Story is still on my mind. How can it not be? I'm going over the last rough storyboards of the first movie and getting notes from Mike on the penultimate draft of the second movie. Meanwhile, Guillermo turned in his script for Hellboy 2, Mike is writing a Conan arc and more BPRD and King Kong comes out tomorrow. Granted, I have no direct connection with King Kong or its story but it's pretty hard to ignore a 30 foot ape.
Before I get to story, I'll point out that the little emblem to the left is the stamp I use to mark artwork final. It's my version of Hellboy Jr. who was created by Mike Mignola and Bill Wray. I think the idea was to spoof all those cute Harvey characters like Casper, Hot Stuff, Wendy the Witch and Baby Huey by making these versions perverse and totally non PC. In fact, Hellboy editor, Scott Allie, has often said that the Hellboy Jr. TPB, which looks like it is designed for kids is the only Hellboy related TPB that is totally inappropriate for kids. Of course, when I draw gag cartoons with him I completely corrupt the ironic intention by making him cute and sassy. Hey, twenty nine years at Disney is hard to shake. He's included here because I don't have anything to illustrate what I'm going to talk about. What would that be? Oh yeah, story.
Specifically, how Mike Mignola is involved. We've worked out three movie stories, the second of which we shelved because it was another version of Hellboy's origin which the live action movie covered quite well. We wanted to add to the Hellboy universe not just reinterpret it (although we do a little of that too). In addition, I wrote two half hour scripts with Mike's notes and we started working out several stories for a potential half hour series which we hope to make somewhere down the road. Right now, two movies is plenty to handle.
I have to say, working out stories with Mike is just plain fun. Actually, it's unique, quirky fun. That's the point of involving him - believe me, I have plenty of spooky stories I could tell and most would be quite entertaining but my goal is to get as much of Mike's creation on the screen as possible. So we brainstorm back and forth but Mike is the guide; I might pick which jungle to explore and do the grunt work of machete wielding but Mike finds the trail and keeps me from being eaten by poisonous frogs, the big ones. Yes that's a stretch of an analogy but I just think we'd look good in pith helmets.
We start with a location or culture, a period of history, a type of pulp story, a character, a myth or a monster. At that stage we just need something to put on our blank mental pages. We talked Loch Ness, the Spanish Inquisition, Doc Savage, Fu Manchu, worked up several Lobster Johnson stories, Hellboy short stories, Celtic goblins and vampires. We have tons of tales to tell, hope we get the chance to share them. As to the animated movies, I mentioned the background reading I had done and part of that was a couple of collections of folklore. As soon as I mentioned a particular one, Mike got excited because he thought it was ripe with weird creatures and he had only touched on it once. Practically virgin Hellboy ground.
We decided that the first movie should just feature Hellboy. True he's part of the BPRD but it's not a comic about a team and the animated movies won't be either. They're about Hellboy... and his friends. Sometimes. In different combinations.
Anyway, the first one delves into a folklore world of all sorts of bizarre creatures so we didn't want a lot of "super powered" agents along or the whole world would seem like it's full of weird people. So we paired Hellboy with a normal human and a psychic. No fish men, animate gas clouds, homonculi or the like. Okay, the psychic is an albino. But c'mon, we wanted to have some kind of interesting visual character with him. Cast set we beat out the story.
In theory, we could've just written a premise that sketched out what area we were talking about and some key scenes. But I have always been nervous about pitching a premise unless I know for sure it'll work into a strong story. Besides, we were on a roll. The structure was strange for a movie but it definitely felt like a Hellboy adventure. That took about three or four hours. I went back to the office to write it up. I decided not to play games with my new studio bosses so I didn't simplify it back down to a premise. I included all the beats we had worked out. Everyone seemed pleased so it was time to move onto outline. This was supposed to involve another writer... but we hadn't found one yet. I remember Mike being a little surprised that I wasn't writing it but it's a lot to ask of a studio to accept a new guy as producer, director and writer. In retrospect, I had way too much on my plate to do. I had a crew to hire, styles to set, a production schedule to help organize, etc. etc. Good call on the studio's part. I do hope to write one in the future.
Who to pick? Again, new studio, potentially new politics, I had a writer I wanted but wasn't sure whether I got to pick the writer, or if he had to submit samples -- lots of pussyfootin'. Turns out it was all unnecessary; they were fine with my writer, Matt Wayne, one of the editors on Justice League Unlimited. But the clock was ticking through all that so Mike and I had gone ahead and written the outline while we were waiting. All it required was fleshing out the beats of our "extended premise." This is when Mike comes up with visuals for specific scenes, acts out dialogue, talks of color choices and even camera moves. I record every meeting or story phone call because it's all this stuff that I want the script writer to hear.
Mike and I give notes on the first draft of the scripts since it's pointless for executives to give notes on something Mike hasn't approved. Second drafts are sent to Guillermo del Toro, Dark Horse, Revolution Studios, the live action producers, IDT Development execs and a bunch of marketing people. Most of the people get it for information, not input; they need to see what the story is about to plan promotions. Notes have been very few but very valuable. They are confident that as long as Mike is involved and happy we're on the right track.
The first script came in short and we decided to add a juicy part for Liz and Abe so fans could see the trio in action together. Plus it made for a much better introduction of Hellboy. Let's hope we didn't miscalculate.
Sorry again for the lack of specifics. You'll know more when I can tell you. It can be frustrating but it's all part of making sure this thing is a success so we can do many more! Here, in the meantime, have a cartoon. See ya. -- Tad
I suppose I should note that I have been known to wear somewhat colorful shirts. Sadly, my closet has become more monochromatic.
Posted by: Tad | December 13, 2005 at 09:13 PM
...and that's a criminal shame. I would have thought that you would have gotten a special shirt just to celebrate the movies you're working on!
It's been a treat reading your blog, Tad. The entries are very informative without spoiling the movies themselves. They're quite educational! Thanks for sharing this stuff, and for guiding Hellboy animated with your able hand. I can't wait to see it in action!
Posted by: Maija | December 14, 2005 at 07:02 AM