Hilarity Ensues

ATTENTION EVERYONE (cross-posted)

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:23:34 GMT

An open letter to everyone I know and everyone they know, as well:

Hi everyone! Matthew Bowers here.

As you may or may not be aware, I'm the creator of a webcomic called Hilarity Ensues (www.HilarityEnsuesPDX.com). You can visit the site and check it out for yourself if you haven't yet, but it's basically about two young men moving to Portland and trying to figure out their lives. It's a very personal project for me, one that's close to my heart and that I'm very excited about. It's visually very different from most webcomics out there, in that the art (up to this point, anyway) is produced with actors and photographs, rather than a pen and a piece of paper.

There are currently one hundred strips online, but after #100 was posted last summer, the strip went on hiatus. This happened for a number of reasons, but without going into all that, let's just say that we're trying to get the strip up and running again. The artwork is now going to be split half and half -- that is to say, half the strips will still be photographs, and the other half will be drawn by a rotating cast of artists.

I currently have the next three story arcs in production, through #150. #101 - 120 were photographed over several weekends in Beaverton and Hillsboro, and now just need dialogue and word balloons. #121 - 139 are being drawn by a gentleman from California who offered his services when I posted an open call for artists on the website, and #140 - 150 are being drawn by my dear friend Ashley.

REGARDING ACTORS / MODELS

The next arc following Ashley's is going to be another photo-arc. And here's where I start to need your help.

See, the actress who played one of the main characters, Nadine, no longer lives in Portland, and I need a replacement. The "new" Nadine doesn't really need to look much like the "old" Nadine, but I am hoping to find someone with the same general look -- that is: tall, slender, and pretty. My circle of friends is pretty small, unfortunately, and I don't know anyone who fits the bill.

And so I turn to you. If you, or anyone you know, live in the greater Portland area and would be interested in playing Nadine, please e-mail me (bowersensues at gmail dot com). Keep in mind that this would be a semi-long-term commitment -- I'm not asking for you to sign a contract or anything (nor will you be paid, although you would get a bio on the site and a link to your own personal site, should you have one), but I'd basically just like someone who isn't a flake, and who isn't planning on leaving Portland anytime soon. I know life intrudes and the unexpected can happen, I'm just saying that if you're planning on moving to Albuquerque in six months, you might not be the best person for the part.

Some general info: The photo shoots typically take a few hours and tend to be scheduled on the weekends. I've simply used natural light in the past, although that MAY change in the future. I tend to take way more photos than I need and I ask for a lot of "takes" to get the right expressions and body language (not to mention light, framing, exposure, etc.). We have a lot of fun on the shoots, though. We're all friends, and the atmosphere is very relaxed. There's a lot of laughing and joking and general tomfoolery. I also tend to get made fun of a lot, so you'll have that to look forward to.

REGARDING ARTISTS

I'm also still on the prowl for more artists. If you'd like to draw an arc or arcs, drop me a line. I'll give you a sample script or two to draw, just to get a feel for your style and make sure you're a good fit, and assuming you are, I'll get you started with some real scripts. This would also be gratis, just so you know, but obviously like the actors, you'd get artist credit, a bio on the site, and a link to your own personal site, should you have one.

I really hope you can help! I love writing and producing Hilarity Ensues, and I hate that it's been on hiatus so long. I have a lot of plans for these characters. There's a lot left to the story I have to tell, and if you can help it see the light of day, I'd be forever in your debt.

Feel free to re-post this or forward this wherever / to whomever you like.

Unused shot from #87

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 20:50:08 GMT

I like this shot a lot.

Cast shots on Mt. Tabor

Thu, 31 May 2007 06:55:02 GMT

Now that Elisabeth is no longer in the strip, we needed some fresh, Ashley-less cast shots for the banner at the top of the site. None of the below shots are really banner-worthy, but there are some fun shots that I thought I'd share with you.

Enjoy!

Unused shot from #72

Sat, 19 May 2007 07:39:24 GMT

Far too dark to be used for the strip, but I think this is a rather nice image on it's own.

Guest strip reminder!

Wed, 16 May 2007 07:37:49 GMT

I've got a guest strip up at Girls With Slingshots, for one day only! Check it out!

Unused shot; also: FUCK YOU GOLDMAN

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:00:55 GMT

Here's an unused shot from #65. I like it because Madeline looks like I just told a really dirty joke, or possibly asked her to take her shirt off.

Unrelatedly, do what you can to spread the word about this douchebag, would you?

(Not Liz, the dude who ripped her and countless others off)

This sort of thing really burns my ass. People work hard, are creative, come up with their own ideas, and then some asshole sweeps in and takes credit for them. And because said asshole is rich, there's nothing the injured party can do ...

No, I haven't forgotten about you, LiveJournal

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 17:00:29 GMT

Hm, it's been a while since I posted in here, eh? Now that the prologue is over and we're on this mini-hiatus, I guess now is a good a time as any for an update!

