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Posted 19 September 2004 - 05:42 PM
master_q: Cartoonist, John Cook continues to produce comical satire at http://www.sev.com.au/. In the Star Trek fandom universe, he is known for Sev Trek, a popular cartoon parody for Star Trek. He is joining us today to talk about it and the new DVD "Sev Trek: Puss in Boots."
master_q: Mr. Cook, I enjoy the work you do on Sev Trek.
It has some of the best satire out there; very funny.master_q: How & when did Sev Trek start, Mr. Cook? What made you think about actually making Star Trek parody cartoon strips?
johncook: It started in 1994. I'd just graduated from uni (doing a degree majoring in astrophysics) and was figuring out what to do next
johncook: I seemed to have spent more time at lectures doodling pictures than paying attention and was thinking about becoming a cartoonist rather than a physicist
johncook: so I started sending comic strips out to newspapers - nothing sci-fi related at this stage - for a year or two
johncook: after about a year, I started a website and having my own little area to post stuff on meant I could do any crazy stuff I wanted so as well as my newspaper cartoons, I also posted some sci-fi parody I'd been working on
johncook: Eg - a cartoon parody of Star Trek called 'Sev Trek: Pus in Boots' where Commander Piker gets a sentient pimple...
johncook: and The Sev Files - a parody of X-Files set in biblical times where Scully and Mulder investigate Jesus' resurrection
johncook: Sev Trek took off at that stage - it was by far the most popular cartoon on my website
johncook: So it was just logical - I kept drawing more Sev Trek stuff till it became the dominant part of the website
johncook: Umm, what was the question again? :-)
master_q: :lol
master_q: Mr. Cook, what's the process for creating a new Sev Trek cartoon? How do you come up with your ideas?
johncook: Originally, it would just be watching the show and nitpicking errors
johncook: I'd be watching it and wonder "hey, why does Picard speak in an english accent if he's meant to be french?
johncook: or "why do their spaceships go whoosh in the vacuum of space?"
johncook: So it started out pretty simple - I'd just have someone ask the nitpicking question. "Captain, why do you have an english accent... etc"
johncook: Early on, I started a punch-line contest where people could submit the final punch-line of the cartoon - a way to make the website more interactive.
master_q: You still do that, correct?
johncook: It kind of took off and started receiving thousands of punchlines each week
johncook: yeah, still runs - it has it's own little section now - contests.sev.com.au
johncook: Reading the punchlines every day for an hour or two was slowly driving me mad after several years of it so to preserve my sanity I came up with a punch-line rating system (we call it ratsy) where all the readers now read and rate the punchlines
johncook: It's always interesting to see what comes on top of the heap each week
master_q: Sounds neat
johncook: Anyway, for coming up with ideas, I started getting lots of emails with people requesting cartoons on nitpicks they'd spotted
johncook: so I set up an "Ideas Board" where people can post cartoons they'd like to see
johncook: I can't even keep up with the incoming suggestions so that's where most of the ideas of the current cartoons come from these days
master_q: At the moment, what's in the works for the next Sev Trek cartoon?
master_q: (Or do you know yet?)
johncook: Do you mean animated or just your usual still cartoon?
master_q: Still cartoon
johncook: I'm very disorganized - I don't know what my next cartoon is until usually when it's due. The best I've ever got was a week ahead in my drawing
johncook: I've got a few rough pencils of the next week done but no Sev Trek - there's a Lord of the Rings parody and a Star Wars: Ep 2 spoof
master_q: How are they drawn?
johncook: I pencil them on an A4 page (that's the biggest I can go and still fit it on my scanner)
johncook: Sorry about the break - my 4 year old daughter just woke up (it's 6am here in Australia)
master_q: I see. That's okay.
master_q: Understandable
johncook: I then ink my cartoons by laying a separate sheet over the pencilled artwork on a light box and inking it with indian ink
johncook: Using a nib and indian ink is a much better way to do cartoons - not only does the cartoon never fade over time, it allows you to draw much stronger lines
johncook: I scan it at 1200 dpi and then bring it into a graphics program Coreldraw to colour it. I add the text last - rather than hand draw it which is a real pain to do with a nib, I use a font I created from my own handwriting (much quicker and neater)]
johncook: The reason I draw it as big as possible (I'd go bigger than A4 if I had a bigger scanner) is by resizing it down, you improve the look of the cartoon - the lines are smoother, the imperfections are reduced
master_q: How long does that take to do (on average)?
