Comic book review

Comic book review

Creating the comic was easy,  hard and intresting. It was intresting using the tablet to draw the cartoon, which was fun and different, would like to do that again. It was easy coming up with a story with the insects and how to turn it into a paranormal comic. I was cool learning about comic books and creating panel even if it was a bit annoying when I did it for my comic. I did use the internet for exporting the cartoons form photoshop so I could put it on InDesigh. I think at the end the comic came out great I really like it, just wished that I had drawn the other two charaters into the comic.

The theme for my comic is the paranormal including black eye children, demon, exorcium and clairvoyant all thing relating to the paranormal. Why? Because again I love the paranormal and I had just learnt about the black eye child and so I really wanted to use that in my story as well as having one of my charaters be clairvoyant.

Drawing the pictures of the comic was a bit tricky but I think it being my the second time using the tablet to draw the cartoon I think they looked good, would have been nice if I had time to draw the other two main characters in the comic book but I think it turn out great.

Making the panel was proving to be a lot of trouble mostly when it got to attaching the cartoon to the comic panel which sometime would fill up the whole page or that the picture is too big for the panel but at the end I got the cartoon to fit into the panel at the end, I also used google & Youtube for a bit of help with moving the picture from photoshop to Indesign.

Since the charaters were already picked out I think finding how to draw them and design on how they look was easy, along with the creating a story idea for the comic as well was easy. I think creating the comic book panel was had since the image would take up the whole page and wouldn't go into the rectangler frame tool I had made so that took abit of time to finally get the cartoon in place.

I think I would have added speech bubbles just to see what it would have looked like in the comic maybe even added some talking parts. Another would have been adding the other two charaters as well then I think it would have made the comic better if it had all the charaters.
If I could I would have liked to have been able to draw the cartoons a bit better, like close to what I had image in my mind but not quiet getting it quite like I had hoped it would looked like.

Comic InDesign panels

In Leanne lesson we were learning about comics and the way they are layout. SO in one of her lesson we did a simple layout on Indesign.

First she got us to go out into town and take three pictures of ourself then when that was done we all went back to college. To make the layout we use InDesign, in InDesign we first needed a new page with lines, this is to help with making the panels for the photos, Then we used the rectangle frame tool to make one panel which then I copied and re-pasted it covering the whole page with 9 similar panels. Next was the pictures with the 3 pictures we took of ourself we then place them into the panels only getting our heads because the picture are a lot bigger and we only needed to see the face.

This was to help use so that we did make the comic we would know how to attach the cartoon to the panel. I think I went wrong with placing the rest of the panel cause I thing they were all meant to be all in the same row which from my picture their not so that would be something that I need to improve on in the future.


This is also a another small comic we did on InDesign called A Day In The Life of .... which we then write our name and then write something about ourself. I wrote what kind of teen I am and what the proudest thing I have ever done including the day (uploading my first FanFiction).

This was another thing we learnt for the comic was making speech bubbles for the comic book if we needed it. In my comic I didn't use speech bubble because I didn't get enough time to finish my comic because I went to Rome so I only got to draw out my comic, which I thing came out good. I think if it did have some specking bit in my comic it would have been  better but at the same time it might have also took up some space in the comic.

2 page comic book

To get this 2 page comic book what I did is go on InDesign where I get a page then I pressed pages where I pressed the A-master so that I could get two pages for the comic. I the  add the grid so that It would be easier to make the panels. Next what I did I use the rectangle frame tool to create the panel's for the cartoon to be placed in.

For the next bit I got my save cartoon on photoshop where then I then export it to Quick Export as PNG

Once they were done I start adding the cartoon to the comic in order, when adding the cartoon I used fitting and press 'Fit Content to Frame' So that they all fit the frame probably.




It was a bit hard when adding the cartoon on to the comic since every time I did it turn large filling up the whole so after a while I finally got it then once everything was in place I then found the 'Fit Content to Frame' so then I went over every cartoon and did that so that it would fit in the frame.

Final production

This is my final production for my FMP

This is the front cover for my book. I took this picture at newton road field. Before I photoshopped it It was they time so I had to do a lot of changes. It's dark enough to look like night, but also bright so that when it prints out it's easy to see.

This cover has given me the most trouble throughout all my FMP work. I had to change lot of it like the day sky to night and that included using tools like Brightness/Contrast and Hue/Saturation to change to make it more darker and to help blend the night sky into the background.

Next printing out, since it looked fine of the screen I thought it would be fine on paper, but turns out it was a lot darker then I realised. In the print copy you couldn't see the blood or the pentagram, which are to key things in the story.

