Task 3 (U9)

 

Title - The Adventures through Space of Sophie and Spike 

Comic - I have chosen to make a comic instead of a graphic novel. One reason why I have chosen to create a comic is due to my target audience of 12-15 as having less words and more pictures is more likely to keep my audience entertained and engaged. This is because they will be visually aided and will be able to get a wider understanding of the comic through the images rather than just words. Another reason why using a comic would be better is because they will audience is encouraged to read in between the lines and through the colours they can make their own connotations from the images. 

Synopsis of the Plot - The main character is Sophie she is a human, alien hybrid from the planet Galactica this planet was sadly destroyed when she was young and everyone from her planet died accept her and her pet alien spike. She was put on a ship before the planet was destroyed by her parents in order to save her. Now she travels through space with her pet alien in order too help other planets from destruction like her own. 

Narrative - In this comic there are a few narrative structures. One theory is Todorov’s theory this is the theory where there are points within the comic story which helps the story to progress, there are 5 different stages which include the equilibrium which is the starting point of animality which would be Sophie travelling through space, there would then be a disruption to the equilibrium which would be a problem that Sophie has to solve which is the enigma. Finally my character Sophie will try to resolve the problem and finally a new equilibrium at the end which reaches a new state of calm. Another theory is Propp theory as the hero can be seen as my main character Sophie and spike would be the helper and in each comic there’s would be different villains and helpers along the way. This theory allows to establish what the characters are and what they are going to do within the story.

Type of Comic - I will have both a digital comic so its easily accessible for my audience to access the comic online on a website as well as somewhere to advertise merchandise and find other people with similar interests. 

Genre - The Genre of my comic is mainly sci-fi mixed with Action and Adventure. The genre of my comic needs to be suitable for my target audience aged 12-15 and therefore must not be too graphic but still include family/friendly elements. The sci-fi elements is included as she is an alien/human hybrid herself and she has a pet alien friend too, she also travels through space which keeps with the science fiction theme. The action and adventure theme i seen through the laments of travelling through space and saving planets from destruction.

Main Characters - My main character is Sophie Lozdan she is an alien/human hybrid who is blonde who has blue skin, green eyes and she is 12 years old. She is confident and brave due to her past of her whole family and planet being destroyed she’s hardworking and doesn’t take no for an answer as she wants to save people from having the same past experiences as her. Her sidekick is her alien dog Spike he is the only other creature that survived the destruction of galactic he loves his owner Sophie and has magical powers and loves helping Sophie save planets. 

Target Audience - My target audience for my comic is boys and girls aged 12-15, i do hope my main target audience is mainly girls as they can personally identify to main character Sophie as she is a girl travelling through space who is a similar age. They will be able to relate to her as she is a similar age and can encourage other girls to be confident and brave due to her fighting crime and saving planet hopefully can encourage girls to know the difference between right and wrong  and stand for what they believe in. The target audience is 12-15 year olds and as a result my comic will be family friendly and not too graphic and not include any mature content in order to make it safe to read for my audience. 

Company - The company I have decided to work alongside and take inspiration from is Marvel. This is a very famous and most successful comic brand. It is very well known for its action adventure and sometimes sci-if comics and therefore by taking inspiration from them i will hopefully be able to make a very successful comic book. Marvel is an American entertainment company best known for its comic books, films and superhero’s. Founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman in new York and became famous for the creation of famous superhero’s who were created by a well known man called Stan Lee.

Legal and Ethical Issues - One legal issue for my comic is copyright this is the legal issue of protecting and owning you ideas, themes and anything inside the comic book you create, as a result I need to make sure all my work is my own as well as copyrighting all my work so no one can steal it. Another legal issue is intellectual property rights this is a legal issue concerning the ownership of creative ideas or media and as a result I will make sure I have protection of my creative ideas so that no one can steal it as their own. 

