Concert Posters (The Tragically Hip) – Epic Sendoff – MK Stangeland, Jr.

(As I was thinking of a script for this week, I remembered the time we had a week for that thing called “Phonogram”, and decided to write a script set in said world.)

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: Final concert for THE TRAGICALLY HIP – the members a loading onto a ship in the background of the stage that resembles the one from the CONCERT POSTER from this weeks prompt.

CROWD (Off-panel): Encore! Encore! Encore!

Panel 2: Lined up on the ship, the band begins to play.

SFX: (Music Notes)

Panel 3: Back of the ship – the part that looks like it came from a record player – starts playing music notes.

SFX: (Music Notes)

Panel 4: Bottom of the ship, where the parts of the stage keeping it in place pull away.

SFX: (Music Notes)

Panel 5: The ship flies up and over the crowds, who go absolutely wild.

SFX: (Lots and lots of Music Notes)

SFX: (Cheering)

(END PAGE)

Phonogram - Unity - Max Barnard

The Premise: Phonogram is this perfect concept for stories, this simple idea of music = magic. I was tempted, upon missing this week long ago, to do a story using the characters from the books, but that's not Phonogram, not really. The characters are just examples of how the world they're in, the music they experience, can affect people. So instead we have an idea formed almost half a decade on, that of music as literal protest against those who seek to oppress the very people they
serve. And indeed music as a great unifier.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

#.1

A person sits in front of a television, in a somewhat delapidated room, their expression unseen, as the screen shows the bloated pustule that is the face of one David Cameron, with the simple BBC news ticker below his visage read simply " Cameron in for 2nd term". It doesn't matter what the person looks like, anything unassuming would do the job (after all, in many ways they are so many of us), but really I give free reign to you, the artist, to do as you like. I would, however, edge towards the person being in the young adult, 18­25 range, if such a thing can be conveyed, simply for the relevance to those most affected by this recent political outcome.

CAPTION: And so it happens. We lose our rights and have our faces stamped on by those we ourselves have voted for.

#.2

A view of the person's upper body and face, leant forward, with a tight­lipped anger on their face. Think less rage and more... A frustration with the news they have seen.

CAPTION: Well...

CAPTION: *I* didn't vote for them.

#.3

They are up, throwing a beaten­up jacket on, moving with determination and purpose. Hard to convey in a static movement, but the sort of positioning one would have when marching, or even bounding across a room, would probably do well here.

CAPTION: It might technically be fair, democratic, even, but to so many of us it's nothing but a sign of the unfair things to come for us.

CAPTION: The young, the poor, the old, the unwell, we're all in for it.

#.4

And out the door of the flats they live within, a ratty backpack and headphones added to their person, striding down a street in residential London, one of the areas prone to increased gentrification, like Hackney, if you need a strong visual reference.

Our person's eyes are glowing white with the brimming magic filling their ears.

CAPTION: So we do what we can to fight back against it.

CAPTION: Bringing a bit of our own little brand of magic along the way.

#.5

Our person approaches the thronging crowd, now in central London, where our most recent protests garnered the most attention. They are chanting, unified, in one purpose. People of all religions, colours, and creeds. A varied mass of the young, rebelling against a system victimising them.

CAPTION: 'Cause we are the world, and we are the people.

CAPTION: And we will be heard.

#.6

And now our person is in amongst them, one of the many, chanting along, fighting for what they believe in through the power of the song flowing through the crowd, their eyes all lit up with the magic of music, as characters in the world of Phonogram are wont to do when at their most powerful. This is a surge of that, spread amongst many. Protest music.

CHANT(*): WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAINST THIS! WE'LL BE FOREVER AGAINST THIS!

Phonogram – Behind the Music - MK Stangeland Jr.

(4 Panels)

For thematic purposes, the page should be done in Black and White. Each panel should be of an equal size and stretch the entire horizontal of the page.

Panel 1: A man, MR. BEST, sits at a booth in a smoke filled pub. His face is obscured by a certain lack of lighting. A drink sits on the table in front of him, and a few miscellaneous individuals sit nearby to listen to him speak.

MR. BEST (1): These artists today like to think they have phonomancy figured out. They don’t.

MR. BEST (2): In all our modern history, only four men can ever claim to be true phonomancers.

Panel 2: MR. BEST continues to talk, even as his identity continues to be obscured. The smoke around him begins to form crude music notes.

