Friday, June 22, 2007

HANA PART 2: 11th Hour


And now fateful heroes, we come to the end of Hana's and my journey.

I'm trying to remember when I got the script for this page, and I'm pretty sure that it was before the screening of "5 YEARS LATER". So it was a fairly long time ago. So for the longest time I knew how the series was going to end. People begged me to tell them. But at the end of the day, so few things come along in life that are worth the reveal. I felt that this was one of them. You don't want to read the answer in some blog or on an email. You want to see it yourself. You want to see Nathan turn up at the last minute. You want to see Hiro stabbing Sylar. You want to feel Niki and Mohinder's desperation.

This page was the culmination of everything I wanted to see and feel at the end of the HEROES season one finale. I've had some fans comment that it was everything that they wanted and didn't get, which is incredible praise.

I don't know if the finale was a let down, I already knew what was happening ages ago. I had the joy instead of watching all the pieces in the puzzle fall into place.

When I got the description of this page I pestered poor Frank and NBC for as much reference material as possible. They came through with the goods and I managed to get screen caps for everything I needed. I wanted this page to be as authentic as possible. I'm pretty sure that everything except for Hiro's sword is perfect. On the reference they gave me I could see the red sword, but I'd never seen it before. I had no idea what it was and thought it must be a stunt prop that they would colour correct later. So I just drew Hiro's sword instead, and in some ways it looks better like this.

I might upload some of the reference images that they gave me. Some of it is test 3d renders of special effects - like Nathan and Peter flying off. I'm sure Ryan from Heroeswiki will dig them.

Next post I'm going to upload the monochromatic version of the page, version 1 if you will. There's also a bit of a story to go along with it.

OTHER NEWS: Paul tells me that the 3Heroes interview is done and that it's "gold". My interview will apparently be the entire podcast, so I'm really looking forward to that. We spoke for about one and a half hours and Paul has cut it down to what he thinks is a really entertaining hour. So for those of you who want to know what I sound like... stay tuned.

6 comments:

Jonice said...

I've popped in just in time to see it's the end. So I won't read now and will come back to find the beginning on the weekend.
:)

Anonymous said...

I just got chills. Don't really know why -- I think it's just because "this page was the culmination of everything" ... It's got such conflicting emotions all on the same page: Nathan's sacrifice and triumph, Hiro's victory and confusion, Peter's prosperity and despair, Claire and her dad's reuniting and uncertain mourning.

I'm glad you remembered the monochromatic version--I'd like to see that.

And yes, I'm a geek for reference photos. You know me so well.

Kelly J. Crawford said...

Looking forward to that podcast.

KJC

CurlyMarie said...

One of the reasons I really loved this page was that it took me right back to the emotion of the season finale, which of course had been just the night before. I really enjoyed the finale, despite parts of it not turning out the way I'd hoped. The episode left me with a very strong emotional reaction, and I enjoyed the fact that the comic ended with a "splash" that returned me to that emotional place.

I'm looking forward to hearing a bit more about the creation of this page. I remember you talking about the monochromatic version, and I'm eager to take a look at the two versions side by side to see what you were looking at. And behind-the-scenes photos: my favorite!

Also looking forward to the podcast. :)

Anonymous said...

Woohoo! Hiro in Feudal Japan. My idea. [/NationalTreasurereferences]. Yeah, I'm a dork.
But anywhoo, I think it goes without saying, but this is the most awesome page ever.
The entire thing is awesome, there is no one best thing and certainly not a worst thing. Everyone came out really nice :) Loving the Mohinder, btw, he's spot on!

Unknown said...

Yes! Yes! Reference photos!!!!!

This is just such a great panel for a lot of reasons. One thing I especially like is the way some of them look outside the limits of the page, like they're looking for help beyond what they can get from within the image. I especially REALLY LOVE the way Hiro looks here. Fan-freakin-tastic.

And I'm sure I'll listen to your podcast over and over, cuz I can listen to you Aussies read the phone book and stay enraptured. ;-)

Hey, Comic-Con for me has moved from the "No bloody way" column into the "kinda possible" column. I'm working on it! I've simply gotta be there!!!! I may go with OlyMendez (hope she can make it) and organize a 9th Wonders meetup at the con. Are you in? Wanna do lunch with me/us? 8-)