Digital graphics evaluation pro forma

Graphic Narrative Evaluation

Lauren Pyne

Does your final product reflect your original intentions?

My original plan I was going to have 14 pages, I decided against this as I would not have enough time. I cut and rearranged a few of the scenes to make the book shorter. I also was originally going to overlay the text over the image, I found that it was too difficult to read so I chose to put the text on a separate page. I thought about adding some small illustrations to some of the text pages that had less text to fill the page and keep the child interested.I planned it use the rotoscope technique for the backgrounds and the shape technique for the characters. I found that rotoscoping was a much quicker production method and it allowed me to make the characters more detailed.

I think that the changes I have made will make the book a lot better, its not too long and I was able to complete all the necessary pages in detail instead of rushing to finish more pages. I had to rearrange the pages to make sure that the pages still made sense. I think by overlaying the text I has allowed me more space for the drawings on the page instead of having to worry about a plain space where the text can go. By using the rotoscoping technique, it has improved he overall look of the book because both the characters and the background are the same style. I didn’t make many changes to the flat plans so the digital images look extremely similar to the original drawings and storyboards. I kept the character design the same and just improved them slightly. It has also saved me a lot of time because the shape technique is very time consuming. It is also easier to add detail and create a style for the books illustrations.

How well have you constructed your images?

I constructed my images to the highest quality I could. Each character had at least 50 layers each, ensuing that there no white gaps. I added details such as creases to the clothing, shadows and highlights to objects in the image. I used the opacity tool to create an patterns on objects that would naturally had patterns, such as the wood door of Hansel and Gretel's house. I also used the opacity tool to add shadows and small details.I used a variation of greens and browns to colour the clothing as the time period that it was set between 1315-1321, people wore dull coloured clothing. When it came to colouring the witches house of sweets, I chose to stick to traditional sweet colourations such as white, red and green. I made sure that the overall look of the book was as bright and colourful as possible. I did this by making the backgrounds bright, colourful and interesting for the child. This didn’t apply to a few pages where I couldn’t make the background bright as it would differ from the other view of the same object in the book.I used layers to build up the characters, once I had the basics I would use more layers to add small details such as creases and shadows. I would order the layers ensuring that what I needed most visible was the top layer, and merge them. Those that I didn’t merged but were a smaller part of something larger would be linked with other layers so that if their size were to be changed, everything would be in proportion. I tried to make the book as colourful and bright as possible to keep the child interested. As the characters clothes were dull coloured due to the era the story was originally set in, I decided to give them bright scarf's, a red one for Hansel, and a purple one for Gretel. I also gave Hansel short blonde hair. These features would also help the child decipher which character was which when in a difficult view of the characters. I mostly used the opacity tool to create texture and colour to keep the child interested.

How well have you used text to anchor your imagesFor my story I had to tailor the story and the language towards the age group that the book is aimed at. I found that due to the quite young age range, it was more difficult to select the language used so that they could read it and understand what it meant if they were reading without aid of an adult. I decided to separate the text and the image and put them on separate pages as I found that the text was too difficult to read when laid over the image. It also helped when illustrating as I didn’t have to worry about where the text would go and if it would be readable if overlaying a busy part of the image. I used a Helvetica font as it was very clear and readable and would be easy for a child to read. I also chose the font size as 14pt as it is not too small as well as clear and readable.I think that the language is suitable for the older part of my age range (more towards age 7), I think the younger ages would need assistance for a few words but not too many. This allows them to learn challenging words but still be able to read the book on their own. I set the text so that I was central to the page, spread throughout the page and separated small chunks of text to make it easier for the child to read it. I made sure that the separation was enough so that it was easier to read. I also made all speech in bold so that it was easier for the child to tell when they were speaking. I used some wording on page 10 on the illustration to show that the Witch was screaming. I did this for effect and to make the illustration more intriguing for the child. I used the warp tool to make it look like it was coming from her and getting louder by slowly enlarging the text.

