Graphic Novel Project
This project is about learning a new form of communication. We created a graphic novel to show a seen from the satire Brave New World. To complete this project, we teamed up with another partner and worked together to overcome challenges. We learned how to communicate with a partner and with an audience to show our thoughts. I was a artist and we learned how to make changes to our drawing to show feelings. This was helpful to reveal what I thought about the story without just recreating it. The thing I worked on the most was my teamwork. In my artist skills, I got much better at drawing faces and hands. The part of the project that I liked the most was the teamwork. I had a great partner and we worked well together.
The picture below is a photo of all my work as the artist. My partner did the work under the photo.
Artist Statement
One example of choice of moment is on page 3, frame 5. In this scene there is not any talking but it shows Bernard’s recognition that this person is not as poorly conditioned as he was and is. This is a choice of moment because if I removed it, the following scenes would not make as much sense.
A choice of frame is a different angle than eye level. I used it on page 1, frame 1. This far back view shows the world from two perspectives in one frame. The sunset is how Bernard sees the world. There is color, but it shows his view in the blood red color. The bleek buildings shows Lenina’s view. Life is useless if you can’t have fun, shown in the black and white color.
An example of choice of image is page 3, frame 3. This frame shows bernard in a fury. Bernard has smoke coming out of his ears. This shows choice of moment because I am using a previously created sign of anger. I also am showing not telling.
I made sure that you, as the reader, would not get lost in the comic by never changing the direction of the frames. They always go from left to right and from top to bottom. This is how I used choiced of flow.
A choice of word is in page 3, frame 4. This scene shows Bernard’s fist slamming into a flat surface and making a POW noise.
A choice of frame is a different angle than eye level. I used it on page 1, frame 1. This far back view shows the world from two perspectives in one frame. The sunset is how Bernard sees the world. There is color, but it shows his view in the blood red color. The bleek buildings shows Lenina’s view. Life is useless if you can’t have fun, shown in the black and white color.
An example of choice of image is page 3, frame 3. This frame shows bernard in a fury. Bernard has smoke coming out of his ears. This shows choice of moment because I am using a previously created sign of anger. I also am showing not telling.
I made sure that you, as the reader, would not get lost in the comic by never changing the direction of the frames. They always go from left to right and from top to bottom. This is how I used choiced of flow.
A choice of word is in page 3, frame 4. This scene shows Bernard’s fist slamming into a flat surface and making a POW noise.
Script
The Beginning of Rebellion
1.Far back view of the city.
Bernard: “For Ford sake be quiet!”
2.Side shot of the helicopter
Lenina: “Quick! Turn on a song!”
3. under the helicopter
Musical notes.
New Page
4.close up of Bernard
Bernard: “Turn that damn music off!”
5. close up of Bernard
Bernard: “I can’t take in the beauty with that beastly music blasting away!”
6. I can’t take in the beauty with that beastly music blasting away!
Far back shot in the helicopter of both people
7. Out of helicopter
Music notes fading
8. sideways in the helicopter
Bernard: “This view makes me feel like I have a part in the world.”
New Page
9. Blade view
Bird’s eye view
10. Close up of Lenina
Lenina: “Everyone is useful! Even dumb old epsilons!”
11.Smoke-eared Bernard
Bernard: “Well I damn well wish I weren’t!”
12.Flat surface with POW
Fist slamming
New Page
13. Block-headed close up of Lenina
Lenina: “Take me away from this TERRIBLE PLACE!”
14.disgruntled Bernard close up
Bernard: “ It is beautiful!
15. Helicopter landing
16.Bird’s eye view
Walking through door with Bernard being angry
1.Far back view of the city.
Bernard: “For Ford sake be quiet!”
2.Side shot of the helicopter
Lenina: “Quick! Turn on a song!”
3. under the helicopter
Musical notes.
New Page
4.close up of Bernard
Bernard: “Turn that damn music off!”
5. close up of Bernard
Bernard: “I can’t take in the beauty with that beastly music blasting away!”
6. I can’t take in the beauty with that beastly music blasting away!
Far back shot in the helicopter of both people
7. Out of helicopter
Music notes fading
8. sideways in the helicopter
Bernard: “This view makes me feel like I have a part in the world.”
New Page
9. Blade view
Bird’s eye view
10. Close up of Lenina
Lenina: “Everyone is useful! Even dumb old epsilons!”
11.Smoke-eared Bernard
Bernard: “Well I damn well wish I weren’t!”
12.Flat surface with POW
Fist slamming
New Page
13. Block-headed close up of Lenina
Lenina: “Take me away from this TERRIBLE PLACE!”
14.disgruntled Bernard close up
Bernard: “ It is beautiful!
15. Helicopter landing
16.Bird’s eye view
Walking through door with Bernard being angry
Theme Explanation
Brave New World is a book about a society in which everyone is conditioned by sleep hypnosis and electroshock therapy, conditioning them to obey society’s norms, and the government without question. All people are grouped into alphas, betas, deltas, and epsilons. Lenina is a well conditioned beta minus. Lenina has always been a model citizen in the Brave New World society. Bernard however, is the exact opposite. He's an alpha plus, but his conditioning is quickly falling apart, as he begins to think freely, and see through society’s web of lies. Strangely, the two have become somewhat of a couple. This scene shows Lenina and Bernard in a helicopter, hovering over the English Channel, talking about happiness versus meaning. Lenina believes that happiness is all you need, while Bernard longs for a sense of meaning. Lenina is quite reluctant to accept Bernard’s view, but Bernard persists. This scene shows the true nature of Bernard, and begins to look into the nature of Lenina.
Our theme is the dangers of conditioning. In this scene, Bernard and Lenina are in a helicopter, over the english channel it exemplifies how twisted and broken the human mind can become through conditioning. As Bernard's conditioning breaks, he goes insane. He starts to awaken from the misty fog that floats around their minds. This scene also looks at happiness versus meaning. Bernard wants to feel unhappy, as it feels real to him, he’s ready to give up his happiness in exchange for meaning. Without this reality check, Bernard fears that he'll return to the dreamy delusion that the whole world shares. Only very few people are lucky enough to feel the true pains of life in his opinion. But as the old saying goes, “ignorance is bliss”. This opposes Bernard’s view by saying that being aware of the world around you makes you less happy. I think that Bernard’s views really get to the root of the problem. Ignorance is not always bliss.
Bernard’s internal conflict expresses the dangers of conditioning quite well. It portrays why conditioning shouldn’t be used maliciously by the government for controlling people. When we look at what conditioning can make people do and think (make them believe the ocean is terrible, force them to hate flowers) in an exaggerated form, it brings to life a very real fear that most of us didn’t see before. As for happiness versus meaning, Lenina has an obvious sense of happiness for most of the book, but this is the only time that she start to feel the urge to find a sense of meaning. For both of these themes, Huxley expresses everything to the extreme. He creates an aura of realism hidden within a larger sense of satire. This satirism makes the book interesting, and at some points, even funny at times, while also portraying some very real concerns.
We chose a closeup view for frame four, on page three. This frame is a view of Bernard’s fist. This was chosen to explode the page with Bernard’s fury. Bernard is angry, because he’s very confused. Consequently, Bernard is forcing Lenina to see what the world taught her must never be seen, a glimmer of truth of happiness, society is not what it seems. We picked page one, frame one, to show that the world is bleak and barren. It emphasizes the world that Bernard sees, and the deranged society that exists beneath the rainbows and sparkles of this utopia.