Research: Dreamingmethods, Inside

On the website Dreamingmethods is a piece of work called 'Inside: A Journal of Dreams'. Inside is an online interactive diary. It's a similar idea to my concept. 

When you first enter 'Inside' the cover of a diary appears, when hovering over the cover the words 'open the diary' pop-up. Clicking on the cover causes the diary opens and you can then start reading the contents. The diary entries start on September 13 and on each page there is a short text extract describing what the owner has dreamt about that night. On some pages there are words highlighted in black, when you click on these words videos appear and engulf the whole screen, these links literally take the audience into the dream and the only way you can get out of these videos is if you click a link saying 'wake me up'. I really like the use of video within this piece and I think the visual style is very striking, the use of minimal colour makes the story dark, mysterious and very eerie. The structure of Inside is very linear, you either have the option to go 'next' or 'back', within my story I want the option for the audience to click on any diary entry they like, I want my structure to be non-linear. My piece will also differ to Inside as I want to include more content & and interactive options, within my story I want to include elements such as images and stop-motion animation and not just rely on text and video to tell the story like Inside has.

Research: Graphic Novels

I have done some research into graphic novels as I felt it would be beneficial to look at different visual styles to help influence and develop my own narrative.

The Dementia Diaries: Matthew Snyman

This book by Matthew Synman talks about young people and Dementia. It was wrriten to change peoples' understanding of Dementia and the raise awereness.

The Synposis: "This book follows four young people dealing with dementia in their grandparents, we follow their diaries as they hear of the diagnosis, all the way through to the end. The book looks at dementia from the perspective of a young person, and as such is full of hope and fun and deep understanding."

This graphic novel is set out in a diary format, each page tells you who's diary it is and the time and date. The typography within the book simulates a hand-written style and on each diary entry little hand-written drawings/doodles are displayed. On some pages images and pictures look to be 'stuck' on with sellotape, simulating a real diary. I really like the typography within this graphic novel and want to use a similar style within my own narrative peice.

Father Thames: Robin Price

This book by Robin Price is half book, half graphic novel, it is laid out in normal book format but after every paragraph or so images are displayed to help the audience understand what's going on.

The synopsis: "Rebellious teen Jemima Mallard has done the unthinkable. She’s joined the Youth Police Department. Is she serious, or is she spying for the criminal Father Thames? Fellow YPD officer Nick Mallard isn’t sure. Before he can test her loyalty, the two must go to war. Their city is under attack. From the Thames Barrier Reef to the Sink estates, strange ships have breached the defences. London hasn’t seen anything like these raiders – adults and kids sailing and working together."

I really like the visual style of this book, the illustrations are simple but effective. The drawings are all cartoons and often the same images are used again, just in a different format (zoomed in, mirrored, etc.). I feel that the drawings do add to the story and allow the user to visualise what's going on in the story. Within my narrative story I will be using a few manipulated images as well as text just like this graphic novel.

"The Power of Fire" (Raven's Gate): Anthony Horowitz

The power of fire by Anthony Hororwitz is part of the series Raven's Gate.

The synopsis: "Sent to Yorkshire on a rehabilitation programme, Matt finds himself in the midst of a conspiracy of witchcraft and murder. The Old Ones – monstrous godlike beings once banished from our world – are trying to return. Matt is about to discover that he alone stands between the forces of evil and the annihilation of humanity... Featuring striking, high-contrast black-and-white art, this distinctive graphic novel captures the brooding atmosphere of the bestselling book."

This novel uses pictures and text in speech bubbles to tell the story. The images within this book are very striking and displayed in a very easy-to-read and understand format, within my narrative piece I need to think about the format of my text/images and ensure that the layout is easy for audiences to grasp and follow.

 

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Planning the idea

My narrative piece starts with a stop-motion video of an unknown figure finding a diary under a tree in a field, the piece then zooms into the diary and the user will be able to click through the different pages and discover who the diary belongs to. When the user has finished looking through the diary another stop-motion video will be available to watch, this video is of the unknown character then putting back the diary and walking away. I want the opening and ending sequences to be left to audience interpretation, who is this character? is she just a spectator reading the diary or is there more to it?

Diary
Inside the diary will be 13 explorable pages, these pages will make-up a month of Joy's life. Each page will include some type of interactive content and a short text extract.

Diary Page Content
3rd March 2014
Silhouetted image of a tree (characters favourite location), black and white outline of birds. Lyrics of a poem which will the user will be able to click back and forward. Sound of birds.

5th March 2014
Photograph of Joy. In the background when hovered over the word 'safe' will display.
Text: *Hi Diary, I'm Joy. You are my safe place*

8th March 2014
Image of a canvas & paint brushes. I will also make a paintbrush follow the users mouse.
Text: *Today I spent all day drawing*

9th March 2014
This page is where people in Joy's life are introduced. On this page will be her best-friend and two girls who bully her. When the user scrolls over the photographs of the girls they will be able to read some background about who they are.