johncook: a normal comic strip - the whole process is around 2 hours
johncook: a Sunday cartoon (3 rows high) takes about half a day
master_q: You have other types of cartoons besides Sev Trek. Are any of them syndicated in other publications or magazines or newspapers...?
johncook: I merged Sev Trek and all my other sci-fi cartoons into a single comic strip called Sev Space
johncook: Although I originally did it more for my own amusement than any thoughts it would be sellable to newspapers, it's currently my best seller to newspapers and magazine
johncook: it's most popular in the sunday format. Eg - check out http://cartoons.sev.com.au/sundays.php
master_q: Sounds neat
That we shall do.johncook: I actually stopped doing the sunday version a while back because it wasn't selling and was so much work to do but cause it's doing so well, I'm going to start drawing them again. The other cartoon that is syndicated is Twist which is a general single panel cartoon - much like Far Side.
master_q: Do you have any particular favorite Sev Trek cartoons (or a specific theme/subject matter for a cartoon)?
johncook: In general, my favs are the sundays - there's much more opportunity for a bit of dialogue and building up a joke
johncook: whereas the daily strips are more a quick gag - a question and then the punchline
master_q: Yeah, that's true.
johncook: I like the cartoons with plenty of parody in them. Eg - "Political correctness":
johncook: it makes fun of just how PC the Next Gen was (which was what inspired me to start spoofing Star Trek in the first place)
master_q: I saw that one. I'm a "political junkie," so I enjoyed that one a lot. LOL
johncook: "To boldly sit"
johncook: which looks at how DS9 kinda violates the whole premise of Star Trek, "to boldly go" when they just sit around waiting for someone to fly by
master_q: :lol
johncook: Ratings
johncook: looking at what Voyager will do to try and boost ratings (catsuit, anyone?)
master_q: Let's talk about "Sev Trek: Pus in Boots," which is now available on DVD in PAL format.... By the way, Mr. Cook, do you know when the NTSC format will be available?
johncook: First to answer the ntsc question, I don't know, that's up to my distributor
johncook: But so far all my orders have been to Europe and the UK and I feel bad, the whole North America is being left out
johncook: So I think I might start nagging my distributor, tell them it's time to do the ntsc
master_q: What is the plot and concept of "Pus in Boots"? What are the external & internal conflicts in it?
johncook: The basic plot of Pus in Boots is Commander Piker (sev version of Riker) gets a pimple that turns out to be sentient
johncook: So of course, he can't pop it, it would violate their PC directive - to explore and preserve all life
johncook: It was my way of wondering just how well this utopian crew of Star Fleet officers would act if you afflicted them with a more everyday problem (with a scifi twist of course)
johncook: So there's conflict between Piker who wants to preserve his rugged good looks and Captain Pinchhard who wants to communicate with the zit
johncook: Then the zit grows to nearly man size and detaches and they're forced to hunt it through the ship
johncook: Meanwhile, they're being attacked by an alien ship (I just had to get a gratuitous space battle in there somewhere)
master_q: :lol
master_q: In basic terms, how was "Pus in Boots" made? How long did it take?
johncook: Production took 2 years. In a sense production was simple as there was only one animator - Andrew Simpson
johncook: How it would work was I wrote the script, sent it to the voice actors who would email me back the voice files
johncook: Then I trimmed and edited the voice files and sent them off to Andrew along with the storyboards
johncook: He'd put together rough versions of the scenes with the voices in there to establish timing and send me each shot one at a time
johncook: I'd paste them together to look at how the scene was playing and send back changes.
johncook: Eg - trim 15 frames here, change that action there, move the camera around differently, etc
johncook: Mostly it seemed to be trimming frames - I wanted to keep things moving as briskly as possible
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johncook: Sometimes that'd frustrate Andrew - as an animator, he'd like to linger as long as possible on his models and actions (after all, he spent a lot of work on them)
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johncook :eofs - make up your mind :-)
master_q: :lol
master_q: Gosh
[Sat Sep 18 16:28:51 2004:EofS [0/] AAS-Login:]
Indy: :lol
lt_van_roy: ::hands eofs some duct tape::
johncook: The whole process took 2 years but in hindsight I'm amazed we got it finished at all - Andrew put in a herculean effort to do it all single-handed
Data:
johncook: To lighten Andrew's load, we got some help for aspects of the animation
johncook: Eg - Dan Beeston would do the lip syncing - working out the lip shapes for all the dialogue
johncook: That was a tough job in itself, particularly for all the technobabble scenes.
