Digital Graphic Narrative

Development

Alice Rose

Shape Task

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like how crazy and unconventional the design is, as a house would never realistically work if it was build like this. I also like the smoke effect coming off the fire. The gradient tool that I used was, in my opinion, very effective as it looks quite realistic.

What would you improve if you did it again?I would probably want to make the house look more realistic by making it look 3D. At the minute it looks really flat which makes it look like a child’s drawing. By adding more shapes to the sides of the house and changing the colour to show shadows it would bring the house to life.

Shape Task

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like the comedy aspect of this image, as it is not just a stereotypical shark – it’s a shark with piercings and gold teeth. By personifying the shark I thought it would add a funny twist to the image.

What would you improve if you did it again?Again I would add shading and more shapes to make the photo look more 3D and therefore realistic. I would also put in a sky background, maybe a photo that already exists that I could edit, or create one from scratch to add depth to the image.

Rotoscope

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I really like this image as I think it worked really well and I like the style. You can still tell who the person is but in an abstract and simplified way. I think the grey scale colour scheme also adds to the simplified effect.

What would you improve if you did it again?I would improve how I used the colour range tool to pick out the parts in his hair. I would probably do more of this to add more layers and when I erased the bits I didn’t need, do it more precise to neaten it up.

Text Based

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?The thing that I liked was how literally I took the quote by cutting out a blister out of a photo and placing it onto a medal. This added a comical effect to the image and by changing the hue and saturation I tried to make it blend with the medal as naturally as I could. I also like the fireworks I created with the paint tool as they add a little bit of colour to the image.

What would you improve if you did it again?I think I could improve the quality of the fireworks as it is not obvious what they are, I could achieve this by maybe pulling a photo of fireworks from somewhere and editing it to make it fit with my photo. I could also improve the medal by making the blister blend with the medal a lot better so it doesn’t look like I have just stuck a photo on top of another.

Text Based

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I liked that style of font used as I think it fit well with the quote by Roald Dahl. I also like the image I found as it is a picture of a mother and father with a baby – this was drawn by Quentin Blake who is the illustrator for the Roald Dahl books therefore the photo went well with the theme. Keeping a plain white background made it look like it was a page out of a book.

What would you improve if you did it again?I would improve my editing of the photo that I used. I tried to draw a blister on the baby’s foot and a devil horn on one side of their face – it isn’t very noticeable and it was hard to mimic the style of Quentin’s illustration.

Text Based

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?The clipping mask I put on the bold text worked really well, it looked better when the photo was darkened because then the pattern contrasted with the white background and the stroke also helped it stand out and make it more readable.

What would you improve if you did it again?Use more techniques to express different styles of writing to help me get an idea of which ones would look best for a comic book.

Comic Book

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I liked the style that the filters that I chose created as it is quite similar to rotoscoping. I also liked the juxtaposition of the quite manly photo of Brad Pitt and the pink colour I added by changing the Hue, as it adds a feminine touch to a masculine photo.

What would you improve if you did it again?I would choose a simpler image to adjust as because there is a lot of detail it was hard to make it clear and some parts of his stubble are distorted.

Comic Book

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I liked how the filters that I chose picked out the different areas of colour of the image to create a rotoscoping style.

What would you improve if you did it again?I would improve the threshold or maybe get rid all together. This adds too many black patches that distort the photo. I would maybe consider another way of picking out detail.

Background

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like the fire that I draw with the brush tool as I think it looks effective and gives the illusion of life in the photo. I also like the filter I used and what it has done to the tree leaves and the vibrancy it has created.

What would you improve if you did it again?Because of the filter I chose, the tree trunks look quite distorted and not as prominent. I would either rotoscope over the top to make them stand out or use colour range to pick out the tree leaves for the filter so the trunks stayed the same.

Photography

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like the fact that you could tell what the storyline was even before I added text and shapes.

What would you improve if you did it again?The quality of the photos is pretty bad as most of them are blurry and not lit right which could be improved by taking the photos in a studio. I could have also used more types of camera angles to tell my story.