One ethical issue is violence this is an ethical issue as I need to decide what to include in my comic book as I need to decide whether it is appropriate enough to use within my comic book. Therefore in order to combat this ethical issue is to make sure I don’t use any mature or graphic content which isn’t appropriate for a 12-15 year old. Another ethical issue offensive language this is an ethical issue as I need to decide which words are appropriate to use in my comic book and as a result make sure that there is no bad language used.

P4 Script:

FRONT PAGE:

PICTURE OF SOPHIE AND SPIKE IN THEIR SHIP FLYING IN SPACE WITH TITLE ON TOP

Page 1 - 3 panels:

Panel 1: Wide shot of Sophie and Spike’s spaceship flying through space. Action words "whoosh" can be seen at the back of a rocket.

CAPTION BOX: Sophie the last survivor of her world Galtacica travels the galaxy with her pet Spike in order to save other planets from destruction. 

Panel 2: Inside ship mid shot of her and Spike’s spaceship flying at the control table

SOPHIE:         Another day another distress this one is from planet                     Vircidius 

Spike:         (Thought bubble) Not again my bed looks so comfortable 

Panel 3: Hologram from Vircidus King showing. broadcast bubble "our forests are burning help before it’s too late!"

Page 2 - 3 panels:

Panel 1: Wide shots showing a ship landing on green earth smoke rising in the distance.

SOPHIE:         Looks bad already stay very alert Spike!

Panel 2: Birds Eye view of a deserted village, where Alien Villager can be spotted running

Panel 3: mid shot alien villager showing wide eyes. He runs over to the landed ship looking panicked

ALIEN VILLAGER:     Doctor Destroyer is destroying our planet!! 

SOPHIE:            ...Then Doctor Destroyer needs a surprise 

Page 3 - 2 panels:

Panel 1 : Dark spaceship levitating above the ground with mass fire around it.

CAPTION BOX: in the midsts of the chaos 

DOCTOR DESTROYER:     Inside spaceship (tall armoured red eyes                               commanding fire robots) Burn it all!! Stop at                           nothing!

Panel 2: Sophie and Spike’s spaceship look from a cliff tilt upwards shot. 

SOPHIE:               Fire Robot! Time to improvise (looking                               confident) 

SPIKE:                I’m ready to fight (looking confident)

Page 4 - 3 panels:

Panel 1: Robots attacking Sophie and Spike. 

CAPTION BOX: Sophie and Spike start to attack the robots the battle begins… 

SOPHIE : Blasting energy from her hands ACTION WORD: ZAP!

SPIKE: Grows strong spikes that fling out of his body

                       Growls “ruff!” ACTION WORD: whoosh 

Panel 2: Depleted army of robots start to retreat wide angle 

Panel 3: Over the shoulder view of Doctor Destroyer watching his army retreat. Speech bubble of Doctor Destroyer.

DOCTOR DESTROYER:     "So… the lonely sad girl decides to interfere                           with me"

Page 5 - 3 panels 

Panel 1: Sophie marches towards the ship with Spike by her side 

SOPHIE: “DOCTOR DESTROYER COME OUT AND FACE ME!”

Panel 2: Doctor Destroyer comes out tower in over her tilt up fire cracking beneath him 

Doctor DESTROYER: “you can’t save this planet you couldn’t even save your own”

Panel 3: Close up of Sophie’s face 

SOPHIE: “Thats exactly why ill stop you” 

My blank comic layout:

My front page includes one panel I think the simplistic look laws for focus on the images itself and allows the reader to have a wider understanding of what the comic includes and allows them to read in-between the lines due to the detail of the backgrounds in each panel. On the front cover there will be one image of Sophie's and Spike's spaceship in the centre and they are in the spaceship flying. In the background it will be mostly black with stars and some planets. The bold text of the title at the top connotes to an action packed adventure with will unravel within the comic.

 

The second page utilises a multi- panel layout as it includes three panels, the last panel overlaps the other two this shows that this panel is more significant than the other two as it reveals a key part of the story and as its the biggest panel the readers will be able to understand this is an important part to help build the story. In the last panel I include a broadcast bubble as there is a hologram, this helps drive the comic story forward. 