johncook: Early in production, we mistakenly framed some scenes so you couldn't see the person's face while he was talking - Dan wasn't too impressed as his lip-syncing was wasted!
johncook: We always made sure the faces were visible after that :-)
master_q: Well, it sounds neat, Mr. Cook. I wish you the best of luck, and when it is available here in the U.S. I'll be sure to get it
Indy: me too
Data: ditto
master_q: Let us move on to the second part of the chat and see what's coming...
johncook: let's do it
master_q: We usually start from the top – down ... this time let's start from the bottom – up
Unadopted_Angelic: have any of the actors or actresses from any of the shows you have parodied seen your comic, and if so, what were their reactions?
johncook: I go to conventions now and then and it's always with some trepidation when the actor looks at a parody of their character
johncook: Particularly when the cartoon is not particularly flattering towards them
johncook: Eg - a Nicole de Boer convention where all my cartoons made fun of Ezri Dux - portraying her as dizzy, annoyingly bubbly
johncook: Nicole's reaction was to laugh, saying "it's so true" (I breathed a sigh of relief, I was expecting a slap or something)
johncook: I got Robert Duncan McNeill to sign one with Tom Paris snogging Belanna on a console. He signed it with "next time draw me with a better butt"
Indy: :lol
Data: lol
lt_van_roy: LOL
johncook: That one was pretty weird :-)
johncook: I try and get actor's to sign my original artwork - that's the only thing I collect
Unadopted_Angelic: having read the description of the movie version I was wondering which type of animation do you prefer the old fashioned pen and ink or the computer generated form?
johncook: I think I actually prefer 3D cgi animation - your Pixar style, over 2D. Maybe that's just a bi-product of the trend in animation these days - 2D seems to be a fading art in movies with 3D getting stronger and stronger
johncook: You can just produce some really spectacular stuff in a 3D environment
johncook: That said, the current animation I'm working on is 2D
master_q: Could you tell us a bit about that?
johncook: I'm doing a Sev Trek animated desktop with another animator Mark Stay
johncook: It's called "Sevmates" (the sev version of Deskmates)
johncook: we've got a free version of it online that you can download:
johncook: http://www.sev.com.au/sevmate/
Data: cool
EofS: (Have you updated it so it's compatible with browsers other than IE yet?)
johncook: It's just a smaller version with about 10 animations on it. We're currently working on the full version, putting heaps more animation in it
johncook: eofs - do you mean other OS other than windows?
johncook: it's not a browser thing, it's just an animated windows background
EofS: No, I mean browsers other than IE - when you sent out that very first version, before you made it public, clicking to open the Sev homepage opened it in IE, not the default browser
lt_van_roy: eofs - are you using aol? That happened to me sometimes when I was on it.
johncook: hmm, forgot about that - will have to check it out again (thanx for the reminder)
EofS: I was using AOL at the time, yeah (and thanks John)
johncook: Most of the animations we're coming up with are trying to think of new ways to injure or kill ensigns
EofS: Have you plundered the punchline archive for "How to kill an ensign?"
Leander: John, did you mention on your site or on the DB that sevilians need to register to visit here? ;-)
johncook: EofS: lol, didn't even think of that, will have to go in there, read the many creative and sadistic entries
johncook: Leander: No, I'll post it now
Leander: :-)
EofS: The winner could work quite well even...
johncook: An ensign riding a photon torpedo? I can't believe I hadn't thought of that yet
Indy: :lol
WEAREBORG4102: John, what is your favorite episode of tng?
drwho42: :lol
Leander: ah photon rodeo??? :-O
lt_van_roy: Dr. Strangelove in space.
johncook: TNG is my fav Star Trek series so there are lots of favs
EofS: I live to serve *bows*
Leander: net, first serve!
Indy: hehe
johncook: I forget the title but I like ones like where Data is put on trial to see if he's a sentient being or not
Indy: The Measure of a Man
lt_van_roy: OK, my turn. What is your favorite race or character or series to parody?
johncook: I just like the dialogue (I'm a dialogue nut), arguing back and forth
Unadopted_Angelic: would you consider your web based animation a web comic
johncook: Unadopted_Angelic - not sure what you mean. Pus in Boots isn't really web based in that it's only on video, DVD not on the web
Unadopted_Angelic: I meant the 2d stuff you tend to put on the web
Leander: but there is/was the TOS animation thingie before that.
