Graphic Narrative Evaluation

Joseph Headford

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?

For the most part my final product does reflect my original intentions for this project. The telling of the story has changed slightly however the art style has, for the most part stayed the same. I chose an Aesop's fable by the names of ‘The Fox and The Grapes’. Originally I intended to leave the story in its vanilla form and not alter the characters structure or elements. I however found that the story was lacking a element of conflict and so inserted a human gardener as the antagonist. Following attempting to produce test assets for characters I found that human characters were difficult and very time-consuming to create. So instead of using a human character as the antagonist I instead used a guard dog allowing me to continue with the theme of anthropomorphism. When I started work planning the process and style of my book I had intended to use a block colour, cell stylised technique similar to that found in the popular animated television show ‘Dexter’s laboratory’ or ‘Regular Show’ (as seen on Cartoon Network). However while producing a test page I discovered a game called ‘Tearaway’ – a recently released video game for the PlayStation that is set in a world made up of cardboard and paper. I decidedly implemented this style into my work by creating a clipping mask using a paper texture (see slide 6). The result was an attractive and unique style that easily draws the readers attention to the page and could allow the inclusion of a tactile, interactive element to the book for younger readers. While these changes were not originally intended when I began, I feel that they have only improved my work and made it more appropriate and suitable for younger readers.

How well have you constructed your images?

When creating the pages for my children’s book I worked chronologically allowing me to spend as much time as needed to ensure that every one was as high a quality as possible. Because of this and pre-planning I found it easier to create aesthetically pleasing and interesting pages. I think that my use of colour and texture is bright and varied which draws the attention of the reader and helps them to focus on each page. I purposefully used colour to help direct the reader to points of interest on each page. As shown by the colour wheel (right), green is opposite orange and red. This means that when next to one another the colours compliment each other and ‘pop’ making them look bright and vibrant. In the example (right) both the use of colour and the positioning of the fox in the centre of the page help the reader to focus their attention on the fox. I also attempted to make use of texture to possibly add a tactile element to the story. This physical interaction can be very useful, especially with very young children and children with varying learning difficulties as it gives them a way to explore the book and story physically. It can also simply act to hold the attention of the reader while they progress through the story.

When creating the digital and visual element of the ‘Paper’ texture for my pages I used a simple and easily re-creatable technique. I used a royalty free stock photos of textured and crumpled paper and created a clipping mask using this over the character assets I made. I then used a colour burn filter on the mask in order to allow the details of the assets to be seen. Finally I adjusted the colour balance, light balance and saturation of the texture completing the changes. This process, being both simple and easily re-creatable means that each page can be made as similar to one another as possible building a consistency throughout the story visually. Without this technique being easily re-creatable each page would have small inconsistencies in the overall style and details of the backgrounds and characters.

How well have you used text to anchor your images?

When deciding on whether I would change the format of the story I chose not to alter it’s original form as simply adding the visual element to the story was enough to faithfully tell the story. I had two ways in which I could incorporate the text into the book: to include it with the illustrations on each page or to write all the text out on separate pages as it’s own part of the novel. I chose the former as the latter Is better when there is much more text and a more descriptive story included along side illustrations.I used text vey sparingly and made it easily distinguishable from the background and characters on each page. Some pages I didn’t use text at all and relied completely on the image to tell the story. Choosing a font surprisingly difficult. Finding a style that both stood out from the page and was easy to read and clear was challenging. I eventually decided to use the font ‘Baskerville’ as it is clearly readable and recognisable by young readers and stands out from the cartoon style of the characters and background of each page that it is included on. However if given the chance to recreate this project I would spend a lot more time on the text to ensure that it is the best possible choice for the story.

“…text… on separate pages...”

“…incorporate text along side illustrations…”

Is your product suitable for your audience?

My target audience are aged between 2 and 6 as my product is a simple story with inoffensive themes and no challenging messages or moral. Because of this it is incredibly simple and would only serve as basic entertainment for very young children.My book is based upon a simple children’s story (Aesop’s Fable) that contains no conflict or offensive or potentially scary content. Because of this I only had to worry about how the visual content would be received. To ensure that my product was appropriate I only used simplistic characters and colourful natural imagery and did not explore themes of violence, death, fear or other offensive themes.The theme of the story could be argued to revolve around family and exploration and so does not intend or teach a message that involves violence or other undesirable themes for young readers. The colourful, bright and friendly imagery will appeal to younger children and allow them to become more engaged with the story.

