I started doing dios because I’m lazy.
I always wanted to do a comic for a long time. Following the advice of “write what you know” I dug my old GI Joes out of my parent’s attic. I thought action figures would make things easy with all the characters already created and I thought taking pictures would be faster than drawing.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Turns out dios are a whole lot harder to do. I never though about all the limitations like facial expressions, poseability, props, sets, the domino effect, etc. Photography isn’t easier than drawing either. There’s lighting, focus, perspectives, flow from shot to shot, etc. (I’m sure everyone here knows what I mean.)
Another reason I started doing dios was that I thought it would be unique. I was under the impression I was doing something innovative. About two months after starting
Troops of Doom I found JoeDios. I had no idea there were so many people doing dios and at much higher quality than I was. I almost quit TOD right then. But I decided I was having too much fun and became a member instead.
Writing is the easy part, the ideas just pop in my head. Most of the time anyway. When they don’t I stand a bunch of figures on the computer while I’m working. Having them in view all day will often spark an idea. Photographing I take 10-20 shots per frame, up to 140 per episode, to get the best possible photo. More options the better.
Dios take a lot longer than I expected, and TOD is always done in frantic last minute panic. An episode takes me a half hour to five hours to do. I’ve found good ideas take less time than bad ones.
Looking back this post seems negative but it’s not. I’m having a lot of fun with TOD and JoeDios. As I build some more sets, get some props and buy some proper lighting the limitations will lessen and the enjoyment will increase. It’s like being a kid again.