thread in the forum for people to share tips and tricks, and to ask for advice on how to tackle certain kinds of projects?
For me, I think, the main challenge of the "Every Picture Tells a Story" theme is that I usually find coming up with subject-matter to be the most difficult thing. Most other themes suggest a topic that helps to narrow down ideas, and then if you are deciding for yourself which characters you'd like to do, that often helps narrow it down even more. But for this one, the topic is really wide open, and that's when I find it harder to come up with something.
Still, I think it would be a really interesting challenge!
Folks who are worried about the amount of work represented by a multi-panel piece can take heart from a few things. One: if the only requirement is that it be multi-panel, then don't forget that "multiple" can also mean "two". If you're trying to tell a story via sequential art, you can do that in just two panels. (Technically, you can of course show a story in ONE panel, but that isn't "sequential art".) So start thinking about it like that -- "I only really have to draw two pictures that go together". Obviously, you can get more ambitious than that (although I really like the idea that this theme would put an upper limit on it, too), but if you're trying to assure yourself that you really can do it, start out thinking of it that way. If you've got months and months to do it in, you can surely do two panels, right?
Two: there are plenty of mechanical tricks you can use to cut down on the amount of sheer work that multiple panels can be, so that's another way of reassuring yourself that multiple panels isn't such a daunting task.
Windrider kindly pointed at a multi-panel piece I did as an example,
and one of the key things about that piece is that I totally did NOT redraw each panel from scratch each time. So I didn't need to do four complete drawings. I drew various elements and re-used them from panel to panel (like the sleeping wolves, the sheep skull, and the postures of the sitting elves). Yes, I inked and colored each separately, which helps keep them from looking completely the same. But in cases where I needed to change something from the previous panel only slightly, I used a lightbox so that the previous drawing became a foundation for the next one. So again, the finished product is less ACTUAL work than it looks like.If we end up going with this theme, maybe it will be a good idea to start up a thread in the forum for people to share tips and tricks, and to ask for advice on how to tackle certain kinds of projects?
38
Holts / Re: River Twine Holt
« on: April 16, 2012, 11:15:58 AM »
I'm sorry you don't have the time, Startear. 
But that's definitely a good question to be asking yourself about stuff like this. Hopefully when you do have time in the future, a character you like will become available.
But that's definitely a good question to be asking yourself about stuff like this. Hopefully when you do have time in the future, a character you like will become available. 39
Art and Elfquest / Re: More Final Quest teasers
« on: April 09, 2012, 07:36:23 AM »
The Blue-Mountain-looking collar and hairstyle on Aroree is really interesting, given that she had moved away from that look the last time we saw her. So I wonder what makes her go back to it?
I really like the high collar on Venka... although, conversely, I've never liked the design of her outfit around the hips, with those odd cut-out things (I'm not sure what to even call them). Wendy must really like that design, though, to have kept it for Venka when she could have changed it.
I really like the high collar on Venka... although, conversely, I've never liked the design of her outfit around the hips, with those odd cut-out things (I'm not sure what to even call them). Wendy must really like that design, though, to have kept it for Venka when she could have changed it.
40
Holts / Re: River Twine Holt
« on: April 05, 2012, 04:11:51 PM »
Well, that is definitely an advantage of the way RTH works -- while the character's owner gets to call the shots for the character and approve what gets done with them, everybody in the group is really encouraged to do stuff with each other's characters, and a lot actually does get done that way. So you can definitely play with characters you don't own -- do art and stories about them. People tend to be very welcoming of it, so long as the owner's wishes are respected. And people tend to be pretty supportive; approvals don't tend to be hard to get.
Starskimmer is definitely a fun character. She has a built-in connection to most folks in the tribe, AND she's in charge of the booze!
Starskimmer is definitely a fun character.
She has a built-in connection to most folks in the tribe, AND she's in charge of the booze!
41
Holts / Re: River Twine Holt
« on: April 02, 2012, 12:07:18 PM »
4/02/12: updates!
Dreamflight has been adopted! Congratulations to Sandi!
Dreamflight has been adopted! Congratulations to Sandi!
