#discoverstudynarrate

[martinafrancula]

Discover, Study, Narrate

• How well did your 10 images communicate your narrative? • To what extent did the audience understand and engage with your narrative? • Were your chosen methods of visualisation appropriate to the story/object? • What links can you see between your research and your own work? • How well did you work as a group? • What did you gain from this workshop? • What would you do differently if you were given this task again?

Our 10 images communicated the narrative really good and everyone was able to figure out what is the story about. The audience understood the story but didn't engage too much. Maybe they would have engaged more if we asked them questions so that is something to remember for the next time. We combined photography and illustration by hand. Also, we incorporated colour to illustrate the ups and downs, the happy parts and sad parts of the story. Therefore, I consider our methods of visualisation appropriate for this story. While doing research, the most important thing that stuck with me was the part about connecting with the audience on an emotional level. That is one of the reasons we chose a love story as a genre. Sometimes, the execution of your project might not go as planned, but if you manage to connect with the audience and pass on the message to them, then it is a successful project. As a group, we worked really good, but there was a lack of organisation. We did have really little time, but still, it could have been planned better. If we divided the images and tasks on the first day, it would have been done with much more attention to detail and we would manage to finish everything in time. From this workshop, I have learned that you shouldn't skip parts of the design process. I think we could have spent a little more time doing research and little less just thinking what would be the best storyline. If the research is done thoroughly then all other parts of the process are easier because you know what you are dealing with. I gained a lot of useful information from the feedback the teachers were giving other students about their projects in terms of what techniques are the best for what kind of stories and what is crucial in the story to transmit a message to the audience. If I was given this task again, I would plan out the whole project and define how much time I am going to spend on each part of the process. The development of the idea takes the most time and we didn't leave enough for it so we were missing two images and a lot of details on all other pictures. Also, I would be more mindful while doing the research so I can use more facts later in the process which I discovered while doing it.

I included a few sketches, our multiple uses for the object and the research process:

This is the final outcome:

[zgm99]

Discover, Study, Narrate - Task 6

Overall, in my opinion our ten pictures portrayed and illustrated the outline of our story well. Despite some aspects of the story not being able to be directly interpreted by the audience, on the whole they were able to grasp the plot fairly easily. 

The reasoning behind some confusion occurring from the audience, in my opinion, is down to a certain aspect of the photos being misinterpreted. This feature was that the main protagonist of the story was dressed in all black, leading to some miscommunication of who the spirit was in the ghost story. This was a small oversight on behalf of the whole team, and would be corrected in a future project.

Personally, I think that our chosen method of visualisation was appropriate for our object - a hand bell. The use of photography to depict the different stages of the story worked well, however, the visualisation of the spirit proved to be a little harder than first anticipated. Due to this in the future I would allow more time for post-editing, as this would have resulted in a much clearer and refined final design of the spirit.

A clear link can be seen between our research and our groups work. We discovered that historically, hand bells were used to ward off evil spirits and spells. Due to this our whole narrative was based around this sole factor.

As a group I believe we worked well, producing an acceptable final piece of work. Each member carried out every task with efficiency and to a high standard, meaning that everyone was working and not wasting any time.

From this workshop I have gained a good understanding of how important research is when it comes to producing and developing a project. Having a clear link between our research and final storyboard meant that it is easily identifiable that our idea was carefully thought out process, and not rushed in any way.

Finally, if i were given this project again I would allow more time for post editing of our pictures, as mentioned before. Along with this, I would also intend to possibly introduce other aspects and techniques into our work, potentially illustration, to ensure that our narrative is portrayed in a clear and effective manner. 

