Illustration and Visual Narrative - Project 4

Chan Wan Qing / 0350928 / BA of Design (HONS) in Creative Media
Illustration and Visual Narrative
Project 4

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PROJECT 4: ANIMATED 1 PAGE VISUAL NOVEL

The final project, Project 4 is a continuous project from Project 3, Digital Triptych. In project 4, we have to create a one page introduction of our visual novel or comic to the readers, with at least 1 animated panel. We have to arrange our story in visual sequences that make sense and easily understood. We areto choose the one panel that has the best timing in the story flow and transitions of the visuals that strongly reflect the narrative through characters, panels, particle effects, texts etc.

Challenges:

Work only from one paragraph of the story for the 1st page

Research + References

Animated Comic (ctto)

Development Process

After doing researches, I think about how I can visualise the first page according to the introduction of the 3-act structure, so I referred to the first paragraph of the story and imagine how will the atmosphere be in that situation.

1st paragraph of "The Cask of Amontillado"
"THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong."

3-Act Structures
Introduction: "The Cask of Amontillado" introduces the narrator, Montresor, who shares his deep-seated desire for revenge against Fortunato. 

I decided to have 3 panels in the first page novel. The first two panel will be at night, transition from bright night to to stormy night, to show the desire and firmness of Montresor to seek revenge on Fortunato. The third panel will show the shadows of the two main characters of this story, Montresor and Fortunato walking together as Montresor wanted to lead Fortunato to the catacomb. 

Panels

1st panel:
In the 1st panel, it shows the bright moon with dark clouds, signing the coming of the stormy night in the second panel. I used image trace and pencil tool to adjust the dark sky and the clouds. Besides, I applied what we learned in week 10 for shadow on the moon to make it more realistic. 

2nd panel:
I decided to animate the 2nd panel, which show the transitions of bright night to stormy night. I duplicate each panels and slowly adjust and move the positions of the clouds. For the clouds, I used blob brush tool inside to show some layers. During the process, I also adjust the opacity, making the cloud more visible as the moon slowly disappearing in the sky. After the moon disappears, the lightning slowly appears and I adjust the colour (black and white) of the sky and other objects as the lightning strikes. 

3rd panel:
In the 3rd panel, it shows the shadows of  two main characters walking together from the party to catacomb. The third panel is related to the first panel of my digital triptych as Montresor is executing his plan to seek revenge on Fortunato.

Animated 1 Page Novel

1st and 2nd Panel

From Adobe Illustrator, I exported the artboards to Adobe Photoshop to create animation frames for the 2nd panel. In Adobe Photoshop, I adjusted the duration of each frame so the animation looks smooth, not too fast or too slow. 

Animation frames/timeline: 

In Adobe Illustrator:

In Adobe Photoshop:

After I animated the 2nd panel, I included the 3rd panel to finish the final version of my animated one page visual novel.

Final Animated 1 Page Novel