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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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Evaluation:

~Survive & Thrive (Final Project)~

Research:

During my research, I have looked at existing products similar to mine that I’m creating. The Product, called ‘The Other Side of the Wall’, I analysed the story (the dystopian world created by the antagonists), the characters (their personalities), and the art style of the novel which takes on a cartoony yet dark, minimalistic and depressing aura. This blog was done on April 24th, 2017. (1)

I have also done character research so that I end up with the most realistic and relatable character that I could make. To start off with, I analysed an existing character from a film – Hiccup from ‘How To Train Your Dragon’. I talked about his traits and attributes and reflecting them on my character so that I could build a character personality of my own. I also, in the same blog, created on April 25th, 2017, discussed what kind of clothing and other essentials his character would be carrying. I did this by looking at an image of Hiccup and then getting a concept art image off of Google Images to represent the type of clothing I plan for him to wear. (2)

For further research, I begun looking into my target audience. By doing this, I wrote a demographic based from primary audience – I had asked people around me in my class (similar to a focus group) what their perspective of a target audience for my specific project would be. From their answers and results, I was able to, myself, put together a demographic discussing my target audience for my project. (3)

Other research that I’ve conducted is world inspiration and analysis. For my world to be immersive and full of life, I would need Inspiration from real life and other existing fantasy world. In a blog about world inspiration, I first looked at ancient and famous structures like castles in the form of concept art. I discuss what the cities will look like and what form of ancient civilisations architecture it will take on. I then go on to talk about the second page as it will be the page where all the sight-seeing is done by the main character. I used various examples of interesting structures and statues in real life as inspiration for the sights that will be visited in the story. For example, I used the Statue of Guan Yu in China for inspiration of a giant statue in the hill side that the main character will visit. Another example of real life inspiration will be the Old Temple of Athena in Greece. This inspiration will take the form of a ruined temple of a dead civilisation in my world. This blog was made on May 3rd, 2017 (4)

All this research that I’ve conducted has played a massive impact on my final project. It shaped my characters, my world and the style of my novel. Not only this, but it allowed me to change the story to fit more of a wider audience after doing some primary research. It is because of this reason that i believe my research into real life comparisons and character/world creation has been very successful and went very well, however i could have improved it by researching more into the demographics of my target audience of my profile and expanding the primary research to various different people instead of a small focus group consisting of people around me in my class. This wuld have lead to more accurate results being gathered and would’ve made it easier for me to shape my target audience and create my project based around this collective result. Next time, i would do the primary research before shaping the world. This would be vital for me as, with the results i gain from the primary research and focus groups, i could use it to shape the world and begin piecing a world together with real life comparisons and inspirations.

Pre-Production:

After my pitch received strong feedback, i was able to re-evaluate my prior planning and move down a different path that would make my project easier and more feasible. I first wrote an action plan discussing the changes to my project. After doing this, i created my one sheet and proposal using the research already made. I them begun on character concept art and storyboarding. The story boarding would be used as the foundation of my production, which is why it was the last thing to be done. In between this, i was blogging my progress and continuing the research for my characters and world design. I had also planned to record audio for some ambient noise in my graphic novel, but unfortunately i couldn’t find time to do this as the story boarding was taking far longer than anticipated.

Some of the key decisions that i made consist of the action plan where i had decided to change my project plan to make it more feasible for completion, and another important decision that i made was the decision to leave out the audio recording in place for the making of the Story Boarding as the drawing for ther story board was taking much longer than anticipated.

I think that the pre-production as a whole went well; the drawings were well done and the production diaries/blogs wre of good quality, however i could improve it by addressing and talking more about the target audience. More blogs on the target audience including primary research would have made the project much easier. Next time, i would plan my pre production phase more carefully and give myself more time for certain things that needed more, whilst taking away time from smaller things that didn't need as much.

Production:

For my production, i went full steam ahead with making the story board and graphic novel. As i went along, i continued with the occasional production diary. After the first two weeks of production, it became apparent that the graphic novel drawings were taking too long, as they we sized A3 and very detailed. I had finished 3 out of the 5 planned pages for the graphic novel, then put 2 of them onto Flash with full animation and immersiveness.

