Illustration and Visual Narrative - Assignment 3: Digital Triptych

2023.11.29 - 2023.12.08 / Week 10 - Week 11

Teo Mei Hui / 0358315

Illustration and Visual Narrative / Bachelor of Design (Honors) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Assignment 3: Digital Triptych

---

LECTURES

Lecture 6: 3 Acts Structure

Storytelling basics: 

Central theme 

• what the story is about

Conflict 

• what drives the story

Characters 

• characters with different roles and purposes 
• protagonist and antagonist

Three-Acts Structure

1. Setup

The world in which the protagonist exist prior to the journey.

2. Rising Tension

The series of obstacles the protagonist must overcome.

3. Conflict

The point of highest tension, and the major decisive turning point for the protagonist.

Lecture 7: Transition

There are six types of transitions in Scott McCloud's transition theory:

Moment-to-Moment

A single action portrayed in a series of moments.

Action-to-Action

A single subject in a series of actions.

Subject-to-Subject

A series of changing subjects within a single scene.

Scene-to-Scene

Transition across significant distance of time and/or space.

Aspect-to-Aspect

Transitions from one aspect of a place, idea or mood to another.

Non Sequitur

A series of seemingly nonsensical , unrelated images and/or words.

---

INSTRUCTIONS

For this assignment, we are required to apply Scott McCloud's theory on transitions to create a digital triptych, comprising three panels: one before, one during (climactic turning point), and one after a significant event for our urban legend from the previous assignment. Scott McCloud's transition theories are such as moment-to-moment, action-to-action, subject-to-subject, scene-to-scene and aspect-to-aspect, we have to choose one that is most suitable to the narrative of our urban legend.

---

SUBMISSION

Story

According to the story of Okiku, the doll was purchased by a seventeen-year-old boy named Eikichi Suzuki during a visit to Sapporo for a marine exhibition in 1918. The doll was a gift from his travels for his two-year-old sister named Okiku (in some versions of the story she’s called Kikuko). When she was initially purchased, the doll had a hair style called ‘okappa’ (similar to a bob cut), which is popular on Japanese dolls. Okiku loved her new doll and it served as the little girl’s companion until she died suddenly from a cold-like illness at the age of three. Devastated by their loss, Okiku’s family put her favourite doll on the household altar where they prayed in memory of Okiku. Before long, the family noticed that the hair on Okiku’s doll had begun to grow, as if the hair was on the head of a human. The family concluded that the restless spirit of Okiku, who died so young, was now inside her beloved doll. The doll remained with Okiku’s family until 1938 when they moved to Iwamizawa in Hokkaido and gave the doll to the Mennenji Temple where she remains enshrined to this day.  She is now referred to as Okiku after her former owner. Some believe the hair that continues to grow from her head is the hair of the child Okiku. Her hair is cut from time-to-time, apparently, it makes her happy.

Rationale

I decided to apply Scott McCloud's scene-to-scene transition for my urban legend because I felt it was most suitable after thinking about the turning points of the story. 

Before Climax Scene

The first panel shows Okiku's hair being overgrown till the floor. This portrays the fact that she is an abnormal doll with growing hair.

Climax Scene

The second panel is the climatic moment that shows Okiku's hair being cut off. This illustrates the fact that Okiku's has human-like hair that needs to be trimmed from time-to-time. 

After Climax Scene

The third panel shows Okiku's hair after being trimmed to the original length before it grew, and she is happy with it.

Sketches

First Sketch:

Figure 1.1 First sketch

This is the first sketch of the idea. After Mr. Hafiz's feedback, I changed the composition shots so that it would tell the narrative of each panel better.

Refined Sketch:

Figure 1.2 Refined sketch

This is the refined sketch after following Mr. Hafiz's feedback, which he said is much better. Then, I began digitisation in Adobe Illustrator.

Final Digital Triptych

Figure 1.3 Final digital triptych

Before

Figure 1.4 Before panel

During (Climatic Moment)

Figure 1.5 During panel

After

Figure 1.6 After panel

Figure 1.7 Brief description of each panel

---

FEEDBACKS

Week 11:

Mr. Hafiz suggested to change the first panel into a longer shot (after seeing my previous sketches for the editorial illustration), and show the hair being piled up and messy on the floor. He also recommended the third panel to be a really close-up shot of Okiku's face being happy while glancing at her trimmed hair.

---

REFLECTION

Through this assignment, I learned about Scott McCloud's transition theories such as scene-to-scene, moment-to-moment, aspect-to-aspect, subject-to-subject, and action-to-action. From that, I was able to apply it to my digital triptych so that I can convey the narrative and the turning points of the story accurately. I also applied composition knowledge that I learned from previous lectures in this assignment such as long shot, medium shot and close shot. Besides that, I realized the importance of sketching our ideas and getting feedback from the lecturer as they can always guide us to improve our ideas.