EVALUATION

My comic strip is a non-linear comic, there comic doesn't have an ending because it is up to the reader to figure out what happens or wait for the next chapter. My comic is set up so the characters explain the beginning without the reader seeing to beginning. My goal was to have the audience use their imagination and guess what the characters in the comic where embarrassed about. In this case Levi had embarrassed himself in front of Ren. In my comic Ren is seen as an enigma, this is because of his cold attitude and him not expressing himself that much. It makes the audience wonder what his motives are. There is an equilibrium because both characters are completely opposite. In my character bio, I made it so that both characters were very different. There whole idea is to have a cause and effect, the cause in this case it is Levi embarrassing himself in front of Ren. The effect is that Levi is unable to talk to Ren.
I constructed my comic in a organised way, the drawings were placed in boxes. Before I lined each drawing I sketched it out in pencil first very lightly. For some drawings is used references to help me with proportions. when I lined the drawings I tried my best to give it a smooth neat look. I decided not to add colour and make my comic like a traditional manga where the artists did the work in black and white. My story was inspired by a manga called 19 days. Although this manga is done in colour I copied the style of drawing and tried to make it my own.
As my manga is telling part of a story, I used speech boxes to show what each character is saying. Before I drew out the comic I wrote up a quick script. I had to make sure that what was said I the script matched my drawings. So when I changed lines of the script, I found that what they were saying didn't match up to their facial expressions.
When I was actually making the comic I didn't think much about race, social class and religion. However I did think about sexuality, gender and age. Ren is the CEO of a computer company, so, he would be of upper class because of his job position.  where as Levi has recelty become a database administrator so I picture him being middle class.

FEEDBACK:
When showing me feedback to some friends and family I received mixed feedback about m comic strip. The feedback include the following:
1) "Its a very good comic strip and the illustrations are nice and clear, to improve you could have added some background to the illustrations"

2) "very nicely laid out, the story is interesting and I like how the readers are supposed to imagine what happened at the start. I also think you could have added some background or colour"

3) " I didn't like how the readers are supposed to imagine what happened at the beginning. I really liked the idea and layout of the comic. I think its good how your use different shapes and not just squares to lay it out"

My Comic Strip

Comic Script

Considerations and Production Context

My comic is aimed at teenagers ages 12-18. My comic strip isn't telling the full story as I planned but instead telling part of a story. I changed my ideas slightly, at first I had planned to make my comic more of a romance and slice of life. However I changed this concept to a drama and slice of life because it feel it would be more relatable and more interesting.
Before drawing out he actual comic I did lots of practice sketches of my storyline and character design. I got inspiration form manga's such as 19 Days, this is because of the relationship between the two friends in the manga. I wanted to something similar but different at the same time. instead I would have my characters be friends in the past but not anymore.

The format of my graphic narrative is comic strip. originally I was going to make it a full length comic book, but I realised it wasn't realistic so I decided to make it into a strip. The reason why I choose a comic strip is because I am very familiar with the layout of comics and I feel I can do so much more with making a comic strip. I don't think this comic is best to go in a newspaper, but more so in a magazine.

Health and safety requirements

When creating a graphic narrative there are safety precautions that need to be considered when working. Especially when one is doing digital art or traditional art. It is very important that you keep in mind these factors.
Having a tiltable screen is something that all digital artists should have. this is because when you done have a screen that is tillable you could put strain on tour neck and have neck problems. In studios anti-glare screen filters are extremely useful. If you are in a job which requires you to work long hours at a computer all day, eye strain is very common. Without anti-glare you could receive headaches or migraines. Another main important health factor is you have an adjustable chair. Back support is so important when doing any sort of drawing or writing because a lot of the time, when we draw we tend to arch out backs and bend towards the paper or computer. Too much of this can cause bad back pains and possible long term damage. It is better to sit straight with both feet flat on the ground.

A few other thing to consider:

make sure lighting is suitable

make sure workstations are not cramped

plan work at a computer so that there are frequent breaks

Comic Sketches

Costume Design

My Character Ren is the CEO of a computer company. Because he is based in a formal workplace, I decided to draw smart casual attire. Clothes like shirts, trousers, jackets etc. This type of attire would be suable for this character

Comic Book Character Design

The first step to planning my comic strip was to figure out who the characters were and create a story revolving around them. In my comic I created two characters called Ren and Levi. I made many sketches of the hairstyles I was going to give my characters, I felt that choosing a hairstyle to suit the character is very important. I wanted the hair to reflect what my characters are like.

Some sketches of Levi's hair:



Some sketches of Ren's hair:

Graphic Narrative Outline

Genre:

The genre of my graphic narrative is going to be a drama and slice of life.

Audience:

My graphic narrative is going to be aimed at teens 12-18

Style:

style is undecided yet but it might be a manga style, nothing too complicated 

Who are the characters?

PROTAGOISTS 

Character 1:

Name: Ren 

Age: 26

Occupation: CEO of computer company 

Personality: mature and serious and likes things done properly. He comes across as a cold, there's a reason behind all of his actions. Total workaholic, very persistent and confident.

