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OK Folks,...I first would like to introduce myself. I'm a cartoonist living in Western Tennessee and I'm about to embark on the cartoon of my life.
I have spent countless hours on the story development and design and the characters are ready. The next step was the setting. Well,...really...it was never a question. I remember writing the outline and immediately thought of West Virginia. Before you assume that I'm implying anything about WV, let me assure you that I have had a few very quick brushes with the state and from what I saw it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! Wilderness galore! A shame I only drove through it while in a hurry. I will get back there!!!
Despite the beauty that I know of WV,...my setting for the comic,.... takes place in a very small and depressed old mining town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. This is where I'm stuck. I need several nice crisp photos of a depressed (or just basically forlorn or sooty) main street and also some shots of perhaps a few older worn looking homes along the valley ridge, perhaps a few pretty shots of a stream or rocky bank along a river or lake and of course a few distant shots showcasing the mountains and hills. I need these for my drawing references so I can actually capture the lead character's hometown.
This is where I'm stuck. It's not feasible right now to drive out there with my Canon Camera in tow and leave my family and job right now and just look for a town to call "home", but it may be my only hope. Does anyone here have any towns that you know of that might fit the bill for my cartoon? Any Photos of that particular town?
I may even be more than willing to pay for someone closer to one of those towns than me to take some desired photos if I could be sure that they were equipped with a good quality camera (doesn't have to be awesome, just 4MB or greater).
I've seen some posts here about a few towns like Gary, Laeger, Hinton etc. and they seem interesting and depressed enough, but again,...without at least a dozen great pics,...it's hard for me to tell. The town needs to be depressed but still functioning of course. As sooty as can be would be preferable.
Can anyone help me or point me in the right direction?
To me, this is the most interesting/poignant part: "Northfork High School won a national high school record eight consecutive basketball championships in West Virginia AA competition from 1974-1981, ten championships overall. Northfork High School closed in 1985."
The last time I was through there (granted, it was over a decade ago), the old school building still stood. As did a faded old sign welcoming you to Northfork, "The Basketball Capital of the United States."
It's a typical small WV town that's seen better days.
Oh, I thought you would want pictures of us with no teeth and our sofa's out on the front porch .
Actually you should be able to get a few shots of old town that haven't really changed much through the years. I know Mannington WV is that way, besides the area where someone burnt down a few years ago the town basically looks the same from when I was a kid, swinging bridge and all.
This is helpful. I will look into those towns. I'm looking for pics within the next couple weeks. Probably at least 12-24 from within the same town in various spots. Would be the ultimate if I could also get an inside shot of some rooms in an old house,..but I don;t see that happening soon...
I can see it now,..."Excuse me Maam or Sir,..can I walk around and inside of your house/basement and take some pics...... for research of course!"
Yeah,...Like that would go over real well.
If I were there,..I'd probably pay them to let me do it. But,..they may still not trust me. I don't think I would trust a stranger these days either!
I may have to use an old house here locally as the inside references.
You did not say what your cartoon is about - since you are wanting a depressed area that leads me to believe once again we are going to be made to look like idiots. Please tell me it's not so.
Attn posters: I'm grabbing my shotgun - me and my ole' dawg are going sit under the tree out back sipping moonshine and waiting. In that tree, I'm gonna lynch the first poster who helps this critter make fun of me.
Aw shucks, OP - you're from TN. I'm sure you also get your share of being made fun of.
Vec,...wooooahhhhh,...ease up. I was hoping to avoid this. The lead character is a small boy who is living with his grandfather (who doesn't show much interest in the kid) because his father had passed away due to the results of black lung. Mother had died when he was only 2. The boy lives in a house along a strip mining ridge. Boy is lonely and finds comfort in an unexpected friend. The strip becomes very humorous and as time progresses,..the setting actually changes colors to brighter colors from the dingy browns and greys in the beginning. Message is about the power of positive thinking and aiming for a goal.
I guess I could keep it (the comic's setting) in rural Tennessee if that will help with the sensitivity of some West Virgininans. Lord knows I've heard it all myself residing here in the Volunteer state, but I just laugh it off. Heck,..I'm from NY,...so when I arrived in Tennessee,..everyone sneered at me and considered me a damn Yank. They assumed I was rude, obnoxious and insensitive. Then after several years here and returning to visit NY,..they considered my a hick, lazy, and backward thinking.
Something drew me to West Virginia. Where many see old ghostly signs of rusted buildings and mining equipment and weathered homes....I see beauty. I see something different. I see decades of sweat equity and hard struggles. Others may see it too,...but I also see hope. I intended on bringing some of that hope to my little corner of the world; comics.
There will be NO hillbillies,..unless the story arc calls for one. There will be no shotguns unless it fits in the story. I think Appalachia has been beaten down enough,..and if the reality of my story shows a beaten town,...it's because it is,..not because I'm fabricating it. Amongst the rubble and the grim realities of a poor town, I intend to showcase LOVE, INTEGRITY, HONESTY, DEVOTION and HOPE!
Amazing what some brighter colors will do to my strip,..and what HOPE will do to my characters that are in it.
You did not say what your cartoon is about - since you are wanting a depressed area that leads me to believe once again we are going to be made to look like idiots. Please tell me it's not so.
Attn posters: I'm grabbing my shotgun - me and my ole' dawg are going sit under the tree out back sipping moonshine and waiting. In that tree, I'm gonna lynch the first poster who helps this critter make fun of me.
Aw shucks, OP - you're from TN. I'm sure you also get your share of being made fun of.
How 'bout i take a picture of my dump and the holler i live up. (i live a few feet outside the city limits of Charleston)
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