MR. BEST (1): There’s a reason their music remains as popular as it is. Just like there’s a reason they took the world by storm in the first place.

MR. BEST (2): They weren’t just artists, they were bloody magicians.

Panel 3: MR. BEST continues to talk as the smoke notes begin to come together – they should make out the part of the tune of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” for anyone who’s willing to try to figure out what song the notes represent.

MR. BEST (1): I could have been one of them. I was one of them, once. But then we discovered the magic.

MR. BEST (2): The other three, they thought we should use it. But I didn’t believe in it. So I left, and was replaced with a Starr.

Panel 4: The panel is cut in half by the smoke and the notes it’s forming, with MR. BEST relegated to one side while the rest of the panel makes room for another scene. The right half of the page should be highly recognizable as being from The Ed Sullivan show as he introduces The Beatles.

MR. BEST: Plenty of people claim to know their history, but few know the truth about the origins of…

ED SULLIVAN (1): (Caption Box) Ladies and Gentlemen…

ED SULLIVAN (2): (Caption Box) …THE BEATLES!

(END PAGE)

Originally, I considered doing a page which featured Elvis as a phonomancer. But then I discovered the heavy British angle the comic seems to have. Thus resulted what you see here.

Phonogram - Are You Listening? - Grant McLaughlin

We find ourselves in Chloe's apartment, along with her recentish boyfriend, Brian (new characters). Both characters are phonomancers. Both are youngish twenty-somethings. Both are kind of nervous in the way that recent couples often can be.

1 – Panels 1 and 2 are one complete image cut down the middle by the gutter to divide the scene. Brian sits on Chloe's bed in her room, supporting himself by casually leaning back on one arm. His body language seems to be relaxed and at ease, but there is a hint of agitation on his face.

BRIAN: This is ridiculous.

2 – Across from Brian, Chloe stands at her record player, getting ready to put on a new album. Also seemingly relaxed, she looks over her shoulder at Brian, wearing an expression of determination.

CHLOE (1): This is far from ridiculous! I am about to share my absolute, all-time favourite album with you. This has to be perfect.

CHLOE (2): So close your eyes already.

3 – Back to Brian. A straight on shot, focusing on his upper body and face. He's still on the bed, but he is now covering his eyes with one hand. He wears a devious, but playful grin.

BRIAN: Alright, alright. No need to freak out about it.

4 – Close up on the record player. The needle is down and the record is starting up.

BRIAN (off-panel): It's only music after all.

5 – This panel is inset on the left hand side of panel 6, which takes up the bottom third of the page. Chloe has crossed the room and is now standing just in front of Brian. The panel is a close-up of their faces, cut off just above the nose and going a bit below the chin. Brian wears his same grin. Chloe also wears a grin, though hers is far more fun and playful. It is an intimate gesture. She's probably going in for a kiss, if not something more.

CHLOE: Come on, Brian.

6 – Outside shot centred on Chloe's apartment building, with other houses and buildings in the neighbourhood visible.

CHLOE (off-panel): ...we both know it's so much more than that.

Phonogram - Dawn of the Phonomancers - Danial Carroll

PAGE ONE (seven panels)

PANEL ONE, WIDE
We see a wide view of the main stage at the Big Day Out. There is a crowd of thousands standing before it.

CROWD: Hilltop! Hilltop! Hilltop! Hilltop!

PANEL TWO
Closer on the stage, we see Suffa, Pressure, and DJ Debris, of the Hilltop Hoods, walking out on stage. Their hands are in the air, greeting the crowd. Suffa has a mic to his mouth.

SUFFA: What's up, Sydneeeeey!

PANEL THREE
Close on Suffa, pointing to his left.

SUFFA: Pressure MC, what time is it?

PANEL FOUR
Close on Pressure, mic to mouth. His hand is gesturing in the standard hip-hop fashion.

PRESSURE (1): Quarter to midnight, a sea of slaughter I’m in flight,
PRESSURE (2): Red running water getting caught in the rip tide.
PRESSURE (3): Cars out of order man I thought I could hitch hike,
PRESSURE (4): Sporting a chainsaw for I’m avoiding a fist fight.

PANEL FIVE
We see both Pressure and Suffa singing out to the crowd. The lyrics they are singing are superimposed across the whole panel:

They built my city on top of a grave,
Now the dead roam the street like a rotting parade.
Quarantined and forgotten for days,
These are the stories of those who have gotten awaaaay.

