Graphic+Novel+Creation

Narrative:
The plot I chose was very simplistic. Basically it follows a girl who is having these terrifying dreams of a female vampire. The vampire eats her friends and family and at the end of the dream comes for her. The dreams are reoccurring, possibly for years, and the girl is unsure of how to cope with them. She always wakes up in a complete panic. Afterward, she calls her best friend for advice and is told to calm down. She does dangerous things such as smoke in bed to calm down. Probably thinking that giving into her vices is the best way to deal with the problem. Furthermore, she believes that she should call a dream analysis hotline. She thinks they would be able to offer her answers. But she is apprehensive to call either due to embarrassment or the fact that she may have developed an unknown attachment or comfort level to the vampire in her dreams. Although the dreams scare her, she is able to define the beauty in them. She keeps with her a stuffed cow that gives her company during her restless nights. When thinking about calling the hotline she says “One day me and my Minky [the stuffed cow] will build up the courage to call. Just not today…” This panel shows that she has unrealistic views on the world thinking that both her and the cow are afraid when really its just her alone. Finally, in the last panel she is seen drinking from a full bottle of vodka to be put back down to sleep. This panel proves her addiction and possibly the mental suffering she is experiencing from these dreams.

Analysis:
She gives into her vices to get back into a sleeping mode. The dreams lead her into making bad choices. One interpretation of the dream is that the vampire eating her friends, family and her is actually her mental interpretation of those very vices she uses to get back to sleep from those dreams. Excessive drinking, smoking and indulgence are considered “bad” habits and the guilt she feels may come to haunt her in the form of reoccurring dreams. As the author of this comic book, I can safely say I often give in to my cravings. This comic came to life when a person at a bar told me that “Bad habits are like a warm bed: easy to get into, but so hard to get out. We love to stay in our beds”. It’s a concept a lot of people can apply to their lives, especially people who are in university or college. Thus, although the comic seems extremely simplistic it has a lot of underlying meaning that is personal for a lot of people in my life.

I chose to not use speech bubbles in my tale because I wanted to incorporate more story than dialogue. I thought by adding dialogue it would take away from the concept I was trying to convey. The narrator in the form of scene-to-scene text indicators presents the story. There is a small box on each panel where the narrator speaks through. The story is simple, however, has a much deeper underlying meaning.

The imagery in this comic is the most pivotal part of the story telling. The images display all the emotions and convey all the actions of the characters. I chose to Photoshop the images the way I did in the dream sequence because the nightmare was not pleasant and all the images need to invoke a sense of doom. I paled up the images, made the lips on the vampire redder and made her hair darker. I kept a reasonable amount of color in the images; however, I completely changed the tones in the image from warm to cold. All the images have a tinge of cyan coloring to them and are enhanced to emphasis certain aspects relevant to the story. In the bedroom scenes where the narrator wakes up and panics, the coloring is lighter, less serious and dangerous seeming. We see the narrator as a quirkier and a completely not scary character. She is disgruntled and much plainer compared the to intense vampire.

AFTER:


Furthermore, I chose bigger panels because I found that due to the lack of dialogue, images had to take front stage. I found the images of the vampire especially the first two panels needed to emphasis the danger and fear that the narrator felt every time she had the dream. Thus, I closed in on the eyes and the mouth, the dangerous parts on the vampire. The redness of the lips represents the blood she feasts on. The colorless eyes represent her lack of humanness. The vampire looks directly at the reader to give the impression that she would not spare them. She is aware of what she is doing and she is happy. The narrator never looks at the reader rather she always looks away. This further defines her inability to be aware. It also shows that she is unable to define what is going on, even with herself. She obviously has an addiction and she is not dealing with it. The form in this case takes over and tells the story.

Overall, this comic books creation was a far more creative process than I had previously imagined. However, I found deeper meaning in my tale which was exciting.