Graphic Narrative Evaluation

Does your final product reflect your original intentions?

• My final product looks almost identical to what Imagined it as, although it took a lot longer then I expected and I needed to create a few me pages then I had planned.

• I didn’t follow my session schedule plan because page took a lot longer to make then I expected.

• The characters and scenes I produced were how I planned them except, I changed some small things like Goldilocks wasn’t wearing a rucksack and little red riding hood wasn’t carrying a basket. These small changes didn’t effect the plot, they were just extra detail and for example the basket would of helped the reader to recognise the characters from the original fairy tale.

• I did struggle to get all the furniture on the page in some parts of the book, such as the upstairs page as there were three beds crammed in one picture. So I tried to put the image on an angle and change the perspective of it, but I had not planned this.

• I didn’t create the last page that I planned on my flat plan as I already had enough pages and it wasn't important or necessary to include it.

How well have you constructed your images?I used a different range of tools and techniques on Photoshop to construct my images, such as Rotoscoping an image or part of an JPEG image off the internet, and adding effects to the image such as effect on filter gallery or colour overlays, inner shadows, warping and resizing. To make my image more my own with the style I want. For example the stove I created for the kitchen was cut out of an image off the internet, and I warped it to fit the unusual style of the rest of the furniture in the cottage, and added a cut-out filter.I also constructed images from merging shapes together for example my gingerbread house I created was made from 3 squares and a triangle and I used a rectangle for the white icing which outlined the house and used the rubber tool to give it curved edges. Then I decorated it using the Rotoscope tool from images off the internet.My character goldilocks (side view) I made most of her body using shapes, and I warped them so they look more realistic. For smaller body parts like hair, eyes and feet, I Rotoscoped images for features I found too difficult to make realistic using the shapes tool. Goldilocks’ hair took a very long time to do I Rotoscoped one strand of Taylor Swifts curly hair and copied that strand enough to fill her whole head then resized and warped each strand and changed some strands a slightly darker colour to look more realistic, but I the outcome was worth the time as the character looked realistic and how I planned for her to look. Then I had to do it all again to create her front view, I think I didn't’t construct this version of goldilocks very well because to me it doesn’t look like the same person as the side view version of my character.I am proud of my inner and outer shadowing of my images especially the images of the trees in my pages because they look almost 3 dimensional. I Rotoscoped real trees and resized them so they have a bit of variation. I added a green colour overlay to the tree and decreased the opacity and I gave the trees a small inner shadow. I did this to give the illusion they are coming out of the page. This makes the reader feel like their inside the book.

I kept consistent themes throughout my narrative, such as dark colours representing scary or negative images For example the dark woods and the stove from the story “Hansel and Gretel'” used to cook children in were both represented with dark colours. Another theme I kept consistent was the mixture of realistic and cartoon images. I used the clipping mask tool to create realistic textures it worked quite well and stood out from the simple cartoon like images. I was inspired to produce this style from Charlie and Lola books I read when I was younger. For the 3 chairs I created In the 3 bears’ living room I used a clipping mask to give the effect they were made out of sweets. I also warped some pieces of furniture in the cottage to give a unique and abstract concept to the setting. In the story “Hansel and Gretel” the cottage was made out of sweets so in my narrative I also kept a theme of sweets for the furniture in the cottage.Overall I tried to keep my visual themes consistent throughout my book and construct detailed images that look easy to recognise what they are, and some with a three dimensional element. I have tried to keep the plots simple, in keeping with the comprehension of the young age group for which it is ranged for.

How well have you used text to anchor your images

• I produced suitable and appropriate settings for my narrative, for example the cottage is stated in the text that it is in the dark forest, so for page 3 I surrounded the cottage with trees that had a dark green overlay with a decreased opacity to still show the detail in the leaves and branches, and I added a inner shadow, to show the darkness of the forest and that the cottage really is in the dark woods.

