Illustration and Visual Narrative / Final Project

26.06.23 - 14.07.23 / Week 13 - Week 15

Name: ALYSSA AISYAH BINTI 'ARIEF NASRAN (0364017)
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Final Compilation & Reflection

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INSTRUCTIONS

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Animated 1 Page Visual Novel

The final project of Illustration and Visual Narrative is a continuation from Project 3 where we are to create a one page introduction comic of our selected story based one of the three 1 acts from our story. We are then to animated at least 1 panel of the comic into a short looping gif which are chosen based on the optimal timing in the story flow and visual transitions that effectively convey the narrative.

The challenges of this assignment are the following:

• Continue with the same story and design aesthetic from Project 2.
• Work only from one paragraph of the story for the 1st page.

Research

I first went through the story I have selected and read each of its acts before choosing one to proceed with. After careful consideration I have selected Act 1 of the story- 'Eleanora: Act 1, Love' as she is the central figure that plays a huge role in the narrative and makes up most of the major themes of the story. I also enjoyed the idea of recreating the 'idyllic valley' in Act 1 as the setting itself was very scenic, leading to a more visually aesthetic comic, and a central overarching idea of the story was 'Love' with the ending even leading up to it, and after reading through Act 1 again, it was the act that displayed this concept the most clearly. 

Fig 1.0 3-Act-Structure

Act 1 details the sudden blooming love shared between the narrator and Eleanora after having spent a long time in the secluded idyllic valley, a key aspect I have taken note of in act 1 is that the love had happened suddenly one day, thus making it an instantaneous change in their relationship instead of a gradual one. This important detail served as defining visual narrative in the comic that best captures the essence of the story 'Eleanora'- which was falling in love.

Aside this, I have also looked at some manga panels in order to better understand how to go about creating a comic page and understand the techniques behind them such as how to panel effectively.

Fig 1.1 Horimiya Chapter 57

Fig 1.2 Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie - Chapter 100

Design Process

Sketch

Since the love that happened between them was so abrupt, my idea was to create a comic that captured the phrase 'love at first sight'- as although it had not been their first time meeting, their love was similar to the idea and meaning. Following this I then created my sketch based on this idea keeping in mind the narrative of the first act.

Fig 1.3 Sketch

The comic, similar to manga is meant to be read from right to left. From what I have observed from researching comic pages, there are different types of perspectives and shots used for each panel to illustrate the scene dynamically in order for the story to be conveyed in a clear and visually interesting manner, thus I have also tried to apply these techniques here as well with more panels focusing on certain parts of the body or being more zoomed in or out. The first panel depicts her standing in a far out shot in the sunset to set the tone of that 'idyllic valley' and beautiful scenery the narrator sees her in- thus leading to the 2nd panel where it is a close up shot of Eleanora with her hair blowing from the wind, facing the narrator and smiling back at him, showing the viewer what he sees- which is a highly attractive eye-catching view of the girl he has spent his life with. This is where the zoomed in shots come in the 4th and 5th panels- where the 'attractive eye-catching view' narrative is amplified, showing the reflection of her in his eyes as she is his focus, his eyes widening as he had a moment of realization, along with the panel where he is seen gulping right underneath to further illustrate this idea that he had been awe-struck by her beauty. This is then followed by the full length panel of a heart beating and an arrow penetrating it to symbolize 'falling in love' and his heart being struck by cupids arrow, the next panel then is a close up short of his hand grabbing hers, leading to the last panel of the narrator with Eleanora staring longingly at each other with his palm holding her face and her hands holding onto him, accepting their love for each other.

Digitalization

Once I had completed the sketch, I then moved on to the digitalization process. As always, I first start by creating the artboard and transferring my sketch into the canvas and lowering the opacity so I could use it as a guide for illustrating. I then created the panels of the comic using the shape tool with a black outline and empty fill.

Fig 1.4 Creation of Panels

This is then followed by the creation of outline using the pencil tool following the sketch I made, during my own time while experimenting with Adobe Illustrator, I found that the pencil tool was much more effective and less time consuming to create shapes as it was more akin to traditional drawing- and since I owned a drawing tablet it was much easier and effective to create the basic shapes of the characters this way by first outlining them, and then using the shape builder tool to create the shapes and fill them. I have also tweaked the design of the 5th panel where the heart is in order to convey the idea I am trying to illustrate better by having the arrow go through all the way and have heart beat in the middle, it is made using the same heart I have created from project 3 while the lines are utilizing the pen tool.

Fig 1.5 Creation of Outline

Once done I then went on to building the shapes using the shape builder tool to merge the outline with the empty space inside which resulted in filled shapes which I then added the base colours to- this was done via the duplication the two subjects, narrator and Eleanora from project 3 and utilization of the eyedropper tool to grab the colours from them to use in this comic so I could have the same accurate colours as they are the same characters. I have also utilized the gradient tool in the same manner I used in project 3 along with the pen tool to create shadows for depth, and the shape builder tool to refine the shapes by eliminating desired excess shapes, most of the techniques I have applied in this comic are similar to what I have done in project 3 as it was instructed to keep with the same artstyle used in this assignment. Furthermore for the 5th panel where the heart lies, I have chosen to make the background fill black with a white gradient showcasing and highlighting the heart as it was the panel I intended to animate and was the main focus and defining point of the comic, I also thought the contrast would go well as the other panels feature softer colours.

Fig 1.6 Addition of Base Colour

Fig 1.7 Addition Gradient + Shadows

I have also made sure to pay attention to the smaller details such as the small drop of sweat that trails down the narrators neck in the 4th panel, the shadows that outline the teeth of the subjects in the final panel, and the shine of the narrators eyes by either adjusting its gradient and colour accordingly, creating additional shapes, or adjusting the opacity.

