Critique with Vincent and Jonny

Today I had my group critique with Vincent and Jonny, in which I had to present my storyboard ideas for the scenes that I will be illustrating for my final outcome. As I only have one storyboard which is realised on Adobe Illustrator, this is what I showed first, followed by some coloured representations of frames, whilst explaining the plot and showing my character designs. Vincent really liked the style and layout that I have worked with in my Illustrator fram sequence, he just made the suggestion that I use references for the hands like I did in my first frame.

I explained the plot that I will be working with and the tutors grasped it and understood where I am going with my development. Vincent especially liked my coloured frame drawings and thinks that with what I have done I am on my way to having a good final storyboard.

He only suggested that I now stop working on my style and start creating thumbnails to make sure my story flows.

This is the Illustrator storyboard that I showed to give an idea of the flow that my storyboard will have. 

Copic Marker Frame Experiments

I've been further exploring my page ideas by playing around with ideas for frames. These little sketchbook experiments were done using copic markers and are representative of my ideas for the scenes and how I can depict what happens in my chosen passage.

These coloured frames are very successful and are a step in the right direction for the development of my work.

Final Design for Haroun

Here are my final designs for Haroun. Both were created from sketchbook drawings using Adobe Illustrator.

Characters in Adobe Illustrator

 Today I created two of my character designs in Adobe Illustrator. I took my scans of Butt the Hoopoe and Iff the Water genie and drew them out on illustrator. It took me a good few hours to get them both done to a high standard, but I am very pleased and I think this is promising for the future final piece in this project.

The line work for Butt the Hoopoe

Butt the Hoopoe in colour (no shading)

Iff the Water Genie line work

Iff the Water Genie in colour (no shading)

Richard Allen Storyboard Workshop

Today I had a workshop with Richard Allen in which he talked to us about creating storyboards, how they are made for movies and the different styles and angles that can be used in shots.

He started off by showing us different storyboards that were used for scenes in films, and showed these scenes alongside to allow us to make comparisons and understand how the angles and movements shown in the sketches were brought to life when the scene was filmed.

This is a storyboard from Gladiator. I thought this was a particularly memorable storyboard example as I love how the drawings are emerging from the frames to show the movement within.

The first exercise that Richard gave us involved working in groups of 3, and illustrating one frame each of a dog greeting it's owner as she sits at the table. The first frame showed the dog entering the room, the second showed the woman looking at the dog, and the final frame showed the dog wagging it's tail. I was chosen to do the 3rd frame, but for the sake of documenting the task I drew all 3 once the task was over.

I feel like I portrayed the feelings of the dog perfectly and I feel like I got the angle of the shot correct.

The next task was to create an 8 frame storyboard using a worksheet that Richard provided. He wanted us to put all of our new knowledge to use and create a storyboard utilising the use of angles and perspective. I chose to portray a scene that I will be illustrating for my final piece in this project; the scene in which Haroun meets the Hoopoe bird.

Development of Characters

My chosen chapter for the project is chapter four, which is called 'An Iff and a Butt'. In this chapter, Haroun and Iff fly to the moon Kahani on a large mechanical Hoopoe named Butt. As the three characters I have noted are the only ones who appear in this chapter, they will be the ones that I have been working on designs for.

I initially came up with a design for Haroun, and then worked on Iff the Water Genie and Butt the Hoopoe. I first drew Haroun in my storyboard workshop with Salvatore Rubbino back before Christmas. I used this design to give me an idea when it came to creating his character design. I concluded Iff's design very quickly but came up with two designs for Butt and preferred the second to the first.

I am happy with the outcome of my character development. I wanted my characters to be simple in design, as a complex design would be very difficult to re create on Adobe Illustrator. I feel my designs are unique and simple and will look very good when drawn in illustrator.

Designs for Haroun

Design work for Iff and Butt

Second Design for Butt

Ideas for scenes and the moon Kahani

Sketches and final design for Haroun

Chosen Book - Haroun and the Sea of Stories

I received my copy of the book yesterday and have been very eager to have a look though and pick my section which I will be illustrating for my resolved outcome. 

Up until this point I have been using my work from Salvatore's workshop in which I selected a small passage from the book to create a storyboard for.

In order to make sure I pick the right passage to illustrate, I have re read over the brief again;

You are required to visually explore the narrative of a selected text. Your task is to adapt into a wordless illustrated sequential narrative one chapter or short story from one of the set texts.

Your resulting outcomes can be an adaptation of a specific aspect of the plot or be a broader interpretation of the over-arching themes of the story. The context you place your work in is up to you. For example it could take the form of a comic, a storyboard or a sequential picture book.

The format for your final outcome is also up to you. It may be that you choose to create a publication or a booklet. Equally the final work could be presented loose, boxed or even placed in a handmade folder. It might be that you choose to present the outcomes digitally.  The only requirement in this regard is that the chosen context and format feels relevant and suitable to the quality and concern of your illustrated narrative.