• The image portrays an action that the text states. For example the text states on page 3 that Goldilocks couldn’t believe her eyes, and the image I've created shows goldilocks with a wide open mouth, and a wide eyed expression, suggesting that she s shocked from what she has just seen.

• The little description of Goldilocks and the other characters stated in the text, is portrayed in the images I've created. For example Goldilocks has golden locks, and is wearing a rucksack and in text it states she's on her way to school. Little Red Riding Hood is wearing red which is stated in her name and the 3 bears are shown as bears but with a humanlike features as they walk on 2 feet.

• I use speech bubbles to help make the image more related o the text and to make what's happening more clear. For example on the first page the text states that Goldilocks’ mother tells Goldilocks to not go into the dark woods to portray this I created a speech bubble from Goldilocks house which suggests it come from her mother who's inside the house.

Is your product suitable for your audience? • I believe my children’s book is very suitable for my target audience which is 6-8year olds as it contains

mild references to violence which might be unsuitable for viewers under 6 years of age. My book “What actually happened to goldilocks” is a twist on the classic fairy-tale “Goldilocks and the

three bears”. Which also includes some characters or scenes from other classics such as “Hansel and Gretel”, and “Little Red Ridding hood”.

The ending of my children's narrative finishes were the wolf with a swelled stomach is laid in baby bears bed which goldilocks fell asleep in the last scene. This suggests that goldilocks has been eaten by the wolf. I believe this could be unsuitable for children under 6, even though the mild violence is not shown through the images or text.

Everyone throughout their childhood is usually told the classic fairy tales that install a sense of morals in the child The morals of my book are to listen to your parents, don’t steal, don’t trespass because its wrong, and you could be punished for it. So my narrative includes goldilocks doing each of these things and in the end she is punished quite extravagantly by being eaten. So children that are younger then my target audience might be scared that they are going to get eaten if they do something wrong, because they don’t understand the humor of the story.

My product is not gender biased and is aimed towards both boys and girls as most children read or are read a classic fairytale as a child. Although the main character of my book is female this does not effect my chosen target audience because it doesn't include any content which relates to a specific gender, but the female audience can identify with goldilocks and the male audience can interact with baby bear and daddy bear.

I created a character of a similar age to my target audience so both boys and girls can relate with the child as she is of a similar age.

My product is aimed towards any class because my book doesn't’t include any content which would relate to a specific class.

I have tried to keep the plots simple, in keeping with the comprehension of the young age group for which it is ranged for.

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

• I am very proud of the inner shadowing I have used in my images, I am especially proud of the inner shadowing used on the trees and the Gaussian blur that I used on a circle shape to create the dark forest, as it looks almost 3 dimensional.

• I also tried to use darker colours for images that were scary or dangerous such as the forest or the stove which the witches used in the classic fairy-tale “Hansel and Gretel” to cook children in. And I used more brighter colours for everything else as bright colours appeal to children more.

• I also liked clipping mask tool I used to create realistic textures it worked quite well with the simple cartoon like images as well, which I was inspired to produce from Charlie and Lola books I read when I was younger. I particularly like the 3 chairs I created In the 3 bears’ living room I used a clipping mask to give the effect they were made out of sweets.

• I am very happy with the warping furniture style because it produces a place that looks abstract and unusual and more interesting compared to the other settings I created. It gives the idea this cottage is out of the ordinary.

• I don’t like the speech bubbles that much, they do help portray the story better, but I think they get in the way of the images and your more likely to read the speech bubble before the text, as my text is at the bottom of the page, and the speech bubble is closer to the top of the page and when you read you read from top left to bottom right. I would rather the reader reads the text first then the addition usually re-cap information afterward but the only way to do that is rearrange where I put my text and I am trying to keep my book consistent.

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

Some things I like and think worked well in my product are…• The detailed images that look almost three dimensional with help from inner and drop shadows

for example my trees especially on the first page look like they are almost coming out of the page. This make the reader feel like they are inside the book.

