25/12/2013

Monster character design

In most children's books, I found that monsters all have similar characteristics - hairy, big, colourful, sharp teeth, big eyes etc. I want mine to look different from that: almost human looking, a shadow figure, ghost-like, sinister, and evil looking without it being too detailed to show that it is just a figment of the main character's imagination and that it doesn't really exist - that it isn't something you can touch or get rid of physically.

After sketching the rough layout of my book, it suddenly occurred to me that the shadow demons in Disney's The Princess and the Frog - the scheming, greedy, serious, frightening and sinister personality of these shadows and how they look was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for for my monster. Can I just say I absolutely adore princess and the frog! :-)



sketches, inspired by the shadow demons:



24/12/2013

Book sizes and page layout

Book sizes: 
I decided to only look at 'A' sizes for my book, because paper are usually in this standard size for printing

A4 (A3 fold)
A5 (A4 fold)
A5 (A3 Fold)
Quite liking A5 landscape. Anything smaller than A5 would be too small I think.

Page layout:
I went to look for some page layout inspiration from the books I already own, I really like this one in particular ('Wild' by Emily Hughes):

decorative pages at start and end 

simple short sentences 

one illustration across two pages

text on one page and an illustration on the other to support it 


New story idea, "They're after me!" 
(inspired by 'Schizophrenia' by Jukebox the Ghost - character's feelings and hallucinations based on information/statistics collected from research):

front cover

22/12/2013

Schizophrenia treatment and recovery

Before coming up with how my character in my story gets better, I first need to educate myself further about how people who are diagnosed with schizophrenia and similar illnesses are treated:-

Successful treatment of schizophrenia depends on a combination of factors - medication alone is not enough. It is important to:
  • educate yourself about the illness
  • communicate with your doctors and therapists
  • have a strong support system
  • make healthy lifestyle choices
  • set meaningful goals for yourself
  • stick to treatment plan
  • manage stress
  • try to get plenty of sleep
  • avoid alcohol and drugs
  • get regular exercise
  • do things that make you feel good about yourself
  • find ways to be involved with others
  • turn to trusted friends and family members

Support makes and immense difference in the outlook for schizophrenia - especially the support of family and close friends. Supportive therapy can teach you how to challenge delusional beliefs, ignore voices in your head, protect against relapse and motivate yourself.

source:
helpguide.org

'I got scared and they appeared out of thin air'

I came across a song on my phone titled 'Schizophrenia' by Jukebox the Ghost - because schizophrenia have a relationship with paranoia, I decided to read the lyrics and try to understand what the song is trying to say about it for inspiration:-

Yes I can, no I can't,
Yes I can, no I can't,
Yes I can, no I can't,
Yes I can
I swear to it,
That's just how my brain works.

Yes it is, no it isn't,
Yes it is, not it isn't,
Yes it is, no it isn't,
Yes it is
I know that,
I know it sounds absurd but

We first met in the summer of my twenty-second year,
I got scared and they appeared out of thin air.

Here they come, here they come,
Here they come, here they come,
Here they come, here they come,
They're after me.
I don't know anything.

They got guns, they got knives,
They got guns, they got knives,
They got guns, they got knives and spies,
I am no informant.

We first met in the summer of my twenty-second year,
I got scared and they appeared out of thin air...

They knew my name,
They screamed and screamed,
They knew everything.

You could say that I'm well liked
But I'll never be friendless...

You could say that I'm alright
Or you could say schizophrenic...

This song is about the inner battle with one's mind - when someone is diagnosed with schizophrenia, it is usually because they have hallucinations or are hearing voices. In this song, the character says he had his first hallucinations in the summer when he was 22. He was scared, mainly because his hallucinations appeared out of thin air with guns and knives. They also knew everything about him; because they were, to put it simply, part of his imagination. He also mentions that he could 'never be friendless', saying that his hallucinations will be his friends. Nearing the end of the song, he admits that he's schizophrenic.

