Perspectiva Narrativa

In retrospect

I wasn’t expecting this project to turn out the way it did. I originally planned to make a full graphic novel professionally printed in a book about the experiences of a family coping with their new environment.

And I’m really glad I didn’t do that!

Instead, I created different formats in which my final narrative could be viewed: a mock up book, a digital issuu, semi animated GIFs, an Ipad app and most importantly my ‘website’ format. Each medium allowed the same story to be read in different ways, and the most successful platforms happened to be the digital ones. It just happened to be one of those projects.

It would have been nice to have had a lovely object to hold by the end, but I cared too much for this concept and didn’t want it to be rushed through only for the sake of being printed and bound in high quality. I was also aware that the traditional graphic novel/panelling format was probably not the best way to support the sequential nature of what I intended, and I knew that a picture book format would be best. But after trying it in the development process and saw its weakness, the digital medium seemed very appealing.

And it was! Laying out each image sequentially so they could be scrolled through highlighted surprise, and so many people responded well to it. They were able to relate to the final chunk of the story, and really liked the characters and the way the images were laid out. 

I feel very happy about my character designs. I’ve always tried searching for a way to depict characters that would grab attention and inflict charm, and this way of drawing was definitely the way forward. I think it doesn’t only appeal to the young, but also to older audiences, and that was something I really wanted to push.

I’m happy with the technical process as well. I personally feel that some images work better than others, but they work well together and that was the intention. I’m a bit sad I couldn’t depict the space environment I wanted, but it was important to give prioritise some aspects, and in this case it was about the family, not about space.

Looking back, this was a good transition project: I used the knowledge I obtained from the first one, and created something that has led me to think more about the next unit. Especially when creating all the layers of images and the GIFs, I’ve thought about ways I can create my future moving-image outcome. 6 weeks ago I would have felt incredibly terrified about the idea of creating something that moved, but now I feel much more relaxed and excited about what’s to come.

I feel like I’ve learned an awful lot. While the last project was more about presentation, this was more about the content and how to lay out that content. I really cared about the way it would look of course, but I also cared much more about how others would perceive it.

But more than anything, I cared a lot about this story not only because it’s something quite close and personal to me, but also because I’ve found that a lot of people can relate to this same themes: moving away from somewhere, feeling isolated, being close to your family, and so on. I have had such a nice response to this project that I plan to add more sequences in this website outcome in the future. This is something I definitely want to expand on!

So there it is, this is the end of this project. Now on to paint on to converge and diverge!

Here is a GIF showing Jonny seeing the “Space Immigration” app on an Ipad. Every image is swiped through with your finger instead of scrolled through! It gave a nice refreshing effect to the reading of the narrative. It was a shame I didn’t know of this way of digital publishing before, as it is quite interesting and you can work with some great semi-animated content to be displayed on the Ipad. Oh well…

It’s still a digital medium that proved to be more successful than the printed medium for my narrative. I’ll hopefully be able to demonstrate this live on my assessment this coming Friday, so people in the room can be able to interact with the content themselves.

So here it is, the final narrative outcome! After many weeks of making the images and battling html, here’s the final ‘website’ format for the story, where the viewer can scroll sideways to unveil the silent pictorial narrative.

Not only a ‘website’, this format was also taken into an Ipad app with the good help of my housemate Laura. It’ll be interesting to see how it turned out when I try seeing it in a friend’s Ipad (Pictures of this will follow soon!).

The website format has generated a good response from people I’ve shown it to, and I think it definitely was the right medium for my final images to be shown!

Click through to go to the website.

Space Immigration →

Just in case it cannot be viewed below, here is the full screen digital book version of some sequences from my project!

Here I have compiled some of the sequences into an issuu, and this process just made me realise I am really grateful for not printing a book in the end… The blank space in the left is such an annoying interruption to the flow of the narrative, and it’s nearly unavoidable. 

I’ll still go on to print into one to have a physical demonstration of this aspect. But yeah, digital media for this concept was definitely the way forward!

Here’s the archive of every character and object so far in the final outcome, every pose and every texture used! 

I think I took on the habit of making catalogues after the last project. I find it incredibly fun and interesting to be able to see every element in a single image!

A small low-res GIF just to shaw off the digital process of putting all the bits together on photoshop, positioning the characters, manipulating layers, adding shadows and lines with the tablet.

Quite a lengthily process for the first frame, but once the background is set up it’s easy to simply replace the characters with their upcoming actions, like the next movie frame.

Another GIF for a rough sequence, trying out if the sense of distance works. This will have more textures, shadows and stars for the final images. Also the stars will shift around in places.

My second GIF, capsuling the sequence between the boy and his dog, getting increasingly bored in his room and running out of books to read. This will lead to his shot through the window in space, highlighting his loneliness and “imprisonment”.

These are the first series of final images done! They’ll work as sequential illustration that are scrolled through a website by the viewer, but I also wanted to see how it would look as a semi-animated GIF.

It’s really nice to see the movement between the images, as fast as they may be. It is a great way to see it displayed and check how all the objects move. I plan to make a few more GIFs of some of the coming final images, and have this submitted as another medium to see the narrative.