Seeing as how 2002 is the year of Spider-Man, Marvel decided to naturally release a number of comic tie-in books, including one called Quality of Life by acclaimed Batman and Elektra writer Greg Rucka. The difference between Quality of Life and pretty much every other single book on the market is the fact that QoL is done entirely by computer, courtesy of CGI artist Scott Christian Sava.

Scott, who is also the head honcho of his own studio, Blue Dream, has taken a few moments out of his incredibly busy schedule to answer a few questions that pretty much everyone has had on their minds since Quality of Life debuted in May. So sit back and enjoy, and by the way, read Quality of Life. It's spideriffic!

The Spider's Web: I'll start off by asking how you got started doing computer-imaging artwork?
Scott Sava: When I was in art school (Academy of Art in San Francisco) I got an internship at Sega of America.... My first job was doing pixel by pixel animations for Sega Genesis games.... That eventually grew into full time work after I graduated...and with the induction of 3D into games...I got to learn the software...and eventually moved on to Movies and TV.
While working in games and TV and Film...I had always continued painting for comics....doing covers...cards...and interior work.... Last year...Marv Wolfman suggested that I try mixing the two mediums....and the rest...as they say...is history.

The Spider's Web: Were you much of a comic book fan as a child? Who was your favorite character?
Scott Sava: Spider-Man...of course. I grew up with re-prints of the original 20 issues of Spidey....and I LOVED em. I still have my drawings I did when I was 8 or 9 where I'm emulating Ditko's art.

The Spider's Web: How did Blue Dream, the studio responsible for Quality of Life, come to be?
Scott Sava: I was getting SO much work that I had to start bringing on help.... So...I formed Blue Dream Studios. Right now...it's still just me working from home....no actual studio yet...ha ha..... But with the internet...I can work with people all over the world...and that's really cool.

The Spider's Web: How does a series like Quality of Life come about? What goes into the creative process to make a completely CGI comic book? What is the downside to doing a CGI comic book?
Scott Sava: Well...it's a Movie....that's the easiest way of describing it.... Whe we first started the project back in December.... I had to design the characters...the look and all.... This is where Tracy Lee came in.... He's an ex Disney artist who did the original designs for the characters.... I wanted a stylized look...and he added that flair we needed.
Antero Pedras, Adrian Hartrey, and Marcello Bortolino handled the modelling duties.... Antero and Adrian did the environments and Marcello did the characters....
Anything that didn't exist...which was EVERYTHING....had to be built. So...Spider-Man...Ock...Lizard....etc. Then the city...that's every street...building...window...rooftop.... The interior environments....hospital rooms...the Daily Bugle....etc.... Down to every last coffee mug....light switch...and desk lamp.
The characters....to move...needed to be rigged with bones.... That was Scott Hyman's job.... In all...he rigged ALOT of characters in a short amount of time...
Then...after all this...or actually during this....I am doing re-designs with Tracy...tweaking scenes with Adrian and Antero....modifying characters with Marcello...and giving notes and testing the rigs with Scott Hyman. It's a long and tedious job.... I also had to light every room....to give it the look and feel I wanted... I add morph targets for facial expressions for the characters.... This means I have to model each facial expression for each character....every raised eye brow...open mouth...smile...happy...sad...etc. Then I did all of the layouts on paper....scanned them in and colored them to give me a better idea of how I wanted the scenes to feel color wise. After that...I bring in the characters into the environments and set up the characters and adjust the lights.... Then...it's show time.... After that..I take all of the images I take in the scene and bring it into Photoshop to do the final layout. Whew....I'm tired just writing this....

The Spider's Web: How were you contacted about doing Quality of Life?
Scott Sava: Marv (Wolfman) hooked up with Axel Alonso at last year's San Diego Comic Con....and handed him a couple of sample pages.... I got a call shortly afterwards....