Illustration

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I liked the realistic style I managed to achieve as I think the ducks I drew look good and you can tell which one is the ugly duckling.What would you improve if you did it again?I would get better colours to colour it in or maybe consider colouring it in digitally to get the shading right.

Initial Ideas

Idea Generation

Mood board of inspiration

I found these fonts and thought they would be good possibilities for the title text, although not for the main text as they would be hard to read.

I think these colours will be good to use because they are bright and therefore children will be more engaged whilst reading the book but also the prime colours were commonly used in native American clothing and decoration.

I added the film Hansel and Gretel as this is a variation of the story that takes a different outlook. Although it is not appropriate for children, I felt it was relevant as it shows that there are a lot of versions of this fairytale.

I put in the Song of the Trees because I found it during my research and it is based on a native American tribe aswell as having quite a simple style which I really like.

I included some of my own sketches of two native children to show the idea of what I think I want my book to look like.

I added some photos and cartoon drawings of old women to give me some ideas as to what my antagonist is going to look like.

I also included images of teepees varying in decoration, this is to see how the more flamboyant ones were decorated to help while I’m designing my gingerbread teepee.

I used some images of cartoon native americans to give me ideas on how they look and what they dress like for my own designs.

I included images of forests and mountain landscapes to give me ideas on how my backgrounds will look.

I used an image of some digitally created trees to help me design my own.

I put in some pages from other versions of Hansel and Gretel to show the origins of where the story came from, so I don’t distort the story too much.

New name possibilities for Hansel and Gretel

Test Page

ProposalDimensions

There will be 8 pages that are A5 size.

Story Overview

There is a small tribe of native Americans who are struggling to feed themselves through winter. One of the women in the tribe suggests they lead the children into the forest to save themselves of starvation. The first time they do this, the young boy leaves a trail of rocks back to the tribe, and they find their way back. But the second time, the young boy is not allowed out to collect any rocks. When they are lead again, they get lost and come across a gingerbread tepee decorated with berries and peaches and maple syrup. They set to eating the tepee, when an old woman appears. She captures the children and reveals herself to be a wendigo. They they trick the wendigo and it burns to death on the fire.

Export Format

JPEGAdvantages: They have a smaller file size so can be easily compressed, aswell as being a widely familiar format for everyone.Disadvantages: They lose quality with each resize due to compression and they lose image quality when resized.

Deadline

6th of November 2015

Audience

My target audience is boys and girls aged 6-9 because the story features two characters who are also male and female and of the same age range so they would easily relate to them. They would be typically middle to upper class as their parents will have more disposable income to be able to buy them books. I would plan to make a whole franchise to maximise profit as these people would have the money to buy it. I am targeting this book at them because their families tend to have a more modern outlook and therefore would welcome a twist on the classic fairytale. The location is not specific but this would probably appeal to Americans more as it is relating to their history.

Production Methods

I am going to draw the elements of my images, scan them in and rotoscope them to make them look more cartoon like and make them neater, aswell as using the paint tools to bring the cartoon off the paper. It will be easier to get my ideas down on paper first as then I can get a rough idea of what they look like, then using rotoscoping I can fine tune the images and characters to give them a continuous style and make them look the same on each image.

What are the strengths of the proposal? What areas of the proposal need further work?

Large amount of detail within the explanation of the plot. Lots of care has been taken into transferring the story into a Native American style, through things such as research into new names. Although the original story is still clear throughout the plot, all elements have clearly been changed with good consideration-giving the rendition a sense of being a new story. Clear knowledge of Native American culture, as seen through mood boards and name generation. Good amount of research done, clearly displayed through annotations of the mood board.

Looking more in depth towards the stylistic features-more work on colour ranges. Also would be good to talk about more characteristics of the target audience.

What are the strengths of the idea generation? What areas of idea generation could have been further developed?

Clearly considered the possibilities of other stories, looking into different styles for each of the alternative stories. Native American theme can be followed from the beginning, with a clear starting point of the idea, as well as the development being seen throughout the proposal.

Advantages and disadvantages to each alternative story. Possibly look at showing the consideration of telling Hansel and Gretel in the classic way?

