The Honeycomb Hideout: (New) Episode 3: Halloween and "Horror"

What's up, guys? We're back with another dose of analyzed insanity just in time for Halloween! This time, Joe, Mark and Nik go over the current state of horror; domestic and foreign films, the unfortunate trends, and new crops in literature. Also, they go over what really qualifies a horror film as a horror film and some of the best examples of them. For those of you out there not trick-or-treating (and considering this is an 18+ podcast, that should be most of you) or partying it up tonight, now you got a place to hang out; right here in the Honeycomb Hideout!

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Introducing Cobra Red

Hello again Imaginoids
It'[s time for some more art.
This week I started back doing the art for the sourcebook and Wiki entries.

Today's character, COBRA RED is part of the supporting cast of Juda Fist: 7 Deaths of the Yobi. She works along side our protagonist Amaru Jones in the Bounty Killing business.

The character has a biosynthetic clone body which has a lot technologica and bio enhsncements. The character is a Psychic with the ability to see 3 seconds into the future. Cobra Red has a very shadowy past and has connections all over the place. If she needs it and can't get it they haven't made it yet.

The Honeycomb Hideout: (New) Episode 2: Fanfare, the audience and us!

Hey, y'all! Here we are back in the 'Hideout! This time around Nik and Joe recount the events of Detroit Fanfare (and the hilarious events leading up to it!) and the patrons' reception of us. It was a hell of a time! Plus, they've got a lot of serious advice for any up-and-coming creative types out there. So come on down, the boys of the Hideout aren't gonna leave you out in the cold.

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Nik Joe and Jon......

I gotta tell you, just when I think we are sailing along ok another ideas pops up outta nowhere.
Yesterday Nik and I were doing some work on a spec script we are trying to pitch. He showed me some ideas that I think worked out very well, but then he showed me something else.

I can't get into the particulars but suffice to say, the idea is funny as hell and
1. I never saw it coming
2. I never saw THIS coming from Nik in a million years.

That just made me realize what a talented crew of dudes I am working with these days.
All the lessons we have learned and continue to learn are crystallizing these days.

Take Joe Cain into account. I have been working with him on his drawing for a few years now
and I saw some real progress this last week in his understanding of certain Key concepts. He is
opening his mind now to the fact that if one wants to be better at a skill, one must put in the work.

I also like to see Jon Ross, taking an active roll in pushing  his ideas and being passionate about what he believes. Jon is also a very critical guy, which I appreciate immensely.

I think these guys along with my own evil and curmudgeon like approach are headed for massive success. We are 4 different people who happen to balance one another out, and in the midst of any serious endeavor that is all that is all that you can really ask for. 

The Honeycomb Hideout: (New) Episode 1: Brand New Bag!

What's up, y'all? The Honeycomb Hideout is back and with a new flavor! As the official podcast of Imaginos Workshop, you're not only going to get discussions centering on the ins and outs of counter culture, but you'll also get the latest on the comings and going of the Workshop as we set the world on fire one idea at a time. So, fans of old, y'all aren't getting gypped, you're getting more! So come on down and join the fun!

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Imaginos Multiverse Wiki!

Over the last few months we have been honing our storytelling abilities as well as our artistic ones.
We have been able to put together some really great stuff and we wouldn't mind sharing it with our fans.

We wanted to do something kinda like the old Marvel Universe books, so we concocted a scheme. Most people don't put out sourcebooks until they have gotten a pretty decent amount of buzz concerning their properties. We are doing it DIFFERENTLY.

We want to use the technology at hand to put out a virtual sourcebook, on our wiki Imaginos Multiverse.
We believe that after the users have read the wiki entries, they will decide a lot better whether to give our work a chance.

I am happy to be able share with you guys a near finished profile page.

This profile is filled with information which will start the readers down a journey with this character. It is important to us, that you kind of know the character when you delve into the comic. Also the Wiki is going to have information on all of the pivotal happenings that make up the worlds of Imaginos.

We welcome any feedback we can get. Thanks

Mark

The Honeycomb Hideout and "Age-appropriate" content

In this day in age, the idea of "age-appropriate" content seems to be enveloping more and more mediums. I mean, let's be honest, there's nobody here that didn't read or watch something that they're parents explicitly told them wasn't "fit" for their eyes at that point in time. Does this mean that because someone doesn't produce content fit for children that they don't care about them? I'd say 'nay' to that assertion.

I was actually sitting here working on editing the latest episode of the Workshop's podcast "The Honeycomb Hideout" (stay tuned, new episodes coming soon), of which I'm the host and that's what got me thinking about it. Now, for our new audience members, "The Honeycomb Hideout" is where you get the inside scoop on lots of counter culture content and our opinions on the happening in our corner of the universe. We don't set out to change minds, just get them to think. Most of our fans would tell you that we can get pretty raucous on the Hideout so we always state that our show is strictly for listeners "18 and over ". Now, on that tangent, I got to thinking and realized that I personally don't really work with content that isn't for audiences "18 and over".

Now, don't misunderstand, it's not an active choice or decision. Simply, most of the stories I want to tell are intended for adult audiences. That's not to say that it may not change later. Hell, I may even write a children's book somewhere down the line, but right now, that's not where my inspiration is leading me. But just because I don't produce content for children, that doesn't mean that I don't care whether children read/listen to my work or what they are exposed to, in general. Most people don't know that I used to work in a comic book store and I always made sure that the patron was the correct age for the material they were buying or that if the parent that was buying for the minor knew what they were buying. Yeah, I was that guy.

