Graduate Thesis Blog

Documenting the progress of my final year of MFA candidacy thesis project and research

My graduate thesis work is split between two main areas: Project based design research through animation and storytelling and research surrounding harassment in games and depicting online interactivity.

2023/08/29

COLLECTING PREVIOUS RESEARCH

Mya’s Adventure Game

For my final for ACCAD 6002 Game Design II I tried to develop a game where the assets could serve as progress towards my thesis project. The final project I was able to work with Yuxin Yan to design Mya’s 8 bit 2D form and get a first pass of the games look and environment. I also created my first VFX for Mya’s box summoning ability that allows her to traverse the environment. I found reference for 8-bit vfx art styles that I hope to further implement in her ability set.

Below is a screen cap from the functional game I delivered for the final. Mya uses her magic box creation spell to make platforms for herself to traverse the level. The pink contrasts fairly well in the scene. Despite a few bugs players gave positive feedback for the sandbox and jumping. They also really liked the look of the effect. I think there is quite a bit of room for improvement.

Some of the game’s design can aid with the story development. The original script for the story has the characters climbing a platform game in order to get to the gem at the top of the final platform. By design the game can only be completed with multiple characters abilities working together. The characters start out hostile and do not recognize that they need one another’s and instead are able to move forward through competition. The original game whitebox is very simple but the eventual layout of the

Yuxin designed the characters and I worked on designing the background. I was able to adapt the style sheet from the previous projects for the class.

Below is a gallery made up of concept by myself and Yuxin and reference art and proposals plans that were collected for the game pitch that was developed for the class. These pitches and mood boards were shared with the class in a presentation designed to convince other students to join our project.

2023/09/05

PROJECT

This week I added 40 seconds to my storyboard for a total of 1 minute 10 seconds. I shared the last version of my animatic with other Design students and they had some good notes.

FEEDBACK

RESEARCH

This week I started reading How to be a Woman Online: Surviving Abuse and Harassment, and How to Fight Back by Nina Jankowicz. I added the introduction to my annotated bibliography which was filled with research and sources about the severity of harassment towards women online. The next section I will annotate is a whole interview and chapter with one of the women that was targeted during the massive online harassment campaign against several female game developers.

I also added two more sources for depicting digital and physical interaction in film to my annotated bibliography. These sources identify the design challenges associated with the coexistence of someone interacting with other people online. I will use these articles to support the second part of my research framework which is identifying and working through the design challenges of depicting digital and physical interactions simultaneously.

2023/09/11

PROJECT

This week I added 20 seconds to my storyboard/animatic for a total of 1 minute 30 seconds. The current feedback:

  • move the victory pose order around in the beginning

  • Add more than one weapon selection gag (timing permit)

I am enjoying watching the characters personality show up in the drawings. I am trying to draw loosely so I can work faster but also see different expressions to figure out what her 3D models will look like to achieve that emotional range.

I also created a sword design for ACCAD 7104 Procedural Animation that I plan to use for the Knight’s sword. Some of the procedural animation things I worked on for the first assignment I might be able to utilize in the story points for the second act of the animation. For the class I found a node that can turn the sword into something that sort of looks like a balloon sword. That might be a fun gag for the second arc of the story to have her turn his weapon into a balloon sword.

RESEARCH

For the research section this week I finished reading and sourcing the section on GamerGate from How to be a Woman Online: Surviving Abuse and Harassment, and How to Fight Back by Nina Jankowicz. The chapter was actually a bit disappointing for sourcing purposes so I’ll have to go back to the news articles and other interviews I read about from the victims of the attack.

I also started the Frankenstein process of taking parts of papers I’ve already written and added them to my outline for my paper.

2023/09/19

PROJECT

This week I added over a minute to my storyboard/animatic for a total of 2 minute 25 seconds. I actually made more content but found myself tweaking and changing things as I went along. After sharing the latest edit with my friend Ava I realized I need to get a script for the second half so I am not spending time drawing things I don’t need to draw. The current feedback:

  • move the victory pose order around in the beginning

  • Add more than one weapon selection gag (timing permit)

  • Cut looking at sign section. 2:02 - 2:14. Have walk forward and almost trip over edge instead

  • Learn the jump. Cut back to real world here to show actual view

So I am going to set a high priority on writing the script for the second half so that I can have a finished version of the storyboard/animatic by the end of September deadline. After this week of higher production I’m confident I can hit that deadline.

I was even able to make a few additional frames that I might be able to implement in later iterations of the animatic.

RESEARCH

I intended to focus on writing my introduction this week but since I’ll be out of town the rest of the week I thought that it would be easier to focus on the research side while I’m traveling than the art/project section. So I bumped most of my research goals and was able to get a lot more done project side this week. I did contracts a rough draft for the introduction with a few additional research papers I found in my DEIGN 6300 coursework.

Frayling, C. (1993). Research in Art and Design. Royal College of Art, 1(1), 1–5.

