Assignment #2 - Storytime

For this assignment, we were tasked to create a storyboard using 6 to 9 curated photographic images. I wanted to create a storyboard using activities in my daily life and hence wanted to create a storyline with one of my friends. However, due to schedule and time constraints, I did not manage to meet up with my friend and had to come up with an alternative storyline. Hence I have decided to portray a storyboard of myself studying and eating.

Storyboard Sketches

I started sketching the storyboard on my tablet and this is the final sketch that I have come up with.



This is the planned overall flow of my storyboard:

  1. I am studying and reading my notes
  2. Emphasize the fact that I am studying by showing my laptop and notebook
  3. I am getting tired and bored of studying
  4. I order a food delivery using my phone
  5. I receive the food delivery at my doorstep
  6. I eat the food
  7. I finish the food
  8. I continue studying while feeling much better and less tired
I wanted to get feedback from other people to know if my storyline was easy to understand especially since I could only use visual elements to communicate my idea.


I went to ask some of my friends for feedback and they mentioned that I made use of words such as “zzz” in the frame and they cannot understand how will I portray it in my photographs without the words. That made me realize that it is impossible to write “zzz” in my photo and the subject’s expression would be very important in this case. Hence, I made sure to take note of all these while taking photographs for my final storyboard. Not only that, it seems that just drawing out the object in my storyboard sketches may not be obvious in portraying what I am intending to present. Hence, I will be making use of various angles and perspectives to frame my photos better.

Furthermore, I intended to show my phone in Frame 4 to say that I am ordering food delivery using my phone application. However, without text, I realized that it can be unclear as to the intention I am using my phone for. Hence, I will be taking note of this and taking a few photos - one with just my phone and one with me using my phone, and getting further feedback from my friends again to decide what would be a better picture to deliver my message. Due to time constraints, I will be going straight to taking photos for my storyboard and making iterations for my storyboard instead, using various versions of the photographs.

Adobe Workspace

Within my Adobe Illustrator, I made three artboards respectively:

The first one is my "Final Storyboard" artboard. This artboard is for me to lay out and illustrate my final storyboard using the photographs that I have taken.


The second one is my "Storyboard Sketches" artboard. This artboard is used to show the sketches that I have done for my initial storyboard draft.


The third one is my "Rejected Photos" artboard. This artboard is to layout and show the photos that I have taken but rejected, as well as listing out the reason of my rejections.

Critique and Feedback

I presented this storyboard during the critique session:


From the tutorial, I have received some constructive feedback for my storyboard:

  1. Frame 2 was unnecessary as the laptop had no linkage.
  2. Frame 3 can show that I am hungry rather than tired.
  3. Frame 4 is not encouraged because the phone shows a lot of words. It would be better to show a photo of me using the phone instead.
  4. Frame 6 can show some of the food in the spoon because it looks like I’m taking a pause from eating.

I have decided to take feedback pointers 1 and 3. I took feedback pointer 1 as I agree with the fact that the sudden addition of my laptop in that frame was very sudden and I did not show my laptop in any other frames as well. I took feedback pointer 3 because I thought that it would be better to emphasize the fact that I am using my phone to order the food delivery, rather than just highlighting the phone itself. 

I did not proceed with feedback pointer 2 as I wanted to keep the photo’s meaning up to the audience's interpretation, rather than simply stating the fact that the subject was hungry and hence the subject went to order food. I thought that the photo can show that the subject was either tired or bored or hungry, which highlights the various feelings students may feel while studying. I did not proceed with feedback pointer 4 as I felt that the emphasis on whether I just started eating or was taking a pause from eating did not matter a lot. I simply wanted to use this frame to illustrate that I was eating the food.


Not only that, I also went to ask my friends for their feedback on my storyboard. They mentioned some points which are similar to the feedback that I got during the critique session. One of the points was that the laptop seemed unnecessary and had no linkage with the other photos, which corresponds to feedback pointer 1.

Changes Made


These are the final changes made to my storyboard as illustrated by the red circles.

