Other Pages of the Narrative

Here are the rest of the pages I will include in my narrative which will carry on from the end of the opening animation.

At this point is where the animation of Lily appearing in Hugo's room will go.

This was the original image I had for the part where Hugo goes through the tunnel into the other world but it didn't really feel like it read very well as an image. So i changed the focal point which is the exit of the tunnel to be in the top right hand corner. This way the eye is led to the important piece of the image. Plus as it is a picture book effectively the reader will read the image from left to right so if the exit of the tunnel is in the top right it feels more like you are being lead through the tunnel to the next page.

It works a lot better this way, to add to the continuity of the images and to make it clear that Hugo is going through the tunnel I added a part of his scarf so it is more clear that the viewer is seeing things from his point of view and has something to tie the images together.

This will be the first interactive scene (other than clicking to go to the next page) as the reader will have to "Find the object that Hugo recognises." Upon clicking the sword the next image will be triggered. This is in order to engage the audience and help the child to feel like they are part of the story and are making discoveries for themselves rather than just being told that the sword is important. I think this is something I have learned from game studies that if the audience discovers something or solves a problem for themselves they feel a sense of accomplishment. Whereas if you were just told the same information it would not elicit the same feeling.

This image shows Hugo remembering a positive memory he had about playing with his sister which was triggered by finding the sword. I had to get across in the narrative that Hugo needed to remember the happy times he spent with his sister, so finding objects which made him remember good times was my way of working this into the story.

This page was really just to clarify what happened in the last page. As it is an important part of the story I wanted it to be clarified just incase a child didn't quite understand that the last page was Hugo remembering something. I also thought it could be a point in the story that would maybe allow for discussion between adult and child. The main goal of the narrative is to help a child to understand death and to begin dealing with possibly difficult emotions. My research throughout the year has shown that many people feel this is a difficult subject to approach with a child so stories like mine can be useful as a way of starting a dialogue about a difficult subject to approach normally. I am also aiming my narrative to be read by an adult and child together because of the amount of language, considering my age range, as well as the topic. I think most stories aimed at 5-8 years are meant to be read by a child together with an adult at least until perhaps they have read it a few times and are familiar with the language.

This will be the second interactive page. Hugo will find the panda bear toy belonging to his sister that I showed during the opening animation. Finding this will allow Lily to appear to Hugo again.

                                     

This page is the start of the really crucial part of the story. Hugo has to 'defeat' the part of himself which has been being negative. But I wanted to make it clear why. This part was probably the hardest part to decide how to portray because I had to make sure it was very clear. When dealing with such a sensitive subject, aimed at young children I had to make sure I wasn't giving the wrong impression or being confusing.

Here is Hugo's 'negative' self explaining how he has been feeing. This is what I showed at the beginning of the narrative in the animation. Hugo was upset because he felt like everyone would forget his sister and he was sad and angry because he missed her.

Lily then tells him that he doesn't have to feel like that, if he looked at it in a more positive way he could get the strength to move on with his life and know that Lily won't be forgotten.

This is a page I actually decided to put in after I had done most of the following images. I felt like it needed a visual signal to show that Hugo was remembering all the positive memories of his sister.

The dark part of Hugo then fades and disappears showing that Hugo has overcome his negativity.

This is the point at which the crucial conversation happens between Lily and Hugo. Lily will tell Hugo that they don't really have to say goodbye because as long as he remembers her in a positive way she will always be with him. This is to reinforce the message that although you will be sad about losing someone, being too sad and angry about it will only hurt yourself in the end. It's much more healthy if you can think of that person in a happy way.

As this is the most important part of the narrative I decided after doing this page that it was a bit cluttered and that this might cause the 'moral' of the story to be a bit lost. So I split up the conversation onto two pages to emphasise the important point.

It definitely worked better being split up and it feels a lot better paced this way. I'm happy with the way the ending has turned out and I think it's suitably clear and emphasised.

Hugo returns home to find Lily back in the pictures and this signifies that Hugo has learned a lesson and has grown emotionally from the experiences he had on his 'journey'