I was seriously concerned about the fate of Hilarity Ensues for a while there (well, about a month, but it seemed longer). I'd gotten a new job, and the hours were extremely wonky -- late nights, with my "weekend" taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. Scheduling shoots had been hard enough previously, but I was worried that this would make them impossible.

Luckily, an opportunity for a more reasonable shift came up at work, and I snagged it, so I am once again a member of the Monday - Friday world, which means I can still pester my actors into doing shoots on the weekends.

When the comic comes back from it's break, you're going to notice a rather dramatic change to the look. It's still going to be photos run through Photoshop, but I'm going for a slightly more realistic look, for a couple reasons. One, I was never that happy with how the old look for the strip tended to eliminate all but the most exaggerated expressions on people's faces, unless the shot was a close-up. Two, the old look took fucking forever to do. Yeah, it's just a Photoshop filter, but there's a LOT of clean-up involved with using that particular filter, and I was starting to hate doing the strip because of it.

The new look still looks vaguely cartooney, but it's a lot more detailed, and so my actors' expressions (not to mention their pupils) will be visible. Plus, doing the strip will take about a tenth as long as it used to, which leaves me more time for writing and shooting. Boozing and whoring, too.

On the writing front, I've just finished the script for number 102, which, believe it or not, isn't even making a dent in what I've got planned for Chapter One, let alone the rest of the comic's run. I have a pretty detailed outline for Chapter One scribbled on various sheets of paper, and a rougher outline of Chapters Two and Three. I have ideas on where the strip could go after Chapter Three, but if I need a stopping point, the end of Chapter Three is as good a one as any.

Now all I need to do is actually write the scripts. And since I'm sitting here updating my LiveJournal, rather than crafting witty dialogue, I'll give you two guesses as to how well that's going.

Ah well. Back to the grind!

(I'll be updating this thing more often from now on, I suspect)

Working on mysteries without any clues

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 05:35:45 GMT

Remember how I complained about what a pain in the ass the Denny's scene was? With all the glasses and ketchup bottles and utensils and whatnot on the table? THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLD DAYS.

Note to self: No more scenes in the car. Especially not twelve-part scenes.

That said, I got some work done today, and it felt good.

Here, so this post isn't just me bitching, here's a picture from the cast shoot:

I told them to "look sexy," and this was what I got.

Who is this lovely young lady with the short hair, though? A new character, perhaps? Time will tell.

My fantastic promo campaign ...

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 02:15:44 GMT

It might be time for me to put up some new flyers.

HILARITY HAS ENSUED

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:48:14 GMT

IT'S LIVE.

www.hilarityensuespdx.com

ENSUATION IS EMINENT

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 03:59:14 GMT

First things first: welcome to the new blog. Blogger felt too sterile for some reason. I feel like I can better keep in touch with you guys here at LiveJournal.

Second things second: THE COMIC IS LAUNCHING ON MONDAY. THIS IS LESS THAN THREE DAYS AWAY.

Third things third: There's a new image up at the site. Point your browsers towards www.hilarityensuespdx.com and check out the promo art I slapped together. I love that photo, mainly because my cast is so awesome.

I will be taking a little drive down to the Ashland area tomorrow in order to get some shots for strips #46 - 57. You don't need to worry about that, though. All you need to worry about is checking out strip #1, this Monday.

It's a good one, I promise.

Hilarity is going to ensue ALL OVER THE PLACE

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 19:44:25 GMT

Welcome to bowersensues, the blog of my forthcoming webcomic, Hilarity Ensues. For those of you who don't know, Hilarity Ensues is going to be a photo-based comic revolving around two young men who move from Sacramento, California to Portland, Oregon, and the various people who come in and out of their lives as a result. The photos will be edited in Photoshop to resemble illustrations, but will still retain that specific photo-like quality.

As of right now, the site is not live. When the site DOES go live depends on how fast I can get the strips ready. I want to have five months worth of strips completed and ready before we go live, in order to provide a buffer, should we ever fall behind, either with the photography (coordinating half a dozen different schedules and finding locations is about as easy as it sounds), or with the actual photo editing, which takes a while. I was originally hoping for a Labor Day release date, but it's looking now like early to mid October is more likely. Watch this space for more updates.

I AM getting faster with the photo editing. I have two strips completed so far, but I'm down from taking a week to do a panel, to an hour. I'm confident that pretty soon I'll be able to complete an entire strip in one sitting.

I haven't been able to work much on the strip this week, on account of working two jobs (and seeing Miami Vice), but next week is looking much less busy, and so I should be able to get a lot of work done.

In any case, this is mainly just an introductory entry to say "hello." I'll be posting my progress here as I go along, and once the strip goes live, I'll continue to update this blog with various strip-related ... things.