Illustration and & Visual Narrative final project

 Illustration and & Visual Narrative

Siam Siew Yong 0358399

Bachelor of Design in Creative Media | Taylor’s Design School | Taylor’s University

INSTRUCTION

Final Project: Comic cover and Animated One Page intro

Objective: You are to select a story from the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe and you are to create:

1. Comic Cover Page

2. Animated One Page Intro

Animated scope:

1. Parallax (to create depth)

2. Secondary Action

3. Animated Background

Edgar Allan Poe link: https://poestories.com/stories.php

The story I chose for this project is 'The Black Cat'- by Edgar Allan Poe (published 1845)

Quick summary for the story

The narrator of "The Black Cat" begins by expressing his love for animals and his happy marriage. He and his wife own many pets, including a large, intelligent black cat named Pluto. However, as he becomes increasingly consumed by alcohol, his kind nature changes. He grows irritable and abusive towards his wife and pets but refrains from harming Pluto until one night when he comes home drunk.

In a fit of rage, he gouges out one of Pluto's eyes. Although filled with guilt and remorse, he does not stop his descent into madness. Eventually, driven by a spirit of perverseness, he hangs Pluto from a tree, killing him. That same night, his house catches fire, leaving only one wall standing with the eerie image of a cat with a noose around its neck.

Haunted by guilt, the narrator finds another black cat resembling Pluto, except for a white patch on its chest. This new cat constantly reminds him of his guilt and seems to possess a sinister nature. The white patch slowly begins to take on the shape of a gallows, deepening his paranoia.

As his relationship with the new cat worsens, the narrator's sanity unravels further. One day, in a fit of rage, he tries to kill the cat with an axe. His wife intervenes, and in his fury, he murders her instead. He conceals her body behind a brick wall in the cellar, feeling confident in hiding the crime.

When the police investigate, the narrator remains calm and even taps on the wall where his wife is hidden, boasting about the house's solid construction. To his horror, a loud, wailing cry emerges from behind the wall. The police tear it down, revealing his wife's body and the black cat, accidentally sealed inside with her.

In this project, I will illustrate the scenes 

1. narrator injuring and killing his pet Pluto-the black cat and his wife due to excessive alcohol abuse

2. police tear wall down revealing his wife's body and the black cat sealed inside.

And the comic cover will be a black cat in the middle

Initial Sketches

Fig 1.1 sketches one page intro

Fig 1.2 sketches of comic cover

After I sketched these, I started to digitize them, and I have searched some mood board on Pinterest

Mood Board

Fig 2.1 mood board of cover

And I decide to make the comic page in horizontal style

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Fig 2.2 example of comic page

Comic cover

I digitized my comic cover on Adobe Illustrator

Fig 3.1 Breakdown of composition

I make the black cat and the man to stand in the center, with the black cat behind the man, symbolizing the shadow it casts over the man’s mind. The moon can add a layer of horror and suspense to the scene.

Final comic cover

Fig 3.2 final comic cover

Animated One Page Intro

I create my comic page by using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop was used to make animation scene

Comic Page intro without animation (Adobe Illustrator)

Fig  4.1 comic page 

Fig  4.2 breakdown of layer and process

I also added light animations to make the scene more dynamic.

Animation comic page intro (Adobe Photoshop)

I export all the frame in png and used Photoshop to make animation comic page

Fig  5.1 animation frame

Fig  5.2 final animation comic page