Nemesis The Hunter's Mark Issue One: The Fallen.

READ THE COMIC BOOK ISSUE BELOW!

The long awaited issue of Nemesis the Hunter's Mark is online on Issuu, sorry Kobo and Comixology users you're going to have to wait but you can read here.


- Written by Andre Farquharson

New Info on Creative Arts Program.

Everyone, I have returned with some more information about the Creative Arts program for young people  between the ages of 14-24. Sponsored by UnLtd and EWAV (Eye With a View), LD Studios presents a way to reach out to youth and get a chance to be part of the creative process in bringing the comic book to the screen. People will get a chance to be involved from lending their hand to the script to film and get the film shown in multiplexes, festivals and online. Applicants will be credited for their work and have incentives. The deadline will be July 18th, 2013.

We are looking for talented creative writers, graffiti artists, actors, graphic designers, music producers, singers/vocalists, voice-actors, rappers, lyricists, hair/make-up artists, costume designers, filmmakers, runners, editors, bloggers, promoters, researchers and web designers to contribute. I will be visiting people in schools, colleges and universities to talk about this.

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Animation Trailer Moving Ahead.

Good morning, fans. I hope you enjoyed your fair share of pranks on April Fool's Day and not got too carried away with the holiday. I came back to inform you about the progress of the animation trailer  for Nemesis the Hunter's Mark and let you know that production should be underway. It is too early to say when the trailer will be released but it has been in development since last year and actors have been cast. EWAV Works are the team behind the production as part of an LD Studios project.

More information on the comic later,


- Written by Andre Farquharson

What Is The Climate Of Cartoons Today?

Evening fans, I thought I would change the subject a little and delve more into animation but I would like to discuss about the quality of cartoons in the modern day. As you know, there are many different forms of animation; 2D hand drawn animation, stop-motion, cardboard cut-out and 3D computer graphics. The majority of animation studios today use 3D animation or use a combination of those. Although the animators can use many of these techniques, there are many aspects needed to complete this creative process.

I really enjoy cartoons and still do, they are part of the escapism if you are not watching live-action shows on TV, surfing on the Internet, listening to music and playing video games. What I have noticed is a significant decline in the quality of cartoons since the late 2000's and early 2010's. Remember shows like Ren & Stimpy, Ed, Edd & Eddie, Hey Arnold, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Flintstones or Dragon Ball Z? Well long gone are these shows and here come pointless shows on TV like so called reality TV such as Keeping Up With The Kardashian's, horrible game shows; Strictly Come Dancing, The Cube and others. Enough ranting, the point is I am not putting the blame on these kinds of shows, in fact some of them like Deal or No Deal and other UK and US shows are good. The point I am trying to make are there are rubbish programming and stupid decisions made by producers, studio execs and executive directors. 

Below are the problems found in cartoons today in the 2010s, most animations do not last more than 2 seasons or even 1 season. The same can be said by some live-action, reality TV and game shows. In fact, the only type of show which really last in programming in the U.K. are cooking, finance, stock and shares, marketing, shopping, family affairs, talent shows, gardening, antiques and documentaries. Some of these type of shows can even be said for U.S programming except they spend more on reality TV, games, family affairs and talent shows like X-Factor, American Idol and both America and Britain's Got Talent.

The issues are labelled under these aspects below, such as characters, story-lines, expense and seasons:

Characters

The problem with the majority of cartoons on TV today is some new characters they put out are mainly 2 dimensional. I am not against new ideas, concepts, settings, characters and even animation style but these characters most of the writers, directors, illustrators and animators create have no emotion and do not stand out much in the way of personality. They are cheap fads of a lazy creator's manifestation. 

Particularly in 3D animation, now I'm not saying I am against this style of animation but some of these 3D graphics only work for certain types of animation. They invoke these visual effects because for this kind of style it saves time although it takes long to render if you are talking about more realistic, action-orientated, cartoons. The downsides is for comedic pieces, there's more escapism and some of the characters look goofy, but they remain ugly in some cartoons in terms of appearance.

The look, feel and drive of the characters of course depends on the software the animators are working under. I prefer 2D hand drawn, cut out, flash and 2D/3D hybrid animation that use cel-shading and other applications of technology to make the cartoons look more hand-drawn when actually they have CGI (computer generated imagery), animation directors may use motion capture for voice actors and green screen as well as CGI to achieve the desired result. My point is sometimes the characters have no meat to them. 

