Digital graphic narrative production(1)

Digital Graphics
0 There are two main types of Digital Graphics
0 Raster
0 Vector
0 Raster Graphics are made up of Bitmaps
0 Vector Graphics are made up of Vectors/Paths

Bitmaps
0 Raster graphics are made up of bitmaps
0 Bitmaps are a graphic made up of pixels.
Each pixel/bit records the colour
information of that section of the image.
0 Bitmapped images have a fixed
resolution (like when we set Photoshop
to 300dpi) which means resizing can
result in distortion

Bitmaps
0 When a camera mentions
megapixels, its relating to how many
million pixels/bits it separates the
picture into.
0 14 Megapixels = 14,000,000 pixels
0 Separates the image into millions of
little squares and records what
colour that part of the image should
be
0 That’s why when you get a picture
off the internet and it goes pixelated
is because its been compressed into
less megapixels

Vectors
0Vector graphics are made up of Vectors (also
known as paths and strokes)
0Vectors/paths are defined by a start and an end
points, with curves, points and angles between
them
0From this information the path can become a
line, a square, a triangle, or a curvy shape.

Vectors
0 Can be scaled big and small as Vectors have no loss in
definition.
0 Perfect for company logos- can be small on business card
or huge on a billboard

Raster Graphics
0 JPEG
0 Joint Photographic Experts
Group
0 Photographs and Web
formats
0 Photographs on Facebook
are saved as JPEG
0 Loses quality with multiple
edits due to compression
and recompression each
time edited

Raster Graphics
0 TIFF
0 Tagged Image File Format
0 Desktop Publishing
(popular with graphic
designers)
0 Adobe InDesign documents
saved as TIFFs can save
multi-page documents to a
single TIFF file
0 TIFF have the option of
Lossless compression;
doesn’t lose any quality
due to compression

Raster Graphics
0 GIF
0 Graphics Interchange Format
0 Used for short digital
animations, often on the
internet
0 A series of images played one
after another in a loop to create
the appearance of a video

Raster Graphics
0 BMP
0 Bitmap image file
0 Similar to TIFF and JPEG
0 No loss in compression
0 Has a large file size

Vector Graphics
0 PSD
0 Photoshop Document
0 Image Manipulation
0 Front cover images for
magazines
0 Saves layers, page formatting
information, swatches etc
0 Supports transparency

Vector Graphics
0 AI
0 Adobe Illustrator Art
0 Logos creation
0 Graphics to represent a
company (logos)
0 Can be scaled big and
small as Vectors have no
loss in definition.

Vector Graphics
0 FLA
0Flash File
0Used to create animation
and games
0Can produce high quality
files with a small file size
0Can include sound and
video

Vector Graphics
0 WMF
0 Windows Metafile
0 Similar to AI files
0 Used for logos
0 Can be scaled big and small as
Vectors have no loss in
definition.
0 Can contain both vector and
bitmap components

Compression
0 Lossy compression is the way in which files sizes
are reduced by reducing the amount of
information that is saved.
0 Images become more pixelated as they are
compressed as they save smaller amounts of
coloured squares each time
Low compression
Medium compression
High compression

Image Capture
0 Graphics can be captured in a variety
of ways
0 Scanner
0You can digitise physical images like
sketches, physical photos or mixed
media products
0 Digital Camera
0Taking pictures
0 Tablet
0A piece of technology that allows you to
control the mouse like a pen, allowing
for enhanced control of
drawing/selection/digital handwriting

Optimising
0 Images that are uploaded to the internet are optimised to ensure
easy viewing on the web.
0 Images that are not optimised normally have a large file size, leading
downloads to take a lot longer.
0 The larger the file size (pixel information) the longer images take to
download.
0 Images should not be more than 500 pixels wide.
0 You can optimise for web my changing “Image Size” in Photoshop.

