LO3 evaluation

This past month we were given the task to produce a graphic narrative in a comic strip
for our unit. The 3 styles we were allowed to choose were POP ART, Horror, and
superheros. The style I selected in this unit was Pop art, this style of magazine produces
comics/advertisement's involving bright and vibrant colours like the images below. Pop
Art began in the 1950s and became very popular in the 1960s. It started in the United
Kingdom, but became a true art movement in New York City with artists such as Andy
Warhol and Jasper John's Pop. POP ART uses images and icons that are popular in the
modern world. This includes famous celebrities like movie stars and rock stars,
commercial items like soup cans and soft drinks, comic books, and any other items that
are popular in the commercial world. There are a number of ways that artists use these
items to create art such as repeating the item over again, changing the colour or texture
of the item, and putting different items together to make a picture, however artist such
as Roy Lichtenstein produced there own complex images but either cropping down
images to create new story. One of the most famous Lichtenstein pieces was the
drowning girl, this is because he used a certain style of colour to express clearly that his
style of drawing was pop art, when looking at pop art, you will sometimes notice that
some drawings are very different to others, for example some pop art contain loads of
small dots like the blonde females face with bright blonde hair and black font
representing as an outline in her hair and background below, which create a photo
overall. In my graphic narrative, I used the style by taking photos producing a story and
adding a texture effect, with different colours so I reach the pop art requirement needed
for this unit.
I felt out of the 3 styles, pop art caught my eye in creating a comic strip using the style of
it. This is because i like the style of bright vibrant colours and the dotted pictures,

instead of using standard bold pictures with text. I also felt that it
would fit perfectly in my idea. My idea is about a guy called Sam who is confronted by a
bully who beats him up and takes his skateboard, Sam then calls his friend Liam who
confronts the bully, beats him up because he would give his skateboard back and takes it
back to Sam. There are 2 fights scene in my narrative so I felt I could use some of the pop
art words such as Bam, Pow and smack, which feature, in my narrative. The bright
colours in my narrative also fit perfectly in expressing their emotion. I dont believe that
the story perfectly as a pop art theme, however I used the narrative technique known as
the todorovs theory, which pop mainly use in their comics. This theory states that there
are always 3 parts that are structured in a narrative that begin with equilibrium. This
means when the storyline is positive. , For example the narrative start off being peaceful,
towards the beginning middle there is a problem occurred, and towards the end the
problem is solved.in my graphic narrative, I believe I show the equilibrium style for
example my story starts of with Sam feeling positive that he can go for a skate in the
clear pavement on a sunny day, he then gets mugged for speaking to an arrogant bully
who takes his skateboard, then his hero saves the day by retrieving the board back using

physical force. Here is some strips of my comic that clearly show that I use the todorov
theory and the equilibrium style.

The begginning

Middle

END.

I feel that my plot in my graphic narrative is effective because it progressive from the
bully getting a taste of his own medicine when he decides to steal the skateboard off
Sam, but gets beating up for it I believe the most dramatic part in my narrative is the
fight scene at the end when the people reading are confused in who is going to win the
fight. In my graphic narrative, I using colour balance on Photoshop changing the texture
and the quality of the comic strip, this is because I wanted to create more of an emotion
in some parts of my comic and I wanted to match the pop art theme when putting the
strips together. For example I used the colour red in Liams strips to represent anger
building, towards the second to last photo. I made the sure the picture was a bloody red
to represent the scene and anger that Liam was feeling.
In my pre production work for this unit, I researched the style by looking at other pop
art comics. This Is because I wanted to get a really good idea in how pop art set there
narrative outs. I found that most pop art comics are set out in a square shape form with
black text and speech bubbles, from my research I made sure that my graphic narrative
matched the layout of the typical pop art comic. The only difference I changed was
taking photos with a camera. This is because I dont have the skill to draw pop art
comics, however I edited each photo and tried to make my comic contain square boxes

with speech bubbles, I also added previous pop art punch lines in some of my scene of
my graphic narrative such as SMACK or POW to show when mike beat up SAM for
example.

