Digital Graphic Narrative

Development

David Horne

Shape Task

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I liked the fact that the shapes have definite edges. I deliberately went for this kind of straight, definitive edging on my image to reflect the wolf as being a straight up killing machine. I also like how the colours contrast from the background and allows the image of the wolf to stand out.What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do it again I would try to implement some level of detail within the image and try and get the different shapes to resemble more closely the shape of the wolf.

Rotoscope

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I liked the way that the image looks very cartoon like and I also like the way the colours within the image blend together yet stay separate enough to not detract from the image but it allows you to see where the different elements of the image end.What would you improve if you did it again?If I was to do this exercise again I would use a more suitable colour range for the image’s features for example, I would choose a more subtle skin tone as opposed to the weird pinky-red I used on the barrowman image.

Text Based

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like the way that the text looks appealing in different ways. For example the first text looks very dynamic in the way it’s formed, the second text looks a lot more relaxed and therefore reads slower.What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do it again I would use a different font style and play around with the sizes in the font and the spaces a bit more to see if they also have an effect on the way the sentences read. This could be implemented in my for when there is a

Comic Book

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?The three images I edited looked very good and I liked the way the colours were very Spartan in their diversity, it adds a certain comic book feel to the images and this is what I like the best. What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do it again I would probably try and experiment a bit more with the different amounts of Edge Fidelity and Edge Simplicity along with the amount of levels to make the images look a bit more abstract in their appearance.

Photography - Happy

Photography - Sad

Photography - Excited

Photography - Lonely

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I liked the images and how they show the emotions are shown through the images. I also like how the images are already in a good position making it easier to rotoscope over the top of and insert into the story book.What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do this again I would maybe use a different set up with my images to give them a different range of the different emotion so one being subtly happy and another being extremely happy for example. This would give a greater range of emotions to work with in the book.

Illustration

Evaluation

What did you like about your image? I liked that this image style was completely down to me in how the image was captured like I had full control over how it stood and how it looked even the positioning of the spots on the cheeks. This would be useful in the making of my book because of the fact that I can position them how I like.What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do it again I would take more care in how I drew it to make sure that all the edges would be definite and that I would use the colours to get a greater effect and to block out the image again giving it a definite structure.

Initial Ideas

• My story will retell the story of Perseus keeping everything about it the same. This therefore means I will have a lot of Characters in the story. The story itself is quite graphic when read, however due to this being a children’s book I have chosen to censor some of it by removing, for example, any sort of mention or interpretation of gore/blood. I will also be using a similar cartoon-like style in making the images in the book like the images above, this will also help make the images seem more appealing to children.

• I chose all of the fonts on the left because they all look like they could be Greek looking letters or they genuinely look like they could be found in a book from the old times. Out of all the fonts I selected I would probably want to use either the second font (Bauserif) or the fifth one (Adolphus Serif) as they both look Greek-ish but both retain the ability to allow your eyes to follow the words along the page which would be a great help for the kids to follow along the page and make it easier on them to read. I included the two fonts on the bottom (FTF Indonesiana Serif & Curly) as the start of chapter letters which you see quite often in fairy tales and myth books.

ProposalDimensions

I will be making an A5 sized book of about 12-15 pages long. Each page will have an image and a passage of text so that the reader will be able to play the scene out in their head whilst reading it.

Export Format

PDF

Advantages: They can be simple to create making them easily accessible, especially with the fact that they are easy to transfer between computers as you can compress large files to save them easily.Disadvantages: If you didn’t compress the file before you save the PDF they can have massive file sizes which can be bad for transferring your PDF via email.

