The "stupid little questions that don't deserve their own thread" thread.

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The "stupid little questions that don't deserve their own thread" thread.

«‹›2 »

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

If you wanna get really finicky, scripts aren't spiral-bound like that. They're three-hole punched with brass brads in the top and bottom holes. Also does the wood grain feel off to you? It kind of looks to me like the table and the script are resting at different angles. Part of that's probably coming from the shadow under the script, though. It makes it look like the bottom of the script is floating.

# ¿ Sep 2, 2010 20:51

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 9, 2024 22:19

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Lofty132 posted:

Idiot Writer question here; What's the best method to find an artist to team up with on comic ideas? I'd illustrate them myself if my drawing wasn't awful. Is it just a case of trawling sites like DeviantArt for like minded souls?

I think you may have also asked this question in the BBS webcomic thread (if not somebody else did), but the short answer is you don't. Teach yourself to draw or find a like-minded friend in real life who wants to legitimately collaborate with you. Hiring an internet stranger is going to be just that - hiring. Any good artist will want and deserve compensation, and working on a stranger's idea isn't nearly as rewarding as money.

# ¿ Sep 28, 2010 01:45

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

starfish prime posted:

Hello, everyone. This definitely doesn't justify a full thread, so...I have wanted to write beautiful, inspiring, personally meaningful and resonant lyrics for a while now. My general aesthetic is basically the indie folk thing that's so popular with the kids nowadays. However, I have crippling preemptive writer's block that is keeping me from going anywhere with it. I have a lot of trouble coming up with lyrics that are both completely original AND rhyme and flow with the music itself.

I don't run into this problem when I'm writing prose or anything that isn't lyrical. I think I find it to be far more restricting than any other writing discipline - plus, it seems that the best approach is to be reductionistic, keeping it as simple as possible while still conveying your message, so that it's more malleable to the requirements of the rhythm of your vocal line. Is this normal? Is it possible to be competent at one form of writing and completely useless at another?

1.) "restrictive"
2.) Yes, many people are good at one form of writing and bad at another. I, for instance, am a terrible poet.
3.) Writer's block is a crutch for writers who are either ill-prepared, procrastinating, or afraid of failure.

You're probably biting off more than you can chew. Set aside "completely original" for now, and practice writing new lyrics to old songs. And get your big dreams out of your head. We all have dreams of glory, but they're of no use to you at your writing desk. You don't have an audience there.

And forgive the obvious question, but you do play music, right? Normally songwriters plink out a melody and noodle around with it while they're coming up with lyrics. I know rappers tend to work with nothing but a notebook, but that's because they can imagine the beat in their heads. Indie kids usually write with a piano or a guitar.

What are your basic elements here? Melody, rhythm, a hook, some central idea of what you want to say. Maybe try writing out the idea of the song in prose first, and see if any turns of phrase grab you, then build from there. And you know lyrics are usually revised a lot, right? The first time you put all the verses down not everything is going to be good. It's all about editing, same as any other art form. Keep what works and cut the rest until you've got something you're happy with.

I worry that you're laboring under the common Millennial misconception that if you are ever going to be good at anything you'll be good at it right away. That's not how it works. Your first thousand songs will be terrible. If you like the work enough to keep at it that long good luck. If not, find something else to do with your time.

Slashie fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Oct 9, 2010

# ¿ Oct 9, 2010 05:11

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

starfish prime posted:

Dammit. That's what I get for skimping on the proofreading.

I agree with you about writer's block. I think that I have a deep-seated fear of failure, or even mere inadequacy. I tend to equate writing vapid lyrics with having a vapid state of mind or personality, which I know is very irrational. Perhaps "writer's block" wasn't the correct phrase to use, though. I have actually put things on paper, but I've never gotten usable lyrics out of them.

What I've done so far has mostly been stream-of-consciousness quantitative writing that produces pages and pages of uninteresting crap with some promising bits mixed in. I try to refine those into something useful, but they always lack cohesion. Perhaps I assume that every song or poem has some explicit theme behind it when, in reality, most themes are projected onto the work by the person experiencing it - I may be wrong about that, however. They also don't seem to have the same "punch" behind them as my songwriting influences. It's so difficult for me to discern whether I think my work is weak just because it's coming out of me, or because it's legitimately bad.

Your last comment hit hard because it's so true. I've noticed it in myself and I've noticed it in my peers. We, as a generation, tend to impose silly restrictions and expectations on ourselves in everything that we do. So I will certainly try to be more cognizant of that in the future. I had the same problem when learning piano (my first instrument) and guitar (my first meaningful instrument), but I managed to power through it somehow.

