Graphic Narrative Evaluation

Use this template to help you evaluate your project.

You should give specific details about your work.

You should provide both written and visual examples to explain your project.

You should find areas to praise in your work. Be specific about why you think they are good or why you are proud of them.

You should also find areas that could be improved. Look for areas that you could make better if you went back to them. Be specific about what you would improve.

Add additional slides as you need to. Don’t be restricted by what is here.

Any blank slides should be deleted before submission.

Does your final product reflect your original intentions?

My idea has changed from the initial story as I change the original story name from ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ to ‘Jack the Ace Killer’ I also changed the setting from medieval to a World War 2 setting. The character changed from a peasant boy to a young pilot to fit into the new time period.The digital flat plan did not change a lot the only things that really changed was the style of the aircrafts and characters as the characters appearance changed and the faces were altered to give them detail but still retain a cartoon style. I also altered the length of the book from 12 pages to 10, but for the most part it stayed the same as the storyboard.From storyboard to final product the book and story has stayed pretty much the same as when I got the idea of the World War 2 story. I didn't change my mind from that original idea and the things that changed where just image styles (airoplane style & characters) and the quantity of things like the number of pages. Things like the themes and message haven’t changed between stories as both the original story and mine have the same idea that of overcoming giant odds. Although in the original story the huge odds he was fighting were giants and that was what he had to over come. In my story it is him fighting ‘aces’ which is not something that’s really big but someone who is more experienced then him, a man who is one of the most powerful fighters of all time a ‘giant’ of the sky.

Original ideas of aircraft styles, I didn’t use these as I felt I couldDo to improve on these which I Feel I did in my final work

Slide 1

Slide 2

Improvements& changes madeFrom slide 1 to Slide 2

How well have you constructed your images?

I think that I constructed my images well as the overall visual appearance is good, I feel I have managed to blend detail with a cartoony simplicity which I like and is perfect for my target market. When I was designing the images for my book I used a comic book style using rotoscope to make all of the images. I do however think that if I had constructed these images differently I could have made each plane look the same and that all the colours should be the same as this would have made all the planes match from page to page this would have then given the story a better flow and made the images on each page more consistent. I also found the development of my characters faces tricky as they took a lot of time to develop to a state I was happy with I think my use of texture was good in my images I added drop shadows to make the clouds pop out and give them a slight 3D effect. For the plane texture I got 2 visions of the plane 1 rotoscoped image and the other was filter gallery image I then overlaid the images it to make a interesting stylised look as it made the image both realistic and cartoon like. On the last image I added a gradient overlay to make the sun glow on the last page of the book which I really liked as it gave the impression of a sun setting after an epic battle.

Nice final image in my bookof Jack flying home victoriousat the end of a hard fought day into the sunset over thewhite cliffs of Dover. I feel that the gradient overlaydoes give a really nice sunset effect.

Unfortunately the planesStyles ary from slide to slide

How well have you used text to anchor your images

My text is anchored to my image well as the text describes what's going on in the story in a rhyming style, I have used the text as part of the image and have set the words in the clouds for most of the story as it makes the text almost part of the world I have created and it gives the words a presence on the page whilst not getting in the way of the main images. These are 3 examples that use text and put that text in the images to make them stand out, one is from mine and two are from a book called Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld as you can see all 3 of the images use the same style that make the text stand out by being part of the world.

Is your product suitable for your audience?

My product is suitable for my audience which is young boys aged around 6 years old as outlined in my initial proposal, even though the story is about warfare it doesn't show death as no one dies in the story as even though Jack beats the German Ace the pilot manages to parachute to safety. Many boys aged 5 to 7 are into the army and military themes so having the story set a world war 2 story is ok. Also there are many children's books that are set during wartime like The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas, War Game, The Little Prince. The book its not really for a young female audience as it has fighting in it and little girls don’t really like the army/military stories as much as boys, the secondary audience is parents they will be reading this for there kids.I also think that the text is very suitable for my audience as the sentences are short, not too complicated low text to image ratio and are memorable due to the rhyming sentences. Rhymes are a great way for young children to learn to read as it helps them remember what is coming next an example of other rhyming story books for that age group is the Gruffalo.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

This book is for age 12 and up and is about WW2 like my story

War GameBy Michael Foreman

For age 7-12Age range setIn WW1

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

This book is age 3 up and has very low text to image ratio like my story.