Your final outcome must be produced to a refined and professional standard. It is suggested that this will constitute a minimum of five pages. In your body of work it is expected you will have evidence of your own process of refinement, i.e. drafts and tests etc.    

I think the structure that I pick depends on the passage that I decide to go with, regardless this will be a challenge due to the abstract nature of the story I have chosen.

Characters in the book (http://www.gradesaver.com/haroun-and-the-sea-of-stories/study-guide/character-list)

Haroun

Haroun is the hero of the story. He is a boy that travels to Kahani to help restore his father's storytelling power.

Rashid

Rashid is Haroun's father. He is a master storyteller that loses his ability to tell stories after his wife leaves him.

Iff the Water Genie

Iff is a Water Genie responsible for care of the Story Water that comes from the moon Kahani. He accompanies Haroun on his journey.

Mali

Mali is a Water Gardener. He cares for the story streams in the Sea of Stories on Kahani.

Butt the Hoopoe

Butt the Hoopoe is a mechanical bird that flies Haroun to the moon Kahani and accompanies him on his journey.

Goopy

Goopy is a Plentimaw fish that helps Haroun as he ventures to the land of Chup.

Bagha

Bagha is a Plentimaw fish that accompanies Haroun. The Plentimaw fish are so named because they talk in rhyme all the time.

Prince Bolo

Bolo is the prince of the land of Gup. He leads the Guppee army to Chup in order to rescue his princess fiance Batcheat.

Princess Batcheat

Batcheat is princess of the land of Gup. She is captured by Khattam-Shud and the forces of Chup.

Khattam-Shud

Khattam-Shud, which means "silence," is the novel's antagonist. He poisons the story streams of the Sea of Stories and captures Princess Batcheat.

Mudra the Shadow Warrior

Mudra is a former Chupwala soldier. He leaves the army because he disagrees with Khattam-Shud and helps the Guppees in their fight against the Chupwala army.

Blabbermouth

Blabbermouth is a Page in the Library (army) of Gup. She disguises herself as a boy but is found out after she saves the Guppee leadership from a suicide bomber.

General Kitab

General Kitab is the general for the Guppee army. He is known for talking openly and freely about his battle plans.

The Walrus

The Walrus is the head of the P2C2E (Processes 2 Complicated 2 Explain) on Kahani. He is the person Haroun is trying to talk to in order to get his father's Story Water turned on again.

Butt the Mail Coach Driver

Butt the Mail Coach Driver drives Haroun and Rashid to the Valley of K. He is known for his alliteration of speech and his reckless driving.

Snooty Buttoo

Snooty Buttoo is an autocrat politician in the Valley of K. He brings in Rashid to tell stories to help him be elected.

Mrs. Oneeta Sengupta

Mrs. Sengupta lives above Haroun's family in the sad city. Her husband runs off with Haroun's mother.

Mr. Sengupta

Mr. Sengupta is a measly man who lives above the Khalifa family in the sad city. He has no appreciation for story and steals Haroun's mother away from the family.

Looking through the book summary, Chapter 3 is from which I did my workshop experiments. I picked this one based upon the vivid visuals created by the descriptions. Chapter 4, following on from this, introduces a number of exciting characters and sounds like one that I may really enjoy illustrating. (http://www.gradesaver.com/haroun-and-the-sea-of-stories/study-guide/summary-chapters-3-4)

I will need to read through the book to make sure that I pick the right chapter for my illustrations. Then I will be able to start working on character designs for any additional characters that appear in my chosen chapter.

Rob Flowers Additional Adobe Illustrator Workshop

Today I attended a workshop with Rob Flowers, in which he gave additional support to us regarding creating imagery on Adobe Illustrator. He gave advice on cleaning up our drawings, combining shapes and giving characters less - harsh outlines by colouring them the same as the character as opposd to black.

I picked another frame from my storyboard I made in Salvatore's workshop to use for this.

Jonny's Pixel Workshop

Today I had a pixel workshop with Jonny, in which he showed us on photoshop how to create characters using a limited number of pixels like those in video games such as Mario. 

He told us to begin by creating a character with 100 pixels, then using only 60, and then 30. He showed us on Photoshop how to change the dimensions of the page so that it was measured by number of pixels.

He also informed us that for this method of work we had to use the pencil, and make sure the eraser was set to pencil to keep sharp lines.

Here are my 3 drawings of my character design for 'Haroun' from my chosen book. The first is 100x100 pixels, followed by 60x60 pixels and lastly 30x30 pixels.

 

We then had to take some storyboard frames from one of our other workshops and convert these into pixels. I chose the Houseboat scene from the workshop I had with Salvatore.

 

I really like this style, it does make the illustrations harder to follow but I think they are very unique and it is a nice style for this type of work.