#herpixels

Thank you for tagging me, @herpixels​​! 🌼

I'm not going to tag anyone specific because I literally wanna see everyone's take on this. So, please, if you want to, do it! 

I went a bit overboard, sorry 😗If you actually read it all, I will love you forever.

YOUR WRITING PROCESS 

Show us a part of your script or explain how you write your scenes. Do you write in screenplay format or novel format? Etc, etc.

I love writing in novel format but, for sims storytelling, I feel the need to write a screenplay.

I start by writing all the dialogue along with the action cues and setting descriptions. This helps me visualize how much space I will need for the characters, which and how many props will be necessary etc.

From the simple screenplay, I make a shooting script and a checklist. 

The shooting script is super helpful because it allows me to break my screenplay down into shots so I go in game already knowing exactly what I want from it. 

This will all sound like I think I'm some big shit but honestly... I just get brain farts WAY too often. So having everything kind of ready helps me remember little things like ADDING THE DAMN POSES INTO THE S4S for examples lmao.

SCENE BUILDING 

Show us you in the middle of scene building through pictures, gifs, or a video. Explain what is the best thing about scene building and what is the worst!

Scene/world building is 100% my favourite part of the whole process! 

I use a lot of references from the real world. The small coastal village of Brindleton is based on many places in England, mostly villages/towns in Cornwall and Devon. 

I enjoy looking for inspiration pictures on Pinterest and going on Google Earth tours, really LMAO.

Of course, there is only so much I can do with Sims to make it look realistic, but if you squint your eyes and shift your head, maybe? fjhgdfhjkg

I do the same for my residential lots and interiors. But interiors are a bit more fun for me because, besides not needing to worry about background extras, I can personalize the environment to my characters. 

CC/POSE MAKING 

Do you make your own cc/poses for your scene? If so, what is your process like to create? Do you just go off the top of your head? Do you use reference photos?

Nowadays, I make 98% of my poses. The remaining 2% is just me making some adjustments on pre-existing ones. I can't help it. I absolutely love seeing my visions come to life like this. 

I also enjoy making poses because I like giving my characters some distinguished body language. 

For example, Beth is the only character who slightly puckers her lips to the left. Usually, when she's thinking or when she's upset. It's basically the main part of her face - other than her eyebrows - that will give her true feelings away.

And Mary, on the other hand, is way less emotionally repressed. Any minor inconvenience will make her upper lips twitch upwards. She also pouts a lot more and has more eyebrow movements. 

Yes, I am a loser for paying attention to these things shhhhhhh.

Usually, I don't need anything other than an accessory or two. But lately, I've been LOVING to make recolours and convert objects into pose accessories. Whenever I have my script ready, I take note of what I will need for the scene in my checklist.

You probably don't even notice or care as much as I do, but still! They add much to the narrative imo and I feel like I'm giving depth to the characters by tailoring their accessories and the world around them. It's really fun for me!

GETTING IN THE ZONE

What do you do to get in the zone to work on a scene? Examples include: show us your playlist you use when working on a scene, what’s your go-to scene snack/drink, etc.

I have playlists on my Spotify for the main characters as well as one for the story. Beth and Mary's individual playlists are the ones I listen to the most and they are called Countryside Teacup and European Train Ride respectively because these are the vibes I get from the songs in there dslkfjsklfsd.

I also LOVE listening to instrumental playlists on youtube like this Cottagecore and this Royaltycore ✨massive points to you if you can find my comment on the royalty core video 🌚

I don't really snack while working on my story posts but I drink mate tea like CRAZY or, sometimes, I'll just have a beer to get my creative juices flowing ehe.

SCREENSHOTS FOLDER

Give us a look into your screenshot folder to show us just how much goes into ONE scene for your story. (Scrapped pictures encouraged!!!)

I never take too many screenshots with different angles because of my pre-planning! 

However, I do have, like, 10 to 15 repeated shots because I take some with DOF, some without, some with shadows, some without etc. And I'm always terrified of the screenshot not working, so I press the my hot keys like 5x jddjlkgd.

Here are some scrapped pictures from previous story posts:

CAPTIONS

Are you a caption on the picture kind of storyteller or captions in text box type of storyteller? Why? Do you do both?

I love doing the graphic novel format, with "speech bubbles" sort of. I personally find it immersive. But I also love and crave for the novel format, so I'll write a little "after scene" sometimes in the text box for extra depth ☺️

EDITING

Explain and show us your process editing a scene through a video, gif, or picture. A Before and after will suffice if you aren’t in the middle of editing a scene as you answer this.

Since I've done a few posts telling a bit about my editing - and, truthfully, not much goes into it - here is a before and after!

THROWBACK

Show us an ANCIENT story scene you done in the past and explain how you would do the scene differently today!