The Spider's Web: How does it feel to be doing one of the first comics done completely by computer?
Scott Sava: It's a daunting task....it's actually terrifying. I put ALOT of pressure on myself to not abuse the chance of a lifetime....
I also wanted to make sure that I used EVERY thing I learned in TV and Film....and also to apply everything I learned as an Illustrator....and lastly...apply everything I know about comics. So...for every page...for every frame....I'm looking at it from at least 3 points of view.... I'm trying to please the comic community....the 3D community....the animation community...etc. It's alot of pressure....ha ha

The Spider's Web: Aside from the art, did you have any input on the storyline or script by Greg Rucka? What were your initial reactions to the story?
Scott Sava: Well Greg was brought on to write for my project some time in December...but he couldn't start working on it until maybe January... So we had some time...Axel and I....to kind of play on our own. The first 7 pages is the result of that.... I've always loved Doc Ock....and so Axel and I came up with the first 7 pages as an intro to the story...and Greg...when he was available...came in and wrote the dialog to it.... THAT was fun....
As for my input on the scripts.... From what I've learned...most writers...and this is what I'm told....don't really work with artists as closesly as I thought. I talked to Greg a bit at the beginning....but...with his work schedule...I didn't get to talk to him much. Greg's a talented writer...and I have no doubt that his name on the cover made a major impact on the book's success....

The Spider's Web: Who would you say is the target audience for Quality of Life?
Scott Sava: Originally....when Axel asked me to do the project....it was an ALL AGES story. It was going to capitalize on my stylized look..... But Greg writes the way he writes...and when he was brought on...I think he didn't want to offend his fans who've come to know him for his darker stories.... So...along the way...the story got a bit darker than I would have liked.... Hopefully it still stands as something most people can show their kids....but I'd advise parents to read it first before showing the last issue to younger kids.

The Spider's Web: Looking back at the art from issue to issue, do you see an improvement as the series progresses?
Scott Sava: Oh heck yeah!
The difference from issue 1 and 2 is staggering.... Then issue 3 is considerabley better...and issue 4 is even better still..... There was NO time to learn before I started this...and for issue 1...we were still building models...and rigging em....and there was NO time to deal with the artistic side of lighting and such....
Now that the scenes are lit...and the models are rigged....I can easily spend ALOT of time on the little things....and that gives me SO much time to improve the work. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in trade.

The Spider's Web: After Quality of Life finishes, do you think it's at all possible that Blue Dream Studios would work on an ongoing series?
Scott Sava: I'd love to.... I'm talking to Marvel about that very thing....we'll see.... If I could continue to do Spidey...that would be SO cool.... I've also coming out with issue 2 of the Lab....through Astonish Comics.... The Lab 2 Electric Boogaloo! So...that'll be a nice break for me after 8 months of Spidey.

The Spider's Web: Okay, now since I'm a big Spidey fan, this is mainly for me. But didn't Curt Connors get cured of the Lizard a year ago in the Lifeline mini-series, or does Quality of Life precede that?
Scott Sava: Ha ha...
I've been asked this ALOT!
All I can say is....ask Greg. I don't think Greg was a big fan of Spidey....and so didn't have the history down.... Axel...had the IMPOSSIBLE task of being the Editor on SPider-Man during the year it came out as a movie! So...I think...if that slipped through the cracks...let's forgive them.

The Spider's Web: Where do you suppose it fits into Spider-Man continuity?
Scott Sava: I think QOL is in current continuity.... Out of everyone working on this project...I was the biggest Spidey GEEK by FAR than Axel...Greg...or anyone working on this. So...the WHOLE time...I'm going...Spidey should do this....or....Isn't Connor's working on that? I drove everyone crazy...ha ha....

The Spider's Web: Is there any character at Marvel you would like to work on in the future? What about other characters from film or television?
Scott Sava: Sure...as a Marvel Comics fan...I'd love to work on most all of them.... I'd LOVE to do a remake of the Secret Wars....I loved that. But honestly...Spidey was my dream job....anything after that is icing on the cake.....

The Spider's Web: What would you say to a reader out there who's thought about picking up Quality of Life, but hasn't yet?
Scott Sava: Pick it up...especially issue 2....and look at the storytelling..... If you're a fan of 3D....enjoy it.... If you're not a fan of 3D....then just consider it a different medium....and enjoy it as you would airbrushed paintings or something..... Also...look for the full trade paperback....so you can see it all...we're gonna have alot of extras in there too....

The Spider's Web: And finally, what lies ahead for Scott Sava and Blue Dream Studios after Quality of Life wraps up?
Scott Sava: I hope more comics....it's been my dream as a kid to do comics. I really enjoy animation...but comics gives me so much creative freedom...it's great. I feel more like a storyteller than an artist.
I have more issues of The Lab coming out....and I want to start The Dreamland Chronicles soon.... But...if I was allowed to do a monthly series for a while....I think that would be great!

The Spider's Web: Thanks very much for agreeing to do this interview.
Scott Sava: It was my pleasure!

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