Digital Graphic Narrative

Development

Nicole Tunningley

Shape Task

Shape Task 2

Evaluation

What did you like about your images?Sloth- I like the variation of colour on my animal and the gradient on the body as it gives the animal what seems like a shadow from underneath it which is what would occur naturally making my image in some sense seem more realistic then if I weren’t to have one. I also like that I have kept to the same sort of colour palette with my animal and then varied it when I came to the background so that it wouldn’t blend in, to prevent this I also added the blur so that it seemed less sharp.Owl- With this image I like the detailing seen from the original image with the colour range feature on the owl and the stump beneath as it makes the image seem more realistic and true to the animal, I like this setting as if I didn’t use colour range for those details it would look unrealistic and it would be difficult and time-consuming.

What would you improve if you did it again?Sloth- I would improve detailing on areas such as the tree branch as though I know it is patched due to variation in shade on the tree and moss that was growing on it, anyone else viewing it may not know this. I would also probably blur and colour the background with smaller shapes so that it looks more realistic to the background that was actually present.Owl- If I were to do this image again I would maybe have more of a contrast on the body of the owl or add a gradient to show shading because realistically the owl would not have such a blocky one coloured body like it unfortunately does in my image, also I would attempt to add more detailing to the stump in which the owl is sitting on as it differs to much in colour to seem correct.

Rotoscope

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like the variations of shading on the skin and in the hair as in a minimalist way it kind of looks quite realistic and how certain shapes resemble features in the image such as lines on the face or creases in the clothes.I like also that I have acknowledged from which sections of the actual shot where the artificial studio light is being emitted from so that I can pay close attention to which section will be highlighted (areas on the right) and which sections are shaded and/or shadowed (areas on the left).

What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do this image again I might find better techniques in which I might do the facial hair with because I didn’t think that doing it in block with the polygonal lasso would look as good for such as minimal amount of hair. The tools I could use for this would be colour range.I feel that I could improve on this image if I go more in depth with the detail of some of the features on the image such as the pattern on his suit or the textured look of the shirt that he is wearing and even the hair on his head could be more defined so that each individual light and dark section stand out

Text Based

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like that each font looks different from the original and the others through the fact that I experimented with the different techniques such as gradient overlay, colour overlay, texturing, inner/outer shadowing and even adding shapes such as the snowflake to the font and imprinting it onto the text

What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do this work again I would maybe be a bit more adventurous with the effects that I used on my font as each one still look quite familiar to the first, I could possible bring the letter closer together for a more claustrophobic look or I could space them out to look completely different.Also, the second and third font look to similar in the sense that the only difference between them is that the third image has a shadow on it raising upwards and the second one does not.

Comic Book

Comic Book 2

Comic Book 3

Evaluation

What did you like about your images?I like how each image has it’s own artistic style, for example my first image is the most realistic as the detailing achieved by the threshold adjustment shows all the smaller shaded features of the image such as the face of the character, this image I prefer over the second as it looks almost painted and artistic. My second image on the other hand is in the section between abstract and realistic as I wanted to portray some sort of scale of realism and abstractness between the three, I like this image as it has less detailing in the background but still quite a large amount on the face the filter gallery cut out ensured more of a softer look for the subject in the image which is why it appears less sharp than the first. Finally, I like how abstract my last image is, for this I set the filter gallery setting quite high so that it seems more blocky and less realistic which I thought suited the scene the most, there is a lower threshold in this image but just enough so you can make out the characters face. Overall, I like the simplicity of my third image and the realistic detailing of my first.

What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do this set of images again I would maybe make the second image seem less realistic with the threshold settings and a tad more blended with the cut out filter section as I believe it looks too much like my first image, in a sense that the subject closer to the shot is more detailed than the background, also I think that the image would be more appealing if it was the subject of artistic features such as more sharpness that comes with the abstract look of the cut out effect in the filter gallery of Photoshop.

Photography

Photography

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like that my images are suitable for my target audience and that they aren’t cluttered because if they were it would remove a lot of the scene, I might be able to fix this if it were to occur by only rotoscoping the main subjects of the image such as the tree in the first image along with the grass, hedge and sky and the path in the second image in which I could make a character to walk up it.I chose this area for my images as it is quite rural in the sense that it has things like trees, grass and other vegetation in it that would be seen in the places most popular children books are based in. This is because they are quite old and technology wouldn’t have existed so you wouldn’t see cars in the background or modern architecture, which is why I attempted to cut it out.