Optimising
0 Images can be optimised by:
0 Reducing image size
0 Reducing bit depth
0Bit depth refers to the amount of “bits”
used regarding the colour of individual
pixels
0 Reducing resolution
0The amount of pixels within the image
0 Compressing images
8 bits (256 colours)
4 bits (16 colours)
2 bits (4 colours)

Task
0 You need to;
0 Complete the Digital Graphics Pro-Forma
0 Research each file format listed and describe in detail the
features of the format
0 Name
0 What the name stands for
0 What the format is used for
0 The advantages of using the format
0 The disadvantages of using the format
0 Link what you are discussing to specific industry examples
(where are JPEGs used in the media? etc)
0 Include images to help illustrate your examples.
0 Discuss compression, capture, optimising, storage

Graphic Narrative Experiments
Creative Media Production 2012 21

Task
You are going to create a series of images exploring a variety of styles
and techniques giving you a good understanding of Photoshop
Save each as a JPEG and add them to your Pro-Forma PowerPoint
Bullet-point and discuss
What do you like about your image/techniques used
What improvements could be made if you were to repeat the task
Quality of work you can produce using that method
Speed that you can work at using that method

Digital Photography
Digital photography can be a quick and effective method of generating
images for graphic narratives.
Digital photographs can be used on their own to tell a story or be used as
the basis for other pieces of artwork.
Advantages include being able to review your as you go to make sure you
are getting the images you want.
You can also apply a range of subtle and not so subtle post production
techniques to get the finished images you require.
Using digital photography, produce an image so that you can experience
the technique. You can then consider this technqiue as a way to produce
your graphic narrative.
Your image should be relevant in some way to your narrative.Creative Media Production 2012 26

Illustration
Illustration is another method you can look at using.
It does require some skill but it can look effective.
Illustration can be produced in variety of mediums including pen and ink,
colour pencil and using digital methods.
You should produce an illustrated image to help you decide which method
you want to use.
Select a moment from your story to illustrate. The method or methods you
choose to use are up to you.

Digital Comic Book

Graphic Narrative
You will choose a folk or fairy tale to work with.
http://www.worldoftales.com has a vast array of stories for you to work
from. You can amend, adjust and change stories to suit your audience and
product.
You will then find a way of telling that story through mostly visual means
but with the addition of some text.
You will have to consider the methods you will use to produce it, the
audience you will make it for and the time you will have complete your
project.
You will need to think carefully about how you can break the story down so
you can tell it in a few pages.
You will need to think how you can use images to tell the story.
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Creative Media Production 2012

Task:
Research – You need to research the type of product you are going to
make.
You need to look at least 3 existing children’s books:
Visual style (bright, muted, busy, quiet, hand draw, simple, textured, plain,
cartoon, realistic…)
Layout of text and images
Fonts and text per page
Author, illustrator, publisher
Number of pages and page size
All of this will help you with your own work .
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Your own children’s book
All content used needs to be ORIGINAL or be public domain.
The work needs to be created through digital graphics.
Methods you could employ:
Rotoscoping
Shape warping
Illustration (with digital retouching or development)
Photography (with extensive post-production)

Idea generation:
Recording ideas:
It is very important that you record your ideas. The more development you
can show, the higher your potential grade.
It is really useful for us to be able to see your thinking.
Keeping all of your notes is important, even if it’s an idea on the back of a
bus ticket, stick in your folder to show your idea.
Producing and keeping different drafts of your script will help you proved
you developed you story idea.
Keeping and submitting all your sketches is also important as it shows the
development of your idea from initial thought to final plans,

Task 3: Idea generation:
This should include mood boards, mind mapping and may include
additional notes and sketches. Recording you ideas is important. Include
documentation of all the ideas you have had.
Mind mapping: A mind map is often created around a single word or
piece of text, placed in the centre of a page. Different ideas, words and
concepts are added as the map develops. It is a way of generating ideas
and recording trains of thought.

Idea generation:
Mood boards:
Collections of images, colour swatches, font samples related to your
project.
They are a really good way of gathering lots of inspiration for your work.
You can use images of existing products as well as found images and
screen shots of fonts.
By putting all sorts of things together at this early stage you can see how
they might work together later on.

Proposal
Dimensions
Number of pages
Size of pages
Export Format
PDF
Nature of Content
Production method
Overview of your story
Audience
Age/Gender/Hobbies/Geodemographics

Ideas presentation:
Task 5
Present your proposal and any supporting information such as mood
boards and mind map to your peers to receive feedback.
Your peers will give you feedback on your proposal.
You will reflect on this feedback and have the chance to amend your ideas
before you start pre-production.

42
There are 4 questions.
• What are the strengths of the proposal?
• What are the weaknesses of the proposal?
• What are the strengths of the generation of ideas?
• What are the weaknesses of the generation of ideas?
These questions give you the chance to give good feedback on each
others work.

