This guest post comes to us from The Dude Person, who runs the excellent zombie comic Zombie Outbrick. If you haven’t checked out Zombie Outbrick yet, well, there’s no time like the present. It’s a cinematic slow-burn of a comic, with a ton of really cool custom elements used throughout. The Dude Person is interested in film-making and cinematography, which I think gives his comic a unique feel.
As far as this guest strip, well, I’m not quite sure where we’re going just yet. This is part one of four, and I haven’t had a chance to see the other three parts yet. As such, I don’t really know what do expect here, other than zombies will probably be involved at some point because that’s how we roll around here. So, let’s just speculate with wild abandon, shall we?
One thing I’m quite excited about is that this appears to be set in the old west. I’m a big fan of westerns, and if they toss in zombies too, well that’s okay in my book.
Wasn’t there an old western movie that started like this but with zombies half way through it? I saw it the other day while I was channel surfing.
That’s not one I’m familiar with. Do you recall what it was called or who was in it?
Dead or alive.
I’ve never seen a movie like that before – I’d be interested to hear what it’s called as well.
Does “West World” with Yul Brynner count? Theme park filled with androids where people can pretend to be part of the show but the androids malfunction and start killing people, Really good movie.
I really need to watch that one of these days. It sounds awesome.
It’s an older one, was just looking at it on Wednesday when I went to the library with my daughter.
I’d say Westworld is more sci-fi than weird west, just because the story does not actually take place in the Old West. Now if it were androids at the OK Coral, then that would count.
(Holy crap, androids at the OK Coral? Is someone writing these ideas down?!)
Point take Bo. It’s set in the future where people pretend to be part of the Old West. Still, Yul Brynner with those shinny eyes and Terminator-like need to kill is just so awesome.
Yep, West World your “Don’t Trust Technology, You Yuppie Fools” sci-fi, not western. And Yul Bryner rocked! Got to see him do the “King & I” on stage and it was faaa-bulous!
And the OK Corral had alien energy forms, not androids, according to Kirk, Spock and a shot-up Chekov . . . 😀
Ah, “Spectre of the Gun”, classic. Still not androids, though.
It reminds me of what Cowboys and Aliens could have been, instead of the crap it ended up being.
😉
This is really good, dude person. 🙂
Yes indeed.
Thanks guys! I’m glad you both like it.
Nice, I really like the combination of the bandana and the cape.
Goes well with the hat too.
Thanks, I laid out all my Western accessories and tried a few combinations before I settled on a look for him.
Totally thought of the Stranger from the Dollars Trilogy. Is Eastwood hiding under there?
You have to love that character archetype.
That was my thought, too, the Man With No Name.
right!
Hah, I never did watch many Clint Eastwood movies, for some reason. I’ll have to get on that.
“An Indian!”
Lol’d.
I like the transition here. Horse rears up from a snake, and comes down to see an Indian right there. Where did he come from, anyway?
I’m glad you like the transition, once I had finished editing, I was worried it might come across as seeming a bit disjointed.
I guess he was so distracted with his own thoughts, and then the snake, that he didn’t see the “Indian” coming. 😉
So, when does part 2 come up and how many parts are there? 😀
Or should I just assume these extras are on the 1 extra a week timetable and there’s about 4 weeks worth of guest strips from this author? 😉
Derrrrrrrpppp. Read that there are four parts. *facepalm*
Hah. Yeah, four parts that will come out on Fridays until BotD resumes it’s normal schedule.
Dude – I love the combo of Lego and animated(?) background. Gives nice depth.
Yeah, it’s a little something different. I always like that.
Hey look, Bo. I made the Recent Comments thing suck less.
It didn’t suck before. 😉
It’s just about the only tool I have for browsing old comments, at least until we can get you enough money and help to get you the brickofthedead dot com slash forums up and running. 😉
Hah! Well I always accept donations, both in cash and LEGO.
As far as forums go, I think I might have found a decent solution. I’m going to start testing it in two weeks, once I get moved.
Well sure, I take donations of cash and LEGO, too. I mean, I am not making a webcomic or anything like that. I just take donations of cash and LEGO…
We should get some business cards printed up to that effect, Bo.
I’m gonna run an ad in Cragslist: “Out of work RN seeks donations of cash and LEGO”.
As for calling/business cards, hell yes. Let’s use an old-timey font, too, make it look nineteenth century. I’d be all over that.
I like the cut of your jib!
I agree with Bo about the recent comments – it didn’t suck before. Heck, I actually kind of liked it better before you changed it. 😉
I think there being less text in the recent comments area just made it look “cleaner,” somehow – but I suppose the new version has its benefits, too.
I’m actually jealous, I wish I could set up something similar for Zombie Outbrick, but I don’t think there’s a way to do that with the built-in comment system.
As for donations of cash and Lego, what about some sandwhich-boards? Who knows, you might even get a donation of Lego cash (you know, the green 1×2 flat tile with “100” printed on it).
On topic: *Crossing fingers* Pleasebeweirdwest. Pleasebeweirdwest. Pleasebeweirdwest.
“Hey, you got your cowboys in my zombies!”
“You got your zombies in my cowboys!”
Cowboys and zombies are two great tastes that taste great together.
I couldn’t agree more. I loves me some western mashups.
really good job dudeperson
Yes indeed. Can’t wait for Part II.
To me it already has a spaghetti western feel to it, not that it’s a bad thing I think it’s the bleak landscape and the man-with-no-name’s serape-like cape.
i havent seen those LEGO western sets in years (actually ive never seen them at all) but its still really cool.