Story-lines

Another thing, I will not go in too much depth in, but it is plainly obvious, is that the plot for each episode and story arc is weak and flat. There is either no originality (that word should be taken lightly) I will get back to that point in a sec; horrible gags, flat dialogue e.g.one-liners with a bad attempt of shock factor, no structure, characters we could care less about or guess stars who come in for pointless crossovers and otherwise generally very bad writing in part to the scriptwriter(s). 

If its comedy, the result is that the punchlines run out and become dry and become extremely boring fast. One example is Family Guy, that show is great but the annoying thing about the show is the writer always rely on references from pop culture or jump cuts to an otherwise random event as punchlines which can sometimes lead to unscrupulous and often retarded shortcomings in the humour. Whereas in some action, children shows, teenage drama, adventure, mystery, sci-fi and fantasy there are bad antagonists (villains) which the leading character(s) have to face, whiny supporting characters and abstract or random situations the main hero is placed which don't make sense. Sometimes a new team of writers are employed that make or break a programme and alter the characterizations of the main players.

This brings me back to originality, now face it, most of the concepts and ideas have already been done. New writers must come up with new directions to recycle the same formula or break the whole tradition completely and try change the game where no creator has gone before. It is stupid and darn right ignorant to even utter a sentence like this "Oh, they don't make cartoons like they used to" or "Can't they come up with something new?". Anyone who says these lines just go home or better yet live under a rock. There is nothing new, point blank. Even the creators of Batman, Bill Finger and Bob Kane, got the idea from pulp fiction such as Zorro and The Shadow.

Expense

The important thing to note is animation costs lots of money, especially in feature-length projects, Disney and Pixar only put out a feature animated film every 2-4 years. The range of their budget depends on art direction, time slot, schedule, working hours, technology, studio hire, specification etc. 1/3 of animators in the UK are women and professional animators over £25,000-£36,000 with an hourly rate of £12-£15/hr while scriptwriters can earn £120,000 and can earn excess of £8,000 per episode if the writer is in a writer's union such as WGGB (Writer's Guild of Great Britain) while in the U.S. from WGA (Writer's Guild of America) fees range from $5,000-$10,000. Producers earn between £1,100-£1,800+ a week but salaries can exceed to £40,000-£55,000 with experience and the average salary for directors in this field is around £86,000. The average money spent is $1 Mil-$3 Mil per episode (£623,200-£1.8 Mil).

Everyone needs to be paid, the episode has to receive a lot of ratings and the main players in the offices has to make sure they keep the members of the board happy and they reach targets. Every show cut off air is a sting in their production cost and don't ever think big time studios don't get taxed by the taxman. My point I'm trying to make is the officials cash in on entertainment that does not actually please. Face it, they are targeting a particular demographic regardless of gender, race, etc. who are aged 5-14+ and 18-40+. These people don't give a cahoots about people over 50's and 60's, which is awfully strange as the average employees within these fields are at least between 30 and 60.

Seasons

Another problem is syndication, which is the number of episodes animated shows are sorted into grids for the market called blocks to cash in on DVD and Blu-ray sales. It is well known that networks in the UK buy  US shows and distribute them on multinational and domestic programming such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, CITV and CBBC. Executives of production offices have enforced either a 52 or 65 episode limit rule on cartoons, especially from the US and Canada. Executives do not want to take risks on shows which may not give them the ratings they want regardless of how successful or a failure it is. That is why often new shows do not last more than 1 or 2 seasons, they are indeed exceptions of course like for example The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Boondocks, American Dad and some anime but the fact remains that business is business in the long run.

That is it for now,


- Written by Andre Farquharson

Creative Arts Program Looking For Recruits.

A month ago, I posted about a program for young people aged between 14-24 to develop brands for the Nemesis the Hunter's Mark project, well I have come to announce that we are currently setting up space for new recruits. There will be more news coming this December. Young people will be able to interact with creative, like-minded, individuals and will have a chance to be paid for their services and may even have a chance to be referred to work experience or employment. 

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Young People for Creative Arts program.

I would like to announce I am running a program for the Nemesis the Hunter's Mark project for youth between 14-24 to become part of a collaborative effort to develop brand products for the comic book. I am looking for creative writers, graffiti artists, actors, graphic designers, music producers, singers/vocalists, voice-actors, rappers, lyricists, hair/make-up artists, costume designers, filmmakers, runners, editors, bloggers, promoters, researchers and web designers to contribute. I will be visiting people in schools, colleges and universities to talk about this. I will be giving more details next week, keep visiting this blog to look out for the information.