Sio what I need to do was make the cover brighter, Which should be easy only because of the night sky I added in every time I made the cover bright the background would come through on to Conna skin because part of his skin is lighter so it showed more. It took me a while until I used the background eraser and used that to get rid of the black bits on his skin and get the cover bright enough to print out and still see everything. I still wan't happy with the pentagram brightness, so I didn't background copies so that I could cut everything out of the picture leaving the pentagram on the screen and use levels making it bright but still look dark enough.

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 These are the layers from photoshop. This is everyone I did for my cover. They are all in order. Doing the front cover I used the internet for help like getting the day time picture into a nighttime picture. I also used what I was taught in class to help with brightening the blood and pentagram singe as the whole picture went dark so did those two making thwm way to dark so I needed to copy more of the original photo and get rid of most of the icture so that I am left with just the pentagram or the blood.

At the end I was able to make it lighter so that you could see everything with out having bits of the picture nort looking right.

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 This is from InDesign, these are the page to my book. I tried to get them in order as best as I could so this is the nearest. All together I have 81 pages with 15 chapters.

To get the front and the back of the book cover onto InDesign I had to export it then drag the images onto the page I wanted it on. But before I needed to add a frame onto the page so that the photo with go into the frame. Another was the fitting, once the picture was in InDesign the picture was always too big so you could only see the black cloak, so I right click and got onto fitting pressing that the photo turn into the same size as the page just a bit tinier. 

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This is the back of my book. The picture in the back ground is what I took, it from the same place I took my cover picture from. I did darken it a bit but not so much as the front cover. The back has also got the symmetry about the book.

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Final pictures of my book. (paper back)

Frontcover of my book. Reason why the title is red is because I helps it to stand out with the picture being dark and spooky and I think the red goes well with it.

This is the middle of the book. The book has 15 chapters with 22910 words and 81 pages.

 This is the back of my book which has the symmetry as well as the title of the book

Reflection on FMP

Does your finished product reflect what you originally set out to do?

I think my finished product is what I set out to do, The cover and story all came out the way I wanted it come, The story changed in some of the chapter but mostly it was what I originally wanted to be. Sure I had to change small things like the cover but I am really happy how it came out even better then what I had first thought of.

What did you struggle with? - be honest and specific.

The cover was a struggle doing. Mostly because I needed to change the day time picture into a night time which actually wasn't that bad, it was the little things like the pentagram and the blood. That was definitely a lot of trouble because making the background darker meant the blood and pentagram went a lot dark and almost impossible to see so what I had to do was find ways on making those two bright and more notice because it has a place in the story so I do need people to see it, plus it makes the cover more spooky. Another was every time I try to make the photo brighter the night sky pictures come through onto Conna skin, luckily I found away to get rid of the black sky from Conna's and make the photo a bit more brighter so that when I print it out it won't look so dark.

What did you enjoy and why?

I've really enjoyed writing the story, I love writing stories It's always been something I really enjoy it and I like it even more because it's more of an original story then fan fiction so even thought there was still a theme I still got to write it more on what I like and knew about as well as including the 21st century along with it.   

What could you improve on and how?

I think the cover I could have improved on. I think it would have been better if I took the picture the first Saturday that we started to the FMP, that way I could have had more time. Another is when I was taking pictures I only took canvas and not portrait so that was one of the trouble with the cover because it was too big and when I did try and turn it into a portrait on photoshop it didn't look right. So next time I would try and take some portrait photos as well. I would a lot tried to have took some at night time.

If you were to do this project again/had more time and resources what might would you do differently?

I think I would have tried to add on more chapters if I had more time and I would have tried to have taken more photos's maybe at night time cause if I had more time me and my cousin could have arrange a time to do it. If I could do the project again I might have change the story, still keeping with the paranormal theme but change it differently like ghost hunting because 21st century has more ghost equipment now then then. 

Are you happy with the final product?

From what I have I am happy with my final product. I think the story has came out well the cover maybe could have been better but I am pleased with how it came out.

Are all of the above combined in a blog post?

I have written all in blogs, like the photoshoot with the book cover

Skilled used in my FMP

For my FMP I am writing a book so skills I would need is:


Imagination-Because I'm using a theme (21st century) I need to come up with a story based on that theme as well as a story to go with it that I'll like writing. So for my book I join 21st century with the paranormal because I like the paranormal and since I'm writing it I want to add something that I like to it.


Grammar & synonym-With writing I know for a fact that I am not good with grammar so I'll be using a grammar checker to help and double check my work in case something of mistakes or something that does make sense. Grammar check website- This is the one I use.

Another thing in my story is that I want to try to use different words when one of the character has a speaking part, like instead of saying. she said or say's, So I used Synonym website so that I can write in a word and get words relating to that word but more interesting. Synonym website This is the one I use.


Camera/Photos- I'm also going to need to create the book cover and that includes taking photos. So for the cover I need to get all the right materials for the photo (Like a pentagram, hooded cloak blood and a model) The next thing is the area I need to take the photos since it's based in the woods, so that includes looking for an area full of tree's. The next is to schedule a day that me and Conna was free to do the photoshoot, Sat 7th May was the day we did the the photoshop. Lucky for me I had my own camera so I used that to take pictures.


Chapter timeline-I need to figure out whats going to happen on each chapter and and how many chapters there's going to be in the book. It also helps me know whats done and what been grammar checked so that I don't need to checked it again. Also if I ended up joining chapters and need to delete chapters if that happened.  (started with 18 chapters ended up with 15 chapters)


Second reader-When I've done all my writing and it's all been checked through, I'm going to need a another person to read and go through it to make sure somethings make sense or what I need to improve on or cut out. With the first chapter I showed mum, she pointed things out to me that didn't need to be in there as well as what could be a bit better, So that definitely showed me that I do need a second person opinion and I think mum is the perfect person because she loves reading so she can definitely point out any areas and comment what need to be change. (Not looking forward to that)


Skills that I already have

Photography - The photography I used to take my front cover photo I already knew from this course when we did some photography at the beginning.

Writing/Imagination- Because I've already done writing like fanfic and my own stories at home I already knew I could easily come up with some some and since we had to write a script including two themes that needed to be in script, I knew I could find ways to include 21st century into the story.

Book cover for FMP/ location

For my Book cover I needed to get picture for my cover which involving finding a wooded area and a model.

This is the wooded are I use for my photoshoot, it's next to a field with other wooded area around the field with a park. It's along Newton Road which is where my nan lived so it was one of the reason I used this area.

Walking into the woods, it was safe because of the pathway, but trying shoot the picture I had to go off the path, which wasn't bad but I had to be carefully of the sticks and stinging nettle. Again this was the same for Conna (model). The area was near a motorway but there was a fence blocking the it since we were on a hill so it would have stopped us falling, but we weren't near the fence so we didn't need to worry about that.



This was the tree I used in my picture. I took this after the photoshoot, so you can still see  some of the fake blood on the tree. I choose this tree because the background was just right, you couldn't see any of the field or the park in the background, the other side of the forest there were fences and they were very visible.













This was the pentagram I made, It's really just a metal circle ring which I wrapped brown string around it then I used twigs from my nan's garden at use them to make a pentagram which  I superglued it onto the circle. My mum then tied the pentagram to the tree using the same string we used for the circle.

 I took two picture from differ angles and without the blood.























Then I took another two pictures with blood.

(Above, Is the one I used for my book cover)

The model in these pictures is my cousin Conna Webb, He helped out by dressing up as the cult for me and letting me take pictures. At the end of the shoot he was left with a red stain hand from the fake blood. I also had help from my other cousin Jenna (his sister) and my mum who help with the costume and cape and gave me some of their opinions.


BOOK COVER

BEFORE

AFTER 

For the first picture to look like the second the picture I had to use Photoshop to help with changing daytime to nighttime and to make the picture more darker so it actually looks like it was taken at night, then how to brighten up the blood and the pentagram on the tree. I ended up using google a bit to find tutorials for most of it. If I could do it again it would be that I take some portrait photos, would have made getting the cover size better. 

Secondary research covers

Book cover that has something relating to what I'll be having on my book cover.



With this cover it has the forest and the nighttime sky and thats something that i want for my cover. In the background it's going to be the inside of a forest where should be able so see some of the sky.

In this cover it has the tree which is the main picture in this cover and will be the main thing on my cover. On the cover the tree will have a pentagram hanging from the trunk and a person standing behind it.

 This cover has the pentagram which again is the main thing on my book cover because it will be hanging on the tree. The only thing is that the pentagram won't have the picture in that pentagram on my cover.

This cover has the person wearing the cloak which is just what I want, It's not showing the whole body just like what i want to have for my cover and it shows a bit of the guys face which again is what I want for my cover.


















Each book has something I want for my book both picture, lighting and the day setting which is awesome because it shows me what it would look like and I think it will look cool.

FMP Reflect on Primary and Secondary Research

Primary research

Primary research is when people write out survey's or questionnaire and send it to random people using media like Facebook and twitter which can be shared out to other people get different aged or gender taking the questionnaire.



Secondary research

Secondary research is when people get into a small group and s them question's and getting different opinion or different answers. This could be people of different ages and different gender or different religions all in the same room giving different answers to the question being asked.



The importance's of both Primary and Secondary is that their both done in different ways, With primary they use question to get people to answer question being asked and the person could be anybody. With Secondary research you're asking people face to face and with this they could be people who has something relating to the question being asked then someone who has nothing to do with the question, like if it was something to do with driving they could get people who drive to come and give their opinion in a small group.

