1. Digital Graphic Narrative Planning
Use this booklet to help structure your planning and collate your planning documents.
Considerations:
There are lots of things to consider in this project. Fill out each section in detail to show you have thought about each one. You
should imagine that this is a live project, so considerations like cost, quantity and codes of practice must be thought about in that
context rather than just as a college project.
Costs:
To create this project it will cost me nothing as college provides all of the software and equipment I will need
to create my book.
Available resources:
I have a range of resources available to me when creating my book at college. I have to Macs with
Photoshop, which allows me to create all the characters and scenes in my book. The software has a range of
tools on it, which allows me to create a range of different things. I also have access to the internet where I can
find inspiration for my book and do research on what my selected target audience will enjoy. There are also
scanners available if I decide I would like to put hand drawn illustrations into my book, this would make my
book more unique and stand out against the more digital effects. Furthermore, there are graphic tablets that I
can use which will allow me to draw my characters and scenes straight onto the mac, making my illustrations
look more digital.
2. Quantity:
For my story I have stuck to the story line of the Three little pigs very closely as this is very popular so it will
help my story be more memorable. For this reason I will mass produce the book and begin by making 100,000
to be sold in book stores like Waterstones and WhSmiths and to be sold on online stores like Amazon. Other
fish book like The Rainbow Fish sold over 30 million copies so the more popular the book becomes the more
copies will be sold.
Audience and Target Market:
The audience for my book is both boys and girls aged between 4-8. This is because there are no gender roles
in the book so it isn’t oriented towards one gender and the language used is simple enough for the older
children to be able to read it while the younger ones will be able to recognise words but will be able to read it
will assistance.
Quality Factors:
To ensue that my book is the best quality it can possibly be I need to take into account a range of factors that
might make it a lower standard. Firstly, I must ensure that I surround my self with people that will not distract
me so that I can follow the time plan I have created and do not fall behind schedule. If this does happen I may
need to make sacrifices to other aspects of my book making the quality lower and the overall book not as
good. I must also allow my self time to practise using Photoshop as it is a new software that I have limited
knowledge using so I need to familiarise myself with the different tools I can use to create the optimal look for
my book. To further ensure than my book is finished to best of my ability I need to stick to the plan I created
before. I need to refer back to my flat plans and script to make sure that I include all the relevant details and
so that all the finishing touches are in the places that I want them and look how they need too.
Codes of Practice:
The publishers associations have set rules that need to be kept between publishers and authors. One of them
being that the contract cannot be stopped without good enough reasoning. The only time it may be stopped is
if either the author fails to produce content by the set delivery date, the standard of what has been produced
isn’t to the satisfactory needs or if it contains illegal content. Another rule that has been put into place is that
the publisher must keep the author involved in any important information that may concern the book, this can
be anything from design to market/promotion.
3. Regulation:
Under the EU all toys (including children’s book) must be passed through the Toy Safety Directive, 2009. It
ensures that the book is safe for children to use. This must mean that it doesn’t have any sharp edges, isn’t
highly flammable and doesn’t have any chocking hazards.
Copyright:
Although my story is based of The Three Little Pigs there are no copyright restrictions as it is a traditional folk
tale so there is no original author as it is a story that has been adapted through time over many generations.
However, if I decide to use fonts of the internet and they aren’t registered as ‘reuse for free’ then I must get
the creators permission and may even have to pay a fee in order to use it. I also must make sure that I don’t
take another cartoon character and copy it as again this can be seen as breaking the copyright law. Although I
can take inspiration from other creators I cannot directly copy there work and claim it as my own.
Ethical Issues:
The equality Act, 2010, means that any discrimination against people is against the law and means that in my
book I cannot discriminate against group of people/person. This includes talking/showing gender, race, age,
sexuality or religion in a negative way. I must also ensure that I am sensitive towards different cultures from
around the world.
4. Resources:
A successful project relies on good planning. Considering all the resources you will need for a project and then assessing which
you already have and which you need will help ensure you are ready to start your project.
If there is a resource you don’t currently have, then consider how you are going to get it before you go in to production.
Resource:
Do you have
it? What do you need to do to get it?