Ciao for now,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Rehersals for Trailer Ongoing...!!!

I apologise for not getting back to all of you sooner, I have just been so pre-occupied with my studies for the past couple of weeks and it is still on haitus. It is my last year at six form and I want to get the best grades possible so I can enter university and continue with a degree.

Yesterday, I have just had a meeting with Nuttylenz and we have discussed how we are going to approach Hardest to Survive this year. I am not revealing any news on that yet, but all I have to comment on is we are starting to move forward.

What I am here to speak to you about is the ever-awaiting teaser trailer for Nemesis the Hunter's Mark, not much to say but all I can tell you is the animation is almost prepped to start and I had a script-reading but rehearsals are now still ongoing. I will bring you more up to date with that on Friday.

Also, the Documentary for Independent Artists is completely finished and will be showcased on my Youtube account plus on this blog sometime on that day as well.  

Catch all of you soon,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Update Video.

Look out for the update video coming on March 25th about everything tied with the current projects the Go Wonders Team are doing including some of my work. Hardest to Survive is back on track, all I can reveal on that is there is still going to be test shoots for the film. More details on the short film will be talked about on my upcoming video and on my next Director's Cut Journal. Read the past few Director's Cuts to get up to date with the progress on that project. I will cover what is going on at the moment with Nemesis the Hunter's Mark comic, the animation trailer and Nemesis Dawn of a Legend books and other features around that as well. My target release date for both comics will be revealed in the update video.

For now, good bye.

- Written by Andre Farquharson

The Nemesis on Mile High.

Hey, fans. Back to another day of speech, to let you all know that we are prepared to start voicing the characters for the animation trailer headed for Spring 2012. All of you keep asking me when my comic book, Nemesis the Hunter's Mark, is coming out, if ever. I have no comment on that, I won't reveal that until after my trailer is released until then you are just going to have to wait. However, I can tell you that my pitch to publishers like Top Cow and Dark Horse are going through a review process so there isn't much I can say on that part except I thank everyone for being patient for up to about a year now since I first revealed it. Again, I do apologise for the wait and I can assure you, it will come out sooner or later. I am going all out to produce the books and I will come up with the goods.

In other news, Killer Heels, the short film will be filmed in two weeks and I am invited to take part in the film shooting which should be massive. I should be doing another freestyle this month and expect to hear more news on Hardest to Survive in the coming weeks. My break should be arriving soon and it is not too long before I finish my studies for this year and head out into the big wide world. As well as helping people within the Go Wonders Team with their projects, the majority of the time, I am focusing on my own at the present moment. I won't be taking on any outside commissioned work for awhile, anything I do find will be shelved for now. Jstaarz is busy promoting his next film, which I'm supporting while Ezee is busy on his online series, which I haven't started on but will help out.

Until next time,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Back on the Animation!!!

I have just finished doing storyboards for the short film, Killer Heels, and I'm going back to my animation trailer. The last time I was on it, I was half way into it. Well it shouldn't be too long, I have nearly finished narrowing down a few digital artists and concept artists for this particular animation plus a secret project I am working on. I have pitched to more comic publishers and I am waiting for a response. It might take awhile till I get an answer. I will be rehearsing my role as the set is taking shape for production. I will be juggling some of my time on Jstaarz's new short film, Matt's new spy-drama series and spending time working on my very own.

More to come,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

A New Year.

It's a new year and a new dawn for some upcoming projects, I spoke to Matthew Ezee and he said that there will be 5 episodes of his spy drama each 10 minutes long, not 6 episodes. So there will be heart-dropping action and techno-savvy language in the vein of "Spooks". I won't spoil too much of the plot but I'll give you a brief summary, I read the first Pilot and it "absolutely blows you away". Set in London, it throws us in the world of espionage and sticky detail with the Chinese government as elaborate British MI5 Agents are mysteriously eliminated one by one by an unknown enemy. Primarily, I will be serving as Script Editor and Executive Producer of the project. I will be co-writing at least 3 episodes and doing a polish every now and then, but it is looking to be done well.

What I can't wait for is to jump back on pre-production for the Nemesis anime trailer, I am nearly finished doing my part in the new short film I told you about. As soon as that is clear, I will be finishing off what is left of the storyboards, which is 1/2 finished now. I am employing more artists to be tied in with this project, some have even worked for Marvel and DC Comics. In the meantime, for the comic, I have pitched to an independent publisher Time Bomb Comics and contacted a couple more such as Dark Horse and Image Comics. My website will be re-launched later this year, most likely during the summer. I have an announcement to make this coming week about the project and there will be more update videos around March. I should be done with Killer Heels a week from now.