What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to take the images again I would maybe take images with more variation in the scene, though normal fairytales are quite old fashioned and set in what seems to be medieval times this might prove difficult to photograph in the area I took these photos as this landscape is quite modern.

Illustration

Evaluation

What did you like about your image?I like that the colors used stay true to what the original subject looks like and I also like how I used the black pencil to outline the edges so that they look less blunt and soft and more sharp so you can see the difference between each of the sections

What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do this image again I would pay more attention to the coloring of the larger sections as the pencil did not quite cover it completely in a sense that you can see some gaps between the color strokes of the subject in areas such as the body and the head.

I would also rethink the way I presented it considering that I exposed this image by taking a photograph of it, the image would have probably would have been seen better if I had scanned it but I will take this into consideration for future reference

Initial Ideas

Character appearance:I have chosen these images to give me inspiration for my chosen story as I believe they all resemble it well, I can see a variation of techniques which I may consider using such as drawn, digital art and some look painted. I wanted my characters to appear soft and kind looking. I want the shoemaker and his wife to be old yet pleasant in appearance and the elves on the other hand to look childish, mischievous and joyful in appearance to link them to the reader. I want to have an equal number of male and females so there is gender variation and finally I have noticed that in the original version of this story that the elves do not actually wear clothes because the shoemaker presents them with some to alleviate them from their duty but to make this suitable for children I will have to make it so that they do.

Location appearance:I want my illustrations for the story to seem historically accurate to the time in which it was based, also the story is set in the shoemaker’s home it is said in the story that the shoemaker was a poor man so when making the house setting I would have to consider this frequently.

Font appearance:Out of all the fonts I have presented here, I am certain that I prefer the third font down because it suits the childish manner I want for my book appearance with all the curves and the circled flicks but also it isn’t at all difficult to read, my least favorite out of these is the second font down this is because it seems eroded and is in all capital letters which I do not think is good for a child of my target age

ProposalDimensions

10-12, 8x8 inch pages, 4-8 lines per page

Story OverviewMy story is about a poor shoemaker who gave his last made pair of shoes to a needy woman, which left him with only enough leather to make one pair of shoes. The next morning the shoemaker woke up to see that the shoes had been made and they were better than any he had ever done, a woman came in and bought the shoes giving the shoemaker enough money to buy more material for two pairs of shoes and he stayed up that night to see who it was that were making the shoes. Two tiny elves came into his shop, a boy and a girl and he sat up that night with his wife watching them make the shoes, this went on for many nights so that now the shoemaker had enough money and knowledge on shoemaking for him and his wife to live off. So, to thank the elves for all they had done he and his wife decided to make them some clothes and shoes out of the scrap material he had. He left the clothes out for them and when they saw them the elves knew that the shoemaker was giving them these gifts, the elves gladly put on the clothes and shoes and left and everyone lived happily ever after.

Export Format

PDF

Advantages: quick and easy to construct and can be viewed on many PC/Mac platforms

Disadvantages: this type of file can prove difficult to open on any other web page

Deadline

20th March

Audience

Typically I am targeting at young English speaking children maybe in places such as the UK, America, Canada and Australia. Due to the fact that I have edited the story so that there is a fair amount of females and males in it and that the story itself is not gender specific I have come to the conclusion that it is a unisex book, my illustrations also will not be based at a specific gender adding then to the idea that it is not aimed at just boys or girls but both. I would also say that due to my story being a folktale that it is not just aimed at one class but for all, internationally.Demographically speaking, this book may be one that is read either by the child as a learning book at school or a nursery depending on the age, as a hobby or to the child by a parent/adult as a bedtime story.

Production Methods

The methods I will use to create my pages will consist of rotoscoping and shaping my illustrations on a Photoshop document at the right dimension size for my pages. I will do this because I want my images to seem bright and simplistic for the target audience I therefore don’t want to use too many complex methods to create them. I may be able to add small yet significant details to the image such as shadowing, lighting and shading to make it seem slightly more realistic yet still cartoon-like. I will be careful with how I use my rotoscoping as I do not want to get a pre-existing image from the internet, download it and take credit for that so I shall use the tool lightly and I will use shaping alone for my characters and background mainly.

