Starting points for BA7

Starting points

I want to create a visual narrative for my end product of BA8 so I want to spend BA7 designing and researching so that when it comes to BA8 I can focus on production. I have chosen to focus on producing a narrative aimed at children.  I’m interested in the differences in narrative aimed at an adult audience and those aimed at children and I’m thinking of choosing something along these lines for my research report in order to tie it in my studio work.

In terms of actual narrative I have chosen to produce a story with emotional depth and one that possibly has a moral behind it. I will look at stories like Aesop’s Fables as inspiration. I would like to choose a subject which children have to deal with in their lives but that adults sometimes have difficulty explaining to them, for example divorce or bereavement.  I want to choose this kind of subject as I think it will give the narrative real emotional depth and I would like to produce the kind of story that may have a positive lasting impression or help a parent to explain a situation to a child in a different way.

Influences in terms of style as well as content:

Alice in Wonderland:

I have always been inspired by Alice in Wonderland since I was a child and I have always been interested in stories where the protagonist visits another world from the real world. I think it's a really good way to make fantasy accessible, like worlds like those could exist with doorways from the real one.

Cucumber Quest:

This is a webcomic made by Gigi D.G. It follows the adventures of Cucumber and his other bunny friends. I love the art style and I feel it is similar to the kind of style I have. I also love the humour and pop culture references found in this. The art style is very simple but so effective. I love her use of colour and texture, it almost looks like crayon which adds to the storybook/fairy tale feel of the comic. I think texture is something I need to consider when coming up with a colouring style.

I love this last image, the style is so simple but the idea is being communicated so well and the use of colour is really appealing. I think the important thing when creating visual narrative for children is that the visual language must be very simple and very effective in quickly making your message clear which is something I will need to consider.

Octonauts:

These images are from a series of books called Octonauts. I love the simple style of the art work and how easily and clearly it conveys the narrative.

Adventure Time with Finn and Jake

I really love the humor and art style found in Adventure Time. It's a really big inspiration to me in terms of the way it honestly tells stories to children. I think that being honest and upfront with children is very admirable and something which isn't often found in a TV show. 

The character designs are all really well thought out and the definitive art style really helps create a cohesive world. The personalities of the characters are all very humorous and believable and I think this helps the viewer to invest in the world as a whole.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/sep/07/adventure-time-weirdest-show-ever