What are the strengths of the proposal? What areas of the proposal need further work?

Good explanation on the overview of the story and clearly show elements of the original story have been changed. Talked about both dimensions. Made an advantage and a disadvantage of the JPEG file. Good understanding of what production methods you are going to do.

Maybe talk about more than one advantage and disadvantage of the export format. Look more into the target audience.

What are the strengths of the idea generation? What areas of idea generation could have been further developed?

Plenty of links with detailed explanation. Looked into the different styles for each of the stories.

More reasons as to why these 3 stories were picked and also pros and cons of them.

What are the strengths of the proposal? What areas of the proposal need further work?

The audience is shown clearly and it clear that this has been thought out well. Also there are lots of details and reasoning to why you have chosen this target audience.

One thing that could be improved be more information about why you would use the design techniques you have chosen.

What are the strengths of the idea generation? What areas of idea generation could have been further developed?

A strength of the idea generation is that it is clear you have looked at many different options of what story you would use and how you would have it look.

An improvement that could be made could be to explain why you chose Hansel and Gretel out of the original three options.

Feedback SummarySum up your feedback.The storyline is well thought out and adapted to fit the theme, and I clearly researched the possibilities for different stories. The target audience should be more explained and detailed and also I could have explained why I used Hansel and Gretel as my final idea.

Which parts of your feedback do you agree with and why?I could have looked at the advantages and disadvantages of each story which would have then led to me choosing which one to base my final piece on. I agree that the storyline is researched well as I made sure I could make the old fairytale fit with the new concept which involved a lot of research. I should have also put more than one advantage and disadvantage to the export format.

Which parts of your feedback do you disagree with and why?

I did look at Hansel and Gretel in the classic way in my mind map before thinking of the native American idea. I disagree with the feedback saying I could have put more in about my target audience as I think I covered all aspects required for this and gave good reasoning for it.