Now, regarding writing new lyrics to old songs - if you get something that you genuinely like out of that, how do you disconnect it from the original song? It would seem to me as though your new lyrics and the old song's melody would be linked forever, subconsciously at least.

Apologies for taking everything all haphazardly. I'm a pretty disorganized person inside, I think.

Eh, with the caveat that I'm not an IP lawyer, many songs share rhythms or chord progressions or elements of melody. If you really write something you feel attached to, just tinker with it until you feel like it's your own. But that's really not the point. That was just a suggestion of an exercise you could do - practice.

I think you would really benefit from putting yourself in a frame of mind where not everything you write is supposed to be For the Ages. You sound like you're still expecting to produce finished songs in one sitting. You won't. Find some songwriting "drills" that work for you, daily practice you can do just like playing scales, and focus on that for now. You don't get to skip straight ahead to knowing what you're doing. You have to put in the time.

And think about your goals a little better. You keep talking about wanting to write things that are "deep" or songs that people will fall in love with. That kind of praise happens after the fact. There's a quote that's always stuck with me: "Rock and roll is the public expression of a private truth." All those songs you love weren't written to be crowd-pleasers. They were someone's true feelings. If you want to figure out what to write about you have to look at what you think about in total honesty. There's a reason it's easiest to write songs about heartbreak.

Slashie fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Oct 9, 2010

# ¿ Oct 9, 2010 07:40

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

starfish prime posted:

Haha, I think I want to write songs that are crowd-pleasers BECAUSE they're true feelings, if that makes sense. Crowd-pleasers in a sort of liberal sense, not stadium rock but something that really resonates. I'm an unabashed indie kid and I love the poo poo out of Neutral Milk Hotel - stereotypical, I know. But everything about the lyrics feels right. It's very obvious that they sprang out of Jeff Mangum's bizarre, distorted imagination, and that makes them incredible even though they're very simple. I think you hit the nail on the head regarding my goals, however - the fallacious mindset of "okay, now I'm going to write something deep!" while sitting in front of a blank sheet of paper.

This is all very good advice though, I think, so thanks. I'll definitely try to come up with some sort of regular exercises in addition to what I already do.

No, I know that's what you meant, but so far everything you've said about what you want to do is focused on some imaginary audience. I'm a screenwriter, where we have the concept of a "playable action" - i.e. you're supposed to write something an actor can do with his body, instead of some complex emotional thing that sounds interesting but looks like a guy standing around thinking. "Write a song that really resonates" is not a playable action. "Write a song about X" is.

And I hate Indie music so helping someone make more of it is really a big sacrifice for me. :v:

# ¿ Oct 9, 2010 19:18

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Automatic Jack posted:

Dunno if this deserves a thread; maybe there's one for it but I don't have search powers.

I am looking to license Bobby Vinton's cover of Blue Velvet for a 2-minute animated student film on a budget of about 0$. I have all the contact information and have e-mailed the publisher and record label about the various licenses (Synch and Master Use) and all that, but what I'm curious about is how much money this usually costs. I'm actually more in it for the process- Even if nothing comes of this, it'll still be an experience worth going through- the only problem is that Sony apparently demands $200 in Administration Fees just to even CONSIDER granting a Master Use License. They don't state anywhere how much the License itself might actually cost; it's a pretty popular song, too, so my imagination is conjuring up all sorts of horrible figures with many zeroes on the end. They have a specific form for non-profit student work, but that still doesn't give me any indication of how much over $200 they're going to make me pay just to get this thing into film festivals. And I don't even know about the publisher.

Meh, the admin fee is pretty steep as it is, but I'm still curious if anyone else has gone through this process and how much money they had to pay for Festival Use of a copywritten song. I have never done this before so assume I know nothing besides what I've just described.

I've never done the festival thing, but commercial licenses for songs can cost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. I would start talking to unsigned artists instead, or looking at songs with creative commons licenses. And not a big deal, but you mean "copyrighted." "Copywritten" is related to copy writing, not copyrighting.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2010 20:56

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Automatic Jack posted:

Oops, sorry, I must have drifted off while writing that sentence.

I know a fellow student who went through this process and managed to get away with $200 for a $2000 song due to her status as a student. I'm assuming that since Sony has a specific form for non-profit and student work that they're not going to ask for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but aside from that assumption I really have no idea what the bracket might be. They have separate channels for commercial work; I am strictly in the non-commercial category, thank god. I was just wondering if it was something like $2000 or what the range was for someone in my position.