• The consistent style I have incorporated into my product through inspiration of existing products out there. For example I like the clipping mask tool I used it quite a bit to add some realistic textures to my product such as the chairs made out of sweets.

• I also like the idea that was inspired from the book “The Gruffalo”. The page layout out used, which was a variety of ways, helped me to present my images easier. Using this presentation I could use less pages as I could present a few images on one page.

• My overall favourite page is either where goldilocks breaks baby bears chair because I like the style of the room, or my first page because of the trees stand out.

Dislike-

I Wanted more variety of presenting my images like in “The Gruffalo” but the page size I chose, restricted me from this.

Unfortunately I chose unsuitable Page size for my product as it wasn’t big enough to fit some of the images in exactly how I wanted them. This caused my a struggle and took me even longer to finish my product then I was hoping.

I dislike the upstairs pages because I don’t like the design or the colours used I didn't’t like the style of the duvet I tried to fix this several times the final design was the best I came up with. I also struggled to fit all the beds in the first page so I had to put this scene on an angle and change the perspective which I hadn't planned and I struggled to make the room like realistic like it was on an angle but it looks slightly off. Fortunately I have incorporated a warped style to my house and it doesn't’t look to strange.

If I could improve my product, I would adapt the page size and make it slightly bigger so that I could create an upstairs how I imagined and it would save me more time to improve on anything else.

Why did you include the content you used?

• I used “Times new roman” as my text font, because it I like the style of it its quite popular, I have seen it used in existing products.

• I created images to fit and help express the story I have created. I tried to keep my images as related to the text as possible.

• I used effects such as inner shadowing to give my images a three dimensional look which should captivate the reader and make them feel like they are inside the book.

• I warped images inside the unusual cottage made of sweets because I wanted to give this setting an even more strange and abstract feel to it.

• I tried to use symbols with my colours. I used dark colours and shadows for my trees, as they are portrayed in my story, and most other story's as a place of danger. I also used dark coloured stove to portray its negativity, as its used in Hansel and Gretel to cook children in. I created little red in a red dress for many reason, one reason is because is in her tile another reason is she wears it in existing products such as “Little red Riding Hood”. I also used red because red suggests danger and trouble, and little red is the reason that goldilocks goes of into the dangerous dark forest and this leads to her downfall.

• I used bright colours to portray anything happy things such as the sweets on the house and in the furniture.

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

• I created the image of Little Red Riding hood wearing red because its in her name, and she wore red in the classic fairy-tale “little Red Riding Hood” and I wanted her to be easily recognised. I also created her outfit to be red because red is a colour that associates with danger or trouble, in my story little red causes trouble by telling goldilocks about the cottage made of sweets in the woods which leads to goldilocks being eaten.

• I created a forest using shadows and dark green colours as forests are represented as dark scary places full of wild dangerous animals like the wolf and the 3 bears in my story. Dark colours have connotations of being negative or scary. As in man existing books the woods are portrayed as dangerous usually due to the wild animals that live there.

• Modern house humanlike bears• Children or Youth symbolises trouble as youth today suggests things like gangs, stealing,

ignoring parents, bad behaviour, and trespassing. My main character Goldilocks is a child and is portrayed slightly in the same way. Goldilocks disobeys her parents and walks into the woods, she also walks into someone's home without permission and she steals from them.

What representations can be found in your work?

• My book doesn’t contain many representations as there is only a few characters and most of them are animals.

• Children or youth are referred to as gangs, bad behaved, rebels, known to not listen to their parents, steal and commit crime.

• In my narrative I have used representation. My character Goldilocks is a child who does all of these stereotypical representations of a child. She ignores her mother and goes into the dark woods and she trespasses into someone else's home and steals things.

• There is a moral to the story, don’t steal, listen to your parents because in the future you maybe punished for your sins. As goldilocks gets eaten by the wolf.