12th March 2014
Image of a computer, when clicked a link will externally take the user to a bullying website. Also on this page will be a short animation of Joy and the words 'alone' 'scared' and 'upset'.
Text: *Mum doesn't understand, she thinks I'm overreacting* Implying that Joy feels all alone and has no support in her life.

18th March 2014
Text: *Sorry diary. I haven't written in so long. Last week was hard.*
Animations & sound of storm.

20th March 2014
Text: *This is my favourite place in the world, away from all the danger*
Landscape photo of field/tree. Images of clouds / butterflies which the user can click and move around on the page.

21st March 2014
Text: *I wish Louise was still my best friend*
Slide show images of Joy & Louise when they were friends. Image of a forget-me-not flower for symbolism.

22nd March 2014
Text: *I don't know how much more of this I can take*
Image of Joy looking sad underneath three birds, when clicked these birds disappear and the text/image is displayed.

23rd March 2014
Text: *Today I saw the most beautiful butterfly*
Animation of butterfly flying on screen. Sound of butterfly flittering.

25th March 2014
Text: *I think its telling me not to give up*
Butterfly follows users path, animation of rain.

28th March 2014
Text: *I think its telling me not to give up*
Image of tree / landscape again, but instead of scary birds its butterflies. Silthoutte of Joy looking happier. Butterfly still follows users path.

29th March 2014
Text: *I'm trying not to lose hope, you never know what tomorrow will bring*
Animation of rainbow, the only colour the user will see in the story. Symbolising hope.

Character Profile

Joy Victoria Johnson

Nickname: JJ
Age: 15
Birthday: 20th June
Location: Derngate, Northamptonshire
Favourite Place: A quiet park/grass area near her house, she writes her diary here under a huge tree.
Personality: Quite shy, keeps a lot of things bottled up, uses her diary as a form of escapism
Appearance: Long light brown hair which she normally straightens everyday, Glasses (short sighted), Pale, Dark brown eyes, 5'4, Average weight
Hobbies: Enjoys reading, listening to pop music, she also used to be on the Hockey team but left because of the bullying from the other girls and she is very good at drawing. She likes to draw landscape pictures the most, she draws in coloured pencils
Diary: She uses her diary as a form of story-telling. Its a thick grey book which has a hard cover with her initials in silver in the bottom right. She keeps it under her bed and writes in it here and there, mostly when she's had a tough day. Nobody knows about her diary, she keeps it a secret
Ambitions: When she leaves school she wants to become an artist
Habits: She chews her hair when she's nervous
Favourite book: The Hunger Games, she aspires to be like the lead character, strong and unafraid
Favourite Music Artist: Katy Perry, her favourite song is Roar. She likes Katy Perry as she thinks she's beautiful and wants to look like her
Favourite Colour: Light Blue, reminds her of the sky/freedom
Favourite Food: Pizza
Favourite Time of Day: Early morning, sunrise
Favourite Memory: Her family holiday to Devon, just before her parents split up
Three things she would take to a desert island: Her diary, A never-ending pen and coloured pencils
Parents: Rachel Johnson (Mother, 43, works as a Nurse), Mark Johnson (Father, 46, works as a business manager). They have been divorced for five years, they split up because they just fell out of love. JJ was hurt about the separation and still is effected by it as she never sees her dad anymore
Siblings: One older brother named Connor, 19 who studies sport science at Bath university
Relationship with family: She cares about her mother a lot but never shows affection towards her. She never see's her father and isn't close with her brother who moved away to university as she barely sees him anymore either
Pets: One black & white cat named Fleur
Best Friend: Louise Chapman, also 15, met at school. Lousie Chapman has naturally blonde hair and green eyes. JJ has always been jealous of her appearance and wishes she looked more like Louise.
Room: Her room at home is painted her favourite colour, with white furniture and minimal belongings Her favourite part of her room is her easel which faces the window
School: Public School, Abbeyfield Grove, Northamptonshire
School Life: Joy suffered minor bullying for her looks when she was younger, the bullying got more intense when she fell out with her best friend Louise, who joined in with the bullies
Bullies: Carla Philips & Chelsea Knowler. They spread rumours about Joy & laugh at her 'geeky' appearance. All the bullies share a similar appearance, they all have dyed blonde hair and blue eyes, they wear lots of make-up
Favourite Subject: Art
Worst Subject: Maths
Things she wish she could say if she had the guts: She wishes she could stand up to the bullies
If she had three wishes they would be: For her parents to get back together, for the bullying to stop and for a better relationship with her brother

Character Moodboard

Project Description

My project idea is to create an interactive narrative piece that focuses on telling the story of a troubled teenaged girl. The way I want to tell my story is in the form of day-by-day interactive diary, the user will be able to look through and explore this diary by clicking, swiping and scrolling through various interactive options. The piece itself will contain video, images, sounds and text that will all help to tell the story of Joy Johnson.