Story OverviewMy is a retell of the Greek myth Perseus. Perseus was born a demigod, to Zeus and Danae. Danae’s Father, Acrisius, was told by The Oracle of Apollo that Zeus’ child would kill him so he locked Danae in a tower. Once Perseus was born Acrisius put Perseus and Danae in a chest and threw them in the sea where they were rescued by Dictys a local fisherman. Years later, Danae was forced to marry King Polydectes, but King Polydectes did not want him as a son and vice versa. The King made Perseus a deal, (unaware of him being a demigod) Perseus had to kill Medusa and he wouldn’t marry Danae. He set off to kill Medusa, on the way however he encountered three gods. The first, Athena, gave him a shield of polished bronze. The second, Hermes, gave him wing sandals and the Adamantine sword used by Zeus to kill Kronos. Hermes also gave him the eye of the Grey sisters and told him to visit the Nymphs of the north. Finally the third god, Hades gave him his helm of darkness and a magical wallet. He travelled on to the Gorgon’s cave, the location of which was given to him by the Nymphs. He flew into the cave cloaked in invisibility, he used the shield to see Medusa without being turned to stone and he cut her head off with the sword. He took the head, in the wallet, to king polydectes who was with Acrisius and a few others and were turned to stone and therefore, Danae was free.

Deadline

15th May 2015

Audience

My audience would be the older end of the primary school age range (8-10 year olds) this is because for this kind of story to be told you need to understand more complex sentences and younger children can’t do this. The story I think will appeal more to boys than girls because of the nature of the book and the killing etc. I do think that both boys and girls will want to read it but I feel like the book will naturally appeal more to boys. I

Production Methods

The pages will be (as previously specified) will be A5 size which means that they won’t be very big in comparison to some other books however the will be set out with an image and a passage of text on every page. The images will be fairly cartoonish and the characters will be uniquely designed so that the children reading it can easily identify the characters. The pages will be set out something similar to “The Cat in the Hat” where the image will be above and slightly around the image but the text will be surrounded by a white area which will fade out and the image will fade in. I will be using the rotoscope technique to take existing images to use as a base line for things such as ships or buildings and I will add onto them making them more suited to my story.

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

I think the fonts chosen are very suitable to the story; Greek mythology style for book based on Greek mythology. I also like the style of the two fonts proposed for the first lettering of the book, as they look like something out of a Greek mythology book.

I think the story may be a bit too complex for children, depending on the demographic you’re going. I definitely feel the story would be too complex for a child under the age of 10. Maybe try to simplify the story in some way, using different names that the younger generation are likely to understand more.

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

I like the fact that you had a clear idea from the start of what you wanted to do. I like the variation of images you have in your mood board, showing different ways Medusa has been portrayed in different passages.

I think there needs to be more detail on how you want these characters to be designed, ie rotoscope, shaping etc, to get more of an idea of how they’re going to look. I would also look into other Greek myths, just to get a range of ideas you can work with. Consider your audience, and decide what demographic this kind of story would appeal to most. Also, find images of different characters in the book to develop your mood board further.

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

You have clearly explained what dimensions the book will be and how many pages it will have. Also the things relating to the export format are very clear and well thought out.It’s good that you haven’t decided to go for a contemporary fairytale.

You should explain what production methods you are going to use to create things like characters, settings etc as there is no information about this. Also you should explain who and what age your audience are.

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

The fonts are very Greek but they are simple enough to still be able to be read by children.The mind map is very detailed and you have considered a wide range of initial ideas before deciding on one story.

The story might be too complex for the target audience so you could possibly simplify it a bit.Add more photos to the mood board regarding the setting of the story.

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

I think that you have a very clear idea of the story and how it is going to go, this shows me you know how you want to do your book. I think you have a good idea of the size of the book as well, which is good because It allows you to create your graphics to the size needed.

I think you just need to finish it and just maybe make the end of the story a little happier just because it is meant for children.

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

I think that your idea generation is good because it shows a good understanding of how you want the characters to look and how you want the book graphics and text to be like.

WELL DONE

I think you should have a few different ideas of what other stories you could have done. Also maybe a few more pictures just to add more of an idea of different ways you could do the graphics.

Feedback Summary

Sum up your feedback.

