Demonic Barbery
Mar. 1st, 2008 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinJust when you thought I was never going to post another drawing again:
I've been working on designs for these two for yet another ridiculous crossover gag, but as I don't know when I'm going to finish that I thought I should at least toss these to the ravening maw of the Intarweb. Mrs Lovett came pretty easily as I went to school with someone who could have been her brother and a caricature language was established by those more clever than me. Mr Todd was more of a challenge ... I had a design I liked a few days ago, which I hated last night so I did some more and got one I liked better, which did not satisfy me this morning. I fiddled around with it in Photoshop, tweaking things here and there, and got what you see up there, which is fine for now but will probably change tomorrow. I'd like to implement the small epiphany I had regarding his awesome but baffling hair, among other things, but on top of this I have a nagging feeling that I'm making the whole process way more complicated than I need to.
By the way, what aid is there for a poor soul who is addicted to the soundtrack? Ever since I found it on someone's playlist at work I haven't been able to stop listening to it despite giving up soundtracks for Lent (so weak! So, so weak!). Is it better to quit cold turkey or limit myself to one song a day? It doesn't help that 'Joanna (Reprise)' is so fun to whistle while walking to the line test machine...
I've been working on designs for these two for yet another ridiculous crossover gag, but as I don't know when I'm going to finish that I thought I should at least toss these to the ravening maw of the Intarweb. Mrs Lovett came pretty easily as I went to school with someone who could have been her brother and a caricature language was established by those more clever than me. Mr Todd was more of a challenge ... I had a design I liked a few days ago, which I hated last night so I did some more and got one I liked better, which did not satisfy me this morning. I fiddled around with it in Photoshop, tweaking things here and there, and got what you see up there, which is fine for now but will probably change tomorrow. I'd like to implement the small epiphany I had regarding his awesome but baffling hair, among other things, but on top of this I have a nagging feeling that I'm making the whole process way more complicated than I need to.
By the way, what aid is there for a poor soul who is addicted to the soundtrack? Ever since I found it on someone's playlist at work I haven't been able to stop listening to it despite giving up soundtracks for Lent (so weak! So, so weak!). Is it better to quit cold turkey or limit myself to one song a day? It doesn't help that 'Joanna (Reprise)' is so fun to whistle while walking to the line test machine...
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Date: 2008-03-02 02:38 am (UTC)I agree with you about the soundtrack too, I have not yet found a rescue aid for soundtrack addiction, other than listening continuously up to the point where you are able to turn it off for more than an hour without getting the shakes.
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Date: 2008-03-02 02:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-02 02:55 am (UTC)And I can't wait to see this movie. I have to wait for the DVD release. *sigh*
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Date: 2008-03-02 03:07 am (UTC)You can do it, be strong! I remember a particularly bad case of my own in highschool, which began upon discovering the soundtrack to the musical 'Cats'. Now that got to the stage of rather worrying obsession... :)
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Date: 2008-03-02 03:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-02 03:44 am (UTC)I FEEEEEEEEEL YOUUUU, JOAAAANNAAA.
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Date: 2008-03-02 04:00 am (UTC)There may possibly be a gag drawing for that song based on a parody by a friend's college roommate, but I can't caricature Antony until I've got Sweeney down. Let's just say ... it involves fruit ...
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Date: 2008-03-02 05:54 am (UTC)i really like both of them ^^
and the soundtrack has me hooked as well. I would give you advice, but seeing as neither of those methods have worked for me i'm not really sure what you should do >.
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Date: 2008-03-02 08:17 am (UTC)I would be addicted to the soundtrack except that neither of the soundtracks available have the Sweeney I actually like... (George Hearn) So naturally, I refuse to listen to either of them. :P
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Date: 2008-03-02 09:52 am (UTC)I rely on the Depp fan community for input! I have no clue, so thank you!
