Zombie Cliché Lookout: Small Pond/Big Pond
There’s an interesting thing about being locked up that most people don’t really think about. After a while, your mind just sort of gets used to being confined to the small space. You get used to the structure, and the routine. You can get so used to it, in fact, that you can have significant difficulty re-acclimating yourself to freedom later on. While not a zombie movie (or is it!?), The Shawshank Redemption illustrates this quite well. When an elderly prisoner is finally released, he tries his best to rejoin society. He gets a job at a grocery store and a room at a halfway house, but his mind simply can’t make the adjustment. Eventually, he gives up and hangs himself, unable to cope with not being incarcerated.
About this Episode:
I really like the final shot of a worried Sam looking back at his pathetic prison before stepping out and seeing the rest of his rescuers/captors’ home. I took about eight different versions of this shot before I found the one I was happy with.
And since we’ve been talking a lot about placement of people within the frames, in last three panels Sam and “Dad” share the frame. In the two in which he speaks, “Dad” seems to stand a little taller than Sam, even though he’s in the background and all minifigures are the same height (unless the have something around their neck or waist to make them bigger).
Discussion Question: Zombie Apocalypse Soundtrack
The inevitable has happened, and the recently deceased are rising and attacking the living. You manage to survive the initial panic, but now you life is a grind of finding supplies and fending off the living dead. Throughout this drudgery, what do you want to listen to to get you into the proper zombie-killing mindset? Gangster rap? Thrash metal? Bagpipes?
Won’t back down down by eminem. Where is Sam looking?
Its the hat that makes him look big.
The hat probably does help a bit.
Sam’s just checking out the room one last time before leaving.
Looks like he’s looking at the audience in a Ferris Bueller moment.
You wrote you weren’t going to beak the Fourth Wall, Dave.
“Remember when I said I was going to kill you last? I lied.”
I was thinking he was breaking the 4th wall as well and it made me giggle. lol
Don’t worry, I got all the forth-wall-breaking out of my system with The Bonus Features.
Now we need to break the 5th wall.
I think that would requite some sort of high-level degree in theoretical physics.
I have prepared for this question for a long time…. BETHOVEN. 5th. Symphony as the drums beat, the violins rapidly playing, trumpets blowing, orchestra flowing…! Well that or AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill”.
Nice choices. I makes me happy that people prepare for these kind of questions.
Who does love Ludig Van. Alex would be way proud.
Theme of Simon Belmont from Super Castlevania IV or Castlevania Chronicles.
I can’t say I’m familiar with that one, but I remember a few of the faster songs from the NES-era Castevania games, and they were awesome.
you know, sam has been scared ever since he said ”didn’t get saved?” havent you noticed that?
Sam’s feeling pretty overwhelmed right now.
I’m really hoping that they’re just talking about how society “saves” people from having to know how to take care of themselves, and not something creepy.
I’m really hoping that they’re just talking about how society “saves” people from having to know how to take care of themselves, and not something creepy and weird.
Hey Dave nice blood effects on the comic you made.
I reckon Sam’s looking at Dave, thinking “is this guy a total nut job?” 😀
Regarding the discussion question, I’d go with Neil Diamond’s “Beautiful Noise.” I quite like his music, and that one would be good for zombie killing, especially with the beautiful noises of zombies dying for the final time! 😉
Diamond is a hell of a songwriter.
Ok, I have spent the last two days reading through every comic here. This stuff is friggin brilliant!
‘Renegade’ by Styx. If it’s a long fight, Electric Light Orchestra’s greatest hits album.
Thank you Ian! Sorry if I don’t respond to all your comments. They’re harder to find on older episodes.
Renegade is a hell of a song.
The Who’s Who’s Next, the whole album. It’s about running away from a tyranny; but it fits well with a zombie apocalypse. Consider our cube-dweller above, Sam. He’s used to feeding the machine, having a douche boss. Now he has Col. Angus McBadass in the same capacity. Look at his face in the last panel and one can hear Roger Daltry scream “Meet the new boss! Same as the old boss!”
You can simply never go wrong with The Who. I firmly believe this.
It’s also my running soundtrack many days.
Speaking of, off for my morning run.
Godspeed. I’m already shackled to my desk at the office.
I think dad’s fav spot is either the armory or the kitchen. We already pegged him for a bad ass but I get the impression that he can cook a mean risotto.
Oh man, now I want risotto.
The sound track is a tough call and so far the answers have been awesome. I’m thinking the sound track to MW2 works for me today. The “home front” music for foraging and daily chores and the Task Force 141 music for popping zeds.
That is today mind you. Tomorrow may be a totally different mood. I’m ADD that way.
Hans Zimmer kicks ass.