The Gruffalo byJulia Donaldson

Age Range3-7 has rhymingsentences on each page tohelp kids learn to read

What do you like/dislike about the techniques you have used?

I like the way I merged detailed image and simple cartoon versions of the same image to make something not too detailed and not too simple but a nice stylised balance between the two using Rotoscope and filter gallery. I dislike that I made the images using the magic wand tool because if I had produced it in a different way (using shapes). If I had used this process I could have made the plane images look a lot better and made the planes look alike on each page. This would have made my work consistent but because of the way I initially chose to do it I could not make all the planes look the same on each page.I did however really liked how I styled my images as I think they capture the amazing look of the planes, I also like how I used colours to try to make all the planes look the same I did this by using the same few colours and adding colours or removing them if need be. I though the way I made the German cockpit black but still kept a bit of a shadow was successful as he seems very menacing I did this by getting the Rotoscope layer and making the cockpit completely black then using filter gallery and overlaying it. I also liked what I did with the backgrounds with the clouds and the sun, I used very simple images to make the backgrounds then used more complicate techniques of overlaying images to make them stand out.

I like some of the back grounds I produced using shading.

I like the way I have beenable to make the planes look very stylised using Rotoscope and Filter Gallery.

What do you like/dislike about how your final product looks?

I like the look and style of my planes as how I created them gives them a detailed comic book look which I think looks really good on the planes and means that I am able to make the planes look the similar on each pages as every plane image used is a Spitfire image. I feel that I could have produced tidier images as some of them look a little rough around the edges as some seem a little messy. I also don’t like that some of the colours on the planes are different shades from slide to slide, this is because some of the colour from the original images are different so have altered the base colour which has effected the overall look. I do like the colours I have used as it makes parts of the planes pop out like the yellow on the bf109 and the R.A.F symbols on the spitfire is just a shame that they lack some consistency . I also like my backgrounds I like that I made the background with simple shapes but they still have enough detail with the drop shadows to make them look a little more realistic whilst being very graphic.

My cloud background reminds meof the cloud wallpaper used in Toy Story in Andy's room, this was another nice simple design decision that would appeal to children as it is very clean & Graphic and a great backdrop tolots of the film.

Why did you include the content you used?

I used the images of real Spitfires in flight from google image search so that I could make the planes a lot easier and a lot faster and as realistic as possible. I used the effects to make the planes look more vibrant and dynamic on the page and to add more detail I used filter gallery this allowed me to make the planes more stylised by keeping them simple whilst keeping some key details, to achieve this I overlaid the filter gallery image with the rotoscope image to make my still.I used the same colour throughout to make all the different planes used look as though they were the same plane as I need them to be consistent as if they weren’t the same the story would look odd and not cohesive . I used a very simple font as it needed to be clear for a young child to be able to read it read and I did put my text in the clouds to make them part of the world and to make them stand out more then they would normally without interrupting the main image.

What signs, symbols or codes have your used in your work?

I have some symbols and codes in my work but they are not old traditional symbols like crowns and castles the symbols I used are more modern e.g. the spitfire is a symbol of British pride, victory and the will to never give up . The Cliffs of Dover are my equivalent of a castle as when the story ends Jack flies back past the safety of the White Cliffs of Dover which tower like castle walls, I avoided using the swastika symbol on the German plane to avoid unneeded controversy and it was unnecessary to tell my story and used instead the simple German Cross symbol and the RAF emblem on the English plane.I used codes in my work for example the enemy plane when first talked about is on a dark stormy background making use think of foreboding and evil presence. I also used the stories war time setting as a symbol as when we think back on ww2 as Brits we think of good verses evil and the enemy is de humanised I show this by not showing the German ace at all in the book, he is only shown as a shadowy figure in his cockpit this shows not a full understanding of the enemy just a perception of them.

Darked sky

Darkened cockpit of German plane

RAF symbol on plane

Jack visible in his plane

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Audience ResponsesCultural competence:

Media texts require us to have a certain level of cultural understanding to be able to interpret them.