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

I liked the clipping mask because as I learnt to use it and other similar tools I found them to be a quick and easy way to produce high quality work in a relatively short period of time. I used the clipping mask tool specifically to create a paper texture on all of my assets, characters and set designs. This helped me to create the unique style shown in my product.As I explained previously I purposefully used the colour orange and green because they are opposite one another on the colour wheel. This means that the colours when against each other contrast and ‘pop’ drawing the readers attention to specific details on each page. When implementing the colour and clipping mask textures I also used the saturation tool and light balance tools to adjust and optimise the colours to make each page as bright as possible. I also made use f these tools to define the shaded areas of the paper texture in order to make it look as realistic to actual crumpled paper as possible. Colour was also, later on a very useful tool as it allowed me to make sure each individual page was all the same or a very similar, consistent colour or shade.One technique that I used that I feel was particularly successful in my creation process was my use of shapes to create my characters without source images. While this was a complicated technique it allowed me to create very natural looking characters.

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

I like how my product almost ‘pops’ off the page because of my use of colour in contrast with the background and other features. My use of colour was careful and thought out meaning that I am happy and satisfied with the result. However I felt that it took far to long to create each page because of the time constraints upon me. If I had spent as much time as I wanted to on my work I would have probably at least doubled the amount of time I spent creating the pages of my book. This will have also allowed me more time to refine the style of my product as I noticed while working through the pages that my style very slightly changed between pages one and 6. Specifically I do not like how the some of the characters physically look. This is because I did not have enough time to perfect the positioning and angle of their bodies to make sure that they looked natural and realistic in stance. For example, in the image to the right I had to reuse and therefore, reshape the character model from a previous page as creating an entirely new model would have taken far too much time. Because of this I feel that the character looks somewhat ‘wooden’ and lifeless, unlike that of the first panel of the second page which is very natural in appearance; however that model took a very long time to create and perfect.

However I feel that the overall paper style was well implemented as the clipping mask tool technique allowed me to easily create the paper texture using little time and little effort. This meant I only had to create the shape and small details before adding on the texture later on. Because of this I could also consistently create very similar looking assets meaning that the style was recognisable as belonging to this product. Because of this my product is unique and can easily be recognised as such.

Why did you include the content you used?

I used colour carefully to contrast with the surround features and background in order to draw the readers attention to specific areas of each page. I used his to best effect when the fox was on the page as the bright orange is in direct contrast with the colour green which is heavily used in the background and features of each page. This is because orange is almost directly opposite green on the colour wheel. Additionally I used a crumpled paper texture throughout the story to stylise the image and make it look unique and stand out. This cold also be used as a tactile element for very young children that may rely more on physical and visual elements than literary techniques in order to tell a story. This would also serve to retain the attention of this age group. I used the effect of a shadow on all the layers in order to create the impression that the ‘paper’ was layered and sat on top of each other with a light source directly above. This helped to lend towards the hand made aesthetic that I liked. To do this I simply used a gaussian blur on a copy of each asset and placed below the original version. This gave the asset a drop shadow around the entre image instead of a directional one found in the drop shadow effect tool.

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

In page one we can see the fox and her cubs laid in a clearing next to a small body of water. The fox has her tail wrapped around the cubs. This could be showing the protection and parental position that the fox holds for the cubs. In many cultures (especially those in the Western Hemisphere) the fox as a character is almost always a trickster or thief; even in children’s media. This is shown in the original story of the fox and the grapes and my own work as the fox does attempt to steal/steals the grapes from a garden. My over use of the colour green arguably is meant to show that the story is set in the natural world and has basically no interaction with human characters or the human world at all.

‘The Swiper’ – ‘Dora the Explorer’

‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ – Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl, as drawn by Quentin

Blake

The colour of the fox and how it contrasts with the green background is a fantastic coincidence as orange is opposite to green on the colour wheel meaning that it stands out drawing the attention. However I chose to use a very bright and vibrant orange because it gives the impression of life and exciting colour. Because of this the fox will be automatically related to positively by the reader. On the other hand the black dog, a dark character will be seen negatively because it is gloomy and can represent fear. The image of a black dog is also synonymous with depression as coined by Winston Churchill in letters to his wife regarding his manic depression.

