Doug TenNapel Talk about Storytelling

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Comic and animation creator Doug TenNapel (Earthworm Jim, Catscratch) spoke earlier this month at the Art Institute Inland Empire about the topic of “Telling Your Story Through Art.” The 52-minute lecture is below. I haven’t watched it yet, but I know that TenNapel’s unique perspective on things is often very entertaining.

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  • http://jmdurden.blogspot.com justinDURDEN

    Currently watching it for a second time.

    Doug always makes good points, and I always like to hear his side of things. Also, if anyone hasn’t seen it, here’s Doug talking about Digital Comics.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAUi7Nn3LM

  • Jonah Sidhom

    Just finished watching the whole thing, thanks for posting!
    Good to hear some common sense advice every so often.

  • http://siskavard.blogspot.com corey

    This is a great find! A 50 minute lesson for free. I’m still amazed at the power of the internet as cheesy as that sounds.

    He is basically saying that universal truths are timeless, & that there really no new stories to be told, they are all old tales with new skins.
    At least that is what I understand from this.

    Thanks Amid

  • Chris Merritt

    Don’t forget ‘The Neverhood’ – one of the most inventive and brilliant video games of all time. An amazing score by Terry S. Taylor on that as well…

  • CIA

    He doesn’t quite realize that there’s precisely 32,768 stories, but his notecard process is a cool intuitive way to try and grasp at that truth.

  • http://www.animwork.dk/ Ketil Bleidin

    Thanks for posting!

  • Demetre

    Whew! That’s my school baby. This is the second time Doug has spoken on story.

  • LooniINmiami

    I dont want this to turn into a religious coversation but…

    Aren’t Mr.Tennapels artistic views and stories based on his religious views?

    Most of his personal works ,if not all, have some basis in the Bible.

    So as an artists, are his truths based on universal truths or truths written down by men millenias ago?

  • Scott

    Created AND written by men, then re-written, utilized for power gains and corruption. Yes.

    Drama.

  • http://www.taberanimation.com Taber Dunipace

    He’s pretty candid about the fact that a lot of his ideas come from religious themes, but everyone gets there ideas from somewhere and Doug is a keen observer of life in the raw as well.

    If you’ve never read his comics you should, they’re fantastic!

  • GhaleonQ

    Chris, and don’t YOU forget Skullmonkeys and Boombots, the equally inventine and funny follow-ups.

    …I’m a huge fan of everything he does.

  • http://www.daganm.blogspot.com Dagan

    WOW!!!

    One of my favorite artists of all-time, heralding ALL the way back to gawking at the Earthworm Jim instruction booklet! -ha :)

    It’s interesting to hear that Mr. TenNapel lectured on story, specifically…

    When I think of him, I always think of STYLE first, and just wonderful
    (and whimsiscal) drawing. Very cool! He’s certainly had a great impact on both comics and animation, and I can’t wait to dig into this interview.

    Also, gotta mention TenNapel’s comic series, Gear. I just loved those books!

  • LingOL

    “Created AND written by men, then re-written, utilized for power gains and corruption. Yes. Drama.”

    Spare us.

  • Jonah Sidhom

    LooniINmiami: Both. Truths are truths, no matter when they are written down.

  • Mark

    I love how transparent he is with giving credit to his wife and children as inspiration for challenging and redirecting his craft. Doug said a lot of great things about story development in this talk, but I really appreciated his commitment to family and seeing his creativity as a gift. This video is so refreshing!

  • http://smomotion.com :: smo ::

    definitely one of my biggest influences! having doug come speak at my college changed up my learning process and how i approached things. seeing this video again reminded me i’m a wuss for not working when i “don’t feel like it”.

    doug’s a great guy, really smart and prolific. say what you will about his subject matter [then read joseph campbell and see that he's right regardless of whether or not you're using a religious lens] he’s got great points about story, workflow and attitude.

    every time i hear one of these interviews it’s like a kick in the pants to shut up and start working on something.

    thanks for posting!

  • http://deleted OtherDan

    That was great! I regret getting to know him when I had that chance.

  • http://barbaryape.deviantart.com Chris Z

    in uni at the moment trying to get work done and started watching this at the same time, really inspirational stuff. been having a bad “boring” uninspired day and this has really lifted my spirits ala big kick to the butt. DRAW DRAW DRAW

  • Karl Marks B.

    Definitely inspiring, but while visiting the website some things regarding abortion abolition, link to non-believer’s immorality book and in your face conservatism seemed out of place and left me with a sour taste… something we could have been spared with.