Key decision that i made during this phase were 1) The decision to abandon the final 2 pages of the Graphic Novel as they were taking too much time and i wouldn’t have been able to start on the Flash part of the final piece. I decided that quality would be a better outcome than quantity. If i managed to finish the 3 pages that i had already drawn, i would have an unfinished yet quality final piece to present. However this too wasn’t the case. Flash was more complicated of a software program than i previously remembered and it took me too long to work with. I ended up with a quality first page, and a half completed second page, with the third not going onto Flash, but instead being edited on the computer in photoshop - ready to be transferred and animated in Flash. It was Key decision #2 (Make sure the first page was of 100% quality) That made the first page a great finish, however the second page was not, the third was never transferred onto Flash and the final two were never created. This lead to an uncompleted project due to my bad sense of time management. These were also the only issues i encountered - bad time management and compromising when time was growing shorrt.

In terms of completion, i’d say not much went well. I was only able to complete one page to it’s fullest potential, which was the one thing that went well. I also managed to make 3 very detailed drawings for my graphic novel, and edit them on Photoshop. The final piece was much different to my initial idea.Before my action plan, my project plan was entirely different, but was quickly changed after the constructive feedback from the pitch where i was told it may not be feasible in the time given. However, the similarities to the initial idea is somewhat there. The base idea is still there, and most of the dialogue and planned settings were drawn and made in the 3 existing drawn up pages, along with the Flash creation. Despite the fact that it’s not finished, i would say hat the final piece is quite close to what my initial plan was (after changing it in the action plan)

In terms of audience, i would say that the target audience changed a bit. I had planned it to be darker and more realistic with the drawings, but the dialogue that i used for the final piece made it seem more childish. The original target audience was for someone similar to my age - 16 to 18 year olds, but the dialogue sounds quite patronising, so i’d say it makes it more for the younger audience. My whole project could’ve been improved if i had managed my time much better and finished the project that i had planned. I feel like if i had more time, i would have been able to completely finish the graphic novel. Next time i would make sure that my time management was better, and my schedule was different as i gave myself too much time for small things and not enough time for big things. In my defence, i had never planned out a whole project on my own, and the whole Gantt chart idea was new to me. Next time, i will be much better at it.

Conclusion:

To conclude, i’d say i learnt the importance of planning ahead and keeping up to my schedule. i also learnt how ideas are put towards towards companies - a pitch with all the essential information to persuade the buyers to take on the idea. I’ve also learnt new methods of planning ideas - in the form of blogs and research. It helps me gather vital information to help me build a world that will be interesting and entertaining to the right type of people - my target audience.

The most challenging part of this project was trying to get the final piece of the project done in time. The drawings began to eat up time, and i had to compromise with how i’d finish the Flash phase of my project in time, so i took out some pages of my novel, Getting them done in time with quality animation and detail was the hardest part for me. In the future, i will use the lessons i have learnt in this project to better plan my future projects more accordingly and use the time given much more efficiently - managing it much better as i now have an understanding of how long everything takes and how much time ti dedicate to particular parts of the project.

1: https://danblogboi.tumblr.com/post/159933412185/product-comparison-the-other-side-of-the-wall

2: https://danblogboi.tumblr.com/post/159977716805/character-research-comparing-with-other

3: https://danblogboi.tumblr.com/post/160009322155/target-audience-profile

4: https://danblogboi.tumblr.com/post/160262666235/world-creation-inspiration

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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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Production Diary - Making the Final Piece:

Above are screenshots of Flash as i made the animation for my Graphic Novel. In the first screenshot, you can see the coding used on each frame to stop it from moving without a given command. The command was a botton in the shape of an arrow that would take you to the next frame then stop. This can be seen in the second screenshot where i was retrieving a code snippet to make the arrow button turn to the next and/or previous page. This animation of the first page of my novel took me about an hour to make, and unfortunately i didn’t have enough time to do much more.

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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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Production Diary - Progress: I have made 2 and a 1/2 of the 5 pages required for my graphic novel thus far, as well as the title page. It's becoming increasingly unlikely that I will have all 5 made on the computer by the end of the project. However, this Sunday, on my available day, I will power through and try my hardest to get all of the pages done. During college next week, I plan to get them all into flash and produce the Graphic Novel final piece. With help from Dannie and Carlie, I should get this done quickly. Any additional pieces such as background noises will be implemented after the novel is made, as I want to ensure that I have a finished piece first before adding any improvements.