Original Grimm scriptHARD by a great forest dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife and his two children. The boy was called Hansel and the girl Grethel. He had little to bite and to break, and once when great scarcity fell on the land, he could no longer procure daily bread. Now when he thought over this by night in his bed, and tossed about in his anxiety, he groaned and said to his wife, "What is to become of us? How are we to feed our poor children, when we no longer have anything even for ourselves?" "I'll tell you what, husband," answered the woman, "Early to-morrow morning we will take the children out into the forest to where it is the thickest, there we will light a fire for them, and give each of them one piece of bread more, and then we will go to our work and leave them alone. They will not find the way home again, and we shall be rid of them." "No, wife," said the man, "I will not do that; how can I bear to leave my children alone in the forest? the wild animals would soon come and tear them to pieces." "O, thou fool!" said she, "Then we must all four die of hunger, thou mayest as well plane the planks for our coffins," and she left him no peace until he consented. "But I feel very sorry for the poor children, all the same," said the man.The two children had also not been able to sleep for hunger, and had heard what their step-mother had said to their father. Grethel wept bitter tears, and said to Hansel, "Now all is over with us." "Be quiet, Grethel," said Hansel, "do not distress thyself, I will soon find a way to help us." And when the old folks had fallen asleep, he got up, put on his little coat, opened the door below, and crept outside. The moon shone brightly, and the white pebbles which lay in front of the house glittered like real silver pennies. Hansel stooped and put as many of them in the little pocket of his coat as he could possibly get in. Then he went back and said to Grethel, "Be comforted, dear little sister, and sleep in peace, God will not forsake us," and he lay down again in his bed. When day dawned, but before the sun had risen, the woman came and awoke the two children, saying, "Get up, you sluggards! we are going into the forest to fetch wood." She gave each a little piece of bread, and said, "There is something for your dinner, but do not eat it up before then, for you will get nothing else." Grethel took the bread under her apron, as Hansel had the stones in his pocket. Then they all set out together on the way to the forest. When they had walked a short time, Hansel stood still and peeped back at the house, and did so again and again. His father said, "Hansel, what art thou looking at there and staying behind for? Mind what thou art about, and do not forget how to use thy legs." "Ah, father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my little white cat, which is sitting up on the roof, and wants to say good-bye to me." The wife said, "Fool, that is not thy little cat, that is the morning sun which is shining on the chimneys." Hansel, however, had not been looking back at the cat, but had been constantly throwing one of the white pebble-stones out of his pocket on the road.When they had reached the middle of the forest, the father said, "Now, children, pile up some wood, and I will light a fire that you may not be cold." Hansel and Grethel gathered brushwood together, as high as a little hill. The brushwood was lighted, and when the flames were burning very high the woman said, "Now, children, lay yourselves down by the fire and rest, we will go into the forest and cut some wood. When we have done, we will come back and fetch you away."Hansel and Grethel sat by the fire, and when noon came, each ate a little piece of bread, and as they heard the strokes of the wood-axe they believed that their father was near. It was, however, not the axe, it was a branch which he had fastened to a withered tree which the wind was blowing backwards and forwards. And as they had been sitting such a long time, their eyes shut with fatigue, and they fell fast asleep. When at last they awoke, it was already dark night. Grethel began to cry and said, "How are we to get out of the forest now?" But Hansel comforted her and said, "Just wait a little, until the moon has risen, and then we will soon find the way." And when the full moon had risen, Hansel took his little sister by the hand, and followed the pebbles which shone like newly-coined silver pieces, and showed them the way.They walked the whole night long, and by break of day came once more to their father's house. They knocked at the door, and when the woman opened it and saw that it was Hansel and Grethel, she said, "You naughty children, why have you slept so long in the forest? we thought you were never coming back at all!" The father, however, rejoiced, for it had cut him to the heart to leave them behind alone. They walked the whole night and all the next day too from morning till evening, but they did not get out of the forest, and were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but two or three berries, which grew on the ground. And as they were so weary that their legs would carry them no longer, they lay down beneath a tree and fell asleep.It was now three mornings since they had left their father's house. They began to walk again, but they always got deeper into the forest, and if help did not come soon, they must die of hunger and weariness. When it was mid-day, they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a bough, which sang so delightfully that they stood still and listened to it. And when it had finished its song, it spread its wings and flew away before them, and they followed it until they reached a little house, on the roof of which it alighted; and when they came quite up to little house they saw that it was built of bread and covered with cakes, but that the windows were of clear sugar. "We will set to work on that," said Hansel, "and have a good meal. I will eat a bit of the roof, and thou, Grethel, canst eat some of the window, it will taste sweet." Hansel reached up above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted, and Grethel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes. Then a soft voice cried from the room,Hansel reached up above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted, and Grethel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes.