PANEL SIX, WIDE
From behind them, we see Pressure and Suffa waving out to the crowd.

SUFFA: Sydney, you've been--
PRESSURE: What the fuck?

PANEL SEVEN, WIDE
Closer on the crowd, having all turned into zombies.

CROWD (1): Brains.
CROWD (2): BRAINS!!
CROWD (3): Huurk.
CROWD (4): Gluuuuur.

Phonogram – A Comet Disappears – Ryan K Lindsay

PAGE 1 – 7 PANELS

1. A stark light hanging from a bare roof flickers. Can we show flickering in a comic?

Caption: They shone a chlorine light on,

2. A young guy is strapped to a table. The flickering light makes him look pretty shabby.

Caption: A host of individual sins,

3. A female hand caresses the guy’s face.

Caption: Let's carve my aging face off,

4. The guy’s eye shows the reflection of a knife in her hand.

Caption: Fetch us a knife,

5. A woman, a witch, is arching back with glee, we can’t see what her hands are doing.

Caption: Start with my eyes,

6. The woman’s face in close up, she’s sexy, nasty, the exact sort of thing that lures in guys like this all the time.

Caption: Down so the lines,

7. A cordon of sexy witches watch.

Caption: Form a grimacing smile.

Phonogram - Hatful of Hollow - Rol Hirst

Panel One.

A desolate hillside on Saddleworth Moor, the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire (that's in the UK, boys and girls, and just up the hill from my house). A long straight road stretches into the distance. The ground is heather and peat. The only life here: the occasional sheep. At the side of the road, a broken bicycle stands upside down, waiting for someone to mend its punctured tyre.

In the foreground, away from the road, a mound of recently disturbed earth is visible. Is this a grave? Has someone been buried here?

Panel Two.

Close on the grave. A hand tears up from the earth, grasping for life.

Panel Three.

David Kohl claws his way out of the grave, peaty soil tumbling from his hair. He’s wearing a dark jacket and a “Relaxed Muscle” T-shirt. He looks really pissed off.

KOHL: Not again.

Panel Four.

Kohl steps out into the road, shaking the soil from his clothes. He’s wearing dark jeans too. He’s really, really pissed off now. The overturned bicycle taunts him.

KOHL: What is it this time? Suffer Little Children? I Know It’s Over?

KOHL: Oh, great – the punctured bicycle. Always the bastard bicycle…

Panel Five.

As Kohl kicks the bicycle out into the road, a huge red double-decker bus can be seen hurtling towards him along the moorland road. The destination on the front of the bus is Strangeways. The bus is being driven by an evil cartoon headmaster with a mortar board hat and cane, like a character from The Beano.

KOHL: I fucking hate fighting Smiths fans…

Phonogram - The Calling - Ben Rosenthal

Some background information may be needed for those of you who have never heard of the fantastic group called Joy Division. Click to listen to the song featured in this script, so that you may get a better understanding of the emotion behind it.

1. A teen sits knees up with his back against some lockers. Dressed in all black, his hair dyed black which covers his brow and most of his eyes. He cuts a very emo-esque swathe. This is Jordan Worner (new character). Jordan sits in the corridor of a high school of which he attends. Other students walk past without giving him any notice. Where Jordan is dressed in black colours, the school and others walking by in the hall are dressed in bright primary colours. In Jordan’s ears we can see earphones connected to his music player.

1a. This panel appears in Panel 1, but is a smaller box which shows a close up of what is playing on Jordan’s music player. It shows the music player in Jordan’s hands, which are between his knees. The screen is clearly visible. The display shows the name of the song that is being listening to, the band that sings it and a small bar at the bottom which displays how much of the song has played, and how much is left to play. It reads;

JOY DIVISION

DEAD SOULS

2:09/4:56

2. From the same side on view of Panel 1, tighter on Jordan’s face. His head is still bowed, hair still covering his eyes. However his mouth is open as he sings along to the lyrics of the song. The lyrics to this song dance do not look like a normal speech balloon, but rather are ballooned themselves. They are a coloured in greys and black, with musical notes surrounding them.

LYRICS

Someone take these dreams away,
That point me to another day,
A duel of personalities,
That stretch all true realities.