Breakin' da Rules is alright, I finished recording a track called "My Sweetness" and when I have traveled to Atlanta, GA and Greenville, Virginia it had inspired me to write two songs for my EP, Rules Broken; one about Atlanta girls and another about fitting in with other people, both of which I am working on and I'm going to record a track I'd like to call "Bridges". I'm not sure about "We'll Be At the Top", a track I did with 4 Real and Bola, but there is one track I did with a few artists, Neeko, Assassin and Breezy called "My Life" and can't wait to collaborate with them on "All Night". I will be hitting more time at the studio, plus I will be doing freestyles every 2 months with the next one coming this February and hope to work with Blaze Barnation very soon. He dropped his mixtape Barnation World last year and he'll be spittin' on my mixtape. Also, check out American rapper Fly Plann as well.


Later on,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Change is Near.

Change is coming is the highlight of this post, 2012 will see me taking ventures into a few mediums more prevelant than ever before. At the moment, I'm carried away with some work on the storyboards for Killer Heels, but I'm tight lipped on that subject and will not be saying anything more on that. I have been asked to direct music videos for two independent recording artists and I have agreed, but my focus is strictly on two comic book series for the Nemesis and on the short film Hardest to Survive. After I have done commissioned work, I'm going back to producing the animation trailer and on the short film. Jstaarz has sent me a script of his new film and I like this one, much better than The New Kid by far. All I can say on this new project of his is its about "writer's block", it may sound boring but how it is tackled artfully is fantastic.

See you on the next post,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Nemesis Billed for Web Series.

Hello people, I'm back after just finishing up some business. I want to let you know, that it's too early to say but the animation trailer for my online/social media and video platform maybe going for a potential animation web series. Cameron Austin and I are looking into it but depending on the success of my trailer and the comic book series, this is not set in stone, however, we could even be looking at a potential animated TV series. In the meantime, getting both Nemesis the Hunter's Mark and its prequel Nemesis Dawn of a Legend off the ground is my top priority. As you may know, the trailer goes with the package. For the cartoon, we'll just have to see how it goes. Someone came to me about this before, I would like to make one but there's a lot of things to consider like the right script and directors for the job and person who could bring it to life.

Back again soon,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Nemesis trailer date.

Welcome back everyone, I am here to inform you that my trailer for Nemesis the Hunter's Mark is slated for release in Spring 2012. I spoke to the leader of the animators a couple of days ago and she is looking to get an Emmy Award winning animator on board this project. If this goes on, then it's fantastic. Production should begin around March 2012 and by then hopefully issue 1 should be printed and ready for publishing. Kieron Boothe, the colourist, has too much at hand at the moment. Plus I'm currently due for my holiday in the United States, this is where I can now have the opportunity to break into the American comic book market in full swing. But we'll definitely see. T-shirts and Hoodie's will be taken care of when I come back.

See you all later,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

The NemesisTV

What's going on? Like my little freestyle, well I'll be doing more in the new year. Back to Nemesis, storyboards are mostly finished, for the animation trailer. When I have done them character designs will be done by a new artist I am recruiting based on the artwork from Cameron Austin, Julio Falkenhagen and I. Plus I'm preparing everyone including myself in their roles. T-shirts are being designed as we speak and just want to let you know on a new channel that will be on Youtube soon. My website will be re-launched soon, the blog will stay relatively where it is for now. I am not going to announce the dates of when issue 1 of the comic will be released until everything is sorted out. Rommel Fabian should be back in the game soon and I am sorting out a meeting with Kieron too.

Thanks for reading,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Interlude V.

Welcome back, fans. I hope you enjoyed The New Kid Pilot last week, there will be more from Jstaarz like that very soon. I have spoke to Kieron Boothe about the colours and it is going to be sorted out this week. Another thing as well is remember the T-shirts I promised, well I finally have somewhere I can get them. It will take awhile to sort out the ones for Hardest to Survive short film but I can do the ones for Nemesis the Hunter's Mark. Expect it to be done soon and not only that, Hoodie's will be done too. Winter is fast approaching and I'm sure many of you would like some clothing for this Christmas. I will announce the market place where you pick up the items sometime in December. Prices will be on my website, so look out for that. As for the anime trailer, I am set to visit the lead animator shortly where I am to present storyboards. Issues of the Nemesis the Hunter's Mark series will be scheduled bi-monthly.