42
Art and Elfquest / Re: Site Migration - EQFA 3.0
« on: March 19, 2012, 04:28:57 PM »
Woo-hoo! Well-done, and congrat's on what seems to have overall been a smooth transition. 
43
Guides & Guidelines / Re: Mature Art Access and Albums
« on: March 12, 2012, 07:39:19 PM »
Yeah, I did notice when I moved a piece that I had a choice to move it into many other people's albums, although, only a selection of other members, not ALL other members. I didn't try to test it, though, so I don't know if it would have actually let me go through with it? My moving an imagine from one of my albums to another of my albums did work.
44
Guides & Guidelines / Re: Mature Art Access and Albums
« on: March 12, 2012, 01:08:55 PM »
Oh! NOW I see how to do it. I swear, the "Report - Edit - Delete - Move - Unapprove" choices weren't there before (when I was trying to figure out how to edit my Silentleaf portrait to make that the icon of of an album, which I'd remembered in the old system you could do from the edit page).
But those choices are definitely now showing up for individual art pieces. Plus, at the gallery level, I'm seeing the checkboxes, with the drop-down menu at the very bottom that allows you to move and delete from that page.
Weird.
But those choices are definitely now showing up for individual art pieces. Plus, at the gallery level, I'm seeing the checkboxes, with the drop-down menu at the very bottom that allows you to move and delete from that page.
Weird.
45
Guides & Guidelines / Re: Mature Art Access and Albums
« on: March 12, 2012, 12:21:18 PM »
Okay, I think I get both how to create a Mature album, and how to edit my profile so I can view other mature albums and their contents.
The only other question I have is... is it not possible for us to edit existing art in our galleries? Is that because of the import of all that art into this 3.0 site? I don't see an edit button for any of my existing art.
So if I had a piece of art that used to be marked "Mature", and isn't any longer, and I wanted to move it to a Mature album... it looks to me like I'd have to delete the old piece, and re-upload it. Unless it's possible to edit the art to change the album it's in? But either way -- even to delete it -- I'd have to be able to edit it, and I can't see how to do that.
The only other question I have is... is it not possible for us to edit existing art in our galleries? Is that because of the import of all that art into this 3.0 site? I don't see an edit button for any of my existing art.
So if I had a piece of art that used to be marked "Mature", and isn't any longer, and I wanted to move it to a Mature album... it looks to me like I'd have to delete the old piece, and re-upload it. Unless it's possible to edit the art to change the album it's in? But either way -- even to delete it -- I'd have to be able to edit it, and I can't see how to do that.
46
Art and Elfquest / Re: Site Migration - EQFA 3.0
« on: March 11, 2012, 04:52:21 PM »
I think this looks great so far! I really like the interim theme, even; very restful.
I have one question so far:
Can there / will there be an option with the Member Albums to sort them in different ways, like alphabetically, or even by something like "albums with things added most recently"? The second idea just occurred to me. The first is how they were sorted in the past, whereas now, I can't figure out what their sort order is. (Created?)
I'm just wondering because, especially now that they appear the way they do (rather than a gallery page with just the top image and name), there's 16 pages worth of galleries, and it makes them hard to scan through. I have no idea which users might be on what page of that list, if I was trying to find somebody's gallery... and sometimes, when I'm scanning for someone's gallery, I would rely on the icon images to recognize their style if I wasn't sure of the name.
I have one question so far:
Can there / will there be an option with the Member Albums to sort them in different ways, like alphabetically, or even by something like "albums with things added most recently"? The second idea just occurred to me. The first is how they were sorted in the past, whereas now, I can't figure out what their sort order is. (Created?)
I'm just wondering because, especially now that they appear the way they do (rather than a gallery page with just the top image and name), there's 16 pages worth of galleries, and it makes them hard to scan through. I have no idea which users might be on what page of that list, if I was trying to find somebody's gallery... and sometimes, when I'm scanning for someone's gallery, I would rely on the icon images to recognize their style if I wasn't sure of the name.
47
Art and Elfquest / Re: Fate of EQFA
« on: February 29, 2012, 06:00:31 PM »
Good luck on the transfer! See you on the other side.
48
Chit-Chat / Re: Warner: No ElfQuest movie.
« on: February 23, 2012, 04:11:28 PM »
I have to say, I find this announcement.... interesting. Maybe suspicious. I'm not sure.