EofS: And the Star Wars trailer
Leander: with Quirk and Spook in the transploder room
johncook: The only 2d animation we've done is the 'light version' of the Sevmate - not really a webcomic in that it's not in a webpage
johncook: The TOS animation was our first experiment with 3D animation. Looking back at it now, it's crude, chunky but it still gets a laugh which I guess is the main thing (people are forgiving of a lot of flaws if it's still funny)
johncook: At that stage, we didn't know what we were gonna do with animation - it was all just experimenting
johncook: The Star Wars trailer had a weird history too - we started out putting that on my website (it's just a 90 second spoof of the Star Wars: Ep 1 teaser)
Leander: Who did the voices for that btw, Wally Fields? (sp?) (and sorry, I'll let the others bug you again now! ;-))
johncook: Then we were contacted by Atomfilms who were starting a Star Wars Fan Film Network (yes, Wally did every voice and sound effect in that animation including the vooooom of the lightsabres)
johncook: They asked us to submit our animation but it had to be approved by Lucasfilm first
johncook: Lucasfilm rejected it (without giving a reason)
johncook: So we resubmitted it but took out all the spurting blood when Daft Mule chops off his own head
johncook: This time they accepted it :-)
Leander: hehe
Indy: :lol
Data : the blood must of been it then
mags0: I know you have an on-site Idea Board but what is a typical brainstorm session for you, pen in hand with sketchbook in front of the tv? Also, is Gaby into Star Trek yet?
johncook: mags: first no, Gaby isn't in Sev Trek yet. Now I've finished Terrible Twos (hopefully not permanently), my only outlet for drawing Gaby will be Sev Space cameos so I'll see if I can sneak her in there somewhere :-)
Leander: lol, X-files episode on tv and one of them is commenting on something saying that what suggested "sounds too much like star trek". Heeehee
mags0: No I meant into the series.
johncook: My brainstorm sessions are more sitting on the floor in Gaby's room or in the backyard while she plays, doodling ideas in my notebook
johncook: mags: you mean in the animation? Well, we're not working on any 3D Sev Trek stuff but now you mention it, maybe I will put her in the sevmates (thanx for the idea :-)
mags0: No, lol, does she watch Star Trek?
Leander: maybe the animated series? :-P *runs*
johncook: mags: she doesn't watch Star Trek, she has seen a LOT of Sev Trek though, usually during production while I was working on it
johncook: When I was working on the fight scenes, she'd imitate it by pummeling me so maybe there is a link between cartoon violence and real life violence
EofS: Does she know about Bubwatch?
johncook: eofs - she has seen her website with all the baby photos - she likes to surf around it and look at the photos, she's a big fan of pictures of herself
EofS: Enjoy it whilst it lasts... ;0)
johncook: She also loves reading Terrible Twos but I always get nervous when she reads them - I usually have her doing something really naughty in the cartoon (cutting curtains, painting the walls) and worry she's gonna copy it (life imitating art imitating life)
Indy: I love the names you come up with for our characters, villains, etc. Do you ever have trouble coming up with a clever name for anything?
johncook: Indy: sometimes I have trouble but then there's the ideas board where people will post dozens of ideas for a single character
johncook: to answer lt_van_roy's question from way back, my favorite aliens to draw are pretty much any with lots of protruding and prominent bumps
Data: Klingons and Ferrengi
lt_van_roy: and 7 of 9? [You're dead meat lt_van_roy.
I would edit that out, but Mr. Cook does reply to it. LOL]johncook: it's a rule of caricature - the more interesting the person, the easier to caricature (which is why good looking people are harder to caricature, there's less to work with on a 'perfect' face)
johncook: lt_van_roy - well, I like drawing 7 of 9, of course, but I am male
johncook: hmm, can we delete that from the transcript in case Wendy reads it?
Odie: Hi I love your movie. Will there be another one in the near future?
johncook: Odie: we're not working on a second Sev Trek movie as yet - I'm taking it one step at a time and will wait till we finish a few other things first (eg - the 2D sevmates)
Odie: thanks for answering my question!
lt_van_roy: I would imagine some characters are almost self-parodies already.
johncook: lt_van_roy - some characters are great for parody. Eg - Kirk, yes, almost a self-parody. He's got plenty of material to work with
johncook: Generally, the stronger the character, the more there is to parody (similar to the caricature principle)
johncook: Or to get really shallow, characters with distinctly physical characteristics are fun to do too
johncook: Eg – Janeways
johncook: Janeway's hair (more the tight bun of the early seasons)
johncook: Or Kirk always ripping his shirt
johncook: Or overweight Scotty in the later movies (although that offended a few people so I don't do it as much now)
drwho42: Heya JC, just curious what is your favourite Sev-version of a name, like Buns McCorduroy, etc., and what's your favourite TOS episode? :lol Will there be more of "Dr Whatshisname", btw?
