This panel is from Mach One Entertainment. This is an animation production company to bring comics to animation. The panel had comic book creators Lorenzo Lizana, Rick Burchett, and Anthony Oropeza.
Lorenzo Lizanna is in charge of Mach One Entertainment. He is a renowned creator of comics and animation. He is best known for his work the Lion Forge.
Rick Burchett is an amazing comic artist and a great guy. He is known for his work with DC Comics and has drawn about every character. He is renowned for drawing the introduction to Harley Quinn in comics (first appeared in the Batman: The Animated series).
Anthony Oropeza is best known for his original comic character of Amigo Man. Amigo Man is the first bilingual comic with one side in English and flip it over to read the same story in Spanish. Oropenzo owns AOArt5 Studios.
Lorenzo Lizana, Rick Burchett, and Anthony Oropeza are helping to bring comics to animation with Mock One Entertainment. Lorezno oversees and directs the productions. Rick creates storyboards for the stories. Anthony worked hand in hand with Lorenzo to bring Amigo Man to animation.
We were treated with trailers both from an adaption of Amigo Man and Knight Rayven. The animation has a classic look. It was a ton of fun.
Rick was asked about the differences between comics and storyboards. Rick stated that the big difference between comics and storyboards is comics are interactive and stuff happens off the page. Storyboards are not that way. Storyboards have to draw every scene and cut of a scene. They are the starting place for the story for the animation team to begin. Rick did state “I am old” and still draws all of the storyboards by hand with pencils then inks and markers.
They were also asked about the differences of Layouts and storyboards. Lorenzo and Rick discussed how a layout gives you a big picture where where the characters are at. It helps with characters in the background. Layouts are more like a map.
Rick was asked about working with the animation teams for Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond. He started that when he went to adapt Batman Beyond Origins, the animation team sent him the storyboards. He stated this made his life so much easier since he had the references.
Lorenzo was asked about his process of creating animation. He started the key is remain on model. This means the artists stick to the models of the characters. Before animation is created, full spin-around looks at characters from different angles are created and refined. They are provided with several expressions for each character. This makes animation much easier.
Lorenzo was asked about adapting material from others versus their own. He stated both can be great. The big challenge with adapting to knowing who is in charge and many people you have to go through. “Less cooks in the kitchen is easier. The more people in charge, the harder it is. It is about the producer and who is in charge.” With your own, this is easier. He went on to state he loves when challenged with adapting material others think it cannot be done.
They discussed the trailer and upcoming series Knight Rayven. This is currently a comic. It is a story about a star professional football linebacker who gets superabilities and fights crime at night as Knight Rayven. This story is based on Ray Lewis, former linebacker of the Baltimore Ravens. Ray loves this comic and his helping fund the project to bring this 10-episode animated series to a streaming service next year.
I asked about any challenges in working with Ray or fear about the animated series because of the prior scandal and murder accusations of Ray Lewis. Lorenzo stated that anytime you work with a celebrity, you have the baggage of their past. but since the character isn’t actually Ray Lewis but is based on him hopefully it will not be an issue. But with social media, there may be some pushback.
This was a fun and educational panel about creating animation.
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