You said you never did the "festival thing", so have you done independent film projects then?

I'm a WGA screenwriter. So I've had many a producer anxiously remind me not to get hung up on a song I mention in a script actually making it into the film. I've seriously sat in meetings where people debate whether a character could hum a song instead of singing it, because humming is cheaper.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2010 21:39

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Automatic Jack posted:

Ah, cool! Yup, my teachers (effectively our producers) are telling me the same thing. Still looking for alternatives, but I guess it never hurts to aim for the top for as long as it's not costing me anything.

Welp, I guess I'll throw it out there that I'm looking for 40s-60s music with a similar feel to Blue Velvet. Maybe I'm going about it wrong but it's a little harder to find that specific style on royalty free and public domain sites, let alone composers today who emulate that type of music... It feels like I'm really close to finding something though, I just need to be careful where I step. Thanks for the info though.

Does your school have a good music department or a musical theater school (musical theater always has at least a few midcentury music nuts)? You can license sheet music for waaay less than a recording, and if you pull together a singer or two and a composer with a home setup or access to school recording equipment you could come out with something you like even better than your first idea.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2010 00:08

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Automatic Jack posted:

Yup, there is also that option. We have a joint thing set up with another school's music dept., but that doesn't happen until later and sometimes you end up with a musician who doesn't hold up their end of the bargain... although I do hear there's some very talented people in that bunch. I would like to have a back-up plan in case nothing comes of it. The musical theater idea is good, I never thought of that.

Would licensing the sheet music be something to talk to the publisher about? Would that be the Mechanical License? And do they provide the sheet music or am I going to have to hunt that down too??

According to this you'd need a sync license, but you may also need mechanical and public performance and god knows what else. That article includes a link to some public domain sheet music resources, which you might consider. Some music from the era you're interested in will be in the public domain, although probably not any of the more popular songs.

When contacting a publisher I believe they'll send you the sheet music - at least that's the way it works for musicals.

Speaking of musicals, here's the link to sync licensing for the Rodgers and Hammerstein library. Yes, Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are corny as balls, but the company has a huge catalog of other works right now, and some long-forgotten musical from the forties or fifties might have just the sound you need.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2010 17:07

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Beat. posted:

serious question: has anyone who posts in this thread ever met anyone who learned how to draw by reading a book? I cannot think of anyone I know who has, outside of copying plates as homework from a teacher

My dad says he started that way, but he also says he didn't really know what he was doing until he befriended some artists and started learning things in person. I look at art instruction books to see how other artists approach certain problems (I love those books that are nothing but drawings of hands and stuff like that), but I'd never advise a beginner to choose books over real-life classes.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2010 07:16

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Greggster posted:

tl;dr I'm making a Pen & Paper RPG with a zombie setting with a few questions on what should/shouldn't be in it.

Any thoughts?

You might do better asking this question in Trad Games.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2010 21:57

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Etrips posted:

That will be hard to do since she lives half way across the world.

They make manga-branded sketchbooks and stuff. It's just regular paper, but it has some girl with giant eyes on the front. That and some nice drawing pens will make her happy without you directly contributing to her terrible disease the way a "How to Draw Totally Kawaii Chibis!1!" book or something would.

Pen and pencil set
Fancier pen set
Colored brush markers
Manga paper

I mean, I'd love to recommend some nice charcoal pencils and a book on figure drawing, but a teenager probably isn't going to be receptive to it. She'll either move out of that phase or quit drawing seriously.

Or do a webcomic.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2010 05:19

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Substar posted:

Retarded 2D animation question:

I know jack about any of this and I'm learning on my own, so forgive me.

I have a little cartoon guy, and I have him running. Just a real simple animation, with only 6 unique pictures/frames.

Let's say I wanted this animation to run at 30 frames per second. Does that mean I need 30 unique graphics, one for each frame? Or would it be 5 frames of each graphic?

To put it another way, do I need to move his little legs a tiny bit each time so that I have 30 frames or can I cheat?

I hope this makes sense.

You want it to run at 24 frames per second, and as long as you're not doing something special with the timing (slo-mo, etc.), you can do fine with just drawing 12 of those frames. Each drawing will be shown twice before moving on to the next drawing, basically.

Also this is called a "walk cycle," if you want to google up some tutorials.

# ¿ Jan 26, 2011 23:24

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Soapy Joe posted:

Is this an appropriate place to ask for feedback on a blog with comic intentions? Is there a thread for that? It's babby's first blog.