Take Care,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Mother of Rising Legend Cast.

I want to confirm from recent updates that is coming from the new animation trailer, on the upcoming comic book series, Nemesis the Hunter's Mark, last time I told you casting has been finished and that the person to play Henry's mother has been cast. Well, today I want to let you know a little bit about our daring actress, Louisa Benjamin. She is a decent actress, warming and passionate. Though, before I get back to you about that I want to let you all know that the website http://www.nemesisthehunter.co.uk is going through some changes and more stuff will be added later on in the year.

Actor, presenter and performer, Louisa is a talented and versatile artist who consistently delivers high standards in all aspects of her work. Professionally trained and experienced Louisa has performed as an actor on stage and T.V. and more recently as a stand up comedian. Spontaneous and dynamic, Louisa has a personality that is outgoing and engaging, fun to work with yet committed and professional.

Aside from her creative abilities Louisa works and supports young homeless people to achieve their aspirations and to succeed within their own day to day lives.

There were many actresses billing for the role of Henry's mother but I chose Louisa because she had fit the kind of voice I was looking for. I wasn't looking for an accent as such but someone who could nail her character, who could bring Henry's light-hearted nature onto the surface. Even though this role is short, its the mother who influences his decision to become who he is destined to become in the future. I spoke with Louisa by phone call as I was not having much luck in finding the right person who could take on a minor role.

This woman has energy and vigor, and hope she does well in more shows.

Be back soon,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Director's Cut: Hardest to Survive part 5.

Everyone, welcome back to my blog. I am here to discuss what is going on with the short film, Hardest to Survive. Well, I'm afraid the long awaiting film will have to take a back seat for a while longer as plans shall move forward to be released sometime next year in 2012. The reason is due to unforeseen technical difficulties which have delayed production this Autumn and pre-production not yet accomplished. Test shoots were supposed to be completed a while ago from this Summer but it was not possible, my plans are to complete them by the end of this year and start production from February to March 2012 for a Spring release. I have discussed my overall plans with the rest of the team from Ezee Media and they are in agreement to go ahead with this decision. I hosted a meeting last week with all the actors about this to sort out the problem and I am looking to share all of their comments around to tackle this situation.

Although, this is unfortunate, do not worry I am getting more assistance from other studios and investors willing to donate and finance this project. I seek to change people's minds about problems we face in the climate now such as distress, peer pressure and more stuff affecting young people today. The good news is Jstaarz's project The New Kid is ready to start filming this week so at least you have some kind of treat for many to look out for. Also, I got news from a friend of Rommel's who is lettering my comic book series and he has had trouble of his own which has slightly impacted my progress on Nemesis the Hunter's Mark. He experienced some technical glitches as well, I am getting in contact with him as soon as possible in order to get things in motion. However, the animated trailer based on this is going smoothly. I will come back with a small brief on who is playing Henry's mother.

I'll be right back,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

The New Kid update.

I know it's been long, but The New Kid finally is up and running! Someone else is doing the lead role for the new kid and is replacing Sean Marquis. Scripts are ready and it's time to rehearse, shooting may take place next weekend in time for November. There is nothing more I can say on the project except that the newcomer and Jstaarz's decision was unexpected but exciting at the same time, this actor is an unknown of course. This week I am holding a meeting about my short film news on how that pans out will be on my 5th part of Hardest to Survive, Director's Cut. Casting has finished on the animation trailer for Nemesis the Hunter's Mark, storyboards have begun and I am due to have a meeting with one of the managers for the animators very soon.

Keep blogging,

- Written by Andre Farquharson

Child Star to play Young Henry.

The animation trailer is under way, with another star on the way to the top. This time, its a child, his name is Ramy Souleman. He will be in Nemesis the Hunter's Mark anime trailer and will play a short cameo as the child version of Henry Jackson/The Nemesis alongside other versions of Courtney Starr and myself, Andre Farquharson. I will not spoil the trailer, but he will play a crucial role which is vital to his development of the avenger of punishment and revenge he will become in the future. The actress for the character's mother, Sarah Jackson, is almost in negotiations for her role and pre-production is almost done. I have sorted out animators and will be close to finding the whole of the production team. If things begin to move swiftly then production will start sometime in November or December 2011.

Check them out then,

- Written by Andre Farquharson