My feedback overall I deem to be fairly positive as for the most of the improvements the people reviewing it reference the work (which at the time of writing this) was incomplete and therefore had nothing to give feedback on. However there were a few useful comments in the feedback in that I could see which other Greek myths I could have done/looked into.

Which parts of your feedback do you agree with and why?I agree with the parts that say I need to develop my idea generation a bit more and I could look into other stories. I agree with this because I could do with widening my scope a bit, seeing what other opportunities there are/what other ideas I could draw inspiration from in my idea generation.

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

As I said earlier I disagree with the fact some of the feedback was written when at the time I had the work unfinished. This feedback wasn’t particularly helpful as I already knew I had to do some work on it. I also disagree with the comments that said this story was unsuitable for children as I read this story along with Theseus and the Minotaur when I was young (6-7) and I also looked up a children’s adaptation of the story and the details stay the same throughout. The bigger words such as “adamantine” for example were taken out but the story remained the same even down to the part where they cut off medusa’s head.

Perseus: Story Breakdown• Danae and Perseus are lost at sea.• Dictys saves them and takes them too the shore.• Danae is forced to marry King Polydectes she doesn’t want to and Perseus

doesn’t like him.• Polydectes tells him that if he kills Medusa he won’t marry Danae• Perseus sets off on the road.• He meets Athena who gives him a shield of bronze.• He carries on and meets Hermes who gives him the sword and flying sandals.• He carries on again and meets Hades who gives him the helm of darkness

allowing invisibility.• He carries on to the cave and flies in past the first two gorgons who are immortal.• He kills medusa and takes her head.• He travels back and puts the head on Polydectes’ table and he turns to stone• Danae is free.

