Comix that Zzizzl

Dennis Morrison

By Wolfen Moonsget
August 10, 2009

Within the last few years, you may have been seeing more and more "motion comics", or "illustrated films". I know one of the Hellboy DVDs has a few on them, the first Transformers film had a "motion comic" prequel, Repo! The Genetic Opera told its characters' backstories through them, and the one for Watchman was extremely popular, just to name a few.

My first exposure to the concept was through ones made with Elfquest comics years ago, and in the last couple of years, EQ creator Wendy Pini has been working with the concept on YouTube, as well as with her webcomic, Masque of the Red Death. All these motion comics vary in style and content, some having words and some having voiceovers, but they're all something that you watch rather than just read. Though technically it's been around for a few decades, it's an industry that of late has been quickly gaining momentum — and become more accessible to small press creators.

I recently talked to Dennis Morrison, founder of zzizzl comix, a new motion comics studio-for-hire.

Sequential Tart: How did you come up with the name zzizzl?

Dennis Morrison: I wanted a name that could be remembered. There are so many sites and so much noise we have to deal with that we are constantly filtering out information. There are so many names we forget in an instant because they are not memorable. I wanted to find a word that encapsulated what we were about, which is something new, exciting and different — our tagline is "live outside the box". I also spent a lot of time researching with Google to see what would be a good name and realized that there weren't many things starting with "zz", so felt there would be a good chance for us to appear in Google searches. It's a lot harder to remember zzizzl, especially with our spelling, but it does seem that once people do remember they don't forget it.

ST: How did you come into the motion comics field?

DM: My background is as a filmmaker, and I started working in the industry at the bottom and worked my way up the ladder. I also studied film, so learnt the art and craft of storytelling. I really admire the great comic stories and artwork. I see comics creators as storytellers using the comic medium to express themselves. It's a medium that allows creators to try what they want, no restrictions to budgets or what is or isn't possible — whatever the mind can imagine can be turned into a comic.

About a year ago I thought it would be a great idea if we could add motion to comics to make films, seeing as the artwork and story had already been completed. I realized that many people didn't even think there were comics outside of the superhero genre, and therefore haven't been exposed to the other kinds of comics that are out there. I thought the best way to engage people in this new digital world was to offer them something that was accessible, easy to enjoy and portable. Taking the audiobook further, motion comics give someone the ability to "watch" and listen, getting the full benefit of the comic in a different, powerful and engaging medium. The aim of motion comics is to create a new genre, it's not about trying to be something else. It is not an animation or cartoon as we traditionally know it, but an animated film/motion comic. For those not going into comic book stores, this is a great way to engage a new audience. It is only a small leap from movies to motion comics to printed comics. With the range of comic stories from grown up to teens and tweens, there is literally something for everybody and can breathe added life into the comics world.

More and more people have devices like mobile phones, iPods, iPhones, PSPs, etc. ... which they carry around with them all the time and are comfortable with the idea that this is their portable media centre. We did some research and found out that so many people said they "love" comics, but — and here's the hard bit to understand — they never bought them and hardly ever read them. So how can you "love" something which you don't do, and the answer from many was "I don't know".

So people still have that feeling of joy they used to get when they were younger from comics, but think that comic stores or graphic novels no longer have anything they are interested in, which is so wrong. We wanted more people to get the joy from comics but realized it had to be in a different way. At the end of last year the Watchmen motion comics came out and this literally changed everything. Suddenly people were talking about motion comics, getting excited about them and were talking about this being a natural evolution and extension to printed comics. More importantly I think the number of people who purchased the Watchmen motion comics showed there was a market out there for this. So at the start of this year we decided to put zzizzlcomix.com together, start connecting with and speaking to comics creators and offering our services.

ST: What projects did you work on before starting zzizzl?