"Warner Bros. has acquired live-action feature rights to Tite Kubo's manga and anime property "Bleach," which will be adapted by "Wrath of the Titans" scribe Dan Mazeau."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118050608
"Warner Bros. has acquired live-action feature rights to Tite Kubo's manga and anime property "Bleach," which will be adapted by "Wrath of the Titans" scribe Dan Mazeau."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118050608
49
Chit-Chat / Re: Warner: No ElfQuest movie.
« on: February 23, 2012, 12:03:56 PM »
Oh wow, I keep forgetting that! But yes, a decade ago, that was true, right?
I guess I see that as two connected problems. Marvel doesn't own EQ *now*, and it basically gave up on EQ back then. Granted, back then, Marvel did not have its own movie studio. But because it does now have one and is doing pretty well with it increasing the visibility/popularity of its long-standing properties, it makes me wonder if they'd be all that interested in acquiring another comics property (that they gave up on once), that can't fit into their "interconnected film universe" plans.
The other problem being... Marvel *is* now owned by Disney. So if we are interested in keeping Disney AWAY from EQ...
(AFAIK, while Disney owns Marvel, they aren't interfering in how Marvel's movies are made at all. And yes, otherwise, I think that Marvel is having success because they are exerting central control over their own properties and they really care how they come across in film -- which on its own is something I definitely want to see for whoever winds up doing EQ.)
Come to think of it, I need to look into who exactly is producing the Marvel animated series. I doubt that is "Marvel Studios" per se...
I guess I see that as two connected problems. Marvel doesn't own EQ *now*, and it basically gave up on EQ back then. Granted, back then, Marvel did not have its own movie studio. But because it does now have one and is doing pretty well with it increasing the visibility/popularity of its long-standing properties, it makes me wonder if they'd be all that interested in acquiring another comics property (that they gave up on once), that can't fit into their "interconnected film universe" plans.
The other problem being... Marvel *is* now owned by Disney.
So if we are interested in keeping Disney AWAY from EQ...(AFAIK, while Disney owns Marvel, they aren't interfering in how Marvel's movies are made at all. And yes, otherwise, I think that Marvel is having success because they are exerting central control over their own properties and they really care how they come across in film -- which on its own is something I definitely want to see for whoever winds up doing EQ.)
Come to think of it, I need to look into who exactly is producing the Marvel animated series. I doubt that is "Marvel Studios" per se...
50
Chit-Chat / Re: Warner: No ElfQuest movie.
« on: February 22, 2012, 10:31:37 AM »Sorry to both jump on my soap box or throw a little conspiracy theory in here, there is no proof of this idea nor do I particularly want to jab at WB if they are really just putting EQ on the back burner and will pick it up later.
It seems really convinient timing. I heard rumor of a live action Hobbit as soon or just before the third LotR came out. Its been rolling around for long time. Why they waited so long on it is a puzzle to me, unless they were trying to maximize returns on the LotR movies, initial DVD releases, initial Blue Ray releases, Special Edition releases in bith formats, Extended editions of both formats, Special Extended versions in both formats, and twelve hour special extended directors cut of all three movies in both formats (i habe a fo-worker that helped this along, buying each version in each format...). But whatever the reason, they knew about it for a long, long time. The Hobbit is schedualed to come out THIS year, and I had seen a teaser out days before the EQ NO announcment. Even though EQ was penciled in for next year, I dont k.ow how it would have been able to come out even close to the second movie, seeings as they already have enough done on Hobbit to know that its going to take two movies to run, specific dates set for their release, and teasers/trailers already in circulation, while EQ hadnt even had the format nailed down.
It seems to me more likely that they *might* have been just holding onto the movie rights so that no one else could beat them to the punch, and reduce Hobbit's performance to second fiddle. Hobbit is a garanteed cash cow, even if it sucks, but would stand to lose more if people felt like it was thrown out to ride the wake of another fanasy series.
Well, like I said, crazy consiracy theory, but its been eating at me.
The reason I'm not quite sold on this as a theory is...
First: LOTR was originally New Line Cinema, not Warner Brothers. At the time LOTR came out, WB didn't own the rights to The Hobbit.