Storyboards

Storyboards

According to the myth, there once was a king named Acrisius, who had a beautiful daughter named Danae. The Oracle of Apollo told Acrisius that there would come a day when Danae's son would kill him; so he locked Danae in a bronze tower so that she would never marry or have children.The tower had no doors, except for one very small window. Danae was very sad, until one day, a bright golden light came through the small window; a man appeared holding a thunderbolt in his hand and although Danae knew he was a god, she didn't know which one. The man said, "Yes, I am a god and I wish to make you my wife. I can turn this dark prison into a wonderful, sunny and blooming land."Indeed, the horrible prison turned into fields as beautiful as the Elysian Fields themselves, but one day Acrisius saw light coming out of the small window. He told his men to tear down one of the walls. When he entered, he saw Danae smiling and holding a baby on her lap. This was Perseus. Acrisius was furious, so he locked Danae and baby Perseus in a large chest and cast them out to sea.Somehow, they managed to arrive safely to the island of Seriphos, where Polydectes ruled. The king's brother, Dictys, who was a fisherman, caught the chest in his net and pulled it to shore, freeing Danae and her son. Perseus grew up to become a strong young man. Polydectes heard about Danae and asked her in marriage, but she rejected him. If it wasn't for Perseus, Polydectes would have married Danae by force; so the king decided to create a plan to get rid of the young man.Polydectes pretended to marry the daughter of his friend. Everybody had to bring a wedding present, including Perseus. However, Perseus, being poor, had not brought anything, and Polydectes pretended to be furious. After a heated discussion, Perseus said he would bring him anything the king would ask; so Polydectes asked for the head of the Gorgon Medusa.Perseus set forth on his adventure; he wandered for days, searching for the Gorgons lair. One night, in an unknown country he realized how hopeless things were. Medusa was a horrible creature, who had snakes growing out of her head instead of hair, and a terrifying gaze that literary petrified anyone who would look into her eyes. In his despair, a tall woman and a young man with winged sandals appeared and introduced themselves as goddess Athena and god Hermes. Hermes said that they were all siblings as Perseus was in fact the son of Zeus, so they would help him in his quest; so Hermes offered him his winged sandals and the sickle that was used by Cronus to castrate Uranus; while Athena gave him her shield, so that Perseus would not have to look straight into Medusa's eyes. They also gave him further information on how to find the lair of Medusa. So Perseus went to the cave of the Graeae, who would lead him further in his adventure. The Graeae were three women who shared a single eye among them. So, when one of them was about to give the eye to one of the others, Perseus grabbed it and blackmailed them to aid him. So, the Graeae informed him that he should find the Nymphs of the North to get the Cap of Darkness which would make him invisible, as well as a magic bag.After getting these two items, Perseus eventually went to the lair of Medusa and her sisters, whom he found sleeping. He wore the Cap of Darkness, and unseen managed to kill Medusa using the sickle; he then used the shield to carry the head and place it into the magic bag, for even though it was dead, the head still have the potential to turn someone into stone. Medusa's sisters woke up and attacked Perseus, but he flew away using his winged sandals.On his way back to Seriphus, he had many adventures; in one of them, he came across the Titan Atlas, who was condemned to carry the heavens on his shoulders. To release him of his pain, Perseus turned him into stone using Medusa's head, so that he would no longer feel the weight of his burden.Later on, he saw what looked like a statue chained to a rock, so he went to investigate. He saw that it was not a statue, but a woman, and asked her why she was chained to the rock. "My name is Andromeda", she replied, "and I have been punished because of my vain mother. She boasted that I was more beautiful than the Nereids. Poseidon was angered and said that I must be sacrificed to a sea monster," she said. Even as she spoke a monster rose from the sea. Perseus pulled Medusa's head out of the bag; the sea monster turned to stone and crumbled to pieces. Perseus cut Andromeda's chains and took her to her father, King Cepheus of Phoenicia. When Perseus asked Andromeda's hand in marriage, Cepheus gladly agreed. So, Perseus and Andromeda set off for Seriphus.On the way they stopped at Larisa, so Perseus could compete in some games that were held at that time; however, when he threw a discus, it hit an old man who instantly died. The man was Acrisius and therefore, the prophecy became true; after mourning, Perseus and Andromeda set off again.When they arrived at Seriphus, the first person they met was Dictys, the fisherman who had brought Danae and Perseus ashore many years ago. Dictys told them how Polydectes had never really married, but since Danae wouldn't marry Polydectes, he forced her to be his handmaiden. Perseus was furious, so he asked Dictys to take care of Andromeda, in order to avenge for his mother's mistreatment.Perseus stormed to the palace, walked in and said, "Let all who are my friends shield their eyes!" So saying he raised Medusa's head and Polydectes and his courtiers were immediately turned to stone. Perseus and Andromeda lived happily for many years and their descendants became great kings, the greatest of them all being Heracles, the strongest man in the world.Eventually, Perseus was killed by Dionysus. To be immortalised, Perseus and Andromeda were turned into stars and would live together in the sky.http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Heroes/Perseus/perseus.html

Original Script

Page Five:Perseus accepted this challenge,he did not want to see his mum unhappy.he packed his things and set off towards the wild lands.At the top of the hill Perseus turned,he saw his house a long way away.He knew he was going to be away for a very long time.

Page Six:Perseus walked for days and days.He had reached a fork in the road,One road went North and the other went South.Perseus did not know which way to go.As he stood thinking which way he should go, a bright light shone and a figure appeared.Perseus was surprised by this.“Do not be alarmed.” the figure said. “For I am the goddess Athena.”Perseus said nothing as he was still surprised.“I bring a gift for you Perseus.” She said “This is a bronze shield,It should protect you in the challenges you face to the North.”And with that she was gone, Perseus picked up the shield and went north.

Page Seven:Perseus walked north for nearly an hour,When another bright flash caused Perseus to flinch.he hid behind his shield to protect his eyes from the harsh light.“Fear not young Perseus.” The figure said. “I am Hermes.”Perseus stood and came out from behind the shield.“I see that’s my sister’s shield you carry.” He continued.“I too bring you gifts. Your father’s sword and flying Sandals,Should help you on your mission.”Perseus took the Sword and put on the sandals, When he looked up. Hermes had vanished.He carried on up the road.