43
Things to do:
Be helpful and constructive with your feedback
Think about what feedback you would like to receive. The best feedback
gives potential solutions or alternative ways of doing things.
Give simple clear comments
This will make your feedback easy to understand and keep the process
moving along
Think about what you are writing and how it might be received
This should be a useful experience which makes everyone's work better
not a time to upset others.

44
Things not to do:
Write offensive comments
You are being trusted to provide useful feedback for others to improve
their grade. You don’t want to receive feedback which is offensive and
neither does anyone else.
Give only one word answers
One word answers are no good as feedback. Give constructive feedback.

45
Feedback is most useful when it leads to some action on that feedback.
You should start by writing a quick summary of your feedback. This
should briefly outline the feedback you received.
You will then write about the feedback you received which you agree with
and why you agree with it.
You will then write about the feedback which you do not agree with and
why you disagree with it.

Task 6 Planning:
Produce a script and flat plan for your product. Showing evidence of
drafting will improve your grade.
This will help you work out the words that will appear and the images you
will need to create.
Work out a script page by page, it should include any text that goes on the
page.
46

Digital Flat Plans:
Having a plan as to what images will go where and how images will be
positioned with text will make production easier. It could also allow you to see
how pages can work together.
When planning your layouts, use your storyboard and your previous research to
help you.
You should plan each page. This is jut a guide, you can change it as you work,
but it gives you somewhere to start.
This is where my text will go for
this page of the book.
This is where my text will go for
this page of the book.

Flat Plan:
Produce a detailed plan of how your product will be laid out before
producing a test page or panel. You should map out your pages so that
you are clear which images and text will appear.
Test Page:
Once you have created your layout you will select a page or a panel and
produce it using your chosen method. This will allow you to test and refine
your technique.

Task 8 Considerations:
There are lots of things to consider in this project. A handout will help you
make sure you cover everything.
Costs: What costs might be involved in this project. The methods you are
using may well require equipment that you do not have. Specialist pens,
pencils, inks, paper, printing costs, film processing, props and transport
are all things which could cost money.
Available resources: What resources do you have available to you?
Quantity: How many of your product do you think will be made? Is it a
mass market children’s book that will be reproduced in 100’s and 1,000’ s
or could it be a special edition that will be produced in a very limited print
run?
Audience and target market: Who is this product for? What age, gender,
class etc are you aiming for?

Quality factors: What do you need to think about to make sure the quality
of your work is as good as possible? What can you do to influence the
quality of your work?
Codes of Practice:
The publishers association code of practice covers how publishers should
interact with authors. It covers a range of legal and financial issues which
are not relevant in this project.
It does contain information on time, standard and quality and defamation
and illegality. These sections are something you should think about.
Regulation:
Any books falling under the definition of a toy will have to be compliant
with the new Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC if sold on the European
market.
The Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Equality Act 2010 may also
apply depending on the content of your work.

Copyright: If your working with a story that someone else created you
need to think about copyright law. It does not mean you cannot produce
work which is derived from the work of others but you would need
permission and you would have to share any profits. If your using a very
old story it may be out of copyright and therefore you can use it.
Copyright also applies if you are using artwork of others in your work.
What areas of your work will you need to check are ok with copyright law?
Ethical issues:
Decency, representation and cultural sensitivity could all apply to your
work. Depending on your audience and your story, you will be limited in
what you can include in your work.
Which parts of your work might need further investigation regarding ethical
issues?

Pre-production:
Pre-production is the stage that all projects should go through before
production.
It is the stage where all the ideas are turned in to plans to make sure the
production stage is a success.
In this project you will need to do pre-production work on:
Resources
Time
Health and Safety

Resources:
This should be a list of all the resources you will need during your
production stage.
There is a handout to help you list them and tick off which ones you have
and which ones you still need to get.
This needs to be completed before you start production.
You must hand in a resource sheet with your finished project.
Resources could be pens, pencils, camera loans, models, locations,
costumes, script, storyboard, rulers, paper, pastels, camera film, safety
equipment...

Time:
Timescales are important in any project. Deadlines must be met.
In order to make sure that you meet you deadlines, you need to divide up
the work you have to do across the time you have.
This plan will help you during each day of production so that you know
what you need to do.
It will also help you keep track of where you are and if you are on target to
meet your deadline.
There is of course, a handout to help you.

