Brainstorm [LO1 - Task #1]

Graphic Narrative - Task 3 - Turning the Story upside down

GRAPHIC NARRATIVE

Task 3

Turning the story upside down

300 Word Synopsis of my new idea:

In the original comic book story featured in the Halo Graphic Novel titled “Armour Testing”, a lone Spartan, Maria is dropped off out of a pelican aircraft in order to test out the new mjonior armour in the desert against ODST soldiers. If the armour is stable and works fine, the armour will be sent to John 117 aka Master Chief for use but in this version of the story, the real testing of the armour begins.

Instead of having Maria travelling done to Earth in a lonely desert to test the armour she finds herself trapped in a time continuum, a warp hole and travels towards an arena – like battlefield. Maria has not only gone through time but a whole universe and finds herself travelling from the Halo Universe she wants once to the Halo Universe we know, the actually game but she doesn’t just land in any game, she lands in a Major League Game of Halo 3, where she must know figure not just a way to escape but to survive and compete against Halo 3’s top players, Walshy, Lil’ Poison and Snipedown. All three players know how the arena/map works, where the weapons spawn and so forth with supreme accuracy so Maria must use her super-human strength and smarts to overpower and outsmart the players before she is determined. She has three maps to play on, and only 30 minutes remaining in total. Will that be enough time for her to escape and find the exit?

New ending for my comic:

Maria finds herself in trouble in the final game. There is one minute on the clock and if she doesn’t get that one kill she needs, it’ll end in a tie but pretty much a loss for her as she has to win this match in order to advance and win the tournament. Thankfully, she does win with supreme style and skill but now she finds herself in the game lobby, not appearing as a Spartan or a character in the game but instead a lonely green bar with her name and rank title. She tries to find a way out of her new problem but before she can think straight from the confusion that’s going on in her brain, the Xbox 360 game’s console is switched off and Maria is nothing more.

Character References:

#1 – Dave “Walshy” Wash

Walshy is the oldest member of the trio. At age 27, Walshy is the brains of his team, knowing when and where to strike, having extreme knowledge of timers and weapon respawns on the map and has a lively attitude that keeps his team engaged, focused and exciting for a new match. When playing solo, he doesn’t talk, he is quiet and relaxed and let’s his energy get unleashed at the end of the game when the final result appears. He works in retail, selling clothing to various people that come into his shop, he works with his father but occasionally his mother, and he is a friendly guy with a good heart but knows how to bring it in the game.

#2 - Victor De Leon III aka Lil Poision

Lil Poison is the youngest member of the trio. At age just 8, Lil Poison has become the world’s youngest MLG champion. Winning countless competitions for his ability to learn fast and play hard, he is not to be underestimated. He takes the electronic sport seriously and no longer goes to school, MLG is his life and always will be. He is the most talkative of the bunch and communicates very often but he isn’t always the one to pull the smartest moves, however he can recover quickly with his lightning fast reactions.

#3 – Eric “Snipedown” Wrona

Snipedown is the middle member of the trio. At age 19, he is a grumpy teenager. Aggressive and shows in his gameplay style. He takes things seriously but doesn’t let the game frustrate him enough that he results in breaking expensive pieces of equipment as he has been cautioned many times before for destruction. In the game, that destruction translate into kills, if he sees someone in his sights he’ll take it, his knowledge and reactions aren’t the best and he isn’t the best team member at sometimes but he knows how to use a sniper rifle and that’s all he needs. Holding crazy records of over 1000 headshots in a row, once snipedown gets that sniper, he is almost unbeatable. He is strong and aggressive and that also shows in his body structure, working out endless for days on end.

The History between the Major League Gaming Players:

Walshy, Lil Poison and Snipedown as they liked to be called in the game are all from different teams of all different ages and sizes but the result of the free for all and team tournament has them all together 1 vs. 1 vs. 1 but when Maria steps in, it’s a whole different ballgame as they decide to team up and fight together even if it’s a free for all game. These three players have been chosen to be the best in the world for many reasons, their attitude, their skills, their knowledge, their team ethics but they must build all of those skills together in order to win.

Halo Graphic Novel Front Cover Analysis Spidermap

Watchmen The Novel Analysis

Positioning of Figures

In groups of 2-3 look at pictures from the first chapter and examine the positioning of figures and objects in the frames and comment about what that positioning signifies. Is a figure marginalised? What items are within the design? How do these features relate to overall meaning? Is there a symbol in the frame and where is it positioned? How is the picture designed so that we notice the symbol/figure/object?