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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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Production Diary - Progress on Production:

So far in my production stage, i’ve completed the title page, first page and half of the 2nd page of my graphic novel. The title page has been scanned into the computer and is ready to be edited on Adobe Illustrator later on in the day (in the lesson after lunch). The picture above is a picture of the completed first page of my graphic novel which will be scanned in during the lesson with Rachel after lunch. In this lesson i will finish page 2 of my graphic novel which is current 50% done, and perfect the title page on Illustrator. Maybe, if i am efficient enough, i can start and finish editing the first page of my graphic novel in illustrator and Flash.

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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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Concept Art:

for my concept art, i’ve drawn 6 pieces of prominent characters and locations. I will describe them in order of what they’re labelled:

#1: Number 1 is concept art of the emperor’s honour guard who escorts him and helps thomas towards the end of the graphic novel. Similar to the world creation, the regional armour and combat style reflects the roman culture, as is all of the Emerald Empire.

#2: Number 2 is concept art of the Emperor himself. Less of a warrior and more of a noble dressing, the appearance of the emperor is similar to the typical caesar or senate member of the roman empire.

#3: Number 3 is concept art of the Lady Moth - the main antagonist of the novel and the leader of the bandit group. She is lightly dressed with leather armour for some protection against melee and projectiles. It offers quick maneuver yet little protection against close range and fierce opponents.

#4: Number 4 is concept art of the farmhouse that Thomas lives in and will be leaving behind in the first page It is surrounded with bushes to section it off from the farm that they own around it. It’s a large farmhouse with a small stable on the back and a tower on the left side.

#5: Number 5 is concept art of the title screen. It will act as the template for my title screen when i come to draw it on the computer and apply it the flash. It contains the title of the novel and in the background, a panned out view of the farm house where Thomas and his family live.

#6: Number six is concept art of the protagonist himself - Thomas Ironcoat. He’s dressed as a pleb (term for a commoner in roman society) and portrays a weak and pathetic physical stance.

Most of this concept art will be applied to my graphic novel when i begin making it on flash in due time.

Why did i desin them the way is did?

How showed their p[ersonality thropugh my design

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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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Bibliography:

Field, S. (2005) Screenplay: The foundations of screenwriting. Bantam Dell: New York.

Celtx. (2017) Using the TV and Script Editor. [Online] https://support.celtx.com/hc/en-us/articles/214280298-Using-the-Film-TV-Script-Editor [Accessed on 28/04/17].

Character Development Template - https://danblogboi.tumblr.com/post/153772576000/character-creation

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Research Blog - Syd Field

The Syd Field Screenplay (2005) guide is a simple guide that explains the basics of script writing for films, plays and games. It provides an example of the start of a scene.

At the beginning, sets it with description of the scene, which describes everything around the said chaarcter in the story - “A blazing sun scorches the earth. Everything is flat, barren.”

The next part is a simple “MOVING” which explains the action that which the character will be undertaking. In view, these parts are small and insignificant - you wouldn’t notice the movement as it is a basic function for humans to move about, but on paper everything must be written down so the character can do exactly what is planned for them.

The dialogue on Line (8) is organised and cataloged under ANDI ‘Line (6)’ which is the name of the character that says “How much longer?” on Line (8). With this method of numbering lines, it helps voice actors and script reader differentiate the lines and action of each character.

Every line on his example plays a key roll in building a realistic character - from the subtle movements, to the setting of the scene to the dialogue that they say. This is what Syd’s field is teaching us.

When making out own script from another story that we were given, we used Celtx - a website that allows us to build script according to the method that which Syd Field uses in his book. With this website, Syd’s example and a practise story i was able to create this:

This is the script that i was making for the story given to me. Some of the layout may be different and wrong, however it was a case of experimenting.

This skill can come in handy with my graphic novel as, throughout the 5 page novel, there will be dialogue that isn’t spoken, but instead read from each panel. It will help me with my storyboarding so i can build a scene prior to production so i know who says what in each panel and page.

(Field, 2005), (Celtx, 2017)

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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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World Creation: Inspiration

Since all of the world for my project is completely made up by myself, i had to use inspiration from other sources. My most popular source of inspiration was ancient and medieval European history.

Some of the most prominent influences of european history in my world that you will find is Medieval and Ancient Europe; more often or not western/central or southern influence. For example, Saxon, Hellenic and Roman. Theres also strong Norse influence in then northern region.