In the second page (bottom right) we can see that the fox is again acting protective and loving towards the bubs. This time however she appears to take a more defiant stance as if on look out for danger. In the second panel of this page the fox is leaving the cubs to look for food, but she doesn’t appear concerned, hesitant or scared; she seems confident. This gives the impression that she is not worried about herself as she ventures out in search for food, for her cubs.

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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?

My product only makes use of two specific characters, and both are animals (anthropomorphic). Also while the fox is expressive and explores the dog does not actually interact with the audience change position or take a leading role within the story and instead only represents a potential danger/threat towards the fox. Because of this there are no racial, gender or cultural biases shown in the novel leaving it politically neutral and inoffensive. The dog represents danger and fear, however because of difficulties I did not make this character an immediate danger to the main character.

What style have you employed in your products?

My main influence when producing my product was the video game collection ‘Tearaway’, a series of interactive video games that are based in a world entirely made of paper and cardboard. I enjoyed the stop motion style animation and how it made the world and characters look handmade. Following this I attempted to find other ‘paper’ style animations and children’s books in order to draw inspiration from. However I could not find any appropriately stylized children’s books. Instead I managed to find a short animation titled simply ‘Paper’ that used the paper texture upon a character made of paper. By using the clipping mask tool I managed to produce a similar result, however I preferred the crumpled paper texture from ‘Tearaway’ rather than the flat texture of ‘Paper’.

Paper, By Mathieu

AUBRY

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

I feel that my research was very useful when deciding on where I wanted to take my product in style, story and production methods. I began by creating a mind map (as shown on the next slide) about the children’s story ‘The Fox and the Grapes’ to help in deciding on what kind of story I wanted to create. Even though I planned out my work in detail and attempted to create a timed schedule, I had unrealistic expectations on how much time it would take me to create each page and all the assets included. Because of this I quickly got behind my intended schedule and so had to remove some unneeded details and pages that I would have otherwise liked to include. The most time consuming part of production was my creation of my character assets as they contained the most amount of detail. This became evident to me during my test page work, however I felt that this was simply because I had only just began work on creating the characters. I assumed that with each character I would gradually get better and faster at creating them. What I soon learnt was that it depended highly upon each individual character model and it’s positioning in the page as each one required a different level of specificity.However, on the other hand I feel that the test page was a particularly successful part of the pre-production as it helped me to establish the style that I used in the final product. It also assisted me in deciding on how to stylise the shape and positioning of characters (specifically the fox). I felt that the test page was so successful that I decided to use it as my first page in the book.

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Historical and cultural context

‘The Fox and the Grapes’ is one of the Aesop's fables. The narration in the original text is concise and subsequent retellings have often been equally terse. The story is about an anthropomorphic fox that tries to steal some grapes to eat from a vine but cannot reach them. Rather than admit defeat, it denies they are what he expected saying ‘they are sour anyway.’It seems that most of the retellings before 2000 were quite true to the original tale. However more recent retellings have taken a more artistic and abstract way. For example; the story ‘Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes’ adds several more characters and an interesting plot line that is very different to the originally intended tale.

Peer FeedbackFrom my peer feedback I feel confident that my proposal was in depth enough that someone could complete the task to a similar effect that I have. I included the page style, format and story overview to enough detail to allow them to recreate my product. While the story portion has been changed through the creation process as I suggested in the proposal, this detail can be easily added if needed. I also also mentioned the possibility of using an anthropomorphic character that would allow readers to relate to the main character despite the lack of any human interaction.When the peer feedback was completed I had not decided on the exact dimensions that I wished to create the book in. This was one of the main criticisms of my planning, I had not planned far ahead enough before beginning production. In fact I did not decide on my final product size until I started production drawing direct inspiration from the comic book ASDF: Art is Dead by Thomas Ridgewell. I finally decided on 8 inches wide by 4 inches tall. Most specifically I was suggested to include annotations on my mood boards which I soon added.