Health and safety:
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations (COSHH);
COSHH covers substances that are hazardous to health. Substances can
take many forms and include:
Chemicals, products containing chemicals, fumes, dusts, vapours,
mists, nanotechnology, gases and asphyxiating gases and
biological agents (germs).
If the packaging has any of the hazard symbols then it is classed as a
hazardous substance.
If you are using certain paints, thinners, cleaners or other potentially
harmful products you need to ensure you are following safe working
practices.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/

Hazardous substance symbols:

Display screen equipment regulations 1992:
This covers the rules and regulations regarding people who work with
screen equipment, such as computers.
It also gives advice to those who use screens about how they can use
them safely.
If you will be using a computer for a period of time to complete this work, it
is something you should look at.
Safe practices in studios and workshops:
Working safely means paying attention to the potential dangers for you
and others in your work environment. Trip hazards, such as power cables,
equipment hazards such as Stanley knives and presses and protective
clothing such as gloves, eye protection are all things you should consider.Creative Media Production 2012 57

What health and safety issues will you need to think about during your
project?
What can you do about these issues to make sure that you remain safe
during your project?
You must address health and safety issues before you begin work.
You must document that you have addressed health and safety issues.
(yes, there is a handout for this too)

Task 10:
Production:
You will have 12 sessions to complete your work. This is 2 full week and 1
additional day.
This gives you some time outside of lessons to complete if you need to.
Any work submitted after this time will be regarded as having missed the
deadline and this will have an impact on the overall grade.

Be able to reflect
upon own graphic
narrative work
60

Task 9:
Explain which types of narrative structures you have used in your work. Find
examples of structures you did not use from other narrative.
• Is your narrative linear or non-linear?
• Is it an open or closed narrative?
• Does it have a single or multiple strands?
• Is it a realist or anti-realist narrative?
Which of the following narrative components have you used in your work and how
and why did you use them?
• Opening
• Conflict
• Resolution
• Enigma
• Climax
• Manipulation of time and space
61

62
Narrative structure:
Types of structure:
Open – Open narratives don’t reach a conclusion, they just go on and on.
Soap operas and comic books are good examples of this as stories run
and run from episode to episode.
Closed – Closed narratives reach a conclusion with a media text. Most
films have a closed narrative where the story starts and ends within the 90
minutes or so that the film lasts.
Single strand – A single strand narrative has just one storyline. Childrens
books often have a single strand narrative as they struggle to cope with
more than that.
Multi-strand – A multi-strand narrative has many different storylines.
Again, a soap opera is a good example of this as it features lots of
storylines about lots of characters.

Types of structure:
Linear – Linear narratives start at the beginning and go straight through
the story to the end. All the events happen in order. Each step of the story
follows the next. It’s a simple but popular method of story telling. Films,
books and journalism often uses a linear narrative.
Non-linear – Non-linear narratives don’t go through the story in a straight
line. They may use flash backs and flash forwards to jump around in time.
Examples include the films Pulp Fiction and Memento.
Realist – Realist narratives reflection ‘real life’. They are believable events
that could happen to almost anyone. Realist narratives are interested in
the day to day reality of people lives.
Anti-realist – The opposite of realist narratives. They involve events,
characters and locations which are highly unlikely if not impossible to find
in real life. Examples genres include sci-fi and fantasy. 63

Components:
• Opening – The start of your book
• Conflict – Often the driver of your story.
• Resolution – The ending
• Enigma – A puzzle: a narrative technique to intrigue the viewer
• Climax - The turning point, which changes the characters fate
• Manipulation of time and space – Jumping forwards or backwards in
time, stretching out time or condensing it.
64

Task 10:
You need to complete a written evaluation for each of the images you have
produced. The evaluation needs to include:
• The effectiveness of your ability to complete the task
• Strengths of planning
• Strengths of productions
• Production methods
• Areas for improvement
• Image construction and anchorage
• Signification and representation
• Historical and cultural context
You need to critically evaluate your own work. This means looking at what you
think worked well, but also where you believe there are areas for improvement.
Consider why aspects of your work were successful. If there are any areas for
improvement what potential solutions could you put in place to develop this area
65

Task 10:
You should include images consistently to illustrate your points (before/after and
the process of construction) to back up what you are discussing with visual
examples. Ensure you are always including correct terminology (exact names of
tools/effects used etc).
Comparing your work with existing professional practice will allow you to produce a
more detailed response and could allow you to access higher grades.
You can use the pro forma to help you structure your answers or you can choose
your own method. Use the pro forma to guide you through the evaluation and
ensure that all questions are answered.
66

Digital graphic narrative production(1)

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