Posted: 20th April 2012 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: Episode 6, On Location
On the production of Three Paths, the title scene of Episode Six, on the ghost ramps of Seattle’s 520 freeway.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been fifteen months since we last saw our heroes Marion and Claire on the front page of nightzero.com, but it has indeed. The originettes were a fun and adventurous diversion, but it’s good to be back with the main storyline, back with these familiar faces that we’ve come to know over the last four years.
This scene, entitled “Three Paths”, was shot on part of an abandoned freeway segment here in Seattle. Back in the sixties it was destined to be a shortcut between the 520 and I-90 freeways, but that plan was abandoned after only a small causeway and some onramps were constructed, so here it sits. There are three scenes in Episode Six that use portions of these “ghost ramps”, and they were shot completely differently.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 13th April 2012 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: Episode 6
On the prologue of Night Zero’s final serial episode, and why the name “Exodus” was chosen for this final chapter.
And so begins the final episode of the Night Zero serial “City Planning,” episode six. “Exodus.”
After so many years, I felt it would be helpful to begin the episode with a recap of sorts, an explanation of all that precedes this story to refresh our readers on where the New City and its heroes stand. This was not part of the original script, and only came into consideration after the prologue had been shot, so it was an interesting task to cut the dialogue and filler portions from that scene and use it as illustration for the voiceover. Something we’ve never tried with Night Zero before, but I’m pleased with how it turned out.
These past two weeks have also given the Night Zero team a full workload with conventions, with our fourth annual presence at the wonderful Emerald City Comicon and our first bout at the more eccentric Sakura-Con. At both shows our new book Night Zero: Origins was a smashing hit, buoyed by it’s accessibility as a stand-alone title in combination with its remarkably low price point. It’s just twenty dollars, less than the cost of a celebrity signature at the convention or two tickets to a movie, and contains seven self-contained vignettes from the Night Zero world plus behind-the-scenes, director’s notes, and more. And like all our books, these are proudly printed in the USA, so you can support American workmanship and help the economy while getting some quality graphic novel stories at the same time. We start shipping next week, click here to order now.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 20th January 2012 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: Digital Production
On the creation of the “Classics Gallery” for your enjoyment while we ready Night Zero: Origins to go to press, and prepare the great Episode Six to go online.
Every year, January and February is a busy busy time for the team as time and resources are devoted towards the publication of our annual volumes. Night Zero is a completely independent group, so every last detail is our responsibility: the layouts, the spell-checking, the color profiles, the type of paper… everything. It’s a fascinating experience to be a part of, but there’s a lot of self-pressure to make sure that not only are all mistakes caught and corrected, but that every detail is attended to and every page looks as clean and brilliant as it can. And of course, it all has to be completed in time for printing, pressing, and delivery from Chicago before the book’s unveiling at the annual Emerald City Comicon.
At the same time, every year we’re still on a schedule to maintain thrice-weekly website updates and continue production of photoshoots, so it can get a bit intense. Usually the pages going online from January to March are part of the book as well, which means that they are already completed and ready to be posted to the website. This year, however, the last of our book-ready content ended in early January and the only thing left is our grand finale, Episode Six.
Not willing to sacrifice time from the book to focus on Episode Six, but also not willing to give Episode Six any less attention than it deserves, I’ve decided to put the online comic on haitus (for the first time ever since the website went live in September 2008!) so that we can ensure the highest quality of both the new book and the new episode. To keep the site from ‘going dark’, and for your enjoyment, I’ve assembled a “Gallery of Classics” featuring curated images from our long production history, which will maintain the thrice-weekly update schedule our readers have come to count on.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 13th January 2012 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Syndicate", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, On Location
On the day of the shoot for the Syndicate vignette, and how all the pieces came together to create this final origin story.
The shoot for Syndicate was a long and busy Saturday, tucked in the basement lounge of the Rendezvous bar in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. Crew call was our standard 9:00am arrival, with Jana setting up her makeup station while Eric, Justin, and Jason loaded in the light gear. The shooting area was divided into two halves, with the script moving from one to the other and then back again. Our first setup would be the “middle act” in the far room, so all our gear was staged in the near room and we set to work making the space our own. Fortunately there wasn’t too much we needed to alter to create the scene we wanted—we put out a table, pushed some chairs to the side, and took some signs off the wall; but overall, the look we were going for was already there.
To avoid a huge rush of costume and makeup demands at the same time, the cast call was staggered and as our talent arrived and got ready, we began shooting some of the closeups and two-person shots. By 11:30am the whole group was there, and we did our wide shots and group conversation. Wide shots can be tricky in a place like that, not because of the distance of the walls (we have wide lenses to take care of that), but because with low ceilings all of the lighting gear and electric becomes visible. It’s possible to crop the photos to remove the lights, or digitally remove the stands and gear, but as I’ve lamented many times in the past, just having the light visible on camera really screws up the HDR tonemapping process. But we shoot on location, and that’s just part of the price we pay.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 6th January 2012 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Sorority", Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Digital Production, Photography
On the discoveries of how to light for HDR photography, and how the standard choices for film and theater create a lot of work for the post-production workflow.
As Syndicate moves towards its conclusion next week, I hope you’re enjoying not only the story but the soft beauty of the photography we present here. Photography is kind of our thing, our schtick if you will, but you’d be surprised how much we’re still discovering about how to do it well. Most of our team comes from theater and film backgrounds, where the rules and results of stage picture, presentation, and lighting are completely different. Theater light focuses on hitting the actors where they are and toning down everything else, counting on the audience’s eyes to adjust according to the changing overall light levels; film light focuses on contrast and multiple sources, each of varying brightness to make the actors “pop” on camera.
When lighting for HDR, the biggest factors are not how bright or dark the scene is overall (gamma), but how wide of a range there is between the brightest part (white point) and darkest part (black point), how many different measurements of brightness are between them (levels), how these levels are distributed (luminosity), and how smoothly or dramatically the levels transition between one another (contrast). Earlier I lamented shooting in and near direct sunlight for exactly this reason, but for shoots like Syndicate we’re in the opposite situation and it’s simply stunning.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 30th December 2011 by Anthony van Winkle
Categories: "Syndicate", Concepts & Development
On the storytelling value of two post-apocalyptic factions, and why the Syndicate is so much fun to produce.
The holiday season is upon us, so in customary webcomic fashion Night Zero is taking one day off each week and wishing the best for you and yours in the new year. Our production schedule is winding down to make time for our next book release, due out in March for the fourth consecutive year. More details to come!
In the meantime, though, “Syndicate” works its way onward, with two weeks left in its run. Although brief, it’s a vignette I’m quite pleased with, particularly as a final “originette” backstory piece. The relationship between the Syndicate and the New City is one of the oldest elements of Night Zero lore, and today I’d like to talk about playing with the power balance and how writing factions into the world mythos created a different kind of post-apocalyptic comic.
Read the rest of this entry »