You just said the best game soundtracks. Only one missing here is Max Payne’s.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yrjp6LGmRrU
Bruce Springsteen. “The Rising”. Lame pun aside, it’s some truly inspiring music which deals with horrific events while holding on to hope. Plus, it’s The Boss.
Lame puns are just fine.
I like to contrast my action and/or violence with light jazz. So I’ll go with the Charlie Brown theme.
Vince Guaraldi: always appropriate.
And on a completely unrelated note, this is the 15,000th comment on the site. Huzzah.
Huzzah indeed! Congratulations.
Thank you.
“Bodies” by Drowning Pool or anything by Slipnot for fight mode and Beethovens’ 9th for some post combat contemplation.
Huzzah indeed for the comments Dave!
I don’t know why, but I can’t stand “Bodies”. It irritates me whenever I hear it in a show or movie.
Because it’s been successively overused by everyone and their dead beat father.
(No attack, just everyone displays it when they have it for some odd reason. Movies are the same exact way.)
very true……..it does get used a bit too much!
I just have happy memories of jumping around like a loon in a rock club in Edinburgh when it first came out……..something akin to fighting zombies I guess! 😀
I would go with ochapella (it’s always a good time for ochapella) most likely something by rockapella, either that or some good old fashion dubstep.
I still don’t know what dubstep is. Sure hear about it a lot though.
I’ve still only listened to a handful of dubstep songs. I thought they were pretty cool at first, and then I got very annoyed and bored with them. A lot of dubstep just sounds “flat” to me somehow.
yeah, I only like a few dubstep songs, and I don’t like the guy that made them.
Ah the zombie soundtrack. Very important. Shaun of the Dead almost ruined a song for me… now I keep seeing people smash zombies with cricket bats in a pub every time I hear it… It’s silly.
I think the same thing when I hear it to, but I love it.
If you’re talking about the scene I’m thinking of, weren’t those pool cues?
Depends on the situation. If I’m in a vehicle, Highway Star by Deep Purple. If I’m on foot, Beastie Boys’ Fight For Your Right.
Highway Star is a cool choice.
Soundtrack? When the kite strings pop by Acid Bath.
THAT! THAT ORRRR… My contemplation of pony music.
Unfortunately, I’m unfamilliar with either choice.
Yeah Acid Bath wasn’t as well known to the common world, but still yet was rather popular in some groups. Rather good music, but for the most part you have to have the taste for it.
Hah, I love that last panel! I too thought it was a fourth-wall-breaking moment at first, but it does make sense that he’s just glancing at the room one last time…
I wonder what Dadass’s favorite part of the house will be… it certainly doesn’t bode well. (“And this is where we feed the zombies, but don’t worry, the chains are probably strong enough.”)
“And this is where we feed the zombies, but don’t worry, the chains are probably strong enough.”
That made me smile.
I just love the look of sheer panic. I didn’t realize Legos could emote so well. Until, of course, I got the Viking Woman from Series 6. She has a double head, which makes her either a mad killer and pillager; or a singer in an opera in costume!
Also, I forgot to mention – nice work with the composition! It was subtle, but it makes sense. It’s good to see you’re still playing with new concepts.
The staple of cinematography to show power (that can also be used in photography, as the same principles apply), is high and low angles.
Low angles mean the camera is closer to the ground, looking up at a character. This point of view makes the character appear to be looming over the viewer, as if they were taller and more imposing, making them seem more powerful.
High angles do just the opposite, making a character look small and weak.
Low angles seem to be fairly difficult when shooting tiny Lego people on a table with a camera the size of a Lego room, but you might try experimenting with them anyway. Just a thought, since you’re experimenting with composition. 😉
I generally try a low angle shot every few episodes, but it never seems to work right for me. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but there’s always something off (lighting, perspective, etc).
Yeah, plus if you don’t have a ceiling on your set, that would make low angles a lot more challenging.
Something I really liked about the shots in the Godfather was how the titular character often blocked a significant portion of the screen with his back when talking to other characters that were smaller and farther away. The Godfather was almost eclipsing the screen, in a way. Something like that might also work nicely for Dadass.
dave, did you change something on the site?
Yeah. Some stuff, like the header, is broken. A lot needs to get re-styled.
You mean you added something that broke the CSS? Or are you just overhauling everything?
I liked the site as it was, if you’re intentionally redoing it.
I’m updating ComicPress, which is the theme that powers Bricks of the Dead. The idea was that the CSS would stay more or less the same, although it looks like some things got changed to default.
Ah, that makes sense. I hope it’s not too hard to get the styling switched back to the way it was before.
Yeah, me too.
“Nightmare” by Avenged Sevenfold or
“Get out Alive” by Three Days Grace. 😀