DM: I worked in TV on a variety of lifestyle, music and entertainment programs for UK broadcasters, as well as shooting, directing, and editing projects in Europe, US and South America. I also worked on music videos and short films, have had some of my shorts play at film festivals around the world. I had a short dance film nominated at the IMZ film fest in Monaco. Being actively involved in the independent scene, I experienced that distribution was one of the main challenges faced by creators — I couldn't see anyone at the time really focused on the independent creators, so decided to create what became zzizzl.com: a video download store selling short films and videos, where we share the profits of each sale with the content creators. Some have dubbed this as iTunes for indie creators. We are still developing zzizzl and plan to come up with new additions and improvements in 2010. Zzizzl.com is also a platform where comics creators can sell their completed motion comics. I spent a lot of time learning about the technology involved in the mobile industry and portable entertainment, and spent a stint working at the Discovery Channel as a consultant and editor for the mobile TV department.

ST: What do you feel is the appeal of motion comics versus static comics?

DM: The biggest appeal of motion comics is that the user doesn't have to read. They can sit back and watch. I see motion comics sitting side by side with static comics — one is not better than the other — they are different mediums offering different experiences. I also feel that motion comics open up the comic industry to a much larger market potential — anyone who has a portable device or phone. At the same time, it taps into the younger, internet, gadget generation, who don't buy comics. For the comic industry to thrive in the future I feel it's imperative that all options to attract new consumers to the medium are explored. I know some die hard comic lovers only want printed comics, because they like the sensation and experience, which is fine, but I feel we need to offer consumers more choice on how they can experience comics. Motion comics also offer anytime, anywhere enjoyment — it's on your iPod or phone and when you have some spare time or your traveling on the train, you can choose whether to listen to music, read, or watch a video (motion comic).

ST: How can comics creators use your service to their best advantage?

DM: Our goal was to make it as easy as possible for comic creators to turn their comics into motion comics. All they need to do is send us their comic in high quality digital files and we do everything else. Once the comic has been turned into a motion comic, comic creators can sell it, use it for marketing or promotion, offer it with a static or digital comic, sell it on a memory stick and more. There are real challenges with comic distribution at the moment, making it especially hard for independent distributors and creators to get their comics into shops and to make any kind of profit — this allows comic creators to be in the driving seat. They can attract their own sponsorship to help cover the costs of creating a motion comic, but most importantly, you need only do this once as you end up with a digital master file. This can be made available for sale for many years afterward, with no added costs of production. It also allows comic creators to be in control of their own distribution, as they can choose to sell it wherever and however they please. It allows creators to attract new people to their stories, which can lead to increased sales in their print titles.

ST: What goes into making a motion comic? Describe the process.

DM: We are sent high res artwork for each comic page, either scanned or from the original digital file. We can create a motion comic with or without speech bubbles — it's totally up to the comic creator, we work with the artwork we are given. Once received we select a director who we feel will be right for the story. The director plans the camera moves for each panel as well as outlining any special effects that are required. Actors are sourced and read for the various characters. The selected actors go into the studio to record the voiceover for each character under the director's guidance (depending on the size of the project, there may be a separate voice director). The artwork is prepared in Photoshop-ready format for the video editor to start work. The editor works with the director to do the rough cut, while any special effects needed are created. The sound designer edits the voiceovers, selecting the best takes with the director, and creates the atmos and foley track. Once the composer is sent the edit, he combines all sound and starts creating the sound track. The sound track and sound mix is completed and sent back to the editor. The editor adds any special effects created by the effects artist and completes the master edit with the director. This is sent to the client for approval. Once approved, we then encode the master version into multiple video formats for different portable devices, such as iPhone, PSP, Windows Media Player, etc ....

ST: It sounds like a lot of work goes into making a motion comic! What sorts of price range can creators expect to pay for one?

DM: We have positioned our prices at a similar price point to low-budget music videos. Our range is $500-$1500 per page, depending on the project and its requirements, with the low end price scale available to individual comics creators all the way up to the higher end price for publishers. Depending on the style of comic, a 22-pager will create between an 8-to-12 minute motion comic. Obviously creators and publishers can attract whatever sponsorship they like to help pay for the motion comic and we can add the sponsor(s) logo(s) at the start and end.

