Impromanga suggestions

[bluebug]

Whether we add new members or not, I suggest that we don't add more characters. I know there are some characters who haven't made appearances yet, but I think we should stick with whoever has appeared so far.

My reasoning for this is because the more characters we add, the more confusing it'll get, and the less time we'll have to develop our characters. I think we need to stick with allowing the characters we have to interact with each other.

To recap, and make this is a fair point to halt character addition, here's the cast so far:

Students:
FaronKaros : Aelmon
darkprominence : Starburst
James Starrrunner : Joy
Modesty : Angelo
azalea : Tyde
Shiroikami : Miria
mischa : Kai
bluebug : Sylphi
Modesty : Marron

Teachers:
FaronKarso : Aidalis
azalea : Ms. Silf
bluebug : Kero, Sable

Antagonist:
bluebug : Daixx

I realize I kinda have 4 characters on the table, but Kero and Sable are more like shadowy minor characters. And Daixx is well, the most shadowy of them all. They're more story driven and aren't going to pop into many pages.

In any case, that's 14 characters in about 19 pages. That's a lot of characters. It's also tough to draw that many characters and keep them active in the story.

So ... any comments on stopping the character addition? This should at least last for this chapter and maybe half of the next, depending on how long this chapter is. I figure each chapter should at least allow for each member to participate twice.

<Mod's edit: Sorry, Marron's another student. ^^; )

[bluebug]

And ... I have a second suggestion. It ties into the first suggestion. The other problem with having too many characters drawn by different people is that each time the character is drawn, they'll look different. So it's hard to tell them apart. I've noticed this with several impromangas, so it's not like it's isolated to our group of artists. I've even noticed this effect in published comics that use multiple artists.

In any case, to make it easier, maybe we could pick a feature and exaggerate it? For example, and I'll just take initiative and list my suggestions (because this is the suggestion thread):

Marron: color her markings (I don't remember what color they're supposed to be - If they're just black, can we give them a color?). Angelo: Color in his black wings and black goatee
Aelmon : Brown ears and a tail
Starburst : I'm not going to suggest that we all color in Starburst's hair cuz that's just mean XD Starburst, however, does have that mark on his cheek ... maybe it could be a color?
Sylphi : Magenta Ankh on her hat
Joy : Yellow eyes
Ms Silf : Red tie
Kai : Red stripes in his hair
Aidalis : His gun (I think it's silver)
Miria : Blue hair

Kero : Green highlights in her hair (she's also the only character with glasses so it'll be pretty easy to tell her apart)
Sable : Uh ... he's a minotaur.
Daixx : You'll know him cuz he'll always be in shadow XD

Again, just suggestions for black and white pages. I think it would just help a whole lot to have visual cues. Especially since the comic will be on DD. Please agree or disagree, and then we can either add it into the rules for each page, or come up with something else as character cues.

[bluebug]

I swear, this is the last suggestion. This is also the last time I start a suggestion thread because I have waaaay too many suggestions XD (I'm really a quiet person in life ... guess this is where I dump all my outspokenness >_>).

Anyway, my last suggestion is that characters refer to each other by name. At least for this first chapter. So if Angelo is talking to Miria, he won't just say "How are you doing?". He'll instead say "How are you doing, Miria?" It's just less confusing.

Sorry this all comes after Round 5. I just hadn't realized how confusing it would be with that many characters. It was fine when we have four characters max on a page, but now we've got 9 or so all interacting with each other, it's hard to keep track of who's talking to who. We'll explain things in the notes section on DD, but I think it's easier for readers to be able to read the names as they're reading the comic, rather than scrolling down for an explanation.

Again, any feedback on this suggestion? Should this be a temporary rule or not?

[azalea]

I found it confusing drawing characters and trying to remember what they looked like (I draw pages at work and re-work/calligraphy ink them at home) , so I memorized really character defining or distinguishing characteristics like Sylphi's hat or the tattoo on starbursts face

[bluebug]

azalea said:

I found it confusing drawing characters and trying to remember what they looked like (I draw pages at work and re-work/calligraphy ink them at home) , so I memorized really character defining or distinguishing characteristics like Sylphi's hat or the tattoo on starbursts face

Yeah, I noticed that those defining features stood out. You did a really great job with that! The ones I found a bit confusing were Kai and Miria (and Marron because I forgot she had tattoos in this incarnation). I didn't realize that Miria had pointy ears.

The thing is, readers don't like memorizing defining features, so the easier we make it for them, the easier it'll be. One of the comments I get on my comic is that "All the characters look the same", which thanks to their different hair styles, clothes and hair color, they really don't ... but it made me realize that with more characters, the more you have to try to emphasize each character's defining feature.

[faronkaos]

Um. Well I have more teachers, but they're just there if we need them. And I'm not knocking out Chaos. He's getting a bigger role later on that I'm hoping will have a large effect on the story. Also...

Aelmon's tail and ears are *light tan.* Not brown! He's got a pale complexion, which means his fur is also pale. Please remember that. I should've said this all earlier, but I didn't think the colors would be so far off. Also, his long nails are normal. They're not hooked cat-claws. Same goes for Chaos/Glade. I'll color-code Ael's outfit soon.

[Modesty]

1) My suggestion to add more characters was only a theory and I wasn't taking it seriously. So I hope I didn't scare you with that.
(Lucius: >_> Too late.
Mod: Shut up you!)
Anyway, done, we have locked down our major characters. They are listed in the Characters Page on the Negate Never Website. As impromangas go, most likely some characters will just be background noise and just usful at certain points. (Marron for example).
Cast List
www.sass-studio.com/impromanga/characters.html

2) As long as you can tell who is who we'll be fine. The list of features is a bit much or should be common sense.
All the character images can be found here: www.sass-studio.com/impromanga/gallery.html

I think we have a set of very distinguished characters even without colors. Marron and Miria have pretty similar hair styles, but Marron has the tattoos and wears dresses. I don't see the "these characters look all the same" being a problem.

3) If the character Angelo is addressing is NOT in the frame then YES he should use their name. However, if Angelo and Kai are in the same frame OR Kai responds in the very next frame, then he does not need to address Kai by his name. We can really emphasize name use for these primary pages but I think that it should not be a "rule". It's a good friendly suggestion since we now have an audience.

4) I got Aemon's fingernails right! XD Sorry we didn't get all the colors on the spot. I sifted through all your galleries because I SWEAR I saw a colored one somewhere but couldn't find it.

All the characters will have an affect on the storyline. No one character is going to be bigger than any other. If there's something specific you're thinking about, add your idea to the Plot Beast Suggestions so everyone knows what you're thinking. To be fair, we really haven't figured out DD's motive either. ^^;

[bluebug]

faronkaos said:

Um. Well I have more teachers, but they're just there if we need them. And I'm not knocking out Chaos. He's getting a bigger role later on that I'm hoping will have a large effect on the story.

A number of members have characters that haven't been introduced yet. That doesn't mean they'll never appear in the comic, because the character lockdown is not indefinite. More characters will be allowed in the future. But for now, we'll stick with the 14 characters that have appeared so far. I'm sure we'll have no problem creating a story with 14 characters (that's twice as big as the cast of Friends![/lame joke]). Everyone has at least one character that "belongs" to them, so I think this is the perfect time to set a cast lockdown.

Again, the reasoning for this is for the sake of character development (and decreasing the risk of carpal tunnel and migraines).