Eternal Day page 2 explanation

[random]

Page two, the original 1st page, is the one that started it all. When J asked me to write some words for his pages he said that he wanted, “The first thing off the top of my head”. This page came easy for me. I looked at the visuals and could see many things of symbolic importance. The shell is the most obvious visual pull and the birds flying free from the cage is cliché. Another thing I noticed was, at my first glance, it appeared that there was a mass of water in the distance behind the city. So with the water reference and the shell, my mind gave way to many ocean/ water themes:

“Rippled waves…
The voice from mother,
Slowly pulling us under…”

“Our ocean shell bed waits for me,
Held captive by a facade tide”

“the blood thick foam”

Another theme that I used was that this figure was coming “home” from a long journey:

“A first and last place I want to be,
Silent whispers of an autumn’s lost grace”

“The voice from mother”

“Home…”

And then I began to construct a theme that loosely carries through the whole book… and that is a love theme. Not just love, but that this figure has lost someone they love:

“A first and last place I want to be”

“Mocking, birds fly…
To a new love…”

The tricky thing to look at is that a lot of the words and phrases I used have two meaning that lend a hand to a couple of these themes. The phrase “the voice from mother” I used to give that feeling of coming home and recognizing those things that make home what it is. It also refers to the sound of crashing waves as in “Mother Nature”. The phrase “an autumn’s lost grace” is to signify that some time has passed since this figure has been to this place.
In all, this page is about a person coming home after a long journey and having to deal with memories from the past. And these memories are the things that had maybe caused this figure to leave on a journey. And as much as this home is a comfort it is also a painful burden. This is my favorite page… because when writing it my subconscious was un-infected at this point. So you’re getting the full surrealist experience on this page.
-Mark-

[smile4chaos]

thanks, gives more insight.

[smile4chaos]

at the end put all these explanations in the same place.

[random]

smile4chaos said:

at the end put all these explanations in the same place.

Put them in the same thread? Or do you mean when I done writing them all you want something you can print out and put with the book?

[Red Dog]

random said:

smile4chaos said:

at the end put all these explanations in the same place.

Put them in the same thread? Or do you mean when I done writing them all you want something you can print out and put with the book?

Random, check your PMs.

[jainitai]

reddog said:

random said:

Put them in the same thread? Or do you mean when I done writing them all you want something you can print out and put with the book?

Random, check your PMs.

I don't think he ever knows what "PM" means! (He's a bit challenged when it comes to message boards, chats, IM, etc.). And even if by some odd chance he does know what that means, he won't know how to access it! Poor guy.

Let me translate it for him: Mark, look at the very top of the page. You'll see it says "Hey Random, you have (blank) messages". Just click on that link.

Oh, and by the way, I like your write up for page 2.

[random]

Jai, thanks I figured it all out by myself... ass!!!
Funny how us retards, ever slow and challenged, can still contribute to a fast moving society.

[smile4chaos]

yeah i was thinking something tangible, print out of all of em.

[jainitai]

smile4chaos said:

yeah i was thinking something tangible, print out of all of em.

At this point the plan is to print all of the page explanations in the final graphic novel. There'll be a ton of other goodies in the graphic novel as well, like prelim sketches, pin-ups by some pros, etc. I'd love to have this done by '06, but we'll see. After all, I do take great inspiration from Tim, so ya know...

[smile4chaos]

yeah i get it......

you may want to consider putting the explanation at the beggining of the book, a few peoplpe i let read it, said they went back and read it a second time and had a greater appreciation of it after reading the explanation in the back.

[jainitai]

smile4chaos said:

yeah i get it......

you may want to consider putting the explanation at the beggining of the book, a few peoplpe i let read it, said they went back and read it a second time and had a greater appreciation of it after reading the explanation in the back.

Very good point. After this book though we won't have to worry about putting a "disclaimer" in the front, since the story will be more plot driven and understandable! At least we hope...

[random]

Plot? You never said anything about a plot... oh no, I'm screwed... what am I going to do now... if I can't write witless esoteric obscure nothingness?

[jainitai]

random said:

Plot? You never said anything about a plot... oh no, I'm screwed... what am I going to do now... if I can't write witless esoteric obscure nothingness?

Don't quit your day job...