For the emerald city, the peoples culture is more roman, however the cities and architecture is more medieval english; similar to this:

I find ancient and medieval western/central European architecture to be fascinating and is usually the #1 source of medieval fantasy style influences.

The palace throne room, where the coronation will take place, will take on a similar medieval English shape as it will fit with the city style and is my personal favourite style. The region will look similar to this:

Concept art of the world that i’ll be drawing for the graphic novel:

The Misty Forest where Thomas will walk through and meet the antagonists of the story.

During the second page, before the antagonists are introduced, Thomas will spend his journey passing by and taking in the sights of magnificent monuments and structures as he goes. Some ideas as to what he could be seeing include:

A floating castle (Real life inspiration from the church on a rock, Ireland)

Giant statue depicting an old god belonging to the regional ancient religion (Statue of Guan Yu, the Chinese god of war, in Jingzhou, China)

An old ruined temple from a civilization long gone (The Old Temple of Athena, Greece)

These images of real life have inspired me because of the fact that these amazing structures still stand after thousands of years, and make great front page depictions of history for novices or anyone who takes a small interest in it. They also fascinate me and due to the world that i have made, i can integrate them into cultures similar to where they came from originally.

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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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Gantt Chart: Progress so far

We’re now 3 weeks into the Gantt Chart’s plan. But am i keeping up with my plan?

This is the end stage of the pre-production, and for pre production we had to complete: Concept Art, Character Development, Focus Group, Storyboarding, One Sheet, Audio, Proposal and the World Creation. In order to keep on track, i must, or more preferably, have all of these finished before we begin production.

What have i completed?

So far, i have 100% completed the Proposal, the One Sheet, whilst i’m currently progressing through the Storyboarding, the Concept Art, the Character Development and the World Creation. The only thing i haven’t done at all yet is Audio. I’ve also added the Design Document (DD) and the script to the list. The script will go alongside the storyboarding.

Are you managing your time well?

I’d say for the most part i’m relatively on schedule, however i will have to speed up the progress. I’ll do this by investing more of my free time towards pre production and come into college on more days to make more efficient work time. The blog posts are constantly being made - all sorts of research for the world creation, villain types and protagonist has been made and will continue to be made in the future as i progress.

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World Creation: Page by Page

In order to design the world that makes up my graphic novel, i must plan for each page. The world that i plan to have it set in is entirely made up, thus meaning each page will have to have a completely fabricated and built upon background, in terms of what can be found, that is.

Page 1:

For the first page i will have the scene set inside and around Thomas’ family home and farm. He will spend the first page prepping to leave and eventually setting off on his adventure#

Page 2:

In the second page, he will be travelling on the road through beautiful scenes of nature until he comes across a misty forest. During his walk through this forest he will be hit over the head and knocked out.

Page 3:

In the third page, he will wake up in shackles chained the the wall. He is inside a cave that’s been turned into a sanctuary for a small group of bandits. at the end of it, he will be taken by one of the bandits outside the cave.

Page 4:

In the fourth page, the main character will be walking through a forest and out onto the main path, where he will be tied to a tree next the the road. the ropes will be loose and he will make a quick runner. he will then run down the road as the bandit chases him and at the end, he will spot the emperors carriage and call out for help.

Page 5:

The final page will cut to the emperor’s and will say “meanwhile”. The emperor will hear his call and order him to be rescued. the bandit is killed and the main character warns of the ambush. guards go ahead to kill them. the emperor welcomes him into his carriage and they go off to the city together.the final panel is a panned out shot of the coronation with the main character watching from the front of the crowd.

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danblogboi-blog · 7 years

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Character Development: Creation

https://danblogboi.tumblr.com/post/153772576000/character-creation - Character Creation profile from previous project

Name - Thomas Ironcoat (The title ironcoat came from his father who gave it to him after surviving a blow to the chest from an arrow. This means he has a scar below his left collar)

Age - 18 Years old

Backstory - Thomas was born on a farm in the Emerald kingdom, the heartland of the Emerald Empire. His mother and father own a large farm that sell crops and meat to the local towns and city. Because of his family’s success as farmers, they have a small fortune to their name. This also means that there are people out for their wealth - thieves and other low lives. It was these thieves who caused his major injury just a few years ago. When he was 14, bandits with intentions of raiding his farm had shot him in the chest with an arrow. His father pulled it out through the other end of his body. It was inches short of his lung.