In my graphic narrative I also used a pop art logo and a caption to tell the reader that the
day was changing or if the scene changed and where the location was. I did this so I
could keep the reader engaged so they can have a clear understanding in whats going
on, so they dont get confused. It also improves the quality of my comic book as it looks
professional. The speech bubbles I included meant that character in my comic book was
speaking directly to the other character, I also included thinking speech bubbles to show
the readers that they are not speaking out loud but instead, they are thinking about the
situation. For example when Sam decides to call Liam after his skateboard has been
taken, I included thinking speech marks to show the reader that he isnt verbally
speaking out loud, instead he prays for liam to pick up his phone. The scene changes to
Liam sat at his desk studying his A levels, I made sure to the readers that the scene has

changed location clearly by adding a caption. I felt that I could of improved on the font
when the characters are speaking to demonstrate a professional comic strip, however I
filled most of my pages with comic photos so it would be difficult to fit in a black big font
in each photo. in my graphic narrative The Bully from combining images, and speech
bubbles I need to make sure I used simple vocabulary so the readers can clearly
understand what they are trying to say. From my research I also found that most pop art
comic include simple words which makes the comic flow more smoothly, If I used
complex vocabulary the comic would be hard to understand and the overall narrative
wouldnt match the pop art style.

The productions process of editing my images on Photoshop took fairly long. This is
because I was adjusting my colour balance; hue/saturation and contrast to make sure
each photo was perfect. I had get some of my peers to help me out when adjusting each
photo to a pop art scheme but once I got the hang of it, I picked up the skill easily and it
wasnt long until I had finishing editing all of them. Some photos took longer to edit that
others, this is because I had to adjust the brightness and contrast due to sun shining, and
being to dark. The cameras angles I used could have been improved, however I was in a
rush due to cast dropping out and I needed to reach my deadline. Another thing that I
could of improved on was the camera itself, I took these photos on a iPhone 6s which
has great camera quality, however if I used a professional camera I would be able to
adjust the aperture and the pictures outcome would be a better quality than my iPhone.
After I edited the photos I moved on making my comic trailer. I edited my trailer using a
Adobe premier pro, I found this much easier to do because I have done previous work
on it before. My teacher taught me how to zoom in and out on the speech bubbles; I
found this very easy to do so. I didnt use a backing track, however I included sound
effects such as the phone ringing and the punch scenes. I also recorded and spoke out
onto my narrative when the trailer has begun; I did this because I felt there was no
backing track that would relate to my narrative.

Looking at social issues, such as race, religion and law. I dont think that my comic deals
with any of theses issues as I didnt included any swearing or abusive words that people
may find racist. I also know that I have not breached any laws when making my graphic
narrative, this is because I had to look for laws that we might come across in the pre
production work. E.g. research throughout my graphic narrative; I have made
representations of my gender and age. One representation I made was Sam, in my
opinion I feel that some of the audience can relate to being bullied, Sam played humble
positive characters that meant no harm which was picked on for no reason, from my
past experience, I have seen people that have been bullied and I feel that some of the
audience can relate to this situation, being threaten for no reason because the character
Mike, thrives for male dominance and plays an arrogant character, from jealously. I
made sure mike was taller than Sam because the typical bully is either taller or stronger.
I also made sure that mike spoke with a deep cocky accent because the stereo typical
bully tends to be very cocky and up themselves, for example in the last fight scene of my
graphic narrative, Liam asks for the last time to give the skateboard back, Mike laughs
and says a cocky slogan HAHAH.. You make me shiver with fear i wanted to make sure
that Sam and Liam had a link, this is because the audience can relate to there friends
standing up for each other, I also made sure that Liam was the Sam height and age as
mike because the typical person to defend a bullied person is always the same age/older
or taller /same height. From past experience I myself have defended someone by using
physical force so I can really relate to these three characters. I also feel that this graphic
narrative sends a message to the audience to all ages. If your friend asks you for help,
you try your best and help because thats what are friends are for. In my pre productions
work I created a character development, I mention that Mike has a bad relationship with
his parents which is sometimes the reason why kids bully, the background for Liam and
same is wealthy and I mention that both there mums are nurses which why they are
close friends. The use of having different social groups thats represented in my graphic
narrative shows clearly that I have a background profile for these characters. I made
these so the audience can relate to these situations where then may have been bullied in
the past experience, been the bully, or been the protector.

Overall, when comparing my graphic narrative The bully to a professional standard,

such as Andy Warhol I feel that I have achieved and met this standard because you can
see the vibrant colours, the pop art punch lines, and the original slogan. I used bright
colour, such as blue, bright green, reed and pink in my graphic narrative, as well as using
black to outline each speech bubble when the characters are speaking directly. I feel that
I have used the correct language however I feel that there is huge difference in some
way that mine and artist such as Roy Lichtenstein, for example, if the character Sam was
played as a blonde girl it would of fit perfectly, most of Lichtenstein work is very
romantic whereas mine was about bullying. I dont think its met the Lichtenstein
standard because he has taken time to produce these comics by drawing, whereas I took
photos, edited them on Photoshop. If I was to improve on my graphic narrative I would
add more bold texts so my overall comic would look more professional.