IDEA:
  • I like the idea of my main character hearing voices - from someone or something who isn't even there - a character made up by her/his imagination
  • character meets this ghost/monster thing (a personification of fear) that first appeared out of thin air - no one else can see, because it is just a figment of her imagination - it whispers false words to the character and makes him/her paranoid about things, makes him/her think and see things like how the monster tells him/her.
    • first few pages of illustration could be done in two colours - a dark colour (maybe just keep everything greyscale) with a different colour to highlight character and his/her hallucinations.
    • as he/she gets better, pages gradually turns full colour to show that the monster is:-
      • weakening, have less control of the characters mind (what he/she thinks and what she thinks she's seeing)
      • show that the character is happier, is free - that their world is more colourful

17/12/2013

Project Proposal


Story idea (based on information collected - statistics and the emotions people feel):
Page 1&2: (name) didn't know why but everywhere he/she goes, there always seem to be a monster not far behind
Page 3&4: There was a monster in his/her bedroom that made him/her scared of the dark
Page 5&6: There was a monster at his/her school that made it harder for him/her to have fun
Page 7&8: There was a monster on the bus that made him/her very uncomfortable
Page 9&10: There was a monster at the shops that made him/her scared of the shop keeper
Page 11&12: There was a monster on the side of the swimming pool that made him/her think that something bad was going to happen
Page 13&14: There was a monster at the hospital that made him/her nervous of the doctors
Page 15&16: and there was even a monster at the hairdressers that made him/her worry about really silly things
Page 17&18: One day as he/she walked the dog, he/she noticed that all the monsters were following her.
Page 19&20: He/she did not understand and he/she was not happy. So enough was enough!
Page 21&22:


Title ideas:
  • (name) and the monsters
  • I'm not afraid!
  • Monsters have dreams too
  • My monster friends
  • Monsters are friends
  • My time with the monsters
  • I'm seeing monsters
  • I'm being followed by monsters
  • Stop following me!
  • Save me from the monsters!
  • Monsters are just like people
  • Monsters aren't scary
  • They're after me!
  • Monsters aren't bad after all
  • They're out to get me!
  • I'm not afraid anymore
  • My monsters and me
  • Monsters are sometimes a bit like you and me
  • The monsters and me

The feedback I got from my peers about my idea so far was that they liked the theme, the idea of the monster as the thing that makes the character think and see differently and the way the story is written. I was suggested that my main character could be an adult instead of a child but keeping the story quite simple like how it would be written for a child for an engaging read - a little bit like this video by Matthew Johnstone about depression (a similar topic to what I am doing), in the sense that its primarily targeted towards adults but the illustration and how the story is told is like how it would be done for a younger audience:


They also suggested to maybe explore more with the different mental illnesses and maybe try to incorporate it in the story - quite a contrast to what other people said in the previous review session.

What are children afraid of?

Matt once told me to challenge myself - to try and create illustrations different to what I have done so far and what I am used to - happy, cutesy stuff - this is why I chose the paranoia/mental illness topic to focus on as it's good opportunity to do just that. However, after I presented my findings and ideas in the peer review session (about making a book that's more serious and different to what I have done in the previous module), my peers thought that maybe making a book about this sort of thing might be challenging to do as it is quite a sensitive subject - that there might be a risk of maybe offending some people if not careful. My peers suggested that maybe I look at something more child friendly that touches the fear/paranoia theme such as fairytales and monsters.

I went away from this review session with one main question on my mind: What are children afraid of?

Common childhood anxieties and fears:

Infant/toddler:
  • loud noises or sudden movements
  • large looming objects
  • strangers
  • separation
  • changes in the house

Fears during pre-school years:
  • the dark - things under the bed, the closet
  • noises at night
  • masks
  • monsters and ghosts
  • animals such as dogs

During school years:
  • Snakes and spiders
  • storms and natural disasters
  • being home alone
  • fear of teacher who is angry
  • scary news/tv shows
  • injury, illness, doctors
  • fear of failure/rejection
Sources:
children.webmd.com on childhood fears and anxieties


IDEA:
  • Picture book with children as target audience
  • illustrations supported by text/story
  • a story about a little kid who sees monster everywhere he/she goes e.g:
    • the shop
    • the bus
    • swimming pool
    • the park
    • school
    • doctors
    • own room
      • that makes him/her scared about something e.g:
        • the dark
        • people
      • kid gets fed up, confronts them and learns that the monsters only wanted to (the one at the swimming pool) learn to swim, (the one at school) read etc and that there's nothing to be afraid of anymore

Study Task 2 - What is paranoia?

