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This Narrative Project posed the question: How well can you visually tell a story?  This entire project was based around my idea for a man with nothing who knows what he wants, but has to find out what he needs.  I started off this project by writing a Flash Fiction, which was then used to create a comic and an animation.  This website shows the process that I used to create each of these projects.  Throughout the creation of these projects, I gained experience and skills that I can use for future projects.  The main thing that I learned from these projects is the importance of planning ahead.  Planning is a very important aspect of artistic projects, as the artist has to know what they want their final product to look like and how they are going to get there.

Each page of this webite shows the steps I made to create my final product. I explain how I used the programs provided to me to express my ideas.

Image of Dreamweaver project
Story

For my story, I wanted to be able to show an intense scene while also demonstrating empathy. Through boyscouts, I have been able to work with many homeless people and find out about their story. This inspired me to make my main character have much less than anyone else, and this is what forced him to be in the conflict that my story highlights. I decided to make him a vagabond, who's want is to get on a train so that he can leave the city he is currently living. Through this story, I also show how the empathy of others can help the less fortunate, and that it is sometimes necessary to accept help.

Fast Track

Rob stares at his callused hands as the setting sun casts an orange glow on the decommissioned train cars that sit past the fence before him. A slight breeze flows through his black hair, thick with the dirt and oil that has been collecting there. A man walks by and throws change to his feet. Rob scoffs, kicking away the coins to his side.

He looks at his watch. Five minutes til seven. A train horn blares in the distance. After a quick check in both directions, Rob bounds toward fence, quickly scaling its rusted wires. He lands onto the dirt below, and begins to run. As he makes his way through the old train cars, he hears the shouts of security guards yelling for him to stop. Rob breaks off into a sprint as two men in bright yellow vests with blue caps trail him.

The train horn blares again, louder than the last time. A guard steps out from one of the train cars ahead of Rob and puts his hand out, commanding for him to stop. Rob disregards him and runs into the guard full speed, knocking off his royal blue cap. Rob’s eyes stay focused on the railroad tracks ahead him. They shake as the train gains more and more speed. Rob breaks out into the open and sprints after the train, the guards right on his tail. The train slowly picks up speed and the guards get closer and closer. His legs burn, desperately wanting to give out.

A man in blue overalls walks out onto the back deck of the last train car. He leans over the railing and reaches out to Rob, telling him to grab his hand. With a final burst of speed Rob runs to the man, grabbing his hand just as Rob’s legs begin to collapse.

Rob falls onto the red carpet floor of train car. He looks to his sides and sees bottles of champagne sitting on furnished wood tables. The man in the overalls looks at Rob and offers him his hand. Men and women stare at Rob, their attention diverted from the fine china tea cups. Rob glares at the hand as whispers travel around the room, then reaches out and takes it. The man pulls him up, and they stand eye to eye. Rob gives him a quick nod, then walks over to one of the satin chairs, his shoulders back and head high. He sits down as the train blows its horn confidently, its warm tone echoing through the air for a final time.

Image of Pro Tools session
Illustration

For our design project, we made a comic that is based off of our flash fictions.  I followed a similar storyline to my animation, highlighting scenes filled with action that create a rising action.  To create this comic, I started with the basics, outlining my panels and the basic details onto a rectangular piece of cardboard.  I then went into further detail, outlining facial features and other more refined details.  These drawings were then scanned into a PDF and I used them to create my panels using the pen tool and multiple layers.  I then went into further details, utilizing Adobe illustrator and its tools to add effects that draw in the viewer

Artist Statement

The narrative project has been a great learning experience for me. One of the most valuable lessons that I learned is the importance of planning out designs before I completely dive into them. To create our comics, we scanned in our own drawings which we would later trace over using Adobe Illustrator. Because of this, my comic was effectively limited by the pre drawing I had done for my comic, so I had to put much more time into the planning of my project. I learned the importance of taking my time through every step and ensuring that my drawings were at the quality that I wanted my comic to be. This not only helped me improve my comic, but it will also improve the quality of future designs. The biggest change that I would like to make is to incorporate a unique style throughout the comic. I feel like this would give the comic a more unique and original feel. The most difficult part about this is it would make the style consistent enough for it to be noticeable.

The part of this project that I am most proud of is the story itself. I felt that I was able to communicate the story well enough and show the desires of the main character in eight panels. I incorporated every part of storytelling, from the introduction to the resolution. Communication of ideas is very important, as it is what draws the reader in. I believe the comic is very effective at this.


Animatic

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Graphic Novel
My ideas for fast track were used first in my English class, where I created a graphic novel of the story. This graphic novel consisted of about 23 frames, each of which developing the character’s wants through his actions. This story set the basis for what I would be doing in my other classes, such as my animation for Digital Media. To create a blueprint of the animation, I used the panels of the graphic novel as frames in my animatic so I could get a general idea of what my animation would look like.

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The purpose of an animatic is to give the animator an idea of what a scene will look like. This makes it much easier to see if the scene is really necessary in developing the story or characters. Animatics ensure that hundreds of hours of work done on an animation does not go to waste

Everything I have done in relation to my story Fast Track has lead up to the production of my animation. Each project I do gives me a better understanding of what I want to include with my animation

Image of Animatic
Animation

The goal of my animation was to display the greatest amount of suspense and action that I could in a short amount of time.  To do this, I made sure to make every scene essential and have it build the suspense/character development of the story.  I followed a similar structure to my flash fiction, giving off a feeling of adventure while also developing my character

All of the animation was created in Adobe Animate. In this program, I created symbols from characters that I created in Adobe Illustrator. With these symbols I was able to create advanced movements that resemble real human ones. I manipulated the movments of the characters and the background to develop suspense throughout the animation

Image of Animation