Mukherjee, D. (2020). Animated Documentary as a Social Tool. Animation Studies, 15. https://journal.animationstudies.org/debjani-mukherjee-animated-documentary-as-a-social-tool/

2023/10/02

RESEARCH

For research this week I read through the first volume of PLOX, a graphic novel about the conflict and relationship between three guild members (Chad, Kim, and Roy) playing World of Warcraft right before the Wrath of the Lich King launched. The graphic novel uses a number of visual design techniques that I have been categorizing for the online interaction depiction design research side of my project.

The first design style used is the player interacting with the computer. Like The Guild, most of PLOX takes place in the real world with limited gameplay shown on a screen. Players are shown to interact with one another through typing and talking through voice chat.

Typing

Hands on Keyboard

In this Image you can see Kim’s Triforce Earrings.

Lightbox and pencils draw over scan.

Talking via headset

One interesting use of the chat bubble was to hit the enter key on a keyboard, combining a few of the techniques above for a unique depiction of an interaction with a keyboard!

Typed chat bubbles from the main character become square and the font shifts when the player is typing.

Talking through in game chat

Sometimes the chat bubbles come directly from the screens and sometimes the font color or style will change to indicate that the chat bubbles, while coming from the person, are being typed. Over the shoulder screen shots are mostly used to show communication.

The text also shifts to the same color as the in game private messaging.

An interesting technique used by the artist is to integrate the private messages into environment shots to show transitions between reality and online. In this image the bleak background set in the real world matches the main characters emotional state as he reflects on the conflict he is having with his friends inside and outside the game.

In this image an overlay of Chad’s face is shown when they are enraged to find out they have been removed from the guild by one of their closest friends. You can see the characters anger and hyper focus on the action that enraged them.

As the story progresses Chad dreams conversations with his own avatar and his friends Avatars that offer him advice throughout his conflict. This technique is used rarely but is memorable when utilized.

In this image the Chad is given advice from their friend Roy in a dream through Roy’s avatar MEATSAUCE.

In this scene Chad refers to his own Avatar by the Avatar’s name. When people perceive a social distinction between themselves and the character this is called Dyadic identification. If the player experience a merging of their own self and the avatar (no social distinction) this is called Monadic identification (Klimmt et al 2009).

When the characters finally reunite their they are shown together above their Avatars.

I also wanted to note that small references to gamer culture are present in characters. While the earrings on Kim become a plot point, they aren’t mentioned earlier in the comic but are a reference to the Triforce from The Legend of Zelda series. Including references for gamers helps increase the authenticity of the story and author’s perspective. The title of the comic is not just the name of the guild but also a reference to video game slang with “plox” being slang for “please”. During the time period this game took place players might type, “LF Guild PLOX!1!” Meaning they were looking for a guild to join.

The Triforce from The Legend of Zelda series.

Link obtaining the Triforce after defeating Ganon in A Link to the Past.

PROJECT

This week I progressed through the animatic to when the knight first converses with Mya. I removed and edited some of the middle section after Mya first sees the video game world. I also had an opportunity to share my animatic with multiple industry professionals. This was some of their feedback:

  • Michael Altman, Animator and Rigging Artists at Disney Animation:

    • You could have fun with the couch scene to emphasize her energy. have her bounce from the back to the couch to the floor and add other flourishes to show how much energy and excitement she has to play the new game.

    • The snow section doesn’t seem necessary. You could probably start a different way

    • Have three gags for the weapons. Maybe for the sword she could slash her shirt.

  • Elizabeth Lee, Animator at Nickelodeon:

    • The story is just like you described and easy to follow

  • Met with Emily Subr about Environment Modeling. Constructed interior modeling goals and found reference together for the interior.

  • Started gathering reference for the 3D in game style exterior world.

  • Met with Hanzhe Zhang about sound design and music composition. Provided ideas on sound & music direction. Expressed willingness/excitement to do both.

2023/10/09

RESEARCH

This week I created a rough title for my thesis paper, “Design, Storytelling, and Visual Investigations into Harassment in Games Research”. The title needs some work but whatever title I come up with should encompass my multilayered and connective approach to project based research. My notes from last week:

[Notes: This is a paper about an aspect of a project that I’m making. This paper accompanies a project. Be more clear about the intent of the film and what the paper is about. Introduce yourself, your profession, and this is the media you are working within. Making an animated film to talk about these issues. And here are the issues you are talking about. Here is the audience this is for and what is the purpose. Making a paper that specifically examines this broader topic. Mention also a gamer and your own experiences. It's ok to include personal experience. This is why, maybe it comes up to the top when mentioning these personal experiences.]

I tried to address last week’s notes into my introduction, including sections on my personal experience with animation, vfx, games, and as a player in video games. I then started sectioning out the research into question areas I am investigating and then sorting related research articles into those question sections:

  1. Is harassment in games a problem?

    1. Find supporting articles that highlight the significance

  2. Why is harassment/bullying in games such a problem?

    • Online anonymity

    • The online disinhibition effect

    • In-Out group dynamics

    • Harassment within the game development industry

      • Industry wide statistics

      • Blizzard case study

      • Riot Case study

  3. Moving forward

    • How game companies are tackling harassment

    • research suggestions for reducing harassment in games

PROJECT

For the project this week I pushed very hard to get a full animatic. I drew 122 individual frames and added 2 whole minutes to the animatic.