Fig 1.8 Detailing of Sweat

Fig 1.9 Detailing of Teeth

2.0 Detailing of Eye

Each line that was not a shape was also adjusted to have smooth, sharper, or thicker corners such as the eyelids, mouth, and eyebrows of each character, and once the small details were completed I then duplicated Eleanora from the 2nd panel and merged the shapes that make her up using the shape builder tool to superimpose into the eye in the 3rd panel as a reflection.

Fig 2.1 Merging Shapes

Following this, I then scaled her down to fit the eye iris, lowered the opacity, and used the shape builder tool to trim the excess from the edges of the iris.

Fig 2.2 Addition of Reflection

Aside from this, I have also worked further on the background for each panel, creating the sun and sakura tree for the first panel, colouring them accordingly, and added clouds throughout all the panels with a a gradual opacity to create the illusion of 'airy-ness'. I have also added an outer glow and blur effect to the sun in panel 1 to create the effect of light emitting.

Fig 2.3 Adjusting Panel Backgrounds

Fig 2.4 Addition of Outer Glow + Blur

Moving along, I then used the shape builder tool to fill the line that crossed into the heart white as it looked more visually interesting and conveyed the sense of the heart being 'pierced' better. I have also made sure all of the elements of this panel were center aligned properly as it is the panel that stands out.

Fig 2.5 Adjustment of Heart + Arrow 

I then added in the flowing sakura petals into the 3rd panel, some larger than the others to show distance and proximity and create that 'eye catching attractive scene' enhancing the depth of the panel. The closer petals have been blurred with the gaussian bur effect to create the focus onto the subject. I have also added in the sakura petals into the other panels for chronologicality.

Fig 2.6 Addition of Sakura Petals

Fig 2.7 Blurring Sakura Petals

Fig 2.8 Addition of Sakura Petals in Other Panels

At this point, the comic was already completed, however I still felt as though I did not fully capture the beauty the narrator sees in the 2nd panel, as I thought her eyes looked flat in comparison to the more detailed eye I had created in the 3rd panel, thus, as a final step I used the shape tool to create more highlights and adjusted its opacity, then adding it into her eyes in order to amplify the shine and enhance the visual look of the 2nd panel.

Fig 2.9 Adjustment of Eyes

Animation

After I had finished the digitalization of the comic, I then imported it into After Effects to animate as an editable composition.

I first started out by locking all the other layers other than the ones I wanted to animate and made sure each layer was continuously rasterizing as to not lose its quality as a vector, and changed the time to 5 seconds. Then, I created a mask for the arrow and made two frames, the first of the arrow hidden behind the mask at the start of the animation, and one of the arrow appearing in its full length at the end of the animation piercing the heart.

Fig 3.0 Creation of Arrow Animation

Then, once I had completed the animation of the arrow, I then proceeded to animate the beating of the heart. I first created a frame of the heart in its original size, then, using the scale tool, I scaled the heart to grow slightly bigger from the center, and then duplicated the first frame where the heart was at its original size, these frames are then adjusted to to follow proper timing simulating how an actual heart would beat in a moment where the individual feels as though their heart was skipping a beat, and then duplicated to repeat the animation. I have also ensured that the beating of the heart follows the rhythm of the line where the heartbeat appears so that the animation made more sense and felt smoother.

Fig 3.1 Creation of Heart Animation

Once I had finished animating all my elements I then exported it as a GIF animation in Adobe Media Encoder, rendering it at maximum quality with the highest settings possible so as to ensure the quality of the gif does not downgrade too much since the gif would be dithered.

Fig 3.2 Exporting Animation

Final Outcome

Fig 3.3 1 Page Visual Novel of Act 1, Love, Eleanora JPG

Fig 3.4 1 Page Visual Novel of Act 1, Love, Eleanora Outline

Fig 3.5 1 Page Visual Novel of Act 1, Love, Eleanora PDF

Fig 3.6 Animated 1 Page Visual Novel of Act 1, Love, Eleanora GIF

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REFLECTION

Throughout this assignment, I have learned a great deal about how to create successful illustrated visual narratives. The final project, a continuation from Project 3, involved creating a one-page introduction comic and animation based on a selected story's Act. The design process was quite lengthy and meticulous, even though there was a very short time frame to complete the assignment, yet I persevered through as I was determined the finish the assignment successfully which led me to being very satisfied with the end result. Each panel was carefully planned to capture the characters' emotions and the story's essence, and I aimed to convey the narrative clearly through different perspectives and zoom levels for dramatic effect, paying special attention to even the smallest of details as I believed it also made up the entire scene.

Animating the visual novel into a GIF presented its own set of challenges, as we did not have a class on animation, thus I self-taught myself using tutorials and animated the arrow piercing the heart + simulated the beating of the heart to emphasize the moment of falling in love, paying close attention to timing and rhythm to ensure a smooth and visually appealing animation.

Throughout the process, I learned about the importance of storytelling through illustrations, how to effectively convey emotions, and the significance of timing and transitions in creating impactful visual narratives. The assignment allowed me to refine my skills in digital illustration, understanding the power of each element in storytelling, and how to create engaging animations to bring illustrations to life.

In conclusion, this assignment has been a valuable learning experience that has greatly enhanced my ability to create successful illustrated visual narratives. This assignment has not only refined my digital illustration skills but also taught me how to breathe life into illustrations through engaging animations. As I look back on the process and the end result, I am incredibly satisfied with my perseverance and growth, and  am excited to apply these newfound skills in future projects, continuing to evolve as a visual storyteller.