Example #1:

When looking at the imagery of the first chapter of the first Watchmen Novel and the positioning of figures and objects in the frames, it gives plenty of signification as to the underlining meaning behind the design, meaning, symbolism and more. One of the first frames to be considered on its positioning is the very first frame with chapter 1’s cover. With the Watchmen logo of the yellow smiling face badge with the blood the figure is marginalised in a way to perhaps signify the ending of the novel of the fore-coming doomsday. The washing down blood  and the downward movement could mean the fact that things aren’t going to be smiling and that behind all the smiles, the blood and horror will be uncovered on the streets, in this case New York City, with further signifying in the blood splat on the front being that all the blood washing way is all our human race problems but the little blood splat to perhaps show how small we are or it could signify the reverse in that what we feel are small problems with the small blood splat, we can try and hide with smiles but soon our problem and pains will be under covered by ourselves and the streets will be covered in the blood which could further back up the point that without the marginalising that this could mean the end of the book before it has even begun. As for the design aspect, the smiling badge isn’t shown in its entirely, which makes you wonder whether the smiling face will be one half smiling, one half sad, whether there Is other blood or features on it, such as dirt and more which could change the overall meaning too. Lastly, the “doomsday clock” is in the top left corner, which makes you wonder when reading the novel for the first time, nor watching the film, why the clock is positioned there. It could be positioned for a design aspect to show the clock slightly move minute by minute per chapter in order to show a sense of progression and not only that, the sheer size of the clock is quite small, meaning it could increase in size gradually with the impact of doomsday approaching nearer and nearer or to just keep that part of the story subtle so you don’t notice and instead concentrate on the characters, the environment, items of interest and more instead of the underlining theme of the doomsday clock.

Insert: Watchmen The Novel, Chapter 1 frame, left position, full frame, Page 0

ADDING MORE GRADUALLY

Watchmen Worksheet

#1 What did you notice about the visual style of the film?

When looking at the visual style of this film, it's rather gritty. Blood and gore isn't shown too often but when is, it's quite graphic, blood will come out easily and the way characters use weapons to cut or break other people show a lot of horrific sights. The way the environments are quite dark and gloomy is another visual style that could be added along with it's grittiness, with the way lightning and rainfall falls down often. Brighter areas in the film are elaborated a lot, with bright colours with everything in plain sight. The visual style of the characters is a mixed bag, with some being more darker and mysterious with others being more bright, bold and exotic. It seems with the colours of the costumes for the characters that they reflect the character's personality quite well. A case being that of Jessica Alba's suit being yellow and black, signifying the way she has a bright, bold, happy attitude and personality but along with a dark, horrific past.

#2 Do you think it's obvious the film as based on a comic? Why?

I feel it's quite obvious the film is based a comic by how everything is exaggerated to a great way. Characters take a lot of punches without feel much pain, bones break with ease of ordinary people and the way the action is presented is a big clue as to how this was based on a comic. Also, many scenes, such as Rorschach stepping into a house with a dramatic posture, are scenes in the film where it could be a snapshot and could've been pasted into the comic book/graphic novel itself. It's all very artsy, and seems to stay true to the comic.

#3 How does the narrative of the film follow typical comic book conventions?

The narrative of the film follows typical comic book conventions in that, the way characters interact with each other, words and actions are expressed deeply that wouldn't be usually, such as the way small props move around in the environment. Things such as lights and visual cues have more of an impact on the narrative than you might think, especially journals and written documents. It also follows typical comic book conventions by the flow of the film. Action goes fast and interaction between characters typically is meaty with a lot ot say and do. Branching out the film. Furthermore, there are things in the film that wouldn't be achieved in a real life settings, characters and the way they move and speak is of fiction and is something you wouldn't see in real life without the aid of professional editing. An example would be Dr Manhattan being able to see through his past and future at the same time.


#4 What social message was the film trying to get across?

When thinking about the social message the film was trying to get across, it felt it was of two things. One being that society's problems and issues isn't caused by the act of God or a superbeing but instead ourselves as human beings Another social message that I felt the film was trying to get across was the fact that we are very small in this world, their are other planets out there with less advanced orgamisms and the planets is stable, suggesting that we shouldn't worry about what comes to us by ourselves, the social messages in this film that it was trying to convey mostly revolving around indepentence of humanity I feel.

#5 Who do you think the target audience is for this film?

When thinking about the target audience for this film, I feel you have the traditional fans of the graphic novel/comic book itself, Artists or Fans of Film who have a thing for visual fadelity, in terms of visual effects, design, style and more. Another target audience would be that who like something that is out of the ordinary, something with a bit more flare and others that enjoy a film with a bigger push towards story and characters rather than exotic explosions and action.