Now that I have completed the inside pages of Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin it is time to produce the front and back covers. Previously in this project I developed ideas for the front covers that were responding to and in keeping with my original storyboards. At this point, I had not developed my way of working; using hands and feet in close-up to drive the narrative (gesture and expression) to further the story. However, I was still somewhat aware of the integral images of the storytelling.
Right: This is a reminder of my original front covers and a clear example of how much my work has improved and developed since the early stages of production. Not only have I evidently mastered the media to greater effect but the image below are far more hard hitting and effective in clearly communicating the genre, feel, content and atmosphere of the stories I am telling. After learning that the most efficient way of telling my stories was through the careful use of camera-angle related compositions and a combination of gesture and expression (hands and feet) I built a visual language that was inherently my own and could be attributed to any similar projects I undertake in future.
For Rumpelstiltskin I felt that the most important image was his feet at the wheel. The scales on the boots implies that he is not quite human and the straw in the background is an image associated with the story. This alongside the title is a simple, effective image, the colour choice contrasting brilliantly against the stark black background. The pink of the spinning wheel is a little less impressive, however, the shoes are the most important feature and the pink allows the shoes to stand out amongst the other elements, making the figure the integral part. The background was created as 'cause and effect' image and a direct link to the story (she always falls asleep in the spindles as he spins well into the early hours). The figure also adds that adult appeal, that may not be recognized from the front cover.
Font and Compilation: (applies to both comics)
For both comic's I chose Georgia Font. I chose this because after a small amount of experimentation on Photoshop I realised that simple and clean was the most effective font choice. With the white writing, something clean-cut was needed so it showed up neatly against the background. I was aware before creating the images that the drawing must take up no more than half a page; the title being important, needing to be big enough to create a balanced image.
End-papers: These were isolated elements of the comic books; items that were significant. In beauty and the beast the rose is integral, it is the catalyst for the story and also an icon of the Disney movie (inter-textual reference) and all previous renditions. In Rum. he created the spindles of gold (in reality the straw would have fallen from the spindles, but I liked the image of the spindles and used artistic licence, even if not historically correct).
The front cover below has not changed a great deal from the original drawing (pre-Christmas). The fact that the beast is hidden behind her is important, you get the feeling that he is hiding behind her when in fact, he is in control. It was also important to communicate the intimacy of the story and make it evident that this is Beauty and the Beast 'a love story' and from the front cover alone you can see it is not for children. The hands are, once again, important in 'suggesting' a narrative, the back cover also implies the twist to the story, so the audience is aware from the get go that this is no Disney movie. If I had more time, I would have spent further hours on making the back covers more professional (perhaps a blurb) but in my musings I could not think of anything appropriate and as this is a wordless narrative, it seemed silly to try and incorporate words at this stage of the game.
