Blood Sucking Lawyers invade Walkerville

Lawyers have returned to the historic Low Martin house in Walkerville, once owned by lawyer and politician Paul Martin.

But these lawyers aren't your usual "blood suckers" — they're vampires — pretend vampires that is. Actors and models are portraying them for a graphic novel called Blood Sucking Lawyers.

The actors strike poses which are photographed, and then enhanced to resemble illustrations to give the novel a cinematic look.

Unique photo techniques 

"We are the only people doing a full graphic novel this way, and we might be crazy," laughs Jamie Lees, the publisher and communications director of Jank Words and Pictures, which is producing the novel.

She and her partner Frank D'Angelo are using the photo technique, rather than just drawing pictures.

"There's a shooting technique that we're using called HDR and then we bring them into photoshop, and in post we do some work there, and really bring out the highlights and dark points," said Lees.

"So panel by panel it almost looks like a movie scene as it unfolds," said D'Angelo, the director, publisher and co-writer of the novel.

Blood Sucking Lawyers is a comedy/parody based on the legal system set in the present day. 

D'Angelo and his writing partner originally wrote it as a screenplay.

"My hope is that a production company will come in and turn Blood Sucking Lawyers into a movie and we're moving in that direction," said D'Angelo.

The novel is being shot all around the Windsor area using 60 local actors and models posing as the characters in the novel. Lees and D'Angelo have invested a year in the project and expect it will take about six to eight months to complete.

You can listen to CBC Afternoon Drive host Chris dela Torre's chat with Frank D'Angelo here: