Natalie NourigatBesprekingen

i want to be an animator so i was really excited to read but this rarely provided information i didn’t know already and was more about L.A than the animation industry and i couldn’t relate as a turkish student lol

I have several friends who dream of getting a break and finding a dream job in films or animation. Either field is a daunting and often completely intimidating prospect....most never get a call-back or an interview. When I got offered a review copy of Natalie Nourigat's graphic novel about her start in animation, I jumped on the chance to read it. I was so curious about how animation careers work and how people get started.

Natalie illustrates and tells her story with humor and honesty. She talks about the pros and cons of the industry, moving to LA, and the costs, work loads and pitfalls. She even talks about what it was like to move to a very large city to live on her own for the first time. She had to learn how to deal with being lonely sometimes, and how to start getting out and making her life more than drive to work, work, drive home, sleep, repeat. It's a lesson we all have to learn....but it's a bit rougher alone in a huge metro area.

This book could be a very important learning tool for art school students and those truly interested in pursuing animation as a career. Natalie talks openly about how much effort, time and patience was required for her to get through the interview process and snag a job.

I love the artwork! It's simple, understated and perfect for this book's purpose. Her words are straight-forward and honest. She talks openly about what has been good and bad about her career choice, LA and her start in a very competitive (but awesomely creative) career.

Full stars from me. I'm not an art student (I totally lack the talent, but love to be cheerleader for anyone I meet who does have artistic talent), but I found the information incredibly interesting. It made me think about all the people, work and creativity behind some of the animated movies and shows I love! So much time, effort and creativity go into each project!

**I received a free review copy of this graphic novel from Boom! Studios. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. Congrats on the awesome job, Natalie! You rock!)

I plan on getting this for my animation friends. :)

A nice little information dump about how one might break into the animation industry. The first part is a bit text heavy but Nourigat keeps things moving along. The last little section of the book where other animators offer "Alternative P.O.V.s" is super text heavy, dull, seemingly endless and nearly derailed the whole thing for me. I would have preferred to see the info, the people and their advice integrated more lightly into the main body of the work.

A Boy & a Girl by Jamie S. Rich is about a chance meeting and infatuation at first sight. Travis meets Charley on her last day in town and he desperately wants to get to know her better before she ships out.

But this isn't just any boy meets girl, boy loses girl type comedy. No. This one is set in a future where artificial intelligence has gotten good enough that androids are becoming commonplace. There are even those, its rumored, who can pass as human, even to themselves.

A Boy & a Girl is the graphic novel thematic missing link between Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968) and Ridley Scott's Bladerunner (1982). Anyone familiar with either the book or the film will figure out what's really going on pretty quickly, but it's still a delightful and satisfying read.

I haven't fallen into a story this hard in years. I literally couldn't hear my boyfriend when he was talking to me. I was afraid Natalie Nourigat's art would be "too polished" and lose the energy and emotion she had in Between Gears, but I was pleased to be wrong. It is still Nourigat and fantastic. Just cleaned up and easy to follow. And now I am ready to look for more by Jamie S. Rich. The surprises were actually surprising and the story is sweet and weird and totally up my alley.

ARC provided by NetGalley

The future is here and lifelike androids an AI is real. But emotion is still real and love cannot be denied as a boy and a girl meet, and neither can forget each other. It's Charley's last night in town and Travis can't get her out of his mind. He spends all day attempting to track her down and when he finally does...it will be night that neither of them will forget.

I know it sounds like a common, hackneyed plot from a bad romance movie...but trust me it isn't. The only bad thing about this book is trying to write a review that doesn't give the plot away. But let's image Asimov meets a John Cusak rom/com film, robots and love and life and what it all means. In this relatively short book Jamie has crafted a story that leaves us questioning what emotion really is and what it can be. It's a well written story that deserves several reads and I can imagine will be a great book group discussion.

Natalie has quickly become one of my favorite artists since discovering her autobiographical comic, Between the Gears. Her artwork is deceptively simple, easily capturing the bare essence of the characters in a few simple lines and bringing to life the world around them. Overall the images are engaging and draw you in so that you can be a part of the life of the characters.

I give this compelling story 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it for teenage readers and up. When it comes out it will definitely have a place in my library.

One of the things that appeals to me about webcomics, is that it’s given a rise to a great number of autobiographical comic artists. These comic artists tend to be primarily young writers and artists, and webcomics allow them a chance to share the highlight of their day or those split-second funny moments with the rest of the world. It also has other benefits, such as allowing the writer/artist to perfect deadlines, improve their storytelling and artwork…but I digress. This increase I think has helped develop and nurture young writers/artists and introduce them to the world (and allow them to get published), such as Natalie Nourigat, the creator of this work. Natalie shares with readers a day by day account of her senior year in college–her adventures in finishing homework, of sorority life, of finding those quiet moments in hectic time, of wondering what life will be like after college. It’s these types of moments that are easy for anyone to relate to.

While a number of the comics share the seemingly trivial aspects of the day, Natalie allows us to take a close look at who she is, what drives her and makes her who she is, and at times giving us deeply personal glimpses into her life as a young woman just about to enter the real world. And to me that’s the best thing about this work. She doesn’t try to hide those moments that others might be embarrassed about or hide the genuine love that she feels for her family and friends. It’s like she’s got a video camera with her and we get to follow her along everywhere that she goes. And yes there are days where it feels like nothing has happened or that the moment she shared with us is less than interesting, but that’s what makes this such a great work. She bares her life to us. It inspires me to create an autobiographical webcomic…not that my day would be interesting as Natalie’s but…still.

Natalie’s artwork is deceptively simple, easily capturing the bare essence of the characters in a few simple lines and bringing to life the world around her. And the great thing about her doing a daily comic is that we get to see her art and style progress as she learns more about her craft and how to quickly capture those moments without spending days upon days trying to catch every detail. When she first starts the comic the artwork definitely has a more anime style to it in how the characters are drawn and move, and she uses thicker brush strokes to capture everything. But by the end of the book she’s progressed to a slightly more realistic style and thinner brush strokes. Don’t get me wrong, I like the artwork all throughout the book, but seeing the progression gives a great indication of the time and effort Natalie put into honing her craft (and an example that others can follow.) Overall the images are engaging and draw you in so that you can be a part of her life.

This is definitely a book that I’m purchasing for my shelves and I would recommend it to any fan of autobiographical comics. And while you can read all of the entries online (http://betweengears.smackjeeves.com/), do yourself a favor and buy the book so that you can see the details even better.

Background: “This honest, autobiographical account of a college senior’s life will transport you to the land of Jell-O shots, term papers, job interviews, road trips, and sanguine optimism in the face of uncertainty and change.” From the author/ book. I think that this sums it up very well.

Review: Between Gears is amazing! I loved it. It follows Natalie aka Tally, a college senior who chronicles her daily life. I loved the illustrations and as the character grows and changes we also see the same of the author. The illustrations are choppy and cluttered at first but get better and clearer as the novel progresses. Some of the episodes are hilarious and fun, others a slow and a little on the boring side…but it’s the life of a college student; some days ARE just plain boring. I loved the honesty in this graphic novel and some of the content hit close to home, as I too once was a college senior and understood a lot of the cramming and panic moments.

When I first began reading, I knew that the storyline followed a college student but was a little deterred by the drawings looking very young, I am glad that as I progressed she felt older.