Yeah, I really wish they’d bring them back. Maybe someday.
well they really have been bringing back old sets, there was an old space police line up of LEGO sets, and im pretty sure that monsters came out right after “GhostBusters” in the 80’s
sorry, i mean monster fighters
It’s one thing I’m starting to notice, older sets (themes to be more precise) do get revisited and redone.
Space Police has had 3 runs now. Monster Hunters we saw before but as the Studios theme, most of them. Rock Raiders had been done before there was Power Miners, both very similar. To me, Ninjago revisited the Oriental theme of Castle from many years ago.
Each has been revamped, remixed and changed up enough that they stand out on their own.
Rumor mill on Brickset mentioned that LEGO has licensed a “Legends of Chima” so that may or may not be a revisit to any sort of a Wild West theme.
All I wanted was for TLG to really give Alien Conquest a chance.
I’m pretty butt hurt over that one.
While I like the ADU guys, I didn’t care for the saucer and tripod designs of the aliens, though I love the aliens themselves. For me, it’s a theme over all I didn’t get into other then the few small sets I picked up.
But I do agree and I should more accurately say I’m surprised that Alien Conquest didn’t have a second year. Most of LEGO’s themes that aren’t licensed tend to get a two year run before moving to something else.
Ouch. Right in the heart…
The tripod walker and small saucer (not the mother ship) was the whole point of the theme for me. I think too many missed the vision of Alien conquest, for me. It was Mars Attacks meets LEGO. It was a great opportunity to meld Space and City themes. Imagine an army of tripods thundering down Main Street, with the ADu doing its campy best to hold them at bay.
Ah, it could have been beautiful. I can only hope that TLG’s next Space theme has half as much potential and imagination.
But i had no idea that this was the awesome work of one of the local coment people, even if i almost never see him around on the site
Hah, thanks, I am around fairly often. I try to leave a comment on every episode (or guest strip) here whenever I can. I’m not sure I’d describe myself as “one of the local comment people,” though. 😉 I’m a comic author with a comic of my own, you know.
Excellent job Dude Person, if I wasn’t already reading your comic, I’d start now. I can’t wait for the next 3 installments.
I saw the Wild West theme and I had the theme music of Tomb Raider going through my head. Very well done. And just how did you manage the combination of minis and animation?
what he probibly did was whats called a “Bluescreen”
You’re right on the mark, AC – although incidentally, I did use a greenscreen instead.
It’s different with picture editing though – with film and video, an editing program automatically “keys out” (makes transparent) any part of the video that’s a selected color (usually blue or green).
However, with photo editing, you actually have to select the green yourself, almost by hand sometimes, and cut it out. It’s a less automatic process, but it still helps to be able to see the outlines clearly.
I did place a wall of blue bricks behind the snake-shrub, as it was green already. 😉
Luckily, for some panels, like the 3rd panel, I used a handy tool in Photoshop called the “Magic Extractor” – you sort of color in parts you want to keep, then parts you don’t want to keep, and it figures out the rest for you. That’s how you can see fine details in the outline, like the little frayed parts of John Grey’s cape in panel 3.
Also, I actually had to recolor parts of the characters, because there was some light reflecting off the greenscreen giving the shiny plastic a greenish tinge in places. (Especially around the edges.)
The background itself I whipped up in Photoshop with some basic shapes, and a blurred tan area for the horizon.
you know dude, it doesnt matter the color background screen, its still called a bluescreen
Um, no, it’s not. It’s green, and therefore it’s called a greenscreen. It’s the same concept, but a filmmaker would never say “set up a bluescreen for this shot” when he actually wanted greenscreen.
There is a difference between the two, other than the obvious (that one is blue, the other is green.) Greenscreen is more useful when using digital cameras, while bluescreen is easier to work with when using film.
The layperson may use them interchangeably, but I’m afraid you won’t be very successful trying to convince a filmmaker that they’re exactly the same thing. 😉
Thanks Silver Fox! You certainly were one of my first regular readers. I hope the next 3 episodes are as well-received as this one.
Speaking of Cowboys vs Zee’s
The Dead and The Damned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPLWTwgMcq8
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1565441/
Hey, that actually looks like a decent zombie movie! I’ll have to see if I can get it through Netflix sometime.
That is some “B” movie goodness, right there, real midnight movie stuff.
netflix doesn’t have it. to be honest, they never have the movies I’m looking for. =(
Hot desert sun, snake, tomahawk, rifle (or is it a spear?) . . . Nameless Rider is just not having a good day! All he need is an Empty Chair to make his day.
Really cool angle shoots!
Hah, yeah, no kidding! And it is a spear, although you can’t quite see it clearly in that last shot.
And thank you! I do put a lot of thought into my camera angles, just as I would if I were making a film.
(That’s odd, that last comment was supposed to be a reply to Luis.)
This is fantastic! Really good work here!
Thanks Evan! The whole “miniseries” idea was partially inspired by your Pavlov’s Dogs miniseries.
hey dude, ive gone to your site once, but i got confused and gave up, there was an assault rifle with a football helmet on top of it
That was a picture from the Memorial Day blog post (and it was meant to be a soldier’s helmet – a fallen soldier is often commemorated by placing his helmet atop his propped-up rifle, so I tried to replicate that with Lego).
If you actually want to read Zombie Outbrick, you’ll have to click on the “Comics” button, right next to the “Home” button on the navbar across the top of the screen. 😉
man, ive been so caught up talking to bo and the dude person latley, that i almost frogot about dave! sorry man