Photographs from online
Limited
amount
I need to Google search photographs that are relevant to my
story and makes sure they are labelled ‘reuse’ so that I can
rotoscope them.
Photoshop Yes I need to log onto the Mac and college and access the software.
Script Yes My script is in my pro-forma I created earlier in the rotation.
Schedule Yes
It is further down In this document and ill help me stick to my
time frame so that I don’t fall behind.
Flat Plans Yes
These are in my pro-forma and will help me remember to
include everything I want
5. Production Schedule:
Delivering your project on time is vital. In order to do this, you need a solid plan of action. This will help you divide up your work in
to manageable chunks to be tackled one at a time. It will also allow you to plan which tasks need to be done in which order. It will
also allow you to track your progress each day. If you are falling behind, you will need to modify the way you work. If you work
faster than expected, you can clearly see what the next steps you need to take are.
Each session is a half day of college.
Session 1:
Page 1(double page):
Use the fish I used for my tester page but change some features. For some I will use shapes to
create them and for others I will use the rotoscope tool. I need to ensure that the fins and the
facial expressions are all moveable.
Create the sea background that will be copied to each background by creating a box that has a
gradient of light blue to darker blue.
To create the sand I am going to get a image from Google that is labelled for reuse and warp/
skew it into the shape that I want.
Ill them create little extra animals that are in the sea- school of fish (with and without faces)
starfish, octopus all with features that can move. I will create them using the rotoscope tool or the
shaps tool.
Session 2:
Page 2:
Create a Puffa fish from face on sat in the sand hill
Create a sand hill by warping/skewing the sand
Copy the sea background from other page
Create little fish in the background with no faces and a family of starfish in the corner
6. Session 3:
Page 3
Create the seaweed house mad by using rotoscope and different texture or clipping tool
depending on what looks best.
Copy the background (sea and sand) from previous
Add other animals like fish and a star fish family with happy faces
Session 4:
Page 4 (double page):
Build the coral house using glitter image and rotoscope
Show the green fish being happy
Make seahorse and fish being happy
Page 5 (double):
Begin to make shark using rotoscope and shape. Makes sure the features are moveable
Session 5:
Page 5 (double):
Finish the shark from previous session
Add smaller fish in the background running away
Page 6:
Create sand blowing away in the water
Make the shark have blowing lips
Small mound/ hold in the sand
Puffa fish face looking scared and swimming away
7. Session 6:
Page 6:
Copy seaweed from previous slide but have half eaten
Have the shark with seaweed in its mouth
Puffa and pink fish swimming away looking scared
Session 7:
Page 8:
Copy the coral house
Have all the fish hiding in the coral looking worried
The shark has a crushed nose and has a cut from bumping into the coral
Crab in the background hiding in the sand
Session 8:
Page 9:
Sad shark swimming away
Fish with happy faces dancing around the coral
Session 9:
Page 10 (double):
Three fish all with happy faces
Three coral matching the colour of the fish spread cross the page
Smart fish in the middle (green)
Session 10:
Finish any pages that need doing and add small details such as extra animals
Add the writing to the pages- make it in a wave pattern so it looks like they are floating in the
water.
8. Health and safety:
Your health and safety and that of those around you is very important. Just like in industry, an accident could prevent you from
working. Whilst we don’t work in a highly dangerous environment, there are still risks. Some are short term, such as trips and
spillages whilst others, such as long term damage to eyesight or back problems, may affect you much later in life.
Consider the risks based on the activities you will be undertaking during the project. Explain how you could prevent them from
happening.
Ensure you reference appropriate pieces of legislation, design to protect people at work.
Health and Safety Issue How can you prevent it?
My eyes may become strained whilst looking at the
computer screen
To prevent this I must only work for an hour at a time with
small breaks in between each session.
My back and neck may become stiff and I may get muscle
knots
To prevent this I must ensure that my seat is at the same
height as the top of the computer screen and I must adjust
the position of the screen or the seat.
Bag may be left on the floor
I need to look where I am walking and avoid any obstacle
that I may encounter
9. I also need to make sure that no electrical items are left
near water or any other liquids To prevent any electrical items becoming damaged I
must ensure that all seals are kept on bottles and aren’t
left near any electrical items unsupervised.