When I started writing this entry, I think I planned on going a different direction with it, but hey, sometimes you learn as you go. There are some messages or stories that children aren't ready to hear, and on the inverse, maybe there are some types of stories that you're not ready to tell. In so many ways, it just depends on what you have to say and knowing who are the best equipped to hear it. So don't just spout that "you don't do 'kids' stuff'" because you never know when your message is going to change or if the world changes enough that kids are ready to hear your message. Things are constantly changing... YOU are constantly changing, so nothing's set in stone. Even the most stubborn of us are susceptible to it. So stay in tune with the audience as a whole, not just your part of the audience. You never know if who may be a good fit for what you have to say.

Now... time to get back to working on my "18 and over" content.  LOL

-Joe

Inside the Laboratory: Behind the Scenes at Imaginos Workshop

Part II – Creating the Details

Once we set an idea for the story then we get into the really fun stuff – we start to create the world of our story.  And when I mean create the world sometimes we literally do that – especially if it is a fantasy or sci-fi project.  We create the geography, the wild life, the cultures of the various civilizations which includes the religions, the structure of the societies and the histories. 

A couple of us will sit around the table and start with simple things like what do the people look like?  If Mark is involved he’ll give us a quick reminder to not limit ourselves and this is very important.  Sometimes we prematurely set boundaries for our story before we are truly done fleshing it out.  Joe has made a mention of this in a previous blog entry – Never set the limits to your world until you’re ready.  We do our best to be cognizant of this at the Workshop.

When it came to Candy Coated we gave ourselves as much leeway as we could within the parameters of the world – For Instance giving Siege a set of skills that would allow him to break the law if needed gave me a lot of options in how to play out the story arcs for the character.  This also gave Mark more to work with while establishing the framework for the story.  That approach was pretty much adopted for the rest of the characters and it allowed us to come up with some outlandishly hilarious and exciting twists in the overall plot.  Jon took full advantage of this by making his character a male gigolo whose sexual escapades often had a jilted lover pining for his blood which put the rest of the Candy Coated characters in danger – he’s loved some scary bitches. 

At the Workshop no detail is too small because you want to treat these characters as if they’re real.  For Siege I created an iPod Playlist, found a way to weave his favorite dessert into a side story regarding his history.  You never know when those little facts will become important in a story and for me it helps make them more relatable.  These details will help prevent that character from becoming static – a fact that is echoed by many of the professionals such as Robert McKee, J. Michael Stracyznski, etc. 

We also found that the more we knew about the characters the easier it was to create stories and write the scripts.  Mark introduced me to the concept of creating from the ‘Top-Down’ – this involved spontaneously picking a detail (like favorite food, weapon, and movie) and then seeing how that shaped the personality of the character.  The scary part was picking the first detail but once that happened, the process became much easier and more fun.

But even when we create these details we always make sure to never lock anything down because even in real life very few of our tastes are ever permanent - as time goes by people end up liking music from a genre they never considered – lose tastes in particular foods they once loved – realize their views on certain topics are not as ironclad as they once thought.  Alright next time we’ll either go into sample scripts or see if we can bring you a video entry of ‘Inside the Laboratory’.  Later Everyone!

Nik

The Importance of Inspiration

I was doing my morning commute to the paying job this morning and the drivetime D.J. was putting together a RUN D.M.C mix. As I listened to the various songs from their catalog, I just thought about how long I have been involved in hip hop culture in some fashion or another. 

Hip Hop, African and Asian Culture, Sci Fi and Comics have helped to weave the fabric of my creative life, so they are all INFLUENCES. I uses as much Octavia Butler as I do Rakim to spark those creative flames and help me to codify my own voice. The key, however, is to use inspiration to point you in a direction not as the destination in and of itself. 

I tend to look at my influences like a stew, with each ingredient adding a new and welcome flavor to the whole. The stew has to be added to the main ingredient which is THE STORY, and properly seasoned with dialog and character to create something truly magical. This process cannot be CANNED, FAKED OR APED. Like cooking, this process is very ORGANIC. 

At Imaginos Workshop, I often challenge the guys I work with to look just a bit beyond what they think they know. I like for the guys to stretch and take risks to see what they can come up with. Often as creators, the financial considerations often dictate how far we step outside our comfort zone. Big business often equates the reason a piece of work being financially successful with ancillary considerations such as big name stars and special effects and similarity to other successful projects. However, I like for us at Imaginos to try to dig and find out what Kernel of the basic idea of something was its genesis or spark. If you can find that in other things then you can find it in your own work and build on it. 

So I challenge you guys to find your inspiration and use it to spearhead your creative process. Don't use it as a dogmatic map, use the essence of the things that inspire you as more of a guide posts to give you an idea of the general direction you want to go in. 

Go forth and Create!!!

Mark

And So It Begins!!!!

Hey I am very excited to have finished the first of many pieces of art for the k -Imaginos Multiverse Sourcebook Imaginos Declassified. Since he is the 2nd oldest of Imaginos' characters it is only fitting that we start with the image of Amaru Jones aka The Yobineteru. I created this guy back in 9th grade, circa 1983. He was created in the Palladium Books superhero RPG.

While transitioning the character into sci-fi comics, I have had a  great amount of fun crafting his world and that if his supporting cast.Story is the most important element of anything that we do here at Imaginos. As with any group of creators we glean a great deal from what we watch, read and hear. Thus it should be of know surprise that though physically oriented, I realized recently that Amaru has a great deal in common with The 11th Doctor Who. In particular, the Doctor as portrayed in the "Demon's Run Episode".

Amaru grows a lot over the course of his adventures and tends to look at his friends as his family, and like the Doctor in that episode, will rain hell on anyone who tries to use them to get to him.
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So without further exposition, here is Amaru Jones aka THE YOBI!!!!!

Mark