Illustration and Visual Narrative-Final Complication

05/12/2024 – 05/01/2025

WEEK 11 – WEEK 14

WU ZIYANG/0368325

ILLUSTRATION AND VISUAL NARRATIVE /BACHELOR OF DESIGN(HONOURS) IN CREATIVE MEDA

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Assignment OverviewIn this final assignment, students will create an animated, web-ready comic cover and a minimum 3 panel comic page based on the short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. This assignment brings together storytelling, composition, and animation to capture the eerie atmosphere of the narrative, formatted for a mobile-friendly, portrait display.https://www.sfu.ca/~swartz/monkeys_paw.htm

Assignment Breakdown
Illustration and Visual Narrative (IVN): Design an illustrated masthead for the comic cover in Adobe Illustrator. Apply Scott McCloud’s comic transition types (from Understanding Comics) to tell a part of the story visually, emphasizing animated transitions that enhance the storytelling.

You may use photoshop Photoshop to manipulate images, adding textures and effects inspired by Dave McKean’s Sandman covers to achieve a surreal, atmospheric style. This will be key for creating a suspenseful, eerie mood that aligns with The Monkey’s Paw. Search for “surrealistic adobe illustrator artwork”

Webcomic Animation: Using Google Slides, students will create a portrait-oriented comic cover and a one-page comic with animated GIFs. They must animate at least three panels of the comic, and may also animate parts of the cover to draw viewers’ attention.

Progress

I found a picture with scary elements as the background, then sketched the shape of a monkey's paw, and changed the text title to enhance the color of blood, horror, etc

Next is my comic book content

1. Moment-to-Moment Transition

Scene: The old man shows the monkey's paw to his family and tells about its curse.

Picture: Close-up, the old man slowly raised the monkey's paw, fingers slightly trembling, expression dignified. The background is a dim fireplace glow, highlighting the eerie details of the claws.

Transition: Enhance suspense through subtle movement changes and highlight the danger of the monkey's paw.

2. Action-to-Action Transition

Scene: The mother receives a letter from the factory informing her of her son's death.

Picture: The mother receives the letter from the postman. In the background, the door is open and light pours in.

Transition: The continuity of the action shows a tragic turn and intensifies the emotional impact.

3. Subject-to-Subject Transition

Scene: Mysterious figure outside the house at night after the mother makes a wish with a monkey's paw.

Picture: The doorway is shrouded in darkness, a faint, distorted figure approaching, the background is foggy moonlight.

Transition: Switch from the despair inside to the ominous atmosphere outside the door, maintaining a continuity of suspense and horror.

Fig 1.2 comic 1

Fig 1.3 Comic 2

Fig 1.4  Comic3

After the creation in Ai, I imported the pictures into procreate and supplemented the details by hand painting

Rational：

Visual elements: Character expression: In the GIF, the person's eyes are wide open and their mouth has a slight twisted smile, showing a mix of shock, fear, and despair. Blood Red element: The outstretched bloody hand below represents that a wish has come true, but it came at the cost of life. Red curtain: The red curtain in the background gives off vibes of a stage play or tragedy, hinting at an unavoidable and tragic ending. Narrative logic: This scene captures one of the most famous moments from The Monkey's Paw: when the main character makes a second wish to bring his dead son back to life—the results are just too much to handle. The image freezes on the character’s shocked face and those bloody hands, highlighting what it really costs to get what you want—even if your wish is "granted," tragedy can’t be avoided. Color symbol: Black clothing: This symbolizes death, despair, and fate that can't be escaped. Red blood: It shows the painful price we pay for greed and reckless wishes. Emotional communication: Through the stark contrast between facial expressions and bloody hands, this picture conveys how helpless and regretful people feel when facing supernatural forces. The character's stunned look leaves viewers with something to think about—it's a reminder that we need to make careful choices when tempted.

Fig 1.5  Gif

Concept board

Visual Style
Black, White, and Red:
- Black: This color stands for death, despair, and the unknown.
- White: It symbolizes purity but also has a cold vibe that hints at fate.
- Red:Think of blood—it's all about warning and the cost of our choices.


The dramatic background with red curtains gives off a theatrical feel, suggesting that life is like one big drama. When you look closely at the character's eyes—they're wide open—and their smile is twisted; it really shows shock, fear, and regret.


Image Symbol:
-Bloody Hand: Represents the price we pay and karma after getting what we want.
-Curtain: Adds to the sense of destiny in the story and hints at a dramatic ending.


The lines are simple yet impactful! The minimalist color contrast really brings out strong emotions through bold colors. Plus, mixing static elements with dynamic ones—the detailed facial expressions alongside those bloody hands—helps guide viewers in understanding what's going on.


Story Inspiration
This draws from W.W. Jacobs' classic Gothic novel The Monkey's Paw.
Plot: It's about this mysterious object that grants wishes but comes with some serious consequences.
Key moment: When someone gets their second wish granted—it blurs the line between life and death—and that's where all the psychological fear kicks in.


Emotional Tone
- Fear
- Regret
- Helplessness
- Dramatic Tension


Keywords
Fate
Desire
Consequences
Bloody Hand
Tragedy


Design Goals
We want to boost emotional impact using color and expression.
Get across deep ideas from *The Monkey's Paw* fable.
Create an atmosphere filled with tension, mystery, and tragedy.
Encourage people to think about desire versus its costs.