Okay, ANYTHING from my early simblr days is cringe worthy. The dialogue isn't good, the lighting is extremely yellow - due to my crappy laptop -, the outfits and the settings are all over the place, I--

I chose this one image because it was one of the first times I was doing a story post instead of just a gameplay update. I don't even have much else to add, just look at it jkljdfklgjdf. 

a tag by @herpixels​ ♡

WRITING PROCESS - Show us a part of your script or explain how you write your scenes. Do you write in screenplay format or novel format? etc.

here’s an example from [this post]. i didn’t end up putting stevie in the scene at all, because i figured it would be redundant. my notes are just that; notes. i never end up following them to a tee!!

SCENE BUILDING - Show us you in the middle of scene building through pictures, gifs, or a video. Explain what is the best thing about scene building and what is the worst!

ahh i don’t have any pics & i’m not currently working on a post, but i actually love scene building! it’s one of my favorite parts of the process. making cc, poses, building, decorating the area, posing the sims, etc. is probably my favorite because i almost feel like a director or something? it’s just cool to see my vision come together like that!

CC / POSE MAKING - do you make your own cc/poses for your scene? If so, what is your process like to create? Do you just go off the top of your head? Do you use reference photos?

i usually do make my own poses or adjust pre-existing ones! i also make pose accessories or edit meshes to suit my needs. here’s a blender shot from [this post]

i don’t usually use reference images, but i do occasionally “frankenpose” to save time! (don’t do that if you’re planning on uploading your poses though, fyi)

GETTING IN THE ZONE - What do you do before working on a scene? Playlist you use when working on a scene, what’s your go-to scene snack/drink, etc.

i literally live on black coffee, i always have a pot going lmao. i also have a million [spotify playlists] for each character, so i can get in the right mood! but when i’m actually writing, i only listen to instrumental music. usually life is strange ambient music!

SCREENSHOT FOLDER - Give us a look into your screenshot folder to show us just how much goes into ONE scene for your story.

i’m an absolute mad man when it comes to screenshots jksjd i take anywhere between 400 to 700 pictures for one post!

CAPTIONS - are you a caption on the picture kind of storyteller or captions in text box type of storyteller? Why? Do you do both?

i put them on the photos themselves, and then if there’s a bit of extra dialogue (but not enough to make a second post), i’ll put that in the caption. i like to caption my pictures because i feel that it’s a better way to incorporate imagery and emotion into the story. i don’t think i would even want to take screenshots if i didn’t put words on them, like.. what would be the point lol

EDITING - explain and show us your process editing a scene through a video, gif, or picture. A Before and after will suffice if you aren’t in the middle of editing a scene as you answer this.

before vs. after!

THROWBACK - show us an ANCIENT story scene you did in the past and explain how you would do the scene differently today!

omg... i think i’ll do this one in good faith and choose a picture that i was actually really proud of when i took it:

august.

ok so i do the arts every now and then so i have paid for some of my brushes, BUT when it comes to editing i use ones that came with procreate that are legit perfect.

when it comes to blending, shading, or highlights i tend to always use either the soft brush or soft airbrush from the airbrushing set. they give off the best effect for softer, more natural looking editing especially on maxis match sims. 

also for blending, when using the smudge tool, i like to use the soft blend brush from this brush set. i paid a whopping dollar for these, but im pretty sure you can get them for free and i just make things harder than they need to be.

from this same creator, i also have this brush set. I don’t use these as often, but i still recommend them.

I was tagged by @xldkx​ & @poetic-falls​ ^^ Thanks a lot for the tag and your patience ‘cause I’ve been hesitating to do it or not but I’ll try to make it short !

The challenge: show a certain part of your story process based on you being tagged by other creators!!!

I was tagged by Sam “Hot Dog!AU” @cyberth0t and @herpixels! Thank you, both! I’m taking Sam’s lead and answering #1 on the list of challenge questions.

1. Your writing process - show us a part of your script or  explain how you write your scenes. Do you write in screenplay format or  novel format? Etc, etc.

I primarily use Evernote to organize and write my story. I like that I can sync between the desktop program and my mobile app because motivation hits me at random times.

On the left, you can see I keep a Gutterverse stack, with notebooks for various types of writing. I mostly work in the WIP notebook and migrate finished scenes into the Completed notebook.

On the right, I do a light amount of coding of my documents. I use Evernote’s tagging system to sort by character, pairing, and locale. I also use terms in my titles to differentiate between their length. S is for scene (1 post with multiple images and moderate text length); R for run (multiple posts for long scenes); and 1S for one-shot, which is a post with caps and little to no text. I bother with this because I like to create a mixed pace--small snippets in between longer ranges of text.

Sometimes I get really stuck on a scene, so I’ll move from Evernote to my personal journal. I find that the slower pace helps me process. Oftentimes, I’ll use that space to ask meta questions (”What’s important?”) about the scene to help understand motivations of the characters, or what needs to occur, etc. so that I give myself some more scaffolding to write.

Generally speaking, The Gutter House has been written primarily in script format because it’s more approachable for Tumblrites than full paragraphs. However, I do have a long-term goal of writing the story up in prose.