It's been awhile since I did a blog post here but I am still making comic style videos featuring super heroines. This time I created a new heroine called Nightfox for a new story called "Night Drop". Nightfox is a character that is a mix of Knightwing and Batgirl and you can see the combo in the costume. The idea behind the story is that of the heroine is investigating the criminal activity of a gang on the city. She discovers they are behind the corruption in the city and she tries to take down the leader but soon discovers she is overmatched by him.
What i tried to do in this story was create a real challenge for the heroine without making her seem too weak when she fights the boss. So I start out with her taking out a few gang members easily to show her fighting skills and even have her get a good opening fight with the boss before the tables turn. Then it's all peril as she tries to survive and escape from the villains clutches.
Instead of focusing on powers in this story I wanted to focus on fight scenes on the human level and I didn't have to worry about special effects. I was lucky to find a studio with a good rate to be able to complete the shooting in one day and the actors were great. They put in some good input and improv that really made a good impact on the story.
I loved the Superman movies growing up and I love the cartoon during the 90's which i think is the best Superman series ever (not including the justice league series). It had awesome stories including great battle scenes and cool new characters like Mercy, the personal assistant to Lex Luthor. Now that I a creating my own super heroine stories, I wanted to do my version of Supergirl with similar stories and challenges.
The result is Swiftgirl, she wears a costume similar to the classic supergirl outfit which is my favorite version with similar powers and attitude. I also added lex-like character and Mercy. I loved the Mercy Character, she was sexy but also smart and tough as nails. I felt if Mercy had an opportunity to fight a supergirl type character or even superman on even footing, she would relish it and pretty much kick their butt. Which is the basis for the story I created. In this one, Swiftgirl goes after the lex-Like character and pretty much has the situation under control until he breaks out the kryptonite and now powerless, Swiftgirl has to deal with Mercy and gets all she can handle.
You can check out the video, called "Swift Moves" and my website: www.UltraHeroix.com !
NY Comic Con 2011 was a blast and what made this one even more special was that it was the first time that I exhibited at a comic con. We had a small booth for our website "UltraHeroix.com" (A site featuring videos about super-heroine adventures) and it was an eye-opening experience. The plan started last year in September 2011, when I felt it would be a great opportunity to promote my website and at the same time, experiencing comic con not just as a fan but as an exhibitor. Also, I would be there for 4 days (October 13th-16th). Before, I would be lucky to get in for just one day but now with four days, I would have more than enough time to explore the convention.
The game plan would be to have 4 to 5 people everyday and we would take turns with people being at the booth and others enjoying the con experience. So leading up to this I figured that I would have a year to prepare. 1)Building up funds for booth expenses. 2) getting the materials needed to promote the site, like banner, demo CDs, T-shirts and etc. 3)balance the preparation with other stuff in life. So, giving yourself a year would be the best bet.
So last week, Comic Con finally came and it was awesome. But there were some things, I learned that you couldn't without experiencing it yourself.
1) Go over the guidelines and rules very carefully.
I did and I called the representatives (who were really nice and great to talk to) but when it came time to set up, I realized that I overlooked a necessity...electricity. most booths don't need it but because i would be showing DVDs and demos I needed power to run my computer an DVD player. Although, I looked at the exhibitor manual I over looked that part.
2)There were more expenses than just getting the booth.
For example, buying food, paying for parking, paying the models/actresses who would be representing us at the booth and of course buying cool stuff for yourself (comics, posters and etc.). Also, when getting a booth, you just get the space. You need to bring your own tables, chairs, banners and (like I mentioned before) paying for the power supply if you need it. The folks running the convention would help supply you with what you need but if you could get it yourself the better (and cheaper).
3)Set up your booth as soon as possible.
They give you a few days before the convention starts to set up. I'm glad I took advantage of that. Although, it only took me an hour to set up, during that time I discovered the power dilemma. Thankfully, I had the time to remedy it and and set it up with convention management. So, it's good to take advantage of the prep time in case problems arise you would have time to fix it. Also, making sure that you take the extra day off from work or school to do it.
3) The wonder of Comic Con begins to wear off the first day, if you are an exhibitor.
Don't get me wrong, It was awesome and enjoyable experience through out the whole convention but nothing beats that first day you are there and it's especially draining if you are "working".
4)Everyone is friendly and wants to network.
We met a lot of people that were interested in our site and our booth neighbors were really friendly. The networking possibilities were there and everyone was happy to take part in it. I even gave an interview for some other websites and small podcast/radio shows. I never did an interview before and the first time was a nerve-wracking experience but for the 2nd time and afterwards, I prepped myself better. And there were a lot people who wanted to take pictures with our "booth babes".
A week has past now, and I am working on following up with the people I networked with and new fans we met. Looking back at it now, it was a lot of fun. But next year, I will go in a little wiser.