Second: IIRC, it's not that there were rumors of a live-action Hobbit soon after LOTR came out; but rather, there was a lot of vocalized wishful-thinking in that regard. Although TH is a prequel, in the aftermath of LOTR and its massive success, it made sense for people to think, "can there ever be a sequel?" And the answer is, "No, but there's an obvious prequel waiting" (and nobody of course meant the Silmarillion; to which film rights don't exist anyway, and the Tolkien estate appears to be disinclined to sell those, as it wasn't completely enamored with the LOTR film treatment).
However, just about all the talk about a possible Hobbit at the time assumed that it wasn't worth doing if Peter Jackson didn't do it. And it seemed fairly understandable that he and his team were utterly exhausted after ROTK came out. Even if the LOTR experiment made it clear that it was both possible and profitable to front the money for such a giant production... you have to have a production team willing to do it, and whom you are willing to trust to do it. PJ and team had just proved they could... but for a long while, they weren't willing.
Third: I just can't see any way their calculations would have thought that an EQ movie coming out would have endangered The Hobbit. I think it's the other way around: WB thought The Hobbit would make people even less interested in EQ. The Hobbit itself, as a book, is far more famous than ElfQuest; and then there's the entire publicity surrounding LOTR and its success. The Hobbit is seen as a sort of sequel to one of the most successful movie franchises of all time. IMO there is just no way it loses any audience to even a very popularly-received ElfQuest movie coming out 6 months ahead of it.
I also have a somewhat hard time believing that studios think that way. It usually seems that they think the opposite. Look at both last summer and this coming summer: Marvel Studios puts out TWO superhero films in 2011, banking on the idea that one will whet people's appetites for the other, not that one will cause people to skip the other. And their gamble pays off, even though 2011's summer also had other comics-derived films competing with Marvel's two, in addition to several other gigantic franchise films. No, Marvel's Thor and Captain America didn't do business in the realms of POTC4 or Transformers 3. But the two films did well, even in a summer that everybody agreed was over-saturated with films of that type.
One thing to take away from that is that Marvel played the synergy game well. WB seems to have played it poorly, given how poorly-received Green Lantern was. But GL's poor reception had more to do with abysmal critical reception and word-of-mouth and a muddled advertising campaign, not with audience saturation with superheroes (if the latter was true, then Captain America should have also tanked, and it didn't).
So I guess, in the end, I'm still saying that it seems foolish for WB to regard ElfQuest as a competitor with The Hobbit (they aren't apples to apples), instead of seeing it as an opportunity to keep audiences interested in the fantasy genre, with franchise films released in both summer and at Christmas.
And as you point out: EQ was so early in its production process that they had an option to simply take their time with getting it into production (rather than rushing it, which I think we can all agree would be undesirable anyway), and having an EQ movie aimed to come out in 2014, after the second Hobbit film is done. It's certainly not too early for a studio to be planning for the 2014 season; Marvel Studios already is.
See Jeedai's post above, though -- WB makes some decisions that, to me, look really weird, anyway. So this decision also just looks really weird; but it's of a piece with other weird-looking decisions they've made about their properties.
Quote
In the end, though, I dont think anyone is going to touch it with a ten foot pole until Hobbit winds down in a few years, unless they figure out a style that tears 'Hollywood' a new... Er, way of looking at things.
What Hollywood overall seems to have proven time and again is that it WANTS to imitate success... not avoid what seems to be successful due to over-saturation of the market.
The Hobbit coming out did not stop two other studios from bringing out *competing* Snow White movies in 2012 -- even though they are much more obviously in thematic competition with The Hobbit concept than ElfQuest is ("a large cast of dwarves" + "high fantasy genre"). It will be interesting to see which SW movie is left standing... but at least they were "smart" enough to bring them out in the spring, far away from TH's release.
All that said... I still don't want to see an EQ feature film as much as I want to see it given a high-quality animated series treatment. Where it would not be in competition with any fantasy-movie franchises; nor, giving the timing, would it be in competition with the new "Avatar: The Legend of Korra" series. Rather, I see that as potentially setting up audience appetites for a property like ElfQuest in long-format.
I would love nothing more than to hear that that direction was at least being explored.