For his 18th birthday, his parents bought him an invitation to the Emperor’s coronation. He was thrilled with this and within a few days, he sets off for the Emerald City - capital of the Empire and where the coronation would be held.

Appearance - He is 6′1, quite slender and scruffy looking.His clothing is light cotton and leather, and his face is relatively clean of blemishes or bruising's.

Skills - As he is a farmer and has been for all his life, his skillset is very limited. He would have basic combat training from his father, and as he’s (continued)

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Target Audience Profile

To further understand my target audience, I need to develop a profile for the specific target audience that my game is aimed at. Here is mine:

Demographic:

My target audience will have an age rating of preferably 12-18 but it does not specify the 18′s as this will lower the target audience and lower the sales. The age rating was chosen because this is the range where the majority would find interest in my graphic novel and will be most likely to buy it. The gender of my choice is both - both genders would find the story interesting as it doesn’t primarily focus on any typical story that a specific gender would enjoy. The location where it will be sold is in the three usual regions where games like this are more popular - North America, Europe and East Asia. To understand who would buy this, I must take into consideration the financial status of the target audience. Most of their sources of income would be their mother or father giving them money, only the older teens will have a minimum wage job. Their education level would be ranging between secondary school to college or university. However, anyone who is older than this can always purchase this if they want. As my target audience age rating will be between 12-18, their occupation will be either students or in a minimum wage job.

How do they think?

Their attitude to my product would be varied - some wouldn’t necessarily go out of their way to buy it, but others would. The older one is, the more likely they are to invest in their own copy, as they would be more dedicated to reading and have more money of their own. Values of audience of the lower age wouldn’t consist of many - friends and family, however some of the older would have their own personal morals that they use to value themselves as a person. Their interests and hobbies would most likely consist of video games, films, comic reading and other similar activities; all of which perhaps with a fantasy theme - as my story my fantasy, it would most likely be the style that which they’re used to or enjoy. Their behaviors for the majority would be quiet, preferably alone and tends to spend a lot of time on the internet.

What challenges and frustrations do they have?

The challenges and common frustrations that they may face are school issues such as homework/exam stress. Or perhaps it’s social issues such as bullying or friendship/relationship issues.

How can you best reach the audience?

Some ways of reaching the preferred audience would be online forums and websites. Some of these people would spread them among their friendship groups. Advertisement found on similar videos and games that they play or watch can be a good way to reach the similar fanbase that my target audience is.

Which games are the audience already playing?

Games that my target audience would be playing or interested in are games like fantasy based games, telltale (multi-choice story based) games, RPG (Roll Playing) Game types, story based games and Sandbox games. Some examples of these would be Skyrim, Walking Dead, Dragon Age and Final Fantasy.

analyise and reference existing products

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Character Research - Comparing with other characters:

In order to develop and build my character, i need to look at real like characters that already exists in another fantasy world. I have chosen Hiccup from How To Train your Dragon.

This character, prior to becoming a heroic figure later on in the first movie, was exactly the same as my character will be - timid, small and feeble, but with a desire in his heart. His goal is simple, yet it’ll take a lot to achieve it.

The clothing of Hiccup will be reflected onto my character, however with a slightly different style to it. Hiccup’s clothing style is more Norse - as he is a viking character in the movie. My character will have more of a medieval western Europe commoner influence, as shown in the picture below:

My character will also carry a small weapon with him. As most beliefs go, all people carried a weapon back in those days; whether it was a sword, dagger or axe. However, contrary to popular belief, only a certain few did. There certain few were mercenaries, soldiers and bodyguards. Nobles and rich folk would have their own dagger, which was mainly for show, and was rarely used if at all. My character will, in fact, wield a dagger. A farmer boy who is travelling on the road to the capital may need a small blade to defend himself from potential threats. This is similar to the character that i’m comparing mine too - hiccup. He was always seen carrying a blade. Although he may not have used it much, it still came in handy to have by, even if the task it was required for wasn’t necessarily to kill. He will carry a small dagger with no hilt, so it’ll just be a leather strap handle and a steel blade. This would actually be a very useful tool, as during those times around medieval western Europe, steel was the best metal for a blade.

My character will also be tall and lanky, much like hiccup. He will carry a tall yet weak posture to portray his weakness as a person. His hair will be scruffy and slightly long and have no confidence when danger arises.

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