Original Script

Then a soft voice cried from the room, ”Nibble, nibble, gnaw,Who is nibbling at my little house?"The children answered,"The wind, the wind,The heaven-born wind,"and went on eating without disturbing themselves. Hansel, who thought the roof tasted very nice, tore down a great piece of it, and Grethel pushed out the whole of one round window-pane, sat down, and enjoyed herself with it. Suddenly the door opened, and a very, very old woman, who supported herself on crutches, came creeping out. Hansel and Grethel were so terribly frightened that they let fall what they had in their hands. The old woman, however, nodded her head, and said, "Oh, you dear children, who has brought you here? Do come in, and stay with me. No harm shall happen to you." She took them both by the hand, and led them into her little house. Then good food was set before them, milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts. Afterwards two pretty little beds were covered with clean white linen, and Hansel and Grethel lay down in them, and thought they were in heaven.The old woman had only pretended to be so kind; she was in reality a wicked witch, who lay in wait for children, and had only built the little bread house in order to entice them there. When a child fell into her power, she killed it, cooked and ate it, and that was a feast day with her. Witches have red eyes, and cannot see far, but they have a keen scent like the beasts, and are aware when human beings draw near. When Hansel and Grethel came into her neighbourhood, she laughed maliciously, and said mockingly, "I have them, they shall not escape me again!" Early in the morning before the children were awake, she was already up, and when she saw both of them sleeping and looking so pretty, with their plump red cheeks, she muttered to herself, "That will be a dainty mouthful!" Then she seized Hansel with her shrivelled hand, carried him into a little stable, and shut him in with a grated door. He might scream as he liked, that was of no use. Then she went to Grethel, shook her till she awoke, and cried, "Get up, lazy thing, fetch some water, and cook something good for thy brother, he is in the stable outside, and is to be made fat. When he is fat, I will eat him." Grethel began to weep bitterly, but it was all in vain, she was forced to do what the wicked witch ordered her.And now the best food was cooked for poor Hansel, but Grethel got nothing but crab-shells. Every morning the woman crept to the little stable, and cried, "Hansel, stretch out thy finger that I may feel if thou wilt soon be fat." Hansel, however, stretched out a little bone to her, and the old woman, who had dim eyes, could not see it, and thought it was Hansel's finger, and was astonished that there was no way of fattening him. When four weeks had gone by, and Hansel still continued thin, she was seized with impatience and would not wait any longer, "Hola, Grethel," she cried to the girl, "be active, and bring some water. Let Hansel be fat or lean, to-morrow I will kill him, and cook him." Ah, how the poor little sister did lament when she had to fetch the water, and how her tears did flow down over her cheeks! "Dear God, do help us," she cried. "If the wild beasts in the forest had but devoured us, we should at any rate have died together." "Just keep thy noise to thyself," said the old woman, "all that won't help thee at all."Early in the morning, Grethel had to go out and hang up the cauldron with the water, and light the fire. "We will bake first," said the old woman, "I have already heated the oven, and kneaded the dough." She pushed poor Grethel out to the oven, from which flames of fire were already darting. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if it is properly heated, so that we can shut the bread in." And when once Grethel was inside, she intended to shut the oven and let her bake in it, and then she would eat her, too. But Grethel saw what she had in her mind, and said, "I do not know how I am to do it; how do you get in?" "Silly goose," said the old woman. "The door is big enough; just look, I can get in myself!" and she crept up and thrust her head into the oven. Then Grethel gave her a push that drove her far into it, and shut the iron door, and fastened the bolt. Oh! then she began to howl quite horribly, but Grethel ran away, and the godless witch was miserably burnt to death.Grethel, however, ran like lightning to Hansel, opened his little stable, and cried, "Hansel, we are saved! The old witch is dead!" Then Hansel sprang out like a bird from its cage when the door is opened for it. How they did rejoice and embrace each other, and dance about and kiss each other! And as they had no longer any need to fear her, they went into the witch's house, and in every corner there stood chests full of pearls and jewels. "These are far better than pebbles!" said Hansel, and thrust into his pockets whatever could be got in, and Grethel said, "I, too, will take something home with me," and filled her pinafore full. "But now we will go away." said Hansel, "that we may get out of the witch's forest."When they had walked for two hours, they came to a great piece of water. "We cannot get over," said Hansel, "I see no foot-plank, and no bridge." "And no boat crosses either," answered Grethel, "but a white duck is swimming there; if I ask her, she will help us over." Then she cried,"Little duck, little duck, dost thou see,Hansel and Grethel are waiting for thee?There's never a plank, or bridge in sight,Take us across on thy back so white."The duck came to them, and Hansel seated himself on its back, and told his sister to sit by him. "No," replied Grethel, "that will be too heavy for the little duck; she shall take us across, one after the other." The good little duck did so, and when they were once safely across and had walked for a short time, the forest seemed to be more and more familiar to them, and at length they saw from afar their father's house. Then they began to run, rushed into the parlour, and threw themselves into their father's arms. The man had not known one happy hour since he had left the children in the forest; the woman, however, was dead. Grethel emptied her pinafore until pearls and precious stones ran about the room, and Hansel threw one handful after another out of his pocket to add to them. Then all anxiety was at an end, and they lived together in perfect happiness. My tale is done, there runs a mouse, whosoever catches it, may make himself a big fur cap out of it.

Final Script – First draftOnce apon a time there lived two children called Honaw and Genesee. They belonged to the tribe of Miwoks. It was winter, and they were struggling to

find food.