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Date: 2008-03-02 09:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-02 10:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-02 10:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-02 03:59 pm (UTC)I'm having that problem as well, but it's a rotation of Sweeney and Into the Woods - since my amazon order struggled through, they've been on pretty much constantly. I think my parents are fed up of me singing 'A Little Priest' at every carnivorous meal. I doubt I could manage forty days (although you do technically get Sundays off, you know). Maybe get some music that is reminiscent of big production Broadway/West End stuff, like Rufus Wainwright, and try and work it in and pretend it's a soundtrack? Or just give up and rock out :)
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Date: 2008-03-02 04:09 pm (UTC)And his mouth and hair...Try making a Mii on the Wii for him. Then you can complain.
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Date: 2008-03-02 07:09 pm (UTC)And I hope you're listening to the original Broadway soundtrack. It's so much prettier than the movie soundtrack.
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Date: 2008-03-02 07:10 pm (UTC)I haven't heard the movie soundtrack yet, much less seen the movie (small towns are NOT good for catching movies in, believe me!) but I'm looking forward to both.
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Date: 2008-03-02 10:15 pm (UTC)(And it's Madam. I refuse to get an LJ account on principle but I think I'm gonna have to soon; I've got too many blogs I read and want to reply to.)
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Date: 2008-03-03 06:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-03 04:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-03 06:50 pm (UTC)We do that a lot at capslocksweeney. And I'm impressed that Helena comes easily to at least ONE person. It took me, like, nineteen tries just to produce this:
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Date: 2008-03-03 06:54 pm (UTC)That's a very Burton-y drawing! The trick is finding what shape exemplifies the face, in my experience. Caricature is probably the hardest thing I've ever learned so don't be discouraged!
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Date: 2008-03-03 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-03 10:59 pm (UTC)Your Helena caricature is perfect, but I'm not really feelin' it on Johnny. Maybe it's the eyes? This is how I usually caricature Mr. Todd in my mind:
I need to get me a Sweeney Todd icon
Date: 2008-03-04 03:59 am (UTC)I've heard that the movie soundtrack has more songs on it than the movie had, but . . . I love my broadway soundtrack so very much. There's . . . another Johanna version that the judge sings. It's . . . delightfully terrible.
LJAHDFKJASD SOUNDTRACK, THOUGH. I'M ADDICTED TO THIS SHOW SO BADLY. And, um. No advice for the Lent thing; Jewish. Buuuut you could go look up the lyrics and sing the songs yourself instead of listening? (I like Epiphany rather a lot, myself. No idea why.)
Re: I need to get me a Sweeney Todd icon
Date: 2008-03-04 05:27 am (UTC)When I found the soundtrack at work, nothing jumped out at me that hadn't been in the movie. A look at the track listing between the movie and stage soundtracks only turns up the aforementioned Johanna song as well as the bookending Ballads of Sweeney Todd as missing in the film version... I missed the Ballad as it had been my favourite piece when I listened to the soundtrack years ago, but upon listening to it again I realised the opening music to the movie is just the orchestral part of that, which is especially cool because I've always wanted to hear just the orchestra parts in musicals. So that's OK. And I like a few songs more than that one, now. As for the judge's song, I'm OK with it being left out in the interest of time and simplicity ... I think they made Judge Turpin enough of a demon in the movie that ramping it up even more would only have verged him into the ridiculous and he wouldn't have been as strong a villain that way.
As for the crossover ... you will just have to see. }: )
P.S.
Date: 2008-03-04 05:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-04 10:30 pm (UTC)The movie cut my favorite songs...
I love your Mrs. Lovett! Unfortunately I can't draw any Johnny Depp related character without making him look comical so I have no helpful suggestions. His Sweeney is so far removed from the one in my imagination...
