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:Due to the fact that my book will be created digitally, the cost of making my book will be very low. Each page will cost around 10p each, so therefore each book should cost about a pound to create. Also I plan on using Photoshop, which costs around £8.00 a month. My book should only take about a month, so therefore Photoshop should cost me about £8.00.

Available resources:My available resources are things such as Photoshop, other older books, the internet and other Adobe products. The Adobe products can be used to create and edit my images. The internet can be used to find existing images that can be rotoscoped or included in my book, and other books can be used as inspiration for my product.

Quantity:I think that my market is fairly small, and I would only be thinking of making a few hundred books and selling them in small, local bookshops as a kind of special edition version of Jack And The Beanstalk. As my book is only very short, I also don’t think it would be possible to sell thousands.

Audience and Target Market:

The audience for my book will be young children between the ages of 2 and 6. My book will contain a basic storyline, which will be easy to understand for very young children, yet it will include a lot of exciting moments, which will entertain most kids up till around the age of 6. In my book there won’t be much writing and the words used will be simple, therefore it may help children to learn how to read. Also it will be an easy and enjoyable book to read for more complex readers. The book will be colourful with detailed and interesting images, which will appeal to children. I believe that this book could appeal to both boys and girls, as the book will be thrilling and full of excitement, which any child with a good imagination should enjoy.

Quality Factors:My book would include simple words, as opposed to more complex vocabulary. This would be due to the fact that my book is aimed at children. Therefore my book should help children to begin to read fluently. My book will also include an interesting and gripping storyline for children, and it will also include a good moral that is for you to make the most out of the opportunities that life offers you. My book would also include incredibly aesthetically pleasing images, as they will be detailed and colourful and the children will have a lot of pictures to look at in my book. I will make sure that my book’s quality stays the same throughout, by keeping the same style throughout the book. The style of my images will be fairly detailed, and the layout of my images and text will be similar throughout my bookTo make sure that my work is done well, I will stick to deadlines, and I will follow my schedule. I will always turn up to college in order to meet my deadlines. I will also not get distracted in lessons, so that I can finish my work to a good standard.

Codes of Practice:When creating my book I plan on keeping well in touch with the publisher. I will meet the deadlines that we both set and I will make sure that he knows how far through my work I am. I will do this in order to maintain a good relationship with the publisher, so that there are no financial complications in the future.

Regulation:Any books that fall under the regulation of a toy (puppet features etc.) will have to follow the new Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC if they are to be sold on the European market. However my book won’t have any toy features so I won’t need to follow this act of regulation.

Copyright:

To avoid any copyright complications, I have adapted the original story of Jack And The Beanstalk. My story is set in the modern day and the only similarities are that Jack is a child who steals from a mean person who is wealthy and then him and his widowed mother live happily at the end. I have changed a lot of the story in order to avoid any copyright complications. I would also protect my own version of this story, by making sure that I copyright it in order for nobody else to steal my ideas and make money off of my adaptation. I have even thought about the possibility of changing the main character's name to something other than Jack in order to avoid copyright.

Ethical Issues:An issue with my book is that it may encourage children to steal, just as Jack does in my book. However my book is only meant to encourage making the most of opportunities that life has to offer. In my book I would write a message to begin with for the parents to  read to their children in order to discourage stealing.Jack also enters a building that he’s not supposed to be in, which may encourage breaking and entering, but I believe that this isn’t a big problem, as I don’t think that this thought would cross children’s minds.Apart from this there are no other ethical issues in my book. I think that my book promotes excitement and includes thrills. Many other children’s books promote worse things such as killing and discriminating people, therefore I think that my book shouldn’t raise any concerns.

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?

 Storage(Hard Drive)

Yes

 I already have a lot of internal storage free on my computer, therefore I just need to make sure that all of my work is organised into files. Even though it is unlikely, I could run out of storage, and if this happened I would either need to resort to buying another hard drive, or I could just use an online storage system, such as Google drive.

 Photoshop Yes

 To create my work I need an advanced piece of editing software. My preference would be Photoshop. In order to get Photoshop I have to pay around £8 a month, and I have to have a computer that is powerful enough to run the software. Fortunately for me, I already have Photoshop.

 Powerful computer/laptop Yes

 To get a decent computer, it will cost me a lot of money. I think a good enough computer would cost me between £500 and £1,200. Lucky enough for me, I already have a good computer that runs fluently and can run many programs.

