‘You’re too old for Fairy-Tales’
Constantly creating imagery and using my blog to highlight my development and progress will not only help me to communicate my ideas to my peers but it will also ensure that I have evidenced said progress. The blog should be coherent so that the progression is clear and in tutorials I can refer to it, using the time to ask relevant questions that will inform and advance my final major project.
I have always been fascinated by Fairy-Tales because they are such a simple source of escapism. This idea is so ingrained into my creative process and continual research that Fairy-Tale themes and content find their way, almost organically into my work. I am no longer under the impression that Fairy-Tales are something I will outgrow. On the contrary, further exploration last year during my Authorship project has cemented my belief that Fairy-Tales can grow with you! Getting older simply means that you draw different things from them and there comes a point when they take on whole new meanings and you are old enough to read them, learn from them and love them all over again.
This is the theory on which I will base my final major project. I am passionate that Fairy-Tales should not be discarded as ‘stories for children.’ Fairy-Tales were terrifying in their early forms, often religious in theme, written to teach moral values by instilling a ‘cause and effect’ morality. The seven deadly sins and Ten Commandments feature heavily; often through guises. However, as time has progressed, such convictions have become outdated and are no longer relatable. Disney re-branded Fairy-Tales for children, it stripped the stories of their blood-lust, of sex and violence and created the ‘happily ever after.’ The result is, often a nice story but we, as a viewer learn no harsh lessons because the cause and effect elements are condensed.
I believe the Fairy-Tale of old and new can live in tandem; the original themes molded together with modern equivalents for a modern audience. Specifically, I intend to, through imagery, style and content, highlight the sinister and adult undertones of these stories and still retain the ‘happily ever after.’ Through research and development I will draw out whole new meanings from the tales to reincarnate them for an adult audience. I will not limit the outcome and brand it inappropriate for children, so all adult themes should be subtly communicated so they are noticed by an older audience but overlooked by a child. I will achieve this by using subtly suggestive imagery like that of Arthur Rackham, David Gough and Edmund Dulac; whose work often depicts violence, nudity, and danger and yet all are considered ‘Fairy-Tale’ illustrators.
I will present my work as a graphic novel because I believe the most effective way to target an adult, modern audience, is to present it in a modern format. Graphic novels are very popular and there is a market for them with various Publisher’s; whether I aim as high as Marvel, or look into smaller publishers who specialise in wide age-range comic such as ‘Vertigo' or 'Cinebook.' The novel will be A4 sized (easily transportable), consisting of three stories ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ and the ‘Wild Swans.’ I have chosen these stories because I think they have the most sinister undertones as well as some modern ideals and relatable issues. Each story will be told from multiple view-points, so despite the reigning heroines, there will be someone for everyone to empathise with. Each story will be no more than seven double page spreads; typically ‘bed-time story’ sized. In my favourite graphic novel ‘Once Upon a Time’ the back pages consist of development work, character sketches and concept art, something I wish to emulate in my book because it adds another level of interest. The three sections will be accentuated by a title page that clearly sums up the feel of the story but are more simplistic than the front cover, which will be more detailed than the inner storyboards (in the way of ‘Wonderland’ and ‘Fables’). Graphic markers (Copic, Promarker) and black Indian ink will be used for the final images because it creates a harsh, contacting effect. This will suit the outcome and style needed to appeal to a client.
I will ensure that my final outcome is produced to a professional standard by researching different graphic novel production techniques and applying them to my storyboards and concept art. Research, development and experimentation with media and process will not only ensure that my work is fully informed and executed professionally, it will also extend my practical skills. I should have dexterity for many new techniques; computer program's, graphic media’s, book- making, and camera angles (composition values) by the completion of this process. At the end of each stage and learning curve, I will document in writing what I have learnt, updating the blog so I can reflect upon my failures and findings so as to move the project forward unhindered.
My major source of inspiration is film and film-makers; specifically Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Not only can I learn a lot from camera angles and the composition of film and story-telling but Kitsis and Horowitz' share my motives; their work has influenced and shape my style. They understand that the brilliance of Fairy Tales stems from the ability to balance fantasy and reality to create something empathetic and commercial. In their television series' ‘Once Upon a Time’ and ‘Lost,’ they blur the lines of the real and surreal and give Fairy Tale characters relatable flaws, something I will emulate. In addition, I have been influenced by the intense, expressive fine-artist David Gough’s fantasy paintings, using dark contrasting tones and expressive compositions. I will analyse appropriate work critically, taking apart and analysing the useful elements.
I have been doing lots of observational drawing, looking into scenery and background, visiting castles, manor houses, and villas. The illustrative ‘world’ I place these stories in will be a mixture of the archaic and the current. The ‘archaic’ should be historically accurate; relevant research into the appropriate costume, decor and setting to suit mood and narrative requirements. I can find this in old costume movies, theater and museums. The right amount of real and surreal will be achieved with a figurative ‘reality’ and a scheme for set and costume that is developed but 'unspecific.'
Objectives:
New Objectives: Post Christmas
Objectives:
- A graphic Novel fitting the title 'You're Too Young For Fairy Tales' aimed at adults (teen plus) and using appropriate imagery to suggest the sinister and mature undertones of Fairy tales
- 3 or more stories incorporated in the Graphic Novel, of 12 pages (6 spreads or more) must be an odd number of stories.
- 48 pages or more make a Graphic Novel, mine will have 48, including front and back cover, content and endpapers.
- Physical printed outcome, eye-catching front and back covers that realistically depict the imagery found inside (nothing misleading). Self-published, copies small enough to be sent in the post.
- Wordless narratives, images that tell stories through gesture, place and expression as opposed to words.
I have changed a few aspects of my original objectives. My personal objectives remain the same, however, some elements of the final outcomes will differ.
- The outcome will no longer be the full graphic novel, as 50+ pages, draw inked, coloured and Photoshop will simply not be complete for the deadline and I specially want a finished piece that is Industry ready.
- The two stories that are very well developed are Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the Beast. I will be Illustrating them in two separate comic books.
- The final goal is the same, a Graphic Novel the penultimate conclusion but this would be a collection of four or five of these short comic books. I am going to produce 2 finished comic books that could, eventually, with more stories, becomes a Graphic Novel.
- This will mean producing 2 sets of front cover and back covers and 2 end-paper designs
- I believe there is market for this, monthly issued comic books, of Fairy Tale genre that could be subscribed to as web-comics or printed and put on shelves.
- I can see the finished products in small company bookshops and eventually more mainstream outlooks. This will mean self-publishing my work and sending it out to comic book companies such as 'Marvel' 'Vertigo' 'Self-Made'Hero' and trying to find an interested party.