  1. Followed feedback pointer 1 and removed my initial frame 2 with my laptop
  2. Replaced the frame with my phone with a frame with an over-the-shoulder shot of me using my phone to order food delivery
  3. Added a title “The Chronicle of Studying” to better illustrate the message of my storyboard.
Final Storyboard

For my final storyboard, I chose to retain the sequence of frames that I had originally planned for in my storyboard sketch except for my initial frame 2. This is the finalized flow of my storyboard:

  1. A side-view mid shot showing that I am studying and reading my notes.
  2. A side-view mid shot similar to the 1st frame to show continuity. This photo shows that I am getting tired and bored of studying as my eyes are closed and I am propping up my head using my hand.
  3. An over-the-shoulder shot of me using my phone to show that I am ordering a food delivery using my phone. I used a different angle to show that I am engaging in a different activity which is ordering food delivery.
  4. A photo showing that I have received the food delivery at my doorstep. Rule of Thirds is made use here with the food delivery package aligned at the right vertical grid line.
  5. A close-up eye-level shot showing me eating and enjoying the food.
  6. A bird’s eye view of my empty bowl and cup to show that I have finished the food.
  7. A side-view mid shot similar to the 1st and 2nd frames to show continuity. The photo shows that I continue studying while feeling much better and less tired, as shown by my facial expression.

Rejected Photos



I rejected these photos as I felt that the angles were not appropriate or the photos were not sufficient in portraying the message that I wanted to deliver.  For the rejected photos:

  1. Rejected for Frame 1 because the angle was too low and the subject occupied too little of the photo.
  2. Rejected for Frame 2 as I wanted to connote that the subject is tired and needs food, rather than simply thinking about food. This is so that the jump to the next frame is not that abrupt and with no reason.
  3. Rejected for Frame 3 because there was too much text in the photo and this photo does not emphasize the fact that I was using my phone to order food, but rather only emphasizes the phone.
  4. Rejected for Frame 4 as I wanted to highlight the food that was delivered to the doorstep, hence emphasizing the food hanging on the door, rather than zooming into the bag of the food itself.
  5. Rejected for Frame 5 as the bird’s eye view did not emphasize the food and I wanted the focus to be on how delicious the food is.
  6. Rejected from the final storyboard as the laptop has no linkage with the rest of the storyboard.

It was difficult in curating the photos because we could not use any text to accompany these photos, hence the image and visuals have to be able to deliver the entire message. I had to take extra caution over the subject’s expression and the items portrayed in the photo. I also learned that perspectives are very important as a bird’s eye view and a close shot can mean very different things for a particular object. Overall, this assignment was really interesting as I got to explore the process of production, which is not something common in other modules!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Assignment #3 - Information Design

Image
Research & Ideation For this assignment, we were tasked to create an infographic to create a visual representation of the data and information that we are working with. As I have recently read up about FinTech, I decided to create an infographic related to digital payments. Hence, I went to research more about digital payments in Singapore and to find statistics related to it. After some research, I will be using a total of six sources for my infographic. These are the data and statistics: The penetration rate of mobile wallets in Singapore reached 30.4% I will be representing this data as “3 out of 10 people” instead of listing out as a percentage. 3.34 million users of digital payment in Singapore The total transaction value in the digital commerce sector in Singapore reached 13.69 billion SGD For Digital Payment methods, a total of 56% of users choose Card, 20% choose Digital Wallet, 12% use Bank Transfer and 12% use other forms of payment methods The top four digital wa...
Read more

In-Lecture Exercise E

Image
For this week’s exercise, we were tasked to comment on this typographic representation. After analyzing the typographic representation, I have noticed three main issues - choice of typeface, alignment, and readability. 1. Choice of typeface The choice of typefaces used is too decorative which made it quite unclear and illegible. Not only that, the choice of typefaces used for the header and body are also too similar which does not establish a clear hierarchy between the header and the body. This makes it difficult to read and does not capture the attention of the readers.  I would improve this by choosing a font like Sans-serif which is easier to read compared to the typeface used in the image. Sans-serif also helps the readers’ eyes to travel across the sentence lines which makes the words more legible. I would also choose 2 contrasting typefaces for the header and paragraph body. The contrast in the typefaces would help to establish a clear hierarchy between the header and body. ...
Read more

In-Lecture Exercise C

Image
  According to the lecture slides, the signifier is the physical form of the sign whereas the signified is the idea or concept that it represents.  In this advertisement, the signifier is the red tomato slices stacked up in the shape of a Heinz bottle, with the Heinz Ketchup packaging stickers on the tomato slices. The tomatoes are very red and nicely sliced, which suggests that they are very fresh and delicious. It signifies that Heinz could be trying to say that they are one of the only manufacturers who make ketchup out of natural, fresh tomatoes, as compared to other manufacturers who may be using preservatives, tomatoes that are not so fresh, or not using natural flavors of tomatoes. Hence, Heinz has the best ketchup manufactured using the freshest tomatoes. It can also suggest that Heinz Ketchup is healthier than other brands as they make use of actual tomatoes to make the ketchup, rather than artificial tomato flavors. The sentence in the poster “No one grows Ketchup li...
Read more