Hello, I'm back from my long hiatus. I apologize. I know taking breaks is vital to my health and everything else.
Guess what? I am almost done with my job. I will be looking for work on indie animation. If you need my skills and resume, I'm your person! Just take a gander at my portfolio! Links up there!
I might start asking for donations to keep my blog running, but we will see!
Let's get back to our focus on indie cartoons! It will be a short post today due to the lack of interviews! Not a lot replied, but I managed to secure some interviews made before my unannounced hiatus went into effect!
I want to discuss the creator's struggles to be COMPARED with [that generic show]'s art styles. Trust me; I have seen a lot of artists, especially in indie animation.
I'm not going to bring up any specific scenario, but we're pretty tired of seeing people saying to any colleague of mine, "Hey, this is LIKE this [show]'s style." It can be an honor to do that if they also like the show, but they might not like that either. Artists do NOT practice the skills to be compared to other artists; it can blow their self-esteem.
The popular tweet went out not long ago before this blog went up this week, and it was exactly it. Some art styles were developed long before the show was made.
In preproduction, I had 2020-2021 artwork of an old version of Akash Singh from my indie show, Corrupted Memories. He had a hairstyle almost the same as Pavitr Prabhakar (Spiderman India), as shown in Across The Spideverse (ATSV) trailers. I wouldn't say that I copied Pavitr's hairstyle for Akash. It's just a coincidence that it happened.
I redesigned the design for Akash in 2023, just before the ATSV started playing in theaters. Honestly, I didn't know that Pavitr was the center of memes for a bit of the time while working on my job and Corrupted Memories.
But I notice that most indie artists and developers might have their OCs used in their show before the said art style was even developed.
Anyway, that's enough for now; if you have any questions for me to cover regarding the indie scene (questions, concerns, etc.), I will try to find a person to interview about the indie pipeline!
I will write some reviews for dropped trailers since my last blog next week. Please email me again or DM me on Twitter for interviews!
Stay masked and stay healthy. Stay inside when you can, and respect the community around you.
Spotlights:
Midmortis: Meg "Meng" Boudreau
It follows the comedic tales of 3 dysfunctional ghost hunters driving around and riding in Northern Ontario in their shitty van. It has three lovingly designed characters: Phoebus, Hugo, and Salem.
Hugo is a ghost, Salem is too silly for his good, and Phoebus is grouchy. Hopefully, he's lovable....in his own right!
Meg shared with me during our interview that Edd Gould and his Eddsworld cartoon have inspired her since arriving on the indie scene. The idea is that someone doesn't need industry-standard professional gear, skills, or software to make something people will love and enjoy. Having people to talk about and laugh about influenced them to become a creator. She owes their creative journey to Edd Gould, and Midmortis specifically was influenced by a lot of media they grew up with.
Asked if they have any plans and comment on the future of her show, Meg says that they want to continue Midmortis as a low-stakes project, something casual. Hoping after the pilot, she hopes to find a way to continue the story of Phoebus, Hugo, and Salem. Episodes will come from whatever they can produce for the time being!
I asked Meg about their background and history; she said they have always been a fan of art in general, more into creating and storytelling, such as comics, games, and cartoons/movies. Loving the plots and ideas that they made, they produced the self-published comic called "Neo-Myth," but it faded away. Midmortis is Meg's second project, and she was super glad to have support from their family and friends.
I inquired about their influences on Midmortis, and Meg admits that they often struggle with various things, such as hyper-fixations, social cues, and how they interact with people. It's hard to imagine, Meg admits, that she's not particularly well-liked. Being mocked for liking things they enjoy having or speaking about, they often notice that with art kids. "The cost of being creative, I suppose," Meg says.
The feeling of being ostracized just because of their weirdness greatly influenced and inspired her projects. Meg wants to speak out about their experience and connect with people with similar experiences.
Midmortis is precisely that show for Meg and many others like her.
Follow Meg and Midmortis project:
Ghost Friends: Damian "Outlet"
I have been following Ghost Friends for a long time and haven't interviewed Damian yet, but I plan to do so soon!
It follows the afterlife characters: Stuart, Cameron, Sarah, and Cassy.
It's unique; the show allows them to make mistakes to make their overarching character development and learn from their mistakes as they explore the afterlife. Damian plans to keep the continuity but use the repeated format to allow them to have silly hijinks and adventures.
Damian has been using a lot of experimental animation to make Ghost Friends and its lore outside the pilot. It makes it unique in its right. The pilot is already out, and Damian just announced they would change the format to the audio drama, keeping the visuals.
They have shown us we don't have to stick with the clean lines and impressive comps. Experimental animation can push us further in the imagination of our world, allowing us to bend the rules and create emotions that we can't do with just clean lines.
Influences come from The Howl's Moving Castle, Over The Garden Wall (my favorite), Gravity Falls (another favorite!), Monster High (I def see the inspiration here), Casper Scare School, Impressionist movement (god, I love art history, I studied this in university), etc.
The concept art shows the Ghost Friends' push in the experimental animation, and I think we will see more of this later when the audio drama shares more visuals.
Damian is a disabled creator who is dedicated to indie animation and things. So thank you, and please help them out with their project! All the best!
Follow Ghost Friends and check out the pilot:
If you want an interview or want the blog article to discuss your indie show with me or have a discussion with me or Corrupted Memories, please email me!
Email: jocelynsaravia.animation@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/moose__chan