Character 2

Name: Levi 

Age: 25

Occupation: database administrator

Personality: smart, outgoing, friendly, warm sensitive, and shy. Modest and always puts others before himself. Doesn’t always get thing right (clumsy) but hates giving up.

Plot outline

Two long time friends who grew up together, Ren and Levi end up splitting after College. In an unlikely salutation they end up working in the same company, Ren being the CEO of that company. When they meet in the workplace Levi is still his shy yet hard working self, but Ren has turned cold. Why this is? Levi will have to find out. Is it possible the childhood friends have gone distant forever. Will Ren's coldness drive Levi away?

DC COMICS

DC Comics

DC comics was founded by Major Malcom Wheeler Nicholson, it made in 1939. The first comic book superhero was superman. Phantom as the more general and non-literal masked/costumed adventurer. DC comics was known as the king of all comics as they have released many well-known comic books and superheroes. Produced by DC Comics Batman took the world by storm as it became increasingly popular. Throughout the years Superman and Batman became increasingly popular and still are today.

In 1965 DC released a new superhero called The Flash, his superpower is that he has super speed. The flash was already superhero but he was bought back and improved  which made him even more popular. The Flash comics had more of an emotional and compelling story along with better storyboards and artwork. The company improved on other characters as well, like Superman and Batman. Not too long after the new Justice League Society was introduced. This was a league made up of superheroes to protect from evil and serve justice around the world.

The justice league was a success as it sparked new comic book and television series. DC’s Justice League consisted of, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. All the superheroes gained great recognition through the cartoon and also live television shows. Another comic book company called Marvel followed in their footsteps and decided to make their own league of superheroes

Shortly after DC Comics launched the superhero industry and revolutionized their world of comic books, their popularity began to grow. Their characters received lots of recognition and stayed popular. Live actions movies were made and TV series both cartoon and live action.

FRANK MILLER RESEARCH

FRANK MILLER

Frank Miller an American comic book writer, inker, director, novelist, screenwriter, film director and producer is one of the most iconic comic boo artist who is widely recognised for his contribution to the comic book art. He is most known for his graphic novels and comic books, such as, Ronin, Daredevil, Batman: Year One, Elektra, Wolverine, 300, Sin City and many more.

Miller was noted for merging film noir and manga influences in his comic art creations. Miller grew up as a comic book fan so he knew what made good comic due to early exposure of comic book styles. When Miller joined Marvel, he started off as a regular fill in and cover artist. In the early 80’s he worked on various titles was at this stage he was not widely recognised as he is today. Miller’s job was to draw Peter Parker, spectacular Spiderman #27-28 (Feb-Mar 1979). In this creation, he guest stared the blind vigilante Daredevil. Daredevil was not popular at the time and sales for the comic was very low. It was almost as if few people cared about the comic. However, Miller saw potential in “a blind protagonist in a purely visual medium”, so his me mentor Jo Duffy spoke to the editor-in-chief Jim Shooter about his interest in the comic, this was to get Miller to work on Daredevil as a regular title. Daredevil, #158 (May 1979) Miller debut on that title. After that issue, Miller became one of Marvels rising stars.

Miller also worked on the iconic Batman. The reinvigoration of Bruce Wayne (fictional character) though a series of books and stories forever changed the outlook on Bruce Wayne. He went from a “costumed crime fighter”, into ‘a creature who lurks in the dark’ bringing dire justice to a city driven by insanity, crime and injustice. His remake of The Joker, Gotham, Bruce Wayne, and Batman, was a bedrock to comic book greatness.

The Dark Knight was unlike anything ever seen for DC Comic and the Comic medium. It was different and mire sophisticated, Miller made Batman the old man with a short temper and no patience for anyone who couldn’t keep up with him.

Introduction to Graphic Narrative

A graphic novel is a book made up of comics and visual content. The term "graphic novel" is very broad and consists of many different genres. Examples of Graphic Narrative styles can be, Manga, Comic books or strips, photo-story, Graphic Novels and Children's books.

Manga

Manga is one of Japans craziest phenomena, manga has become increasingly popular all over the world in both Asian and Western culture. There are millions of manga readers all over the world who are influencing the number of comic book art.

Focusing on creating a unique aesthetics and alluring narratives, they often evolve into anime and even cosplay, remaining constantly popular within their ever-growing community and collectors.

Some people believer the first manga was created in the 12th and 13th century. it consisted of drawings of frogs and rabbits titled choju-giga. 

Manga VS Anime 

In Japan Manga can refer to any type cartooning, comic and animation. Anime covers animated comics of many kinds. A lot of the time anime can be based of Mnaga

Comic Book Strips

 Comic books are a series of words and pictures arranged in a sequential order. Traditionally occupying the fringes of pop culture, the comic book is actually a valuable historical text that comments on how young people and adults alike identify with cultural and political issues. As such, a comic book is much more than just a series of words and pictures with marginal cultural importance.