johncook: As for which series I like to spoof:
Corsair: Scotty was a strappin, hard drinkin guy in tos...
johncook: hmm, to answer DrWho first: my fav TOS ep is "Space Seed"
drwho42: :thumbs
johncook: favorite sevname? That's a toughie, a lot to choose from
johncook: As for Dr Who spoofs, I really want to get on to doing more. I've got a whole bunch of eps on tape but just haven't got around to watching them.
johncook: Dr Who is probably the most requested show that I haven't covered much yet
johncook: Farscape was also requested a lot but I've started drawing more of those lately
drwho42: :lol
johncook: And of course Pirates of the Caribbean because of all the Orlando Bloom fans on my site
johncook: So fav series to spoof:
johncook: Lord of the Rings, of course
johncook: But that's mainly cause I'm an absolute Tolkien nut
Indy: I also enjoy Sevgate
johncook: It's actually the better the show/movie is, the better it is for spoofing as I tend to spoof only shows I'm interested in
johncook: Indy: good example - I haven't done that much Stargate parody as I just haven't been able to get into the show (and I try)
Indy: I do like the ones you've done though
johncook: Col Jack Oneill is a good character for spoofing though.
spacetigger: Great comic strips..I was wondering if there would be any interest in publishing a book with all of the Sev trek comics ...
johncook: spacetigger: great idea! In fact check out http://www.sev.com.a...php?productid=1
johncook: :-)
johncook: Although the book was done years ago, it's high time I do a new one
drwho42: Oh, is there a Sev name for the Daleks yet, btw?
johncook: I've thought about it - I'd like to do a general Sev Space book - but just haven't had the time lately
spacetigger: Nice John...Thanks..Looks great...
johncook: DrWho: yes, sevname for Daleks is "Dumblucks" – see http://cartoons.sev....es.php?catid=78 for other Dr Who sevnames (not to many yet unfortunately)
drwho42: :lol
Any ideas for a Sev-version of the "Twilight Zone"?Leander: Btw, JC, how did you come across this startrekfans website/chat thingie? (oh good idea to do a new sev book. :-P ;-))
johncook: DrWho - hmm, haven't watched a twilight zone in ages. Tough one, doing scifi parody works best with well known characters rather than one-off episodes
drwho42: Cool, I understand.
master_q: Well, I actually contacted him through his website, and then asked him if he would be willing to come and participate in a special guest chat here at StarTrekFans.net.
johncook: Leander: this is my first chat on startrekfans.net
Leander: cool
BlueCrystal: Can I obtain posters of some of your works?
BlueCrystal: I think my step-children will love them upon visiting my house
johncook: Bluecrystal: I've done a couple of different posters - one for Sev Trek set in Quark's bar with every single Sev Trek character I could fit
johncook: The second was for Sev Wars (spoof of Star Wars) set in Mos Eisley
johncook: And lastly, we released a huge poster with the Sev Trek: Pus in Boots film
johncook: The cartoon posters are at: http://www.sev.com.a...ory.php?catid=4
johncook: The movie poster is at: http://www.sev.com.a...hp?productid=33
BlueCrystal: Oh this makes my day! Thank you. I wish to wallpaper my guest bedroom in sevtrek!
johncook: What I'd really like to do is a Lord of the Rings poster - a huge map of middle earth with lots of little cartoons all over it
EofS: Are you concerned that now that Auspac prevents you from syndicating the toons online you will stop attracting so many international fans?
johncook: EofS: I would like to syndicate the cartoons online - it's a great way to spread the cartoons around, spread the 'sev word' as it were
EofS: I'm thinking just of the way that people used to be able to put them on their site with a link back to Sev (and even, in the day, submit punchlines)
johncook: Auspac asked me to stop it for a while as it'll undermine them selling the cartoon to publications with websites - I'm going to give them a little while longer and if they haven't had much success with it, I'm going to go back to online syndication again
johncook: I'd really like to do it - I'll just give Auspac a chance first as they've been great with selling my cartoons
EofS: Aah ok, thanks. I was just concerned because I know many of us found Sev through such linked 'toons
Uhm... I have mine next to me if that counts? 
