Ballads of Black Wings

Sorry for being absent for so long; Joeri and I were actually...

treadstoneassassin — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 05:43:00 -0400

Sorry for being absent for so long; Joeri and I were actually interviewed for a Frisian Internet TV channel last Thursday! The clip hasn’t hit the web yet, for as far as I’m aware but we’ll keep you posted! Sadly, I’m afraid the interview is in Dutch and won’t feature any English subtitles.

Also, a trailer for a very inspiring and motivating film: Hanna. Last weekend, I wrote a scene directly inspired by this great chunk of cinema. The relationship between Hanna and her father, Erik, is a direct inspiration for the Squaw and our main character.

Quest for Publisher(s)!

treadstoneassassin — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:23:39 -0400

Tomorrow, Joeri and I are going to visit some comic book shops, to see whether the shop keepers have any direct contact with publishers and, if so, can entice them with our project. We’ll keep you posted!

I (Joeri) recorded a speedpaint of The Undertaker. Was fun to...

joerischouten — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:11:12 -0400

I (Joeri) recorded a speedpaint of The Undertaker. Was fun to do, I might do more of these.

How We Work #1 To give you a bit of insight in our process and...

treadstoneassassin — Sat, 05 May 2012 12:27:00 -0400

How We Work #1

To give you a bit of insight in our process and progress, we hereby show you the first lines of the first scenario. In stead of most comics and graphic novels, it is written as a film script, in order for Joeri to be free in drawing, arranging and editing the images.

Hello everyone, Flip here. Our story will not be a cheerful one....

treadstoneassassin — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:22:00 -0400

Hello everyone, Flip here. Our story will not be a cheerful one. And a great source of motivation and lecture in writing explicit unpleasantness to me is listening to the group that these two -back then- young lads were part of: Joy Division. The bloke on the left, Ian, was the frontman and lyricist, who killed himself at 23. That should tell you enough. Their music, if you’re unfamiliar with them, is really melancholic.

Meet Alex Garland, known for his collaborations with director...

treadstoneassassin — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:11:00 -0400

Meet Alex Garland, known for his collaborations with director Danny Boyle and producer Andrew MacDonald; author of The Beach, The Tesseract -the both of which were adapted into films- and The Coma and also screenwriter for the films 28 Days Later…, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go and the upcoming Dredd. Another one of my -Flip’s- ‘teachers’.

Batman, because his darkness and determination can also be found...

treadstoneassassin — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:44:00 -0400

Batman, because his darkness and determination can also be found in our primary character. And because he’s our hero since childhood!

Art by Norm Breyfogle -one of- our favourite Batman artist(s).

Inspiration is a weird thing, because it’s everywhere! I...

treadstoneassassin — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:31:00 -0400

Inspiration is a weird thing, because it’s everywhere! I know we’re writing a Western, but the novels of Scottish author Irvine Welsh, who is known for his debut Trainspotting, the basis for the hit film and who’s Marabou Stork Nightmares is a very remarkable example, have taught me -Flip- a great deal about writing. The influence might not be too clear in the final product -too early to say- but I am in his debt.

No Country For Old Men, another great film we’re taking...

treadstoneassassin — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:28:00 -0400

No Country For Old Men, another great film we’re taking many elements from. For me -Flip- Cormac McCarthy’s auther of the novel, on which it is based, is a mentor in the narrative.

Of all the new characters in motion pictures who tend to be...

treadstoneassassin — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:43:00 -0400

Of all the new characters in motion pictures who tend to be added to the greats, Ryan Gosling’s Driver, the main character in the Nicolas Winding Refn directed adaptation of James Sallis’ novel Drive has impressed us very much, so much that he is a direct inspiration for our main character.

From the HBO series Carnivàle, who’s brilliant atmosphere...

treadstoneassassin — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:37:00 -0400

From the HBO series Carnivàle, who’s brilliant atmosphere inspires us greatly.

Just pure awesome..

joerischouten — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:27:37 -0400

Just pure awesome..

LOVE this movie, and this is an amazing pic.. Note by Flip:...

joerischouten — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:19:00 -0400

LOVE this movie, and this is an amazing pic..

Note by Flip: indeed, this film, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, has greatly influenced our take on the project, especially in atmosphere, themes of fading glory and altered perception.

I bought me an awesome book today, about the rise of the...

joerischouten — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:44:31 -0400

I bought me an awesome book today, about the rise of the railroads in the old west. Filled to the brim with detailed information and awesome pictures. Amazing material for research and/or inspiration.

Who are we? #1

treadstoneassassin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:46:00 -0400

Howdy!
I think it’d be fare to introduce ourselves and the individual contributions to our project are to those who follow our progress.

My name is Flip and I embody 50% of the Schouten Brothers. Ballads of Black Wings is a collaborative effort of my brother and myself to create a series of graphic novels, that together tell the legendary tale of our primary character.

How it all started…
First I should mention that, in order to preserve the plot, I have to be extremely careful with the little of what I can tell you. Joeri already posted a video link; like he said, never mind the footage, just listen to the song. Because it’s our starting point.

Joeri thought of the concept of a graphic novel based on the lyrics of said track quite a while ago. I had never given this very much thought until four months back, when we started brainstorming. And suddenly, we had lots of ideas!

My contribution
The project’s concept is Joeri’s, there’s no two ways about that. I presented him with some ideas, which inspired him to come up with others, which triggered me to offer new ones, etc. So now the concept slowly grew and spawned an actual story! I am responsible for co-creating this plot and the characters and perhaps for setting the gears in motion.

Because of my part in the early development, Joeri took me on as a writer! So I write the scenarios, in collaboration with my brother; that is to say, I write everything but I discuss whatever I write with him.

Well, that’s my part of the story of our early journey. Tune in next time!

The video doesn’t match much with what we’re doing,...

joerischouten — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:02:00 -0400

The video doesn’t match much with what we’re doing, but this song started it all.

This short film is a major inspiration for us.

joerischouten — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:57:00 -0400

This short film is a major inspiration for us.

"Prejudices are what fools use for reason."

joerischouten — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:41:58 -0400

“Prejudices are what fools use for reason.”

- Voltaire

Welcome to our tumblr, here we’ll keep you up to date...

joerischouten — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:56:25 -0400

Welcome to our tumblr, here we’ll keep you up to date about the development of our comic: Ballads of Black Wings.