June 25th 2024
Welcome to my weekly diary charting the ups and downs of turning my Victorian whodunnit, Octopus: Octavius Guy & The Case of the Throttled Tragedienne, into a podcast. I'm its author, Michael Gallagher. Beric Livingstone is its narrator.
Where Beric is at:
I finally got an email from Beric. He's received my notes for chapter 6 - 9, though he signally failed to tell me which version of the fonts he prefers for the cover art. We really need to speak by phone, but he's so busy.
From Chapter 9, Gooseberry follows Mrs Potts when she hightails it to Sadler's Wells Theatre, where he manages to interview someone with important evidence.
"I'm the stage doorman, son."
Learn more about Beric here:
Where I am at:
I did start playing with drop shadows and a block of shadow to highlight the lower portion of the text. It brings about a very subtle difference to the background, which makes the text stand out a little more. You mightn't even see a difference unless you compare the images side by side.
BEFORE
AFTER
The subtitle now has a drop shadow on the text, while the "by" part has a block of shadow on a plane between the text and the background. It's a work in progress.
One of my main concerns at the moment are the bouquets of flowers the Covent Garden flower women are holding. Even in John Thomson's original print, they could be holding anything; a bag of chips, for example. It's impossible to tell. I'm considering pasting in some actual flowers, which would bring a dab of complementary colour here and there.
From July 30th, I'll be posting these weekly progress reports each Sunday morning. Till then, folks!