At a basic level, this could mean being able to read the language that a magazine is written in.

At a deeper level, it means being able to interpret signs and symbols that we use a visual shorthand to communicate ideas.

We recognise these signs in our own culture but find it harder to understand when looking at others.

We create and attach meaning to signs and symbols in many different forms.

Creative Media Production 2012

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Audience ResponsesCultural competence:

What is this?

This is a Norwegian Pine tree, covered in snow and with a red ribbon on.

Our cultural understanding allows us to interpret its meaning.

To us, in British society, it means Christmas, presents and family.

This is because we share a cultural knowledge.

Creative Media Production 2012

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Audience ResponsesCultural competence:

There are many other signs and symbols that we attach meaning to.

A leather jacket can imply rebellion.

A sports car can imply wealth and power.

A cross can represent religion.

Creative Media Production 2012

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Audience ResponsesCultural competence:

Visual representations of everyday objects are often the same the world over. A car appears as a car, no matter what country it appears in.

What that car means however, can be very different depending on your cultural background.

Creative Media Production 2012

What representations can be found in your work?

The story only has men and no other gender, it has British Service man and a German pilot in it, there is a lack of female representation as it is set in ww2 and the battle takes place in the sky's. During Worlds War 2 there would not have been any women or children involved in any conflict.There are only two races in the story which are the British and Germans I did this to be historically accurate as in my opinion that is the most important part of creating a book like this to offer the reader some historical information even though they are young. Religion, social groups and other races don’t get much or any representation as the book and story it is more focused on the two pilots battle and the war between Germany & England. I don’t think it would be appropriate to mention religion as WW2 wasn’t a religious war and I don’t think the army is a social group.

Characters in the story Jack, British Airmen & German Ace

What style have you employed in your products?

I used a semi realistic comic book style for my books look, as I have said I used rotoscope and filter gallery then overlaid them but I didn't get any influence from other books as I found this style by chance when experimenting. My work has a comic style but the planes have touches of realism within the detail and colours. Unfortunately there are next to no children's books that use Rotoscoped images or a comic books style look so I don’t have any children's books to compare mine to but I can compare the elements of the book to others. I can however reference the influence of graphic novels on my style within this project and some films I have seen like the animated lord of the Rings which used over laid film images and A Scanner Darkly a Rotoscoped film.

Ralph Bakshi, Lord Of The Rings Film image

A Scanner Darkly -Film Image

Graphic Novel: Genetiks

What were the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-production and planning

My planning was very helpful and when it came to making my final product I could focus on what I had to do and was clear on what I wanted to achieve and how much time I should spend on each section. I also and had a work plan this meant that it took less time to make my book as I knew what I was doing as I had a schedule to work to e.g. I was able to get my images done on time which meant I had extra time for improvements to my work. The research helped as it showed me what kids books looked like and the key elements and settings that they use which in turn helped me create a better more creative well thought out product. I think I that I managed my time extremely well an example of this is when I was at the making images part of my work I finished ahead of time which is something I have previously struggled with.

Historical and cultural context

My books story is a modern interpretation of Jack the Giant Killer so shares a lot of similarity's with the story its based on and as far as I know there's not a lot of old fairy tales being set in ww2. But like most kids books there is a bad guy depicted as the enemy, a good guy depicted as the Hero, a one on one fight where the hero uses his skill and brains to destroy his larger/more experienced enemy. There is a lot of important historical and cultural context in the historical setting I picked as WW2 is a very important event in history and to the British WW2 is a very important culturally as we fought in the battle of Britain for the future of British people and the rest of Europe's freedom and many Airmen lost their lives defending us and our values. There aren't many similar products like mine about war for the younger age range apart from the book ‘War Game’ about a football match set in WW1 trenches but there's a lot of books, films & artwork a older age range that share a similar art style and depict the Battle of Britain.

A propaganda poster about battle of Brittan abd the R.A.F

A film about the battle of Brittan

Artwork of a spitfire and bf109 in combat

A book on theBattle of Britain

Peer Feedback

• Summarise peer feedback and discuss– Responses you agree with– Responses you disagree with