Page Eight:The sky got dark as Perseus reached the mountains,There was a loud clap of thunder which made Perseus look to the sky.The clouds parted and large face looked down towards him.“Perseus” the face boomed. “I am Hades. I am here to help you on your quest.”Perseus said nothing as he looked at the clouds.“Take my Helmet of invisibility and my bag. They should help you to kill the beast.” Hades boomed.Perseus bent down and put on the helmet, there was a clap of thunder and Hades was gone.Perseus put on the bag and carried on his journey to the cave.

Final ScriptPage One:A long time ago in Ancient Greece.Perseus and his mother Danae were travelling by Boat.They were travelling from Athens to Argos to get away from her evil Father.When all of a sudden, a storm came.It was loud and strong.They did not know what to do as the boat tossed and turned.The waves were big and the lightning was scary.They were in for a rough journey.

Page Two:As the boat tossed and turned a big wave came.The wave flipped the boat upside down.Perseus and his mother climbed up on top of the boat,as luck would have it the storm cleared.They sat on the boat and thought they were stuck,when a friendly fisherman named Dictys saw them.“Come aboard, I’ll take you to shore.” He called out.“I’m headed towards the city of Argos.”Perseus and his mother climbed onto the shipand the three journeyed on.

Page Three:A year had passed since they arrived in Argos.Perseus and his mother lived there quite happily.However King Polydectes had other ideas.He had fallen in love with Perseus’ mother, he asked her to marry him over and over.She kept saying “No!” as she did not like him,but in the end he forced her to marry him.

Page Four:Perseus was not happy with the king’s actions.He did not want him as a father just like,the king did not want him as a son.Polydectes turned to Perseus and said to him,“If you kill Medusa the Gorgon, I will not marry your mother.”Perseus had heard rumours of Medusa.She and her sisters lived in a cave somewhere in the wild lands,nobody knew where as anyone who went never returned.He had also heard the tale that if you looked directly into it’s eyes,you would be turned to stone.

Final ScriptPage Nine:Hours had passed since he had met Hades.Perseus decided to use Hermes flying sandals and speed up the journey.He soared through the air towards the cave, once he arrived he flew straight in.He used his helmet to turn invisible so he wouldn’t be spotted by medusa’s sisters.Off he went to find,Medusa’s Lair.

Page Ten:Perseus found the lair where Medusa lived.He looked around to see if he could see her but he couldn’t.As he made is way around the room he spotted her in a corner. He started sneaking up behind her but he kicked a stone across the floor.Medusa heard this and made her way towards the noise, right where Perseus was hidden.He looked in the shield and saw her reflection and watched her come closer.When she was close enough he jumped out from behind the pillar and chopped off her head.

Page Eleven:Perseus picked up the head and put it in the bag.He ran for the exit but woke up Medusa’s sisters.They chased him all the way to the exit where he took off using his winged sandals. He flew all the way to the castle where his mother was being kept.He ran into the great hall where his mother and King Polydectes were sat, he threw the bag to the king and hid behind the shield with his mother.

Page Twelve:“What’s in here?” The King asked.“Proof.” Perseus replied.King Polydectes opened the bag and looked inside.He saw Medusa’s face looking back at him and in an instant he turned to stone.Perseus closed the bag and threw it to a side.His mother came over to him and thanked him over and over again.She asked him if he wanted to stay and live with her and he said he would and they both lived in the castle happily.

Digital Flat Plans

All of my pages will be laid out like this using a main image across the top from the story board and another showing a key point in the text or to identify characters. The text will also be from the final script as well.

These are the rest of the flat plans they aren’t as detailed as the first two as they didn’t need to be due to the lack of resources in each one compared with the first two.