Honaw overheard the Chief and his wife.“It’s either they go or we all starve to death!” said the wife.

“But they are a part of our family and our tribe” said the Chief.

The next morning, the Chief told them they were going into the woods to help find food. Before they went, Honaw collected some rocks from around him and with that they all set off. They walked for what felt like miles and finally the children stopped to take a rest and the Chief was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh no! We’re lost! How are we ever going to find our way back?” said Genesee.

“Don’t worry, I know my way back!” said Honaw; pointing at the trail of rocks he had left during their walk.

They arrive back at the tribe and the Chief looked overjoyed to see them again. They went to bed and in the morning they were taken to the forest again. This time Honaw had no time to collect rocks so he used the piece of bread he was given for breakfast.

The Chief mysteriously disappeared again, and they were lost. The birds that lived in the tall trees had eaten the trail of breadcrumbs Honaw had left.

Genesee stumbled across a gingerbread teepee, decorated with berries and peaches and maple syrup coating. As they were both very hungry, they

started picking off the fruit and chewing away at the gingerbread.

“Who’s that gnawing on my teepee?” said a fragile voice coming from inside. The children turned around and there was a frail old woman standing infront of them. “Oh, you dear children, who has brought you here? Do come in, and stay with me. No harm shall happen to you." She took them both by the

hand, and led them into her little house.

The old woman had only pretended to be so kind; she was in reality a wendigo, a spirit who took human form to prey on children. She built the little bread teepee to entice children there so she could eat them.

“You two will be perfect!” she said. “I’m going to eat you both!”And with that, she picked up Honaw and put him in a cage.

She then set to work lighting the fire, and when it was big enough she asked Genesee to put a pot of water on it.

“But I can’t reach, the fire has grown too large!” Genesee said.“Don’t be silly, I’ll show you.” said the wendigo.

As she reached over to balance the pot on the fire, Genesee gave one big push. And with that, the wendigo burned to death, causing the smoke to turn red like blood.

Final Script – Final draftOnce apon a time there lived two children called Honaw and Genesee. They belonged to the tribe of Miwoks, and they were struggling to feed

themselves.

Honaw overheard the Chief and his wife.“It’s either they go or we all starve to death!” said the wife.

“But they are a part of our family and our tribe” said the Chief.

The next morning, the Chief told them they were going into the woods to help find food. Before they went, Honaw collected some rocks from around him and with that they all set off. They walked for what felt like miles and finally the children stopped to take a rest and the Chief was nowhere to be

seen.

“Oh no! We’re lost! How are we ever going to find our way back?” said Genesee. “Don’t worry, I know my way back!” said Honaw; pointing at the trail of rocks he had left during their walk.

They arrive back at the tribe and the Chief looked overjoyed to see them again. The next morning they were taken to the forest again. This time Honaw

had no time to collect rocks so he used the piece of bread he was given for breakfast.

The Chief mysteriously disappeared again, and they were lost. The birds that lived in the tall trees had eaten the trail of breadcrumbs Honaw had left.

Genesee stumbled across a gingerbread teepee, decorated with berries and peaches and maple syrup coating. As they were both very hungry, they started picking off the fruit and chewing away at the gingerbread.

“Who’s that gnawing on my teepee?” said a fragile voice coming from the tepee. “Oh, you dear children, who has brought you here? Do come in, and

stay with me. No harm shall happen to you." She took them both by the hand, and led them into her little dwelling.

The old woman was pretending to be kind; she was actually a wendigo, a spirit who took human form to prey on children. “You two will be perfect!” she said. “I’m going to eat you both!”

And with that, she picked up Honaw and put him in a cage.

She then set to work lighting the fire, and when it was big enough she asked Genesee to put a pot of water on it. “But I can’t reach, the fire has grown too large!” Genesee said.

“Don’t be silly, I’ll show you. ” said the wendigo.As she reached over to balance the pot on the fire, Genesee gave one big push. And with that, the wendigo burned to death, causing the smoke to turn

red like blood.

Digital Flat Plans – draft 1

Digital Flat Plans – draft 2