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Date: 2008-03-04 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-04 10:57 pm (UTC)I'm afraid Mr Depp (or perhaps Mr Burton) is the one who make me like the character. I never really had much of an emotional response to the characters in the stage soundtrack (beyond the 'oh crap' moment at the end) which is unusual for me and musicals. Once I get a library card and can listen to the original cast a few more times I'll be more able to make up my mind, I think, or at any rate be able to articulate which production I like more and why.
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Date: 2008-03-05 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-05 11:21 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, I formed a Johnny Depp allergy on account of a friend who likes him so much that she was determined that we both see everything he was ever in (or almost everything). That totally ruined the fun for me. And I don't like the way he sings.
Have you listened to "The Secret Garden" Broadway cast recording? I bought it because I liked some of the songs in it, and I ended up listening to it uninterrupted several times over (unusual for me, since I can usually find fault with something), then I read the book. The musical is closer to the book than any of the movies, and it is lovely and creepy with lots of songs where different people sing different things at the same time, which is what I love! I saw it at my library the other day, so maybe you can find it. It's great on long drives!
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Date: 2008-03-05 11:44 pm (UTC)See, this is why I am very glad I'm out of high school and don't have many female friends; I was forced to watch Armageddon about sixteen times and have a deep aversion to Leonardo diCaprio thanks to the 1990s. Lucky for me I could come at the Sweeney Todd movie more or less objectively, having accrued two or three years since knowing a Depp fangirl. The trouble is that in studying his performance (what's available on YouTube anyway) for the caricature, I've gained a real respect for his acting skills, and experience has taught me that in the world at large few people can draw a distinction between 'respect for' and 'crush on.' :P I still don't see what people find so sexy about him, especially out of character, but this goes for most movie stars so nothing's new.
Is the Concert DVD starring George Hearn? I've seen some his clips on YouTube and ... well, okay, his character is so different it's basically apples and oranges, but he's too operatic and not sympathetic enough for my tastes. This probably has as much to do with the director as anyone else. Someday I'll watch the DVD and get a better comparison/contrast of the two interpretations but I'm supposed to be working. ;)
*Though 'Lily's Eyes' is an amusing HP crossover, heehee.
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Date: 2008-03-06 01:39 am (UTC)Wow! "The House on the Hill" was my favorite part too...
I did mean the George Hearn concert, and I feel compelled to mention that I don't encourage anyone to watch/listen to Sweeney Todd because I very strongly object to the bad language in it, among other things. That probably sounds strange, but I've made a resolution not to recommend things to other people when I know them to have offensive elements. I've done it in the past and regretted it very much, so please just allow me to say that I don't approve of the musical in its entirety (even though I like many of the songs).
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Date: 2008-03-06 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-06 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-06 02:00 am (UTC)I think most of my newfound respect for Mr Depp comes from being an animator ... he has such detailed control of posture, motion, and facial expression that he's fascinating to watch. Not necessarily realistic, but very clear and expressive. I like to think this is why Tim Burton casts him so much, because he started off as an animator. Just 'Epiphany' has so much material in it, from the way he stands with the razor at the beginning to the expressions when he's stalking the streets snarling at people. A big part of the fascination is knowing I would never have thought of drawing it that way, and trying to figure out how I would draw it as so many of them involve tensing various facial muscles that would be impossible to capture in line, at least at the skill level where I am now. And the mouth shapes! This probably doesn't make him a 'good' actor, by actors' standards, any more than the masters of pantomime in the silent era were 'good,' but it sure is exciting to watch. Kind of in the same way as the actors in Web of Caves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnP_BB_9fMs) - horribly overblown by acting standards but SO FUN to WATCH. I think my favourite part is when Mark Gatiss says 'What do you want?' and at the end of that line he raises the lower eyelids just a little ... it's a more precise expression than just a plain old squint and even though it's really hard to see in this low-res clip it seems to add an extra dimension to the line; a sort of visual subtext. There's lots of that sort of stuff in Sweeney Todd but I should probably save my raving for a post someday.
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Date: 2008-03-07 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-07 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-11 08:11 pm (UTC)