Is your product suitable for your audience? I chose the age range between 5 and 7 years old. I think that my product is suitable to my audience as this age range, the child can read but still needs a few more challenging words for them to improve their reading skills. To improve I could make the language simpler but this wouldn’t help challenge the child and help their reading skills progress. I chose a simple but less used fairy tail. I thought that the story was short, simple and suitable for the child to read with parents or on their own. I think to make the product better suited I think I could have changed the storyline a bit so that the Witch was locked up instead of being pushed into the fire. However as I had not planned to change the story, I presented the scene in a way so that the child could tell what was happening but the image was not obscene or violent. I made it so that most of the witch could not be seen and that the oven door covered most of the inside of the oven where the witch was. I think that I could have improved the book by increasing the page size, this would allow more room for illustrations or larger images with more detail. When researching different children's books already on the market, I found that often the books were larger than 20cm by 20cm, my book was 20cm x 15cmso was smaller than the average book on the market for a child. I also found that most books had from 25 to 30+ pages to tell the story in. My book included 24 pages including the text pages, however I had to change the story considerably to fit the story within the amount of pages I chose to illustrate due to the time period set for the task. I chose a quite simple art style to use throughout the book that was also detailed for the older children in the the group that the product was aimed at.

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

I liked how accurate you could be with the rotoscope technique. It was also much quicker than the other techniques I had tried. However it was still very time consuming when adding layers for more detail, such as the creases in the clothing, shadows and textures. It gave a slightly ridged look to the image and it made it easier to create your own style to run throughout the book. It was easy to make the image abstract, realistic or cartoon like. The rotoscope technique allowed me to add the small details much easier than I could have added with the other techniques. I disliked that if you wanted to add detail, such as the creases in clothing or the shadows, was very time consuming and this caused me to run over my schedule and run behind on the production of the book. I also disliked that often I had to undo the magnetic lasso as the shape didn’t look right, this meant I had to redo the shape again. I also found that when selecting a small area, it was very easy to accidentally double click, causing the lasso to join up when the shape was not fully selected. I often had to re select the detailed areas when adding small details.

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

Page 9 Page 7Page 2 Page 4 Page 3

I liked the style that I was able to develop for the book, I found it different to the other book on the market. I also liked the amount of detail I was able to put in with the creases and shadows by using opacity.However I found that there were inconsistencies with the quality of the characters. On some pages they looked fine, and fitted in with the style but others they looked lesser in quality. This was mostly due to he angle that they were at, for instance, I struggled to illustrate Gretel facing forwards, so I tried to avoid using Gretel facing forwards. If I were to do this project again I would redo Gretel on page 4 and 7, the stepmother and father on page 3 and the Witch on page 8. I also noticed after I had finished the book that on page 1 and 2, where Hansel is breaking up the bread, on his coat he has a pocket. On page 9, he does not have the pocket. If I had more time for production I would add the pocket to as this is a continuity error. I am happy with the overall look of the book however there are a few things I would change or add to if I had time, to improve the look of the book.

Why did you include the content you used?

I included the content that I did as I decided to keep the story as close to the original as possible, and as the the original was set between 1315-1321, a time when it was more common for parents to leave their children in the woods when they had no money. As it was set in this time period, I also tried to choose clothing that looked old with dull colourations to match the time period it was set in. I also tried to make the house that Hansel and Gretel lived in look old and as houses would in older times. Made of wood and lit with candles. As I wanted the book to be set in the time period that the original story was set in, I tried to make their clothing look old, by using dull colours and minimal details or patterns on the clothing. This would also help to show that they were poor and help aid the story that their stepmother and father could not afford to feed the full family.

I used the Helvetica font as it was simple and easy to read. I originally planned to use a serif font but the serif fonts available I found were more difficult to read than the font I have chosen for my children's book.

Most of the effects I used on my book were achieved by using the opacity tool to create shadows, creases in the clothing, and effects such as patterns on wood to make the object more realistic. The effects of the opacity tool helped add smaller, subtle details and made the image look more detailed overall.

Hansel and Gretel's clothing is dull coloured as dye, rich fabrics or embellishments would have cost a considerable amount and only higher class citizens would be able to afford it.

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

I tried to hint that the Witch was evil by dressing her in black, with an old witches hat, a big nose with a wart on the end. A parent would be able to identify that the old lady was a witch and was evil, but the child may need help understanding this.

The witch is a classic fairytail villain and is often displayed in this sort of manner, a long pointy hat, dark clothing, large nose with a wart on the end and usually old. displaying the witch in this way will help a child recognise that she is evil as most villains are displayed this way in folk tales.

I gave the stepmother a green scarf that could symbolise jealousy, possibly towards the children as they get more attention from their father than she does.

In the witches house, there were baskets filled with rupees, a currency used in olden times, and they were shown as gems. the gems would have also been used as a currency in olden times, as well as being used in children's games such as the Legend of Zelda, where they are used to buy items. in many modern games set in different times, older currencys such as gems and rupees are used.

shows the witch dressed in black on page 8

shows the rupees on page 11

What representations can be found in your work?