Well known comic book artists consist of people like Jack Kirby, Jim Lee, Stan Lee, Frank Miller, Osamu Tezuka and may more. Within comic book format there is the producer who makes and draws the comics, often there is someone who writes the comic. Often the process is made up of two different people.

Graphic Narrative Production 

Animation feedback Video

Animation Questionnaire Feedback

When asking about what genre the viewer thought the animation was, the most common response was that it was a Sci-fi. This is what genre I wanted my animation to be.  My target audience was from 11-16, when I looked at my audience feedback almost all the feedback said that the animation look as if it was aimed at 11-14. i feel like i have achieve my goal for the animation which was appealing the correct audience and completing it with sound effects ad backing music.

My Evaluation

Stop Motion Animation Evaluation

                                                            

Leading up to my animation I did a lot of background research to find out about stop motion animation and famous people who did it. The beginning research stated of me and finding out background information about animation in general and what the motion animation was. I looked at people such as Edward Muybridge, George Melies, Jan Svankmajer, and Travis Knight. For part of my research I look into different Youtubers who crated animations for their content. I looked at Swoozie, Jaiden Animations, Domics and CypherDen. To prepare for this animation I crated a story board of what roughly my animation was going to be about, from there I experimented with character design and what my characters would look like. I decide to give my characters a basic look as my animation was aimed at young people. I feel the content of my animation suited the target audience I had set before making. On the other hand, the style of drawing used looked as if it was supposed to be aimed at a younger audience.

It took me a while to figure out what kind of set was going to be used in my animation because I still didn’t have an exact idea of what the theme was. I made my fist set out of cardboard from an old box, then I decorated it with dark blue and red tissue paper. I did face a few issues when making the set as it wasn’t very strong and I kept on having to tape it up. When I reached around 7 or 8 seconds into my stop motion animation my set sadly got ruined to I had to recreate my whole set again as well as the characters I had made. When it came to reaming my set u still used a cardboard box, but I decorated the set differently. The theme of my animation was supposed to be sci fi so I used watercolour to paint the set background. I overcame the problem of the damaged set and charter my making new ones and thinking about what stronger materials to uses so that they wouldn’t get damaged.

One I had showed people my finished animation I got both good and bad feedback which I feel I can use to help me in future projects. One of the good feedbacks was that I had used of music and that it went well with the theme of the animation. However, the bad feedback was that my hand did get in a few frames, so next time I should be careful when shooting. the animation. The other improvement I received from my feedback was the fact that the animation was a bit too fast at times so it was hard to read the speech sometimes.

Personally, I feel my animation came out well in the end because of editing music and effects used in the animation. However, I feel that a weakness for me was that face that the camera moved when it wasn’t supposed to at time which mad the animation look choppy at parts.



After screening my animation the feedback I received was both good and bad, I feel I can sue this constructively to improve future animations. When receiving my feedback I decided to do it on different platforms, for example, a screening where the audience would talk about what they thought of the animation. Another platform I wanted my feedback to be available on was a online questionnaire, where people could anonymously send there opinions of my animation.

Positive Feedback

"the animation was funny"- the end of the animations was funny, the sound effects made this happen

"I liked the different use of sound effects based over the facial expressions"

"the background was good"

Improvements

"the speech bubble went to quick, I wasn't able to read them"

A common response that I have notched in my feedback was the speed of the animation. Due to technology I wasn't able to properly edit my animation so the speech ran smoothly.

Animation Feedback

Feedback:

After showing my animation to my peers I received both positive and negative feedback which i feel i can reflect and improve on. 

Person 1 said:

• The music suits the theme of your animation

• The dark lighting fits the theme of the animation, it looks good

• You hand appeared in a few frames in the animation, next time be careful what is in the frame

Person 2 said:

• Good use of sound effects, created suspense

• Good choice of music created a sci-fi theme

• The animation itself was a bit fast at times it was hard to read the speech bubbles 

 I plan to take this feedback into account and use it for future animations. I feel the main issue was the speed of my animation and that it was too fast.

My Stop Motion Animation

Animation Dope Sheet

Dope Sheet

Action - Notes	Dialogue	Sound	Frames/Time (Seconds)	Camera Instructions
Walking (C1)		Hard Rain/ Backing music throughout	1 Second	Full Body shot
Still walking (C1)	Great I’m stuck in study limbo	Hard Rain	2 Second
Enters (C2)	You want to know why…	Hard Rain throughout	5
Both turn (C1 C2)	*Screams*	*	7
Walks Backwards (C1)	How did you do that?	*	8
Standing (C2)	Um, I dunno	*	8.5
Characters face camera (C1C2)	You are stuck her… What do you mean?	*	10
Starts to exit (C2)	No homework no freedom	*	12
Walking away	Have fun or get comfy	*	14-15
Standing (C1)	Why	*	15
Exiting still walking away		*
Teleports towards C1	You are going to die here	*	17	Slightly zoomed in
Standing (C1)	*	*	18-21	Camera zooming in
Standing	(no dialogue)	Suspense strike/Hard Rain	22-23	Close of on face

Scene