Thanks for splitting C:
kinougames wrote:
Not just magical girls so much as stories that are happy and will end happy.
I don't even think I'm capable of writing a story where the shit doesn't hit the fan at leeeeeeast once. >_>
repost:
You can always go CLAMP and kill everybody in a nasty way in the end <3
Auro-Cyanide wrote:It is indeed quite a problem. I think one of the main issues that artists don't really get a chance to take a lead in a story. I can't speak for everyone, but as an artist, working on someone else's story is not the same as working on your own (which is why many artists turn to doing comics instead). That being said, I can also understand why it is done the way it is and I find it hard to try and fix the problem if the situation was flipped.
For instance, I have a number of stories that I would like to turn into vn at some point. But visual novels are a massive amount of work and I can't do everything myself, especially if I do the art. Would writers be ok being in the opposite position of someone else providing the ideas and direction, and them doing the writing? I would understand if they wouldn't because artists are not always particularly pleased in being told what to draw. It seems that artists often play secondary roles to writers and or programmers when it comes to direction unless the project it being done mostly by the artist.
My personal experience: it doesn't work.
My first try was to ask a writer friend to make a story for me and I'd draw it. I drew it, he never wrote past day 1, and I'm quite sure he has written plenty of other things D:
Second attempt was to plan a story together with a friend. She ended up writing other things instead as well.
I doubt I'll ever get a writer write a story for me, since they always have other stories they'd rather be writing and I completely understand that.
So, the artist has to either give up on their story or learn how to write...
Another point may be lack of artistic creativity. Many vns are simply made up of backgrounds and sprites, with some cg scenes. But there is such a massive potential for other elements to be added in, such as graphic novel elements (like the opening scenes to lucky rabbit reflex, I was very impressed by that). These elements are avoided because they present a massive amount of work. However, it isn't completely different from the level of work required for a full colour comic (speaking of art only). Getting a group of skilled artists together with a comic in mind and then carrying it out as a visual novel would be really interesting I think.
Another thing I noticed about quite a few vns are they are very text heavy. While in comics you have to know when to tell and when to show, I think because of the heavy labour/money cost of art, many vns rely more on words. This isn't particularly stimulating from an artistic challenge point of view.
Most artists actually find it appealing that you only have to draw a few sprites, a few backgrounds and a few event CGs and you can put something together, because it is a lot of less work than doing a comic!
But the problem is, again, the writing. If you don't have a writer, you try to write yourself. The advantage in comics, is that you tell most of the story visually, not through text, and that an artist can do it better, even if it takes longer to draw. You can even draw a mute comic and let the images tell everything!
My main point (after the ramble) is that there is a lack of interest and incentive for artists. There are quite a few artists who are interested in VNs, it is an interesting medium for conveying a story after all. But when you weigh the level of work with the amount of benefit, it becomes a little bothersome. Sometimes you can invest in someone else's story and sometimes it is a struggle. What does an artist get out of the massive amount of hours they spend making the art, especially if they have no emotional investment? I consider myself a reasonable artist, what would I gain from working on a VN when I could be working on my own stories and art? I don't even know the answer to that question.
I would be interested to see what would happen if a group of artists got together to have the full direction of a story, artistic freedom with the medium. But then you have problems with having writer/programmers/composers etc falling into secondary positions and the inequality starts all over again.
Quite a problem indeed.
I have that same problem sometimes ^^;
Especially since writers (not all of them, though!) tend to want to make epic stories that you think will never end and you think about the huge amount of art they need... ugh...
You can always do it for the love of art and for the sake of portfolio material and/or practice... or just go and make a comic >>;