Final Project: Hype, Crook and Lyric

A group project this time. Kind of different from the previous assignments. For this assignment, we had a choice of either doing a storybook for children age 6-9 or a comic strip for teenagers. I was more towards doing a comic strip due to my strong liking for Japanese manga but my group wanted to do a storybook. Hence, I went along with them as I thought that it would be a good learning experience for me who have not had much exposure to children's storybook. (I read Enid Blyton's books from young and it did not have much illustrations or any at all except for those on the cover)

So we came up with a few ideas of what to do.

Idea 1: Back in Fairytale Land

A young girl/guy was reading a storybook of fairytale and accidentally “fell” into the book. He/she ended up in Fairytale Land where all the famous fairytale characters like Cinderella, Peter Pan etc. lives. While exploring the place, he/she met the different characters and helped them with to find things which were crucial for their respective stories to carry on. As he/she is well-versed with fairytale stories, he/she is able to help them. At the end of the day, he/she misses home so the Fairy God Mother who helps to send him/her home.

Idea 2: The Fallen Star

A young girl likes to look at stars every night and on one fateful night chance upon a fallen star. As the star wants to go back to the sky to its home, the girl helps it. Using various methods, she attempts to help the star back home but fails repeatedly before succeeding. In the process, she and the star became good friends and the star finally manages to get back into the sky.

Idea 3: Life in Virtual Reality
A little boy insists on playing a particular computer game for five hours every day, even when his homework is undone. One day when he woke up, he realizes that he has been sucked into the virtual reality of the game. An oracle in the game tells the boy that he has decided to keep him here, since he likes to spend so much time playing the computer game. Initially the little boy was elated, but when he realizes that the monsters have become real instead of just being characters in the game, he decides that he prefers the warmth of his own home better. However, the oracle refuses to return him back to the real world. After completing various difficult missions, the oracle finally decides to let him go, on the account that he never turns back again, nor leaks out his experience to others. The little boy returns to the real world and hardly plays computer games anymore.

Out of the 3 ideas, we picked Idea 2: The Fallen Star, as most importantly, all of us liked it and had a good feel about it. At the same time, we thought that it would appeal to children of the target age group.

We further developed the story in terms of the plot and character. Our story revolves around our 2 main characters, Alegra and the Star. Much thought was given as to the gender of the hero of the story but it was finally settled on a young girl. When we first drafted the story, our mental image was that of a girl and hence, the rest of the storyline and personality was developed around this mental image.

Alegra:

The Star:

To bring the characters to life, a storyline which can bring about eventful interaction between the two was needed. The story started with the introduction of the heroine, in terms of age and personality so as to provide for a positive image and a character the reader can relate to or even aspire to be. A chance meeting where the Star fell from the sky and was found by Alegra was created. This allowed for the story to progress towards the main plot of attempts to get the Star back into the sky and where friendship between the two characters eventually blossomed. The climax of the story is built up with each failed attempt to help the star which was resolved with the successful last try and as always, the story ended with a happy ending of Alegra finding a friend in the sky.

The moral of our story is: The positive qualities which we hope to instill in the readers, or in other words the moral, is to be kind, helpful and willing to sacrifice or be at the losing end to help those in need. And in turn, one may gain something of greater value in return.

From this stage on, the difficult part of the developmental process began. I learnt that creating a storybook was more than just putting together some words and illustrations. Instead, many things like typography, grid, representation, use of words and colour scheme had to be taken into consideration. And when we thought that all these was done and finally sent it for printing, we encountered some problems with bleed and size. Little things which I usually would not take note of suddenly seemed so important. Since then, I told myself that I must develop a habit of being more meticulous in my work.

And the final product of our hard work:

Alegra and the Fallen Star