[jasmine-pearce17-blog]

Introduction to Visual Communication evaluation 14/11/17 I have always liked mixed media graphic communication, especially illustration mixed with photography. In my ‘Discover, Study, Narrate’ final outcome, I tried to recreate this style by pencil drawing my characters and photographing them in-situe in my scenes. In designing my book, I knew that I wanted to keep quite a handmade aesthetic, ‘hand drawing’ the illustrations, connecting with the reader in telling the information to them ‘nicely.’ Through editorial research I found that the style I was drawn to was illustrated, minimal in the use of colour and gracious in white space. I created my ten images for brief one in a step by step process. First by storyboarding, adding detail, then drawing the characters in pencil and photographing them. With my ‘Place of Words’ project, I have created more developments in trying out different layouts, typefaces, styles and sizes. I managed my time effectively and thought that the group and one to one tutorials helped me in progressing my projects. One thing that would have been an advantage time-wise would’ve been if I’d completed and positioned my illustrations sooner, as I would have been able to play around with different layouts and materials – ie the use of tracing paper or coloured card. I am pleased with my outcome for both briefs, however I am still unsure on the look of the hand drawn illustrations in my book. I think that these illustrations could have looked a lot more professional due to illustration abilities as well as materials and techniques. I feel that because this is the first time I have created a piece of editorial design, that the style and layout looks quite amateur, however I know this will progress over time. In this unit, not only have I learnt the technical skills for visual communication, but how to act upon constructive criticism and discussion from both lecturers and peers. I have learnt how to use my intuition and instinct as well by perhaps not acting on criticism people gave me. For example a couple of peers said that my inside front and back cover spreads needed colour. However I felt that the minimal colour on the information pages was enough, splitting the book into sections, and reflecting the minimalist research I had looked into.

[jasmine-pearce17-blog]

Project 1 Discover, Study, Narrate - final images  These are my final ten images narrating a ghost story without words.  I think that these images are effective in conveying the narrative and they work aesthetically with the black and white drawings and the colour photographs.  There are some parts to the story that I would change. For example the positioning of the grandson and grandmother in image 4 doesn’t work very well as they don’t look like they are actually sitting down on the sofa. I also would have needed to think about lighting to set the atmosphere and time setting in the story. For example in image 7, when the grandson wakes up, it should have been darker to connote that it was night time.  

[jasmine-pearce17-blog]

Project 1 Discover, Study, Narrate - story plan

Here I have planned out each of the ten images for the Narrative image project.

Image 1 shows the grandfather as a soldier. The solider is going to be in the foreground with ‘rubble’ and ‘scenery’ in the background.

Image 2 is going to show the grandfather receiving a medal for being a soldier with ‘bricks’ or an ‘open field in the background.

Image 3 shows people gathered around a coffin in a funeral scene. In the background the viewer sees a ‘graveyard’ with grass and trees.

Image 4 will show the soldier’s wife as a grandmother figure passing a gift to her grandson. In the background will be a family living room with a coffee table and sofa.

Image 5 will show the grandson placing my charity shop object on his shelf, thus introducing the item and putting it in context. I have decided to introduce the object late on in the story so that the viewer understands the backstory first before they see the figurine. 

Image 6 will show the figurine on the shelve starting to glow, introducing the theme of the ghost story.

Image 7 shows the grandson waking up wide eyed and clutching his duvet, realising that the figurine is glowing. 

Image 8 will show the grandson throwing the figurine out of the window because he is scared of it glowing. 

Image 9 will show smoke rising from the figurine as if a spirit is escaping and rising from it.

Image 10, the final image, will show the grandson’s window with the grandfather’s ghostly face outside. This could either show the grandfather’s anger for the boy throwing the figurine or comforting the grandson, thanking him for being released.

[jasmine-pearce17-blog]

Project 1 -Discover, Study, Narrate  Object to create narrative about: I bought this small fashion figurine from a charity shop to base my ten image story around. I thought that because the object is slightly obscure and is more of a decorative ornament than having a function, I could be more creative with the narrative of the story. I am going to go with the theme of a ghost story because the figure is headless and the coat it wears is genderless. This means that I can be creative with whether the character is a male, female or just an object.