3. A segment of the crowd passing Jordan has slowed down, with a few stopping dead in their tracks. Their faces show signs of being upset. This panel does not see Jordan himself, but the words he is singing are visible. The grey that the words are made up of seems to be seeping out of the lyrics, and beginning to replace the colourful immediate area around the lyrics.

LYRICS

That keep calling me,
They keep calling me,
Keep on calling me,
They keep calling me.

4. Back to the same as Panel 1, however Jordan is looking up. He has noticed that the crowd passing him by has stopped, and are not as jovial as they once were. In the crowd, more teens have stopped, faces looking more and more forlorn as the lyrics Jordan sings seep more grey into the colourful backdrop of the school, invading it. Still, Jordan continues to sing.

LYRICS

Where figures from the past stand tall,
And mocking voices ring the halls.
Imperialistic house of prayer,
Conquistadors who took their share.

5. Jordan is now standing, his back to us. He is looking at the crowd before him, now completely taken over by the grey of the lyrics he sings. There is no more happiness in the school hall, with all students looking down and depressed. A few cry, some are even doubled over in despair.

LYRICS

That keep calling me,
They keep calling me,

6. We are looking up at Jordan from waist height. He is looking down at his hands, amazed at what seems to be happening. The background is now completely grey as Jordan finishes the song, eyes wide with excitement.

LYRICS

Keep on calling me,
They keep calling me.

Phonogram - David Can't Fail - Matt Duarte

Phonogram in “David Can't Fail” by Matt Duarte

Panel 1

Description: David Kohl is standing in a bar, cockily smoking a cigarette and holding a drink, as if about to take a sip.

CAPTION: Despite the oh-so-popular disaffected façade and natural contempt that Phonomancers tend to wear in each other's presence...

CAPTION: The truth is that in the weeks after the “Britannia Incident”, my name was spoken in hushed tones and awed reference by everyone I came across.

Panel 2

Description: David is drinking from the glass now, and behind him we can see two rather young girls looking at him from the far end of the bar. They are whispering to each other, and David probably knows this too as he smirks to himself.

CAPTION: Half of them wanted to shake my hand and pat my back. The other half wanted to punch me in the most painful place they could imagine.

CAPTION: Me? I was happy to take it all in.

Panel 3

Description: From behind David, as he is walking to the stage of the club he is in, which is little more than a couple of inches above the rest of the ground. On it, there's a guitar player, bass, singer, drummer, and a keyboard player. Standard band set-up. Around him, there's only about a dozen people.

CAPTION: If the whole music scene wanted to collectively stroke and/or bite my shaft, I was more than willing to let them.

CAPTION: Hubris? I don't know the meaning of the word.

SINGER: This next one goes out to David...

CAPTION: ...wait, what?

Panel 4

Description: Same layout as before, except some new members have appeared on stage: a saxophone player, a trumpet player, and a trombone player. Behind them, a large chessboard flag has dropped bearing a phonomancer sign. David is now freaking out, arms to his side. The people that were scattered before are now forming a circle around him.

SINGER: The biggest cunt in this city. Who killed one music revival already. We won't let you do it again.

CAPTION: Shit. Shit. Shit.

SINGER: PICK IT UP, PICK IT UP, PICK IT UP!

CAPTION: Another ambush. Weapon of choice? The only genre more ephemerally short-lived, banally narcissistic and purposelessly catchy than Britpop...

Panel 5

Description: A small in-set panel, showing only David's face, which is a mix of horror and despair.

CAPTION: Ska.

Next: Riding the Fourth Wave!

Why Phonogram?

Has a song ever changed your life? 

Has a band ever made you question the way you think?

Has a genre ever help you define who you were at a given moment in time?

If so, then you already know what Phonogram is about, even if you haven't read it yet. 

Alright, so maybe not exactly, but the Phonogram series by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie takes those very same ideas and elevates them to something further. In the world of Phonogram, music is magic, powerful and mighty, wielded by a select group of people known as Phonomancers. Among them is David Kohl, who acts as the protagonist in the first story arc. Through the eyes of Kohl, we see the world of Phonogram as analyzed through the lens of Britpop, a genre of music that existed primarily during the 90's. But Britpop is not the point. Even if you have never heard a single Britpop song, you will get enjoyment out of this series (I know I did).

The message of Phonogram is far too big to be contained to one single genre of music. Music is magic is a pretty simple easy concept to grasp, but one with huge ramifications. I'm looking forward to see how our tenured writers and play-at-homers can manage this week.