{"id":22225,"date":"2017-08-14T11:49:34","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T15:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=22225"},"modified":"2017-08-14T11:49:34","modified_gmt":"2017-08-14T15:49:34","slug":"students-fantasy-work-becomes-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/students-fantasy-work-becomes-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Student’s Fantasy Work Becomes Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

by Gene Kruckemyer<\/p>\n

UCF senior Branden Hall hopes that one day Zeek St. Cloud finds his true purpose in life \u2013 but he knows that\u2019s going to take thousands of years.<\/p>\n

Hall, who is majoring in creative writing and advertising\/public relations, and his brother Horacio are enabling Zeek on his journey, and recently received an offer of help from Charlotte Hornets basketball player Johnny O\u2019Bryant III.<\/p>\n

If this all sounds like fantasy mixed with reality \u2013 it is.<\/p>\n

The brothers from South Miami Heights are real, but Zeek resides in the new manga comic\u00a0Stratum 21<\/em>, soon to be released by O\u2019Bryant\u2019s creative agency, Noir Caesar, which produces creative art, fashion and music.<\/p>\n

Hall said a Noir Caesar representative saw images of their characters on\u00a0Stratum 21<\/em>\u2019s Instagram and reported back to O\u2019Bryant, owner and founder of the company, who arranged to carry the brothers\u2019 first comic series on the\u00a0company\u2019s website<\/a>. O\u2019Bryant has been in the NBA since 2014 and he started his company to intertwine Japanese anime culture with African-American street wear and hip-hop culture.<\/p>\n

The first chapter of the story is scheduled to come out Sept. 21.\u00a0Stratum 21\u00a0<\/em>takes place thousands of years after a cataclysmic event shattered the planet Strata into 20 pieces. The inhabitants have rebuilt society but three factions are fighting for control. Main character Zeek knows little about the world he lives in until he meets a Seeker and learns what life entails. Aspiring to join their ranks, he leaves his swamp home in search of life\u2019s greater purpose while joining forces against the dark side that despises the Seekers.<\/p>\n

\u201cStratum 21<\/em>\u00a0is exactly the title we were looking for to add to the fall lineup. It\u2019s about adventure and discovering yourself in a world that\u2019s fallen off the brink,\u201d said Corey Mikell, production manager for Noir Caesar. \u201cIt\u2019s a timeless tale of self-discovery and the pursuit of happiness in an unfavorable situation. It teaches people to keep moving forward, no matter the setback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall said physical copies of the manga will be released every seven chapters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese books are special because they can be read as any other comic would, but if one were to download the app, Stratum21+, which is in the works, and put their phone camera over the images on the page, the panels will begin to animate on the mobile device,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Branden, 21, is the team\u2019s writer, while Horacio, 24, an illustration\/animation graduate of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, is the artist. The brothers enlisted the help of a friend, Grant Price, as editor. They describe the art as similar to the comics\u00a0Boondocks<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Avatar: The Last Airbender<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Branden Hall also likes to rap, write children\u2019s and short stories, is working on a movie script and works on The Cypress Dome Society, UCF\u2019s undergraduate literary organization.<\/p>\n

Horacio Hall said he started drawing because their other brothers used to draw comics and watch anime.\u00a0 \u201cI used to practice drawing the characters from those shows,\u201d Horacio said. \u201cI started reading comics in the fifth grade when (anime character) Inyuasha became popular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another brother, rapper Ty, will appear on the animated version of\u00a0Stratum 21<\/em>\u2019s title sequence.<\/p>\n

Brendan Hall said he credits his writing development to UCF English professors Laurie Uttich, Susan Jardeneh, Kevin Meehan, Jocelyn Bartkevicius, Obi Nwakanm and Terry Thaxton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t even write an interesting paragraph of a story before I came to UCF,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date on Zeek\u2019s journey<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

See the original story<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Gene Kruckemyer UCF senior Branden Hall hopes that one day Zeek St. Cloud finds his true purpose in life \u2013 but he knows that\u2019s going to take thousands of years. Hall, who is majoring in creative writing and advertising\/public relations, and his brother Horacio are enabling Zeek on his journey, and recently received an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":22226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[38,13,37,28,29,30],"tags":[4953,4956,4968,4955,4964,4954,4963,4961,4959,4958,4965,4957,4962,4966,4967,4960],"class_list":["post-22225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-news","category-communication","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","category-undergraduate-student-news","tag-branden-hall","tag-charlotte-hornets","tag-grant-price","tag-horacio-hall","tag-jocelyn-bartkevicius","tag-johnny-obryant-iii","tag-kevin-meehan","tag-laurie-uttich","tag-nba","tag-noir-caesar","tag-obi-nwakanm","tag-stratum-21","tag-susan-jardeneh","tag-terry-thaxton","tag-the-cypress-dome-society","tag-ucf-advertising-public-relations"],"yoast_head":"\nStudent's Fantasy Work Becomes Reality - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/students-fantasy-work-becomes-reality\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student's Fantasy Work Becomes Reality - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Gene Kruckemyer UCF senior Branden Hall hopes that one day Zeek St. Cloud finds his true purpose in life \u2013 but he knows that\u2019s going to take thousands of years. 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