Digital Graphic Novel- Research

For my Audio Visual assignment I am required to create a graphic novel about superheroes or super-villains using the skills I have learnt in Photoshop, Premiere, sound recording and SLR cameras. The novel has to be an extract from a story which I need to come up with that describes what is occurring using images and sound. I also need to look at effective ways of setting out the layout etc...

What is a graphic novel

A graphic novel is a story book mainly made up of pictures (usually cartoons) although there is some text which will be presented in speech bubbles (dialogue) or text boxes (narration). These novels are long and normally complete a story from start to finish unlike comic books. Graphic novels are suited for all age groups although some are not suitable for children i.e. Frank Miller writes graphic novels full of violence and sexual behaviour. Many graphic novels are inspired from Manga (known as Anime created during World War II), this graphic novel relates to many cartoons, comics etc. 

Anime

Anime is an abbreviated word for animation, this word is used to refer to Japanese animations because of the art work being distinctive to others from across the world (i.e. different features and themes). Over the years Anime has become popular across the globe and is now translated into different languages and used as inspiration for western productions (i.e. film Avatar was originally inspired by Anime characters).

Example Layouts of Graphic Novels

Now that I looked at what graphic novels are I researched on layout techniques etc...Below I have displayed some examples of layouts of comic novels which will give me ideas on how to set out my own work. 

This image has been extracted from: http://www.artbabe.com/exercises/images/exercise/superhero.gif

As you can see in the image above each cell is a different size which therefore makes the layout more interesting to look at. Some of the cells have been cut multiple times with close ups which highlights certain areas more than others. The speech bubbles are coloured differently for each character therefore the reader can identify who is saying what without having to look at where the speech bubble is pointing to. Not all the cells are contained in a box or rectangles shape, the one on the lefthand side comes out further than the rest of the images therefore that particular cell is not aligned with the rest and makes it stand out. 

This image has been extracted from: 

http://www.comicbookbin.com/artman2/uploads/4/Captain_Easy_first_Sunday_1933.jpg

In this comic novel theres a lot of text (dialogue and narration) describing the scenario. Even though there is quite a bit of text the font size is small therefore it doesn't distract the reader from the actual images. The layout of this comic novel is similar to the one above as the images are also set out in rectangles and squares with none of them being aligned with each other. The text boxes overlap more than one image just like in the comic novel above this gives me an idea of how most comic novels are set out. 

This image has been extracted from: 

http://evanstonpubliclibrary.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/macbeth1.jpg

In this comic strip the layout is set different to the others as there are only 3 sections to the story. Instead of being in squares or rectangles the story has been set up in different shapes which are slanted and uneven. The text in this comic novel is similar to the one above as there is quite a bit of text but the font size is small. This novel is similar to the first one as there are close ups of the characters faces which emphasises their expressions on what is occurring in the novel.  

The image below has been extracted from:

http://www.airworksart.com/ILLUSTRATIONDISC08.JPG

In this comic novel the images are quite dark and have the same colour scheme. The layout is aligned even though each image isn't the same size or shape. There are also close ups just as some of the others which I have looked at, this technique is quite effective and seems to be common in comic novels. 


Now that I have looked at different layouts of comic strips I need to decide on the story line, characters, location etc...

Sound

For my novel I will be creating sound effects to match the storyline therefore if someone where to just listen to the track they would know exactly whats going on without the need to see the images. 

Sound Room

To record my sound I will be using the sound room, this is to allow me to control and avoid unwanted ambient noises. The program I will use in the sound room to record these sounds is Audacity, this program also allows me to edit the sound effects. All sound files will be exported as WAV files in order to work properly in Premiere.

Portable Sound Recorder

To record sound I am also able to use a portable sound recorder this is a good tool to record ambient noises or sounds in different locations. 

Images

SLR Camera

To capture the images for my novel I shall be using an SLR camera I displayed a diagram below to recap on where the different options for the camera are displayed. When taking my images I will make sure that I have adjusted the shutter speed, aperture etc... All images will be taken in raw format in order to then edit in photoshop.

Below is an image extracted from:

http://media.wiley.com/Lux/71/286671.image0.jpg

Software

Photoshop 

In photoshop I will open up the images that I have taken using the SLR cameras and open them up in raw format. This is where i'll adjust the tones, temperature etc of the images before adding any effects to them. 

Premiere

In Premiere I will put all my images and sound together in order to create my novel.

Sound-booth

In Sound-booth I wil edit the sound files in terms of volume, pitch etc... This program is where I will add all the extra effects to my sound recordings. 

Now that I have researched on graphic novels and the equipment (hardware/software) that I shall be using to create my project I will start planning the storyline, location etc...