My work does not include religion or certain social groups however it does display the lower class in that time period. It showed that the poor often left their children so that they could survive as there wasn't enough money or food to feed and sustain the full family, their only option was to leave the children or they would all starve. it showed the difficulties that families, especially large ones, went through to keep fed and sheltered.

The book also showed that Hansel and Gretel's father remarried to their stepmother, as children were rarely born out of wedlock in those times, and she is referred to as the stepmother in the stories, we can presume he remarried possibly after the death of Hansel and Gretel's real mother, probably from starvation or disease. Remarriage would have been common in those times to earn enough income to keep their house and still eat.

The only variety of characters is in age and gender. Hansel and Gretel are a lot younger than the other characters, I tried to make them seem naive and oblivious to the outside world as most children are whilst still not making them too childish.

I tried to make the stepmother look angry and mean to make her a false villain, but she is really the dispatcher in the story. In fairytales the stepmothers are often shown as evil or cruel women such as cinderellas stepmother, she would not let her go to the ball, just as Hansel and Gretel's stepmother wants to leave them in the forest so they herself and her husband wont starve. Stepmothers are often shown as greedy as they want something that will benefit them or someone else, just as in Cinderella, she wanted the prince to marry one of her daughters not her stepmother. In Hansel and Gretel, she wants to get rid of the children so that she can live.

What style have you employed in your products?

I had several different influences, for instance my characters were influenced from my own drawings, as I have drawn cartoons like that for a while and know how they would look from many different angles. The art style was influenced by some modern children's books that included Hansel and Gretel and The Gruffalo.

Some of the illustrations were influenced by several existing images and products, for instance the witches candy house had elements of at least 10 different sweet houses on google images. I took elements that I liked from each house and blended them to make the house in that scene.

Hansel and Gretels home was influenced by both old, and very basic homes made from mostly wood.

I also looked at the Hansel and Gretel film for ideas on the characters and the candy house but I found that it was more difficult to try create the characters to look like those in the film.

My work has a specific style but some of the same components often changed how they looked or how they were detailed, for instance the trees, none look the same and they were made in about five different ways. I tried to make everything in the same style and I believe that I achieved that. I chose it because it was an easy technique and style but you could still add as much or as little detailas you wanted.

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

I think that the planning went quite well and I managed to plan everything and follow most of my original plans for the book. The planning helped me manage my time and understand what I needed done and when it had to be finished by. It also controlled how much detail I had time to put into my work.

The research helped me get ideas for the look of the book and the style, along with how I would present it. My research also helped me decide the easiest and quickest way to make my book.

I had planned to use my time well and limit the amount of time I spent on each page, however some pages needed more detail than others and required a lot more time. These more detailed pages caused me to overrun my original planned time slot for the page. To finish my book on time I often had to work out of class to keep up with my planned time slots. Although I didn't manage to keep to my planned times, by managing my time I got my book finished quicker and I knew what page had to be done next every time. At the end I still had just over a page to do, and I needed to complete the text pages. I didn't plan time for the text pages and this caused me to run over the time limit I had set myself. I also underestimated how long each page took to make. If I were to redo this task I would plan my time more carefully and start working in my free time as soon as production started.

The pre production and planning allowed me to decide how to present each of the characters, the scenes and the book itself.

Historical and cultural context

I find that my work didn't look like most of the other Hansel and Gretel books. This was because there were a limited selection of these books and most of them were published at least ten years ago.

Of the ones that I found, I saw that most of them were either hand drawn, pained, usually with watercolours or what looked like oils, and very few were done digitally.

I only managed to find one digitally drawn Hansel and Gretel book. In comparison, the book was much neater and the characters more detailed.

I found two books that seemed the most recent, one being digital art and the other was what looked like a hand illustrated book. The illustrations in this book seemed to be dark and gloomy. I decided not to take any ideas or concepts from this book as the other childrens books I had looked at were all bright and colourful to keep the child interested. This book also had smaller illustrations and small text, presumably or the seven to ten year age group.

Other Hansel and Gretel products include a film, however the film has been adapted to be more modern and both Hansel and Gretel and adult witch hunters. This film has pulled away from the original storyline and was not relevant to the product I made.

From the few books I could find, none of the styles were the same, most of them were old fashioned drawings from old traditional story books.

My work does not look as traditional as most of the existing stories do, I think it stands out due to the lack of digitally drawn versions of this fairytale.