I created a new super heroine film called "Dark Embrace". So far, in the series I have stories where the heroines overcome minor defeats and challenges to win the final big battle and that's mostly the norm when telling a superhero story but then I was asked by one of the viewers: What if the heroine didn't win? So, I realized that would be an awesome story to shoot. Seeing, the heroine defeated, no last minute idea or struck of luck or deus ex machina to bring out the victory. The heroine is thoroughly defeated and at the mercy of the villain. What happens then? Well, I thought about it and I figured if I was a villain and I had a heroine in my clutches: would I destroy her or just keep her prisoner for my amusement (not a bad idea)? Nah, I'm a supervillain and the best way to cement my victory over a do-gooder was for her to become a villain and do my dirty work for me. The story now would be, how would she be able to handle the dastardly deeds and how would she come back to the side of good.
Which brings us to the "Dark Embrace" storyline. This would actually be a multi-part story which we would be revisiting among the other stories we would be doing. My premiere heroine, Lady Ultra would be the main character. In the first video of "Dark Embrace" would be the complete victory of the villainess over the heroine and the warping of the good Lady Ultra to the deadly Dark Ultra. She would use Dark Ultra as a weapon in future parts of the storyline.
This was a fun story to shoot, we had the heroine, the costumes and location all set. The challenge was to get/create a villainess that was sexy, powerful and a believable fighter. Someone, who could defeat the heroine and keep her under control. That was when I created Domintia and I found a good actress to play her. Her costume was easy, something sexy but functional (no twisting ankles or wardrobe malfunctions) when she kicks the heroine's butt. As for powers, She had a diverse set that would be more than enough to handle Lady Ultra and it would be from technology.
The first part of the Dark Embrace story is available now and it will be a storyline revisiting among the other heroine tales we will be producing. I posted some pics and the full video can be seen at www.UltraHeroix.com.
I am also happy to say that we will be having a booth at the NY Comic Con in October and I will write a blog about the experience. if you happen to be there, drop by and say hello at the UltraHeroix.com booth!
I created a new Super heroine video which is actually a super villainess story. I always found vampires as cool villains; great powers, cool look and dominating personalities. So when I had the idea of doing a super villainess related story, I figured to use a vampire villainess. I created Devla, a vampire sorceress. Yep, a vampire with more magic beyond the normal vampiric powers, why not? She could command the dark forces of powers and create servants like other vampires and create zombies too, it also opens up a lot of possibilities without the normal vampire limitations. I thought the power upgrade would be necessary to put her on even footing with powerful superheroic foes. So, what would be her weakness?
Well, since she is so commanding and treats everyone like crap especially her minions, they would eventually turn on her. So far, that has been her undoing in the stories. In this story, "Devla's Revenge", she get her revenge on one of her former minions. I got most of the costumes and make-up from Halloweenadventure.com, including Devla's costume and vampire teeth. The zombie make-up was also from the website and it was pretty easy to apply. At first the zombie was supposed to be pale but we accidently added a lot of green but it turned out really well. As far as the zombie scars and wounds, it was latex with food-coloring.
It was a lot of fun to make that allowed me to combine Horror with super heroine fantasy. I included some pics of the shoot and you could see the whole video, "Devla's Revenge"
I created a new superheroine related film called "Web Alert" It features a superheroine called Arachne Dame. To give you some details of what we did to create this video, I'll start by how we found the actress. We posted the ad on backstage website. It's a popular site that actors use to find casting calls for all types of projects. We used to use craiglist but by doing this we found better performers. I was inspired by the old 70's Spiderman movie and did a version of web shooting. I was able to do it by having a friend hold one end of rope while i pull the other, while the superheroine holds it and hides the rest of the rope. Then on film we had it go in reverse to give the impression that it shot out of her hand and it was a cool effect. As for the costume, it was a basic red leotard, gloves and stuff that could be found on Amazon.com. To make the spider symbol i used black felt and cut a spider symbol out of it. The felt tore easily but it actually worked out because it looked like battle damage.
We shot at a friends place since right now, it's the most cost effective thing to do and to shoot at a studio would be way out of budget. In the end, It was a lot of fun and there are a lot of adventures we have shot and will shoot. If anyone has any questions or feedback let me know and check out my site for more superheroine action at www.UltraHeroix.com.
I'm new to the blogging thing but I figured I would share on my hobby/side business. I make comic style stories/videos, featuring my own super heroine characters. In the stories, I try to focus on action and peril and do the best I can on a small budget. I would say the best parts are designing the costumes and storyline. Nothing beats seeing your ideas come to life. I produced a few videos already that can be seen at http://www.UltraHeroix.com and in future blogs I will inform folks of my newest videos, story inspirations and any other cool tidbits I learned and experienced in the film making.
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