 Lots Of Printer Paper  No

 In order to print out my book, I will need a lot of paper. So I will need to buy a lot of printer paper from Tesco. From the looks of things 500 sheets would cost me £5.50. I would buy 2000 sheets, so therefore it would cost me £22 in total and then also I will need to print out on each sheet of paper, which I expect to cost 10p per sheet. I already have a printer, so the only resource I need to buy is the paper for me to print my work on to.

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:

 Ensure that page 1 is complete, with each image in place and some temporary text written in.

 Each image should be completed and no further improvements should be needed.

 Borders should be place around each image to make them stand out even more on the white background.

 If all of that is finished then a start should be made to the background of the next image.

Session 2: The background for the image on page 2 should be completed. This includes the sky, sun and walking path, along with the houses. As there are two houses, to save time, the first house should be copy and pasted, but then minor alterations should be made, such as door colour changing, different numbers and one could be slightly wider. The door may also be swapped to the other side of the house.

 Text should be added beneath the image.

 A border should be placed around the image

 If all of that is completed, then I will start to create Jack from the side angle.

Session 3:

 Jack and Scruff should be created from the side (walking) angle and they should both be added into the image.

 The shiny key on the floor should also be created and put in the image.

 Also some temporary text should be added to this image.

Session 4:

The full image on page 3 should be created. The background, the huge skyscraper and Jack and Scruff should be looking up at it, with the key in Jack’s hands.

 Some temporary text should be added underneath the image in order to help the storyline develop and a border should be placed around the image.

  A border should be added around my image.

Session 5:

 The first image on page four should be completed, as it’s only a key fitting into a lock. A border should be added.

 The second image of Jack opening the doors should also be completed to my best possible standard. A border should be added.

 Text should be added underneath both images.

 If all of this is completed, then a start should be made to my third image on this page.

Session 6: The third image on page 4 should be completed as it’s only a lift’s location, so it should be fairly basic to create. A border should be added.

 Text should follow underneath this image.

 A start should also be made to the image location on page five.

Session 7:

 Page 5 should be clear and completed, with text underneath it.

 The image on page 6 should be nearly completed as well, as the room can stay of the same structure, just without the table and a door can be added.

 Jack and Scruff should be added to the set and a human silhouette should be added coming from the door.

 Borders should be added around each image.Session 8: The image for page 7 should be completed during this session. This image should just be of Jack and Scruff running down a path (out of the building). This doesn’t necessarily have to be detailed.

 Movement lines might also be used during this.

 During this session text should also be added to this image.

   A border should be added around my image

Session 9:

 During this session, the first image of page 8 should be completed. This should be easy to create, as it is very similar to the image from page 3.

 Also in this session I expect to complete the second image of page 8, as that is similar to the first image on page 1. I can just add in money signs and I can make Jack look extremely happy by changing some of his facial features.

 Add borders to my images and add text beneath them.Session 10:

 I plan on using this session to go over all of my work.

 In this I should improve my text on each page, and make sure that my book has a good storyline.

 I can also use this session to finish off and improve any work that hasn’t been completed to the best of my ability.

 I can make sure that the book flows fluently and is a finished product.

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?

 Spilling drinks and damaging computer

 To avoid this I won’t drink anything near the computers, I will leave the room in order to both eat and drink.

 Tripping over bags on the floor

 To avoid this I will ensure that my workspace has no bags or objects around that may cause my to fall over and hurt myself. I will always make sure that the area I work in is clean and tidy.

 Over time developing poor posture and back problems

 I will make sure that I sit up straight and keep good posture whilst working. I will keep my head straight up and every 30 minutes I will have a small walk about, so that I aren’t just sat down for hours and hours.

 Eye problems and headaches

 To avoid getting any of these problems, I will have a break every 30 minutes, so that I aren’t just staring at a computer screen all day. By doing this I shouldn’t get any headaches, and I will also drink plenty of water on my breaks. This will help me to keep hydrated.

 Fatigue

 In order to make sure that over time I don’t gain a lot of weight, I will make sure that in my spare time I still fit and healthy. I will eat well and stick to a healthy and balanced diet. Also I will make sure that I am an active person. I might bike to college and I will continue to participate in sporting activities outside of college.