So, at long last, we finally have reached the end of this arc. Sorry it took so long but hey, we made it in the end.

When I started plotting out possible arcs, the idea of making a movie was one of the first that came to mind, though I knew it was not going to happen right away. It took many forms, Mike coming up with the idea to make an Emerald Justice movie to try and patch the holes while skimming off the top was one; another was for David and Fer to get hired onto a bigger project where even to laymen like them, it was clear the director had no idea what he was doing, and they ended up taking on more and more duties as more and more of the crew quit.

I also wanted to have some stories with the Ethereal High crew, but the original ideas I came up with worked better for one offs, like Fer taking a nap in the office. At one point I had an idea for them to hire David to write an Ethereal High novel, which would lead to creative difficulties, but I didn’t think that would come across very well. Eventually the idea of merging the two concepts came to me during a rewrite of chapter seven and I just went with it.

David was supposed to be more involved as the voice of reason, trying to reel them back from spending too much or having to interpret nonsensical directions so the actors knew what they were supposed to do. It felt too Mary Sue-ish so I cut that. I also went back and forth on the ending, whether or not the film would ever actually get finished and whether or not Greg and Vanessa would actually break up. But that felt too cynical so I went bittersweet. They got it done and patched things up, but now they’re in debt and trying to sell a movie not many people enjoyed.

If I could go back and make changes? I probably wouldn’t have spent so long on the pre-production. We don’t really see much of the filming, which is kind of the point. Imagination is a much stronger tool than if I had written out a script for a bad movie and just thrown the scenes together. Maybe I should have added an extra chapter to the arc, stretched out the scene of David and Vanessa writing a little, had Alice being roped into being a line producer or assistant director, and done more shooting scenes, but I think that might have dragged it out too much and the arc had already taken time away from the entire comic’s premise of the main characters trying to make a comic.

But, overall, I’m happy with the final result.

Let me know what you think

Until next time
David