  • Suspicious thoughts or worries without sufficient reason
  • Exaggerated fears, that are not based in reality
  • you fear that something bad will happen
  • a delusion in which a person thinks they are being singled out in a negative way

Paranoia - sense of threat for example:
  • psychological or emotional harm - e.g bullying, spreading rumours about you
  • physical harm - e.g someone trying to physically hurt or injure or even kill you
  • financial harm - e.g stealing from you, damaging your property

Being paranoid can bring up a wide range of emotions. You may feel:
  • anxious
  • stressed
  • scared
  • terrified
  • mistrustful of people and organisations
  • victimised
  • persecuted
  • isolated - reluctant to confide in others because of fear that it'll be used against you
  • tired/exhausted from worrying all the time

What makes people paranoid?
  • can be caused by a number of factors such as stressful life events
  • but most commonly seen in people with mental health problems
  • people experiencing severe anxiety or depression can develop problems with paranoid feelings
  • extreme forms of paranoia are usually seen in people with Schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
    • can cause people to lose touch with reality
    • psychosis - lose the insight to recognise that their fears are not grounded in reality
  • can simply be caused by too much thinking about something

How to deal with paranoia?
  • keeping yourself busy
  • relaxing - meditate, yoga
  • therapy
  • prescribed medication from doctor
  • not over thinking

Statistics (general population):
  • over 40% of people regularly worry that negative comments are being made about them
  • 24% think that people deliberately try to irritate them
  • 20% worry about being observed or followed
  • 10% think that someone has it in for them
  • 5% worry that there's conspiracy to harm them

  • 52% feel that they need to be on their guard against others
  • 48% feel that strangers and friends look at them critically

  • 40% feel that there might be negative comments being circulated about them
  • 32% feel that people are laughing at them
  • 28% feel that bad things are being said about them behind their back

Paranoia links in with other mental illnesses - other diagnosis that may include paranoid feelings are:
  • bipolar disorder
  • schizoaffective disorder
  • severe anxiety
  • depression

sources:
www.mind.org.uk
www.localhealth.com
wikihow
www.medicalnewstoday.com

IDEAS:


  • book about how the different mental illnesses affect people in everyday life
  • book full of illustrated paranoid thoughts supported by as little text as possible
    • series of illustration based on the statistics
    • the world through the eyes of people with paranoia:
      • how people feel and what they think they see when paranoid - inspired by the ad below (Fragile Childhood - Monsters):


Study Task 2 - What's the story?

After the peer feedback on study task 1 where we collected information about the three different places, people thought the story about being paranoid of the 3 men (who each received phone calls at the same time) and people thinking we were spies were most interesting. From this I then decided to base my next research on the themes of paranoia and spies.

I came up with a couple of questions under each themes to further research:

Paranoia:
  1. what is paranoia?
  2. why do people get paranoid?
  3. what makes people paranoid?
  4. how does it make people feel?
  5. How to ease the feeling/stop being paranoid?
Spies:
  1. What do spies look like?
  2. what do kids think spies look like?
  3. what do kids think spies do and how they do this?
  4. how to be a spy? - how kids think someone becomes a spy
  5. is it okay to spy on someone?

How could I find the answers to these questions?

Primary research:
  • to find out what kids think spies look like, do etc, I could get a group of kids together and interview them - I think the answers and ideas they'd come up with would be quite interesting and fun and therefore would make a quite interesting and entertaining book.
  • I could conduct a questionnaire - for example, this would enable me to find the percentage of people who think spying is okay and is not.
  • again I could interview people to find out what they think paranoia is, the affect it has on people etc.
Secondary research:
  • Internet and books - using the internet and visiting the library for books to collect existing information - I think this would be a much more useful tool to find the answers to the paranoia questions instead of the spies one because they aren't as specific or more focused.

28/11/2013

Study Task 1 - Leeds Central Library

Observations at 14:40:
  • 6 people in this area at start
  • calm and quiet atmosphere
  • quiet murmur
  • people reading books at tables
  • books everywhere
  • big clock on wall
  • man checking his phone
  • people looking around for books
  • people on computers
  • people are quite calm - no one looks like they are in a rush
  • no kids
  • no teens
  • mostly men
  • 2 big fake bamboo trees in big plant pots
  • large glass double doors to a cafe
at 14:55:
  • man using his phone
  • man having a nap
  • a phone call breaks the silence
  • books on tables
  • posh looking man with white hair leaving with his brief case
  • man and woman having a conversation at a table
  • people coming in and out cafe door
  • muted clanging of glass from cafe
  • man takes a call - was quite loud so he left
at 15:30:
  • beeping from librarians computer
  • a pile of encyclopaedia books of different countries left by man on table
leave at 15:50 - 4 people at end in this part of the library - one of them still here from an hour ago

Questions:
  • I wonder what he's reading about
  • was this library a library 50 years ago?
  • who designed the stained glass windows
  • why are people taking their batteries out of their mobile phones?
  • I wonder why there aren't many students about
  • What made them paint the pillars/columns bright green
  • How many books are in this library
  • where are all the students?
  • why are there more men than women in this library?

Photographs: