Alex Walker

Graphic Narrative Evaluation

Does your final product reflect your original intentions?
Compared to my original plans and storyboards, my end product didnt turn out the way I
planned it to. This is because of a number of elements, the main one being that I changed
the main character from a fairy to a unicorn.
I did this for multiple reasons, for example, the horse/donkey works better moving it to
different positions and looks better as a character, than the fairy that I had before that
didnt even look like a traditional fairy, which was what initially drew me to doing a fairy as a
main character, but it just didnt work because it didnt look right when flipped or put in
different places. It also didnt work to have an untraditional fairy because I made him look
like a chubby animated child rather than a normal person- like Simon looks like, it just made
him stand out in a bad way. The horse/donkey looks more realistic but still animated- like
Simon, and this fits in better with the rest of my story and the background and all of the
other extra things that have this kind of aesthetic of being realistic but still animated.
I also changed the simplistic background of just sky and grass that I originally planned to
use, to a more complex background to show Bernards movement through the park and also
to give the reader something different to look at rather than it just being the same image
repeated over and over, this made the whole book more interesting to look at.
I also had eight pages planned and ended up with seven. This is because I did the speech
elements of my story over two pages in a kind of comic book style. I did this rather than
putting all the speech onto one page and then using one illustration because it made the
text easier to read and I could also show different expressions from Bernard and this made it
more interesting for the reader to look at and also see the pictures of how he should
actually be feeling.

How well have you constructed your images?

I think I constructed my images quite well, I was well ahead of my schedule and therefore
had plenty of time to go back through the book and add more and more extra items to the
background, like flowers, trees, a pond and a path. This made the background more complex
from how it originally started.
I also had enough time to go back to the beginning and add another page because I had six
pages but added a seventh to show how sad he was for not having a horn when all of the
other unicorns had one. I did this because I originally had the first page text and second
page text on the same page and this created a contradiction. I solved this contradiction by
separating the texts onto different pages.

How well have you used text to anchor your images?

I think that I used the text well to anchor my images. My images and text complement each
other to show whats happening in the story. Also, the images make the text easier to

Alex Walker
understand for children as they probably arent reading it on their own and will want to
follow the story at time someone is reading it to them.

Is your product suitable for your audience?

My product is suitable for my audience which is 5-7 year olds. I chose this age group as the
images are just there to help with the reading of the text because at this age children are
just starting to become independent readers, however the book is suitable for younger
children to have it read to them.
I used the book Maisie's first sleepover as a bases for my book along with A squash and a
squeeze and Hairy mclary from Donaldson's dairy. Maisie's book gave me the dimensions
and the layout that I used for my book , however all three of these books were laid out in a
similar way with the picture covering the whole page and the text over the top, this makes
the book more interesting to look at as there is always something to look at on each page.
I also said that my book would be a unisex book, when Bernard was originally a fairy, I made
him male to avoid gender stereotyping of fairies always being female, I also made the story
different to regular fairy stories that I researched in the way that Bernard wasnt good
looking and didnt have a wand and the person he was helping wasnt the conventional type
of person you would expect to need help. I changed Bernard from fairy and into a unicorn
because it made it easier for me to move a horse figure rather than a cartoon figure.
I still feel that the book is a unisex book as the horse isnt all pink and girly and the storyline
is still the same.

What do you like/dislike about the techniques you have used?

I like the rotoscoping that I used with all of my characters as it gave them the outline of a
realistic horse or donkey or person. I then used colour overlays to give each character a
block colour which I then worked on top of by either giving characters definition by shading
and turning the opacity up or down, this can be shown on Simon on his face.

I didnt like how long it took to get the exact shape you wanted, however it was useful to be
able to correct the parts that went wrong rather than having to start the whole shape again.
I also like how my background is the same throughout however it looks different in each
slide due to the extra items added each page to make it look like the characters are moving
through the park.

Alex Walker
I used an effect over the original photo so it still looks realistic but animated at the same
time.

What do you like/dislike about how your final product looks?

I am really pleased with the way my book has turned out. Because it is my own story, there
arent any other editions of it that I could see how other people have done the story in the
past, unlike doing a fairy-tale which will have been done before so therefore has images that
can be used as inspiration.
I dont like that I couldnt use the original fairy that I wanted to. This isnt to say that I am
not pleased with my unicorn as it looks a lot better than the fairy, however when I wrote the
book, I intended Bernard to be a fairy.
I also dont like that I couldnt use the font I wanted, it was very similar to the Maisie font,
however not the same as the author has a copyright on it, but it just didnt work with the
rest of the book because the images are realistic but animated and the Maisie books are
completely animated, so the font works in those books but not in mine. I do like the font I
have got now because it is basic and fits in with the book.

What signs, symbols or codes have your used in your work?

There are a few messages in the story that are important to children, like it doesnt matter
how you look, this is shown throughout the book and the ending is just a bonus that he gets
to look better than the other unicorns. Another message is that good things will come to
those who wait, Bernard didnt rush to get his horn like the other unicorns, therefore he was
rewarded.
A kind of sign is using a donkey as the minor character that isnt as good as the
horse/unicorn, this is also shown in stories like Shrek, donkeys are shown to be quite stupid
and ugly in comparison to a horse.
Also, the fact that my unicorn is black rather than the traditional pastel colours and girly
kind of colours, this is also a kind of symbol as black can be considered to be a dominant
colour. This is done purposefully due to the other unicorns at the start being pastel colours
and also still looking like donkeys.
The lightening used on the last two pages is used purposefully due to the connotations that
the pathetic fallacy of lightening show. For example, lightening can mean change is
happening, which is apparent in my book. It can also be seen as a negative thing, showing
evil and it has been known to kill people in fairytales.

What representations can be found in your work?

I chose to use a mythical creature as my main character because then there are no
stereotypes or any misrepresentations of unicorns.
I did all of my unicorns in completely different colours, this was to show that there is no bias
towards one colour as the book aims to be multicultural and appeal to everyone.

Alex Walker
By using Simon Cowell as my other character and making Bernard not know who he is, this
was done in the first part for humour as most people are aware of who he is, however if you
dont know who he is, the story still works on another level.

What style have you employed in your products?

I like to think that it is a mixture of my own style with influences from Axel Scheffler, who
illustrated The Gruffalo and A Squash and A Squeeze, they both have quite similar
backgrounds throughout the books.
My own style would be putting completely random things in a normal setting, like a park. I
have unicorns just walking around and Simon Cowell just walking around in the same place,
like its a normal thing to happen.
Also, by making the whole book look real but animated, this was my own style however I was
influenced by the book Elephant Joe, Brave Knight, although the book is animated, there are
still little images of real items in there.

What were the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-production and

planning?
All of the planning that I did for when Bernard was a fairy all went well, I finished with more
than enough time to change my main character and add pieces of scenery and more effects to
make the book more interesting to look at and more advanced.

Alex Walker

A weakness for me was having to change my main character. I didnt take into consideration
that I would need to move my the fairy around and therefore didnt try moving him around in
the planning stage to see if it would work, thankfully I left myself enough time to fix this.

Historical and cultural context

Because my story is an original story, it is harder to find other books that are similar. However,
some fairytales are similar, for example the Ugly Duckling because that is a similar storyline as
the main character turns into something more beautiful than the other characters that were
bullying them.
It is also different to most fairytales in the way it has gain for both of the main characters rather
than just a journey for one character to gain something for them. Both Bernard and Simon get
what they were looking for on their separate journeys and there arent really any people trying
to stop them or make their journey more difficult, like there are in stories like the Little
Mermaid or any other fairytale as my story is fairly basic in comparison.
In terms of cultural context, the use of Simon Cowell as a character is quite a different approach
for fairytale stories due to the fact that most fairytales were written hundreds of years ago so
therefore dont have celebrities in the story.