Start your own thread about it and put up the Critique tag. But do us a favor and make sure your poo poo is together first - fundamentals like spelling and grammar are a bore to go through over and over again, and try to come up with some kind of statement of purpose for the OP, so people don't take the time to critique on the assumption you're going for one thing when you're really going for another.

And either don't melt down when you get criticized or melt down in a really entertaining way, please. :allears:

# ¿ Feb 23, 2011 07:34

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

GonzoRonin posted:

This is more an industry/legal question than a creative one: I want to upgrade to Adobe CS5 Creative Suite so I can start freelancing and doing better work for school. How do I go about getting a student discount on that? Once I get it, what records do I need to keep to write off the business expense on my taxes later?

You can get a student discount by following the instructions on the Adobe site (I believe it involves emailing them a scan of your student ID), but student installations of the software are expressly not for use on professional projects, so writing it off on your taxes is moot. You may be able to write it off as some sort of student expense - a tax accountant would know more.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2011 07:28

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Travakian posted:

Zurich is right.

From Adobe's Student/Teacher Edition FAQ:

Alright, well the only direct experience I have is with Final Draft, and they are total dicks about it. v :shobon:

# ¿ Mar 5, 2011 17:34

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

MiketheGreat posted:

I've just produced my first ever canvas-based paintings (and you can see them in this month's Daily Doodles thread!). Because I'm new to this medium, what's the deal with signing paintings? I seem to have this unjustifiable apprehension to plastering my signature on the corner of a painting, as it feels almost as tacky as putting a watermark on a digital image. But then where else should paintings be signed, if anywhere?

You could sign it on the back, thus providing future scholars with a way to identify your work without obscuring the painting itself.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2011 03:54

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

CloseFriend posted:

I'm trying to learn comic-book-style inking and I ended up buying these brushes, this pen, and this ink. Will this work for a beginner? Are there any other materials or even websites to buy from that I should try to "graduate" to as I get better?

Those all look fine. Read Comic Tools for really great guides to using those tools and others, and come by the Comics Shop Talk thread to show us how things are coming along.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2011 00:11

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Monster w21 Faces posted:

Anyone know how I would go about creating this kind of hair effect?

It's thick yarn or twisted wool wrapped in thread. Here's a typical yarn dread fall wearer explaining the process.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2011 00:41

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Maha posted:

This is probably frowned upon, but avatar request: can someone make me something out of this? Preferably 125x125.

I'd also be interested in any other colorful and/or psychedelic image of Budd, if you happen to have any.

# ¿ May 6, 2011 21:05

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

Canadian Surf Club posted:

writing fiction, moreso or more so?

Depends on the context. Use it in a sentence.

# ¿ May 14, 2011 02:02

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 9, 2024 22:19

Slashie: Mar 24, 2007; by Fistgrrl

CloseFriend posted:

I'm working on learning inking, and I'm trying to learn the brush, the nib pen, and the pigma markers all together.

For the brush, I have ridiculously little brush control. Is there a way I can guarantee myself smooth strokes? Is there a special technique inkers use to get that thin-fat-thin line? I hold the brush perpendicularly, I don't move my wrist except on the really fine details, and I've even tried doing strokes with my pinky sticking out to improve control. Still, I never feel like I know what my line's going to look like, especially on toothy paper. Is this just the sort of thing that comes with practice?

I've also been having trouble with the pen. I can never get nibs to hold enough ink for a good, solid stroke. You're supposed to draw in such a way that the convex side of the nib is the opposite of the stroke's direction, right? Somehow I don't feel like I'm doing it right.

I really don't want to move to digital inking yet. I have a Wacom tablet and Inkscape and I've done it before; but I really want to master the physical stuff first. It's more fun anyway.

Better artists than me will come along with more answers, but to start, try to move with your shoulder - you say you're not moving your wrist much, which is good, but you might still be leading the motion with your elbow. Also have you experimented with how much ink you're loading on the brush?

For pens, which I work with more - yes, convex side down... although rereading that I'm not sure what you mean by "opposite the stroke's direction." Make sure the nib is at a 45-degree angle with the paper, and make sure you're using the right size nib for the line you want to draw. Smaller nibs just plain won't hold enough ink for a long line. Work on finding good stopping-points in your drawing, places like corners where you can pick up and re-ink and start again without it being noticeable. And try to find some youtubes showing nib drawing, because I feel like your pen orientation might be off.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2011 07:52

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The "stupid little questions that don't deserve their own thread" thread.

«‹›2 »