This is the game we did in class, we had to put the right information under the right research in are pairs. 

This is a primary research since I made a survey.

These's are the results from my survey. The questions was all related to books like what genres, where they buy and how they read them. It's all related to my FMP since my is books so I needed to know what people read and how, so that I know whether to do a paper back or an ebook.

Bookcover drawing

This is my drawing of the cover I want my book to have. As you can see it will be set in a wooded area with someone wearing a black cloak. On the tree there is a carving of a pentagram covered in blood, obviously I'm wouldn't be aloud to actually carve anything into the tree so it'll be ever photoshop or crafted. 

My reason for this cover is because it has a purpose in the story, It's the source to a mystery.

I've got an area in minds, the only thing is I don't have a cloak, so I might need to either borrow one o buy one.

FMP 21st century, Public Opinion, Retro Future, Time

For the FMP I want to base it on 21st Century. It'll be publishing and I'll be writing a story (book)
Making it 21st Century I'll be writing thing stuff that we have in the 21st Century. It's based on paranormal. So far it has 18 chapter it could change, but that's how many chapters I have.

Update on chapters
I've finished writing my story and it's now gone down to 15 chapters. Also From what I've written I would say that I also have a bit of Time cause in the story it does look important in the story so it's both 21st century and time.

FMP

For the FMP I would like to use moving images because I find it easier and it's more fun. But I would consider writing because it's something that i'm really interested in.

Reflection on Units 1-7

Unit's 1, 2, & 3-Media Passport brief-This unit was Leanne, Ed. it was the first unit we did in media. L-was designing a postcard, with 4 picture of bath in the corners. Ed lesson was making a short film using the 180 rule we learnt and locations.

Leanna-I think that choosing the bath abbey was a good idea, i think using the side of it is better instead on the front which most people usually would choose. I think the sky could have been better Changing the colour of the sky and cloud didn't go as planed.

Ed-I think filming Aaron and Ben went well, it was fun filming it. I think choosing a film line that they knew would have been better then making it up. I think that with the bench film with the coffee cup and water bottle I think that it went well because everyone recorded a clip and that edited it was easy to do.  I think that adding music in the background would have made it a lot more better then it being silent.

Steve-The colour wheel went well, i did have a bit difficulty's with it, but then it turned out well. I think I should have chosen a different colour wheel cause most of the colour's I took pictures of didn't go well with it. I think with the type, that went well, it was a bit of  both hard and easy to do. Infographic I think could have gone better if I had the right data.


Unit 4-Christmas Card & Comic Book- This unit was Leanne lesson. This one involved designing a christmas card, starting in November till December. Creating the card we used websites like Pinterest to get idea's for our cards, looking at card prices in shops (cause we were gonna sell them but because of how long it took us to make them that we didn't sell them at the end)

I think using my free time and looking up on the internet to find things to help design things that I didn't know how for my card went well cause I found how to make northern lights and how to make a sea, I would say that went well. What could have been improved on was creating the snow on the sea that could have gone better, could have done a bit more research on how to create snow on water.

We also had to create a comic book. My main character was a spider, a scorpion and a butterfly. We had to create a page on Pinterest with all the comic book ideas from the pictures we found on Pinterest. We also got to use a drawing tablet which gave us the option to use that or sketch and scan on to the computer.

I think that coming up with story went well. It's a paranormal comic so with including the characters, I had to work with I think it went well. I didn't finished my comic completely (Still need to add the other two characters to it) because everyone else had started a week before when I was in Rome and so we had that day to finish it. So I think that could have been better if I got the last two characters drawn on.

Unit's 5 & 6-Caller Unknown This unit was Tobie's and Leanne lesson. It involved writing and producing a short film. The two main things that needed to be included in this film was an unknown caller and a letter. In Leanne we made a moon board including everything we needed for the short film.

What gone well was recording the scene's, I think that cause I had written them down in order, that I think helped it a lot. What could have been improve is that I should have looked back at the clips I had recorded before starting the next clip. Also I think having a second director would have been helpful.

Unit 7-Interactive-This unit was Steve's lesson. Steve's was the popcorn. we had to use flash to create a slide show with how popcorn is made using a steam engine train. We also designed a toy poster as well as a trailer, advertising the toy.

I think for the popcorn the drawing and placing the picture on the pages went well. What could have been improved was the sound affect I didn't really add any so that is something that I could have improve on.

For the toy it would be the house. Because I wasn't sure on how to re draw the house I coped and paste it on the poster and doing that meant I couldn't change the colouring of the house so I would have to change the colouring on the poster then place it on the flash drive in the same place for each one, That took up a bit of time so next time would try and re-draw it on flash and try and save time. 

Cartoon in order