The third page is very simplistic and uniform this is due to all of these shots being wide angles this layout allows for the most amount of space for my illustrations. Due to the panels being big it means

I can add detail and allows the readers to understanding the world they are in and what it looks like and helps them believe in the story they are seeing. The caption box allows for a greater understanding for the reader as they gain an extra piece of information to help more the story along.

The fourth page I have increased the simplicity even more this is due to the content on this page I ant to make sure all the readers understand this part of the story as it is important for the character introduction of the evil villain. In terms of top panel the villains spaceship is introduced and him losing through the window of his ship, I will use dark colours on this panel to connote to the dangerous nature of Doctor Destroyer. This will be in complete contrast to the bottom panel which will have bright colours to show the contrast between good and bad.

The fifth page incudes another multipage layout it includes a wide panel and two skinny panels, this page is where the fixing of the equilibrium begins as this is the fight scene. I have chosen for a wide panel for the fight scene as it allows for people to have a wider view of the fight. The two skinny panels show two different point of views after the fight the first one shows his evil robots retreating and the other panel shows the villains point of view as its an over the shoulder hot and includes a speech bubble of his thoughts of the outcome of the fight.

On the sixth page I have included a multi panel page this allows for readers to see more of the storyline and helps move the narrative along. I have included two smaller panels at the top and one main big image at the bottom, the bottom one is an extreme close up this big panel allows the readers to see her facial expression and sympathise with how she’s feeling. The other two panels help move the narrative along as they show the stages after the fight and that is why they are smaller than the other one.

In my blog I will show speech through speech bubbles and this is a common feature of a comic and as a result will help more the narrative forward, I will also use a broadcast bubble this is different form the speech bubbles as its more jagged and therefore pole will know its an important message. I will have my title to be bold and yellow this will mean it will stand out to my readers and make them want to read the comic. I will also include lots of caption boxes on pages that don’t have speech this will allow the reader to understand what is happening in each panel without getting confused and thus moving the narrative along.

Props:

I will be using spaceships, one spaceship I am using is Sophie’s spaceship this is used as the main front cover image as well as throughout the comic. The other spaceship I will be using is the villains spaceship which will be seen throughout the comic as well. These props are crucial for my comic as they transports my characters to different places which allows them to travel and more the story along. The use of colour will show the direct opposition connotations of each spaceship as the evil one will be dark and red and Sophie’s and Spike’s will be bright and light. The prop also key to link the story to sci- fi as spaceships are common to the genre. 

Terrain: 

I will be using three different terrains within this comic, the first one that is seen is flying through space where there will be stars and planets and open darkness of space, this links directly to the theme of sci-fi as space common to the genre. Another terrain is a forrest this is where the battle happens and where the evil spaceship is this area shows destruction well and shows the reader what the villain has done to the planet. Another terrain is a cliff with open greenery this is where Sophie and Spike’s spaceship lands I have done this to add levels this shows that good is above evil and that good will always win and also allows Sophie and Spike’s to observe what has happened and how to fix it.

Objects within the environment:

In the terrain of space there will be planets and stars this is seen within the environment as when you are travelling through space these are common objects and without them it would make my comic not look realistic. In the Forrest terrain there will be trees and bushes that have been burnt and hurt this is common to the environment as that is where they grow and what makes up a forest. Within the open greenery there is a deserted village this includes houses with doors open and no one there this shows the readers that people have fled in fear due to destruction.

Colouring of the environment: 

In the area where Doctor Destroyer’s spaceship lands there will be dark shading this will show the evil nature of him and his spaceship. His spaceship will be black and red, both these colours have connotations of danger and destruction which link directly to the evil villain Doctor Destroyer. This is in direct contrast to Sophie and Spike’s as where they land the colours will be bright which will show the good and light nature of them. Their spaceship is light and have bright colours such as blue and yellow these have connotations of goodness, bravery and happiness.