• I create the bears with different shades to show they are different types of bear like there are different races in the wold. The 3 bears live together and are a family. My book is also trying to teach readers that no matter what race you are we should all live together and each other as family as we are all created by God.

What style have you employed in your products?• I have incorporated many different styles within my product. Most of these styles I produced,

were ideas I got from being inspired by existing products.• For example my image presentation was influenced by “The Gruffalo” as I loved the way the

images were presented in a variety of ways, some pictures are small close ups with text aside, some images are spread on two pages with text dotted around, and some are in the middle with text underneath or above. My book is presented in a similar way I thought it would work quite well with my plot as its very long and I needed to create less pages so having more than one image on a page fitted quite well. Although I didn't’t use as much variety as I wanted to.

• I added a warped style to the inside of my unusual cottage made of sweets, to give my product an abstract, alien feel to it. Suggesting this house is no ordinary simple structured house.

• I used the clipping mask tool to create realistic textures over cartoon like or simple structures. For example the chairs I created sweet textures over the simple cartoon like chairs which suggest that the chair is made out of sweets, which would appeal to every child as all children love sweets. I was inspired by this style from the books and TV shows Charlie and Lola that I read and watched as a little kid. I loved the style because the style is very unique.

• I created a twist style on a mixture of different fairy tales as I couldn't’t decide on which one to modify. I think the plot worked nicely. I was inspired to do this style from two fairy-tale twist movies, such as Shrek, and hoodwinked which include many characters from existing fairy tales but they are given a different context. Which is how I tried to create my product. I took characters or scenes from “Hansel and Gretel”, “Goldilocks and the three bears” , and “Little red Riding hood”.

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

Plan The plan rally helped me to produce my final product as I cold keep referring back to it, whenever I felt, to see what page or image to create next and what I had to include in it. I Knew what Images and text I had to create for each page, which saved time of trying out lots of different things, because I had a set plan to know what image was going where on a specific page, I knew what styles to incorporate where, and what characters should look like what font should be created. I hadn't chose a page size very wisely and it was far too small to create the last few page. I had to fit 3 beds on one page. If I improved my final product I would go back and change the page size then fit all the image to fill the page.

TimeMy image were too detailed for example Goldilocks too me ages to create because of her hair and the different angles she was on , if I done them much simpler I would have had much more time to spend on improvements. My product took much longer to create then I had expected it to take. My pages too to long to create, and problems occurred, such as not being able to fit the images on the page properly, which caused me to come behind. So I couldn’t follow my session schedule. Although I have created a lot of detail in the time given, so overall I am pretty pleased with my overall outcome.

Historical and cultural context

I constructed an idea for my final product by looking at what other existing children's books are well known and loved. Some of the most popular stories that researched are the classic fairy tales, “Goldilocks and the 3 bears”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Hansel and Gretel”. I couldn't decide which one I wanted to modify and use for my Children's narrative, so I decided to mix all their plots together. I chose to use “Goldilocks and the 3 bears” as the main plot because it worked the best, and I had a good idea of what styles an techniques I could incorporate into it.

Classic fairy tales like “Goldilocks and the 3 bears”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Hansel and Gretel” are always being remade and modified because they were made originally for adults and were very violent, they were adapted over time so that children could read them. I have tried to modify my version of these classics and I called it “What actually happened to Goldilocks”. I produced a little enigma-twist ending to intrigue the reader so that they want to re-read my book. Plots twist work quite nice in some films inspired from fairy tales such as “Hoodwinked”, which is a twist of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood and the film Shrek which is a mixture of characters from classic fairy tales like the three little pigs from “The Three Little Pigs”, the gingerbread man from “The Gingerbread Man” and the wolf from “Little Red Riding Hood” and the director presents his characters in a different context.

In my children's narrative I will present cartoon images because all fairy-tale books that contain images are cartoon images not photos as it appeals more to children it encourages their imagination and creative thinking. For example the popular fairy-tale book Cinderella By the author Random House Disney produces cartoon images.