ST: What are some of the titles you have transformed thus far?

DM: We have just started offering our services. We have created a variety of demos which can be viewed on our site at www.zzizzlcomix.com. We are also currently speaking to different comics creators and publishers who are interested in turning their titles into motion comics. People like how we approach motion comics and can see how it really adds value to what they do.

ST: What can you tell us about the members of your creative team, what they do now and what they've done before joining up with zzizzl?

DM: One of the advantages of zzizzl.com being our film and video distribution site is the amount of talented creators we have connected with. For zzizzl comix we build a team for each project, depending on the genre. Our creative team is a mixture of graphic designers, illustrators, filmmakers, producers, directors, musicians, composers, editors, and effects artists. Many have had films in festivals such as Cannes Film Festival, do graphic and web design for creative and corporate clients, direct and edit short films, documentaries for TV and music videos. We have a certain approach and methodology to creating our style of motion comics and train each creative in our approach, so our output is consistent whilst giving them the freedom to add their creative voice.

ST: You say that you assemble teams for each project; are you hiring, and if so, what are you looking for?

DM: We are always on the look out for talent. Although we are based in the UK, due to the beauty of the internet, our team members can be working from anywhere in the world. We can also work on any project from creators and publishers whether they are based in the US, Canada, UK, Europe or Asia. We are aiming to set up a small studio in the US sometime in 2010. We look for people who have Photoshop and film editing skills, after-effects skills, directors, musicians, and composers. We are really on the look out for actors so we can build up our library of talent with different voice characters. So if there are any actors or talent interested in getting in touch, just send us an e-mail to info@zzizzlcomix.com.

ST: Are you producing any original content?

DM: We are currently in the early stages of creating an episodic drama for the web, which we hope to have available sometime next year. We are really excited by short form content (10 minutes or under) and can also see the potential of comic stories making great content also for live action.

ST: What are some of the comics you personally enjoy? What is it about them that you find appealing?

DM: I enjoy a wide range of comics, but if I had to highlight one right now it would be stories coming from Vertigo. They are so edgy — very film-like in approach at the same time very real and human. They have such a wide selection of stories focused at the older market. I feel these stories would work well as motion comics and would obviously open it up to more people enjoying them. However, it does seem that larger companies seem to be more focused on the superhero story. There are so many independent comics — too many to mention — that I find really inspiring. I just love it when people have an idea and make it happen. For me it's about the story and how the artwork conveys and propels the story forward.

ST: What are some of your favourite movies, and what makes them faves?

DM: Now when it comes to movies — again I wouldn't say I have favorites. Movies — and comics for that matter — are about moods; your mood at the time determines what you want to watch. Here's a short list — Once upon a Time in America, Crash, This is England, The Secretary, The Audition (original Japanese version), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, most Cohen Brothers films, Black Snake Moan, The Big Lebowski, Six degrees of Separation, Scent of a Woman, Ricochet, This Boy's Life, 21 grams — you can see I like an eclectic mix of films. What do I like about them? A tough question — I think I like great characters and powerful stories.

ST: How has your training as a filmmaker affected your viewing of films and comics? Do you find yourself distracted by the craft aspects or do you still get lost in the story as easily as ever? Do you feel being in the field yourself has made you more critical?

DM: When I watch films or read comics, I still feel I watch and enjoy them like a child. I completely get lost in the story and believe everything I see until they break my suspension of disbelief. Once that goes it's very hard to take it seriously. If I do decide to analyze a film, it will be on my second or third viewing. I'm not sure being in this field has made me more critical — maybe I enjoy more films that aren't so mainstream.

ST: Are you attending any conventions in the coming year?

DM: I have attended Bristol Expo and MCM Expo. I plan to attend the British International Comics Show later in the year. Next year I'm aiming to attend New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con.

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