Doctor Who - A Journal of Impossible Things (Novelized Version)

[TheNickFox]

Just because the logic of the episode was nonexistent doesn't mean it was bad.

And until I get a good shot of the leather, I'm just using a texture. Hooray for temporary content! At least I can keep motoring this way. I've always been a "guess and check" sorta guy, so I'd rather just get something down now, so that I just have to fix it later instead of having to create it later.

It is strange that they would choose to use the CO toy though...maybe it's really fake texture just looked better than the real deal.

-Nick

 

[Risu]

Undoubtedly. The real book has a very smooth texture that wouldn't really show up well in a purple-washed background like that. And they probably just went out and bought one, opened the package, and took a picture without checking reference images of the original. That's exactly how my journal came out of the package and it made sense because the real way the strap wraps around the book doesn't hold it closed at all. I'll hopefully be able to get the whole thing except for the watch done by tomorrow night.

By the way, have you read the rear cover? It's basically a play by play of the episode, no need to buy the book after you've read that. :lol

 

[TheNickFox]

Yeah, the watch is the only really tricky part. The Gallifreyan (try spell checking that on an iPhone) runes are just time consuming.

That said, my perfectionism will kick in the moment I think I'm done and I'll probably spend more time tweaking it than I did creating it. Thus is the curse of our hobby!

I think I'm going to do a little more work then post up my rough progress for the night.

EDIT: you know you've been working too long at too high a resolution when you're told your scratch disks are full. Haha

EDIT 2: I just noticed that War Machine and his bevy of font experts found the right font. WOW! Thanks so much. This is really shaping up to be awesome. I can't wait to see what else we can do...after a good night's rest. For now, though, that's what I'm going to go do.

-Nick

 

[TheNickFox]

Sorry, for the double post, but I wanted to say it appears there won't be any trouble getting a high quality fob watch image. My lead panned out, and I am now the proud owner of a 2282x1305 pixel copy of the concept art!

It's a thing of beauty!

Okay, it's past 6:00, I should probably sleep for real now.

-Nick

 

[WarMachine]

Oh wow, that's awesome news on the fob watch art. That means we have the font, the back cover image/text, the watch art for the front and side, the Gallifreyan runes and the image of the journal if Risu can get the photo of that down. So that's pretty much everything for a solid base to start.

I just woke up, is there anything I can do at all? Haha.

I grabbed a Who book to measure but now I'm feeling like the TW novels are bigger. This thing looks fairly small. I could have sworn they were the same size but now I'm doubting myself.

 

[Risu]

The Who novels are considerably smaller than the TW ones. Which is a real bummer, because I'll probably never read a TW novel. Oh well, ten bucks is ten bucks.

 

[TheNickFox]

So did you buy a TW novel yet, Risu? If so, any measurements to share?

And as to my progress. Here's roughly where I am. Some things still need tweaking, but not too bad for the time I've put into it so far:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/FoxyMcFox/Picture-17.jpg

The only major thing to add is the cover background. The colors as well as the exact kerning and size of the fonts is what's really going to drive me nuts, but I need to get it just right...and I will!

Let me know what you guys think.

-Nick

 

[WarMachine]

Damn, that's what I thought. I could have sworn they were the same size until I picked up the Who book this morning.

Nick, that is looking awesome. Excellent work so far.

Did you manage to figure out the yellow markings in the end?

 

[TheNickFox]

Thanks, I appreciate it. And what yellow markings are you talking about, the Gallifreyan runes or something else?

-Nick

 

[WarMachine]

Thanks, I appreciate it. And what yellow markings are you talking about, the Gallifreyan runes or something else?

-Nick

Yeah, I just meant the runes, as they're not complete.

EDIT: Also Risu, it may have been $10 but at least you now have the right sized book to wrap up the final artwork with

 

[TheNickFox]

Yeah, I just meant the runes, as they're not complete.

EDIT: Also Risu, it may have been $10 but at least you now have the right sized book to wrap up the final artwork with

There's enough detail for me to work them out...it's just going to be an issue of sitting down and drawing them all out. Sadly there doesn't seem to be a convenient way to shortcut those runes.

I was planning to tackle those after I got all of the text onto the book. So, maybe tomorrow or Wednesday.

-Nick

 

[WarMachine]

Sounds like a plan. Let me know if you want me to try and get them started for you. I have an hour or so to spare today

 

[protokev DMD]

yeah let us know if there is anything more.
I like doing things like this...even if i dont yet have CS5 lol

 

[Risu]

Tried to get one of the books, but B&N don't stock them any more. I'll call my sister tonight (huge Torchwood fan) and ask her for measurements and if she has one she doesn't care to keep, but it'll be a little while before I have it in hand.

 

[rollerboi]

I'll call my sister tonight (huge Torchwood fan) and ask her for measurements.

Let us know. :lol

 

[TheNickFox]

Well, until then, I'll just share my estimates/assumptions. The pages are most likely 6"x9" with 1/8" overhangs for the boards (covers). So the overall cover dimensions should be 6.125" x 9.25".

Then, comes the tough part, figuring height. Using some rough scaling in the image, the book appears to be between 203 and 243 pages long (There is at least one Torchwood book that is 249 pages long so that is a likely candidate). There are a few different formulas for obtaining thickness from page count, but the easiest one has the overall thickness at 1.5" - 1.75" (Based on 203-243 pages and the thickness of the boards in the covers).

So some rough dimensions to work with for now: 6.125" x 9.25" x 1.5" - 1.75"

We can update those as we get more concrete numbers.

Also, what would everyone think if I kept the first post updated with all of the current image finds and measurements to make finding information that much easier for anyone just arriving to our little party?

-Nick

 

[Risu]

I think we should have this thread moved to the paper prop section before we post anything else here.

From memory, I'd say the book is no more than 1.5 inches thick, and even that is probably too much.

 

[TheNickFox]

For me, though, my intention is still to replicate the book, not just the cover. So while a large portion of this prop might be paper, I don't consider it a "paper prop," and I thought for a bit to make sure that I was putting this in the section I thought most appropriate.

If we were replicating a newspaper, fine, but a book is so much more...and I also have some plans to make this sooo much more than just a
cover, though it'll take some time to get it to that point. *eyebrow raise*

-Nick

 

[Risu]

If we were replicating a grail diary we'd still put that in the paper prop thread. Since the prop itself is an existing book, I don't really see the point in making anything more than the dust jacket. Were you planning on typing a 250 page synopsis of the family of blood/human nature and binding it?

 

[WarMachine]

To be fair, I thought you were just making the dust jacket too. Plus the actual prop was a Torchwood book anyway, can't get more accurate than that. Especially if we can find out exactly which book it was.

The only other option is for you to take on the role of Verity Newman (blonde wig and all) and write a novel based on what you think the story involves. That sounds like an awful lot of work though.