Case Study: Part 4, STORYBOARDING YOUR STORY

I am now at a stage where my story is almost complete. I have re written it many times, had a few people read it, had an assessor give me feedback and most importantly had a few readings with some children to make sure my story catches their attention. I am now ready to start visualising the story. A good way to do this is storyboarding.

Storyboarding is a great way to play around with your ideas without committing too much time and effort to the finishing. It allows me to scribble down 3-4 compositions for each page and make sure I am creating the best visual for each part of the story. Another great way to use these storyboards is to turn them into a little dummy book with your words attached. This way you can really get a sense of how everything reads with the page turns and images. You want each page turn to create intrigue and interest; you want your reader to not be able to wait to see what happens with the next turn.

I have created the thumbnails for my story 'Catch that Fly.' See how I have played with movement, perspective, viewpoint and composition to find the most interesting and easy to read way of illustrating each phase of the book. The compositions I liked best are outlined in pink and will be developed to the next stage. It is important to get enough detail down that you can tell where each character is looking and what they are doing but you don’t need to see their faces or any details. These are purely a plan to allow you to tackle each illustration with the best start. Some people prefer to create more detail and start to think about the layout of the type etc; I am more loose and messy with everything at this stage.

This process also allows you to see how your story flows from start to finish. Can the reader follow what’s happening from just the text and these simple sketches? I don't think you need to be an illustrator to have a go at storyboarding as it’s not about how polished the drawings are its more about bringing the story to life. If you are planning on hiring an illustrator then still attempt the storyboarding yourself. This could save you money in the long run as the more information you give the illustrator the faster they will be on your wavelength and producing your desired results.

Case Study: Part 1, IDEA

I have decided to create my own children’s book and publish it online using all the tools and skills I write about in my blog. This is the first article where I will explain my idea and how it came about.

'Catch that Fly' is the name of the story I have written. I grew up on a dairy farm and anyone from a farm will know about the frustration of having a fly inside. My mum would constantly be chasing them around the house trying to either catch them or shoe them out the window. I recently moved home for a while and realised how appropriate this idea was for a children's book.

The idea seemed to work on a comical level, however I need to transform into an interesting meaningful story as well. I drew inspirations from books like 'The Cat in the Hat' where the story revolves around trying to get rid of something. It forms an interesting plot with the ending a celebration because they finally succeed.
 

This seemed to work well for my story. I decided to theme it around a family sitting down to dinner only to discover there is a fly inside. Every member of the family try something different to get rid of the fly then in the end one of them just lets it out the window.

This seemed pretty basic and I felt it needed more layers. I then thought it would be more interesting if as each person tried to catch the fly they broke or ruined part of the dinner. So by the end when the tiny fly finally escapes they are left with a great big mess. This idea that one little fly can cause so much ciaos is quite funny.

I wanted to create a story that was fun to read. As an illustrator I have images in my mind of the scenes as I write them. This story has a lot of action and sets me up to create some very energetic, dynamic illustrations.

I was worried about not having a strong moral within the plot. However I feel that the little fly winning in the end gives the message that the small can win against the big sometimes. I also tied in a line at the end where the family sit down in the mess they have made and still enjoy their dinner. Sending the message that it doesn’t matter if everything is not perfect the dinner still tastes great.