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

One strength of the proposal is that it has identified the target audience which the book will be aimed at. Another strength of the proposal is that the story overview and production methods are very clear and well thought out.

One area of the proposal that could do with further work is when explaining the story , go into further explanation when explain the characters

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

The strength of the idea generation is that it is very varied and there is a lot of ideas and concepts referring to child’s stories and how they should be like.

One idea that could have been developed further is about different types and styles of text layout and different versions of page layout

Talking more about the different art styles that could be used and how there good or bad.

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

The overall idea is well thought through and clear.Target audience identified well.Reasoning for chosen production methods is explained well.

The characters could be explained better (the elves)

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

The overall plan is extremely detailed and makes sense.Idea generation of the chosen story makes particular points that needed to be explained.

Could mention different art styles and why you would or wouldn’t use them.

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

-She has a very detailed idea of what her target audience would be.- She has produced a good story that will be easy for her target audience to read.-The production methods have been well thought about so she has a good idea of what she wants to do.

-Could add more disadvantages and advantages about the PDF files.- Could explain how many pages there will be better.

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

- A wide variety of ideas have been shown and she has shown in good detail what she wants her book to be like.- Simple and easy to read mind maps that still give you good detail even though they’re simple.

-She could add her story to her main story mind map to show she has thought about her story before the proposal and how she may have changed it/improved it.-Could add more to the fonts saying why she chose them and what would she use them for if she used them for her book.

Feedback Summary

Sum up your feedback.

The whole story was considered detailed and clear but that I should consider developing my characters more in particularly the elves also my feedback suggested that I take into consideration which art style I want to use and why I want to use this over the other ones.

Which parts of your feedback do you agree with and why?I agree that is should develop my characters more for though I know what they will act and look like I did not add it to the proposal, also I agree that I should consider my page layout more e.g. how long the story is to determine how many lines of the story I can have on each page

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

I disagree on the consideration of how many page of my book I should have because I already considered that the story was only just big enough for the maximum of 12 pages anymore and the story would have been stretched and I would have too many illustrations drowning out the story which is not what my target audience would want.

Storyboard 1-4

Storyboard 5-8

Storyboard 9-12

Original Script

(1)There was once a shoemaker, who worked very hard and was very honest: but still he could not earn enough to live upon; and at last all he had in the world was gone, save just leather enough to make one pair of shoes.

(2) Then he cut his leather out, all ready to make up the next day, meaning to rise early in the morning to his work. His conscience was clear and his heart light amidst all his troubles; so he went peaceably to bed, left all his cares to Heaven, and soon fell asleep.

(3) In the morning after he had said his prayers, he sat himself down to his work; when, to his great wonder, there stood the shoes all ready made, upon the table. The good man knew not what to say or think at such an odd thing happening. He looked at the workmanship; there was

not one false stitch in the whole job; all was so neat and true, that it was quite a masterpiece.(4) The same day a customer came in, and the shoes suited him so well that he willingly paid a price higher than usual for them; and the poor

shoemaker, with the money, bought leather enough to make two pairs more. (5) In the evening he cut out the work, and went to bed early, that he might get up and begin betimes next day; but he was saved all the

trouble, for when he got up in the morning the work was done ready to his hand. (6) Soon in came buyers, who paid him handsomely for his goods, so that he bought leather enough for four pair more. He cut out the work again overnight and found it done in the morning, as before; and so it went on for some time: what was got ready in the evening was always

done by daybreak, and the good man soon became thriving and well off again.(7) One evening, about Christmas-time, as he and his wife were sitting over the fire chatting together, he said to her, 'I should like to sit up and watch tonight, that we may see who it is that comes and does my work for me.' The wife liked the thought; so they left a light burning, and hid

themselves in a corner of the room, behind a curtain that was hung up there, and watched what would happen.(8) As soon as it was midnight, there came in two little naked dwarfs; and they sat themselves upon the shoemaker's bench, took up all the

work that was cut out, and began to ply with their little fingers, stitching and rapping and tapping away at such a rate, that the shoemaker was all wonder, and could not take his eyes off them. And on they went, till the job was quite done, and the shoes stood ready for use upon the

table. This was long before daybreak; and then they bustled away as quick as lightning.(9) The next day the wife said to the shoemaker. 'These little wights have made us rich, and we ought to be thankful to them, and do them a

good turn if we can. I am quite sorry to see them run about as they do; and indeed it is not very decent, for they have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold. I'll tell you what, I will make each of them a shirt, and a coat and waistcoat, and a pair of pantaloons into the

bargain; and do you make each of them a little pair of shoes.'(10) The thought pleased the good cobbler very much; and one evening, when all the things were ready, they laid them on the table, instead

of the work that they used to cut out, and then went and hid themselves, to watch what the little elves would do.(11) About midnight in they came, dancing and skipping, hopped round the room, and then went to sit down to their work as usual; but when

they saw the clothes lying for them, they laughed and chuckled, and seemed mightily delighted.Then they dressed themselves in the twinkling of an eye, and danced and capered and sprang about, as merry as could be; till at last they

danced out at the door, and away over the green.The good couple saw them no more; but everything went well with them from that time forward, as long as they lived.

Final Script

There was once a shoemaker who worked very hard, but he could not earn enough money and all he had was enough leather to make one pair of shoes.He went to bed early that night to wake up and make the shoes.In the morning when he sat down to make them, he saw that the shoes had already been made and they were the best shoes he had ever seen! That day a customer came in and they liked the shoes so much that he paid the shoemaker more money then he had ever been paid. The shoemaker used the money to buy enough leather for two pairs of shoes. In the evening he cut out the leather again. He then went to bed early to make the shoes in the morning but again, the shoes had already been made for the shoemaker and even more people were buying the shoes.Everyone loved the shoes and the shoemaker made so much money from all of them, that he became rich!One evening the shoemaker and his wife decided to stay up that night to find out who was coming into the shop and making the shoes. So they hid, and watched..As soon as it was midnight two little elves with colorful hair and happy faces skipped into the shop. They sat on the table and began to make the shoes out of the leather the shoemaker had cut, but as soon as the sun came up, the elves dashed away.The next day the shoemaker’s wife said “we should make some new clothes and shoes to thank them!” and the shoemaker agreed. So, the shoemaker’s wife made a dress, a shirt, waistcoat and trousers to give to the elves, and the shoemaker used some spare leather to make some tiny shoes. They then put the clothes on the table and hid to watch what the elves would do.As soon as it was midnight, the elves skipped into the shoemaker’s shop. They saw the clothes they had left for them. They put the clothes on and danced happily around and out of the shop. The shoemaker and his wife did not see the elves after that, but they were happy that they had, and everyone lived happily ever after.

http://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Brothers_Grimm/THE%20ELVES%20AND%20THE%20SHOEMAKER.html

Digital Flat Plans

There was once a shoemaker who worked very hard, but he could

not earn enough money and all he had was

enough leather to make one pair of shoes.

He went to bed early that night to wake up and make the shoes.

I intend to angle my text to the perspective that it is in the scene.

Digital Flat Plans

In the morning when he sat down to make them, he saw that the shoes had already been made and they were the best shoes he had ever seen!

That day a customer came in and they liked the shoes so

much that he paid the shoemaker more money then

he had ever been paid. The shoemaker used the money to

buy enough leather for two pairs of shoes.

Digital Flat Plans

In the evening he cut out the leather again. He then went to bed early to make the shoes in the morning but again, the shoes had already been made for the shoemaker and even more people were buying the shoes.

Everyone loved the shoes and the shoemaker made so much money from all of them, that he became rich!

Digital Flat Plans

One evening the shoemaker and his wife decided to stay up that night to find out who was coming into the shop and making the

shoes. So they hid, and watched..

As soon as it was midnight two little elves with colorful hair and happy faces skipped into the shop. They sat on the table and began to make the shoes out of the leather the shoemaker had cut, but as soon as the sun came up, the elves dashed away.

Digital Flat Plans

The next day the shoemaker’s wife said “we should make some new clothes and

shoes to thank them!” and the shoemaker agreed. So, the shoemaker’s wife made a

dress, a shirt, waistcoat and trousers to give to the elves, and the shoemaker used some

spare leather to make some tiny shoes.

They then put the clothes on the table and hid to watch what the elves would do.

Digital Flat Plans

As soon as it was midnight, the elves skipped into the shoemaker’s shop. They saw the clothes they had left for them. They put the clothes on and danced happily around and out of the shop. The shoemaker and his wife did not see the elves after that, but they were happy that they had, and everyone lived happily ever after.