I quite like how the story plays out and the pacing and the character arcs. But the runtime and shot number has me concerned. This is a very reasonable animated short film for a team of 5 people working together intensely. With just me as the primary person on the project with assistance in various section is more concerning for successful completion by my deadline. I definitely have to talk with Maria because I am not 100% sure how to proceed.

With that in mind I have been thinking about alternative options moving forward:

  • Graphic Novel: I could transition my project to a graphic novel. I would rework this story to have refined drawings and comic transitions. I would have time to make the piece really high quality. With extra time I could make comics for the other ideas, documentation of events, and stories that are more relevant to harassment.

  • Middle Section of story all 8-bit: I could make a short for the beginning and end section and make the middle section to just pixel art game characters. While this would still be a time crunch the workload might be more manageable.

  • Middle Section of Story playable game: If I spent time reworking the middle section of the game prototype to fit the middle section of the story the thesis could be interactable even if the knight is just a secondary character.

  • Edit: I could edit the story significantly to be shorter. This seems like the most reasonable based on my initial proposal. But I quite like the flow of the story now and I’m not certain that it would work as well with a tighter runtime.

For ACCAD 7104 I had an assignment in particles so I tried to overlap the assignment with the portal Mya goes through in the beginning of the film.

Here is my documentation for that class:

For this project I tried to split my time between experimenting/play and trying to get a particular look. 

I started out with a loose goal of making a portal for my thesis. The general target look is cute and playful.

I missed one of the classes and always felt a touch behind in understanding particles but I was able to build and experiment with some of the techniques we learned previously. 

The first thing I tried to tackle was magic stars that float in the middle of the portal. I created these stars with a platonic and starburst node. I then manually fused some edges. There is probably a faster way but this got that sort of Steeler logo star look. 

For the stars I got stuck for a while: 

  1. trying to get the stars to be scaled down individually with random scale

  2. Trying to get the stars to be the same direction

  3. Trying to get the stars rotating slightly as a group

Solutions:

  1. In class I searched for randomize nodes and attributerandomize came up. Entering scale into the attribute name and setting a uniform min max range worked great. When I first created this node it came with a random color example and I was able to get bonus random colors on the stars. Checking the seed attribute id allowed the starts to stay the same color as other particles died out. 

  2. I asked this question in class and after an explanation about Normals an attributecreate node with an N in the name instantly fixed the rotations on the stars, no other changes needed. 

  3. I tried for a while to get this working with the pops in the dop net. Eventually I just keyed subtle animation to rotate the stars to solve this one.

The next thing I experimented was smaller particles that would emit from a wobbly outside circle. I tried to follow this tutorial but the expression method didn’t work on my end. So I kept making particles the way we were shown in class. But I did learn about point jitter. I tried for a while to figure out how to key or get the jitter to move in a reasonable way using seed. But that wasn’t the trick. The trick was to use a CHOP sin wave in point jitter axis scales. I added an attribute noise and once again I get free colors! I plugged a sin wave into the element size. This took a bit of manipulation to get the wave in the right place, but once I got it I got subtle color movement over time. 

From there I used a nurbs curve of the moving circle as an emitter. I had particles shoot out with a bit of wander. The particles picked up the color of the background which was fun. 

I spent a bit of time looking at how I would actually shade and render this portal by watching these tutorials. 

From there I just kept duplicating and experimenting with different ways to shoot out particles.I did lots of back and forth to get the particles looking the way I imagined. 

Then…I also did the thing we weren’t supposed to do and tried to experiment with rendering. I rendered out the inner sparkles and ring emitting color particles and messed around with noise and blend modes in after effects. I want to go back in and color the emitting color particles better and get things more in a pink color pallet. I also wouldn’t mind rendering out the rainbow wobbly circle bases to use as masks. This process locked up my machine for a few hours but I got to experiment with many different ways to composite the simple particle pass. 

There is definitely more I want to do to this portal to make it seem more cohesive. I’m not a huge fan of the rainbow circle colors the way they are now. I could definitely change it if I re-rendered them separately. But for now I think I’m heading in the right direction for my target. but I’m not disappointed with what I was able to composite with the relatively simple particle simulations. I’m excited for when we can use fire because that might make for another nice layering effect. The next thing to figure out is getting the circle emitting particles to draw on as if they were following a magic wand. I’m not sure how to do this with what I’ve done so far but I have some ideas based on things we have learned so far. 

I am definitely more comfortable in Houdini than I was in p5js, in part because I already knew the software a bit. But this is all still new content for me. I’m happy with the first half of the class because with a few small tools I’m able to combine things quite quickly to create pretty things. I am getting so many happy accidents just randomly experimenting with nodes which is very fun for me. And unlike with p5js I already know 3D well enough to have an idea how to do some workarounds for when I do get stuck. 

Emily started working on some beautiful trees that would go behind the portal. I did draw overs on her first pass on two models to have softer curves. I also searched for more specific reference for the style.

2023/10/17

RESEARCH

After speaking with my advisor the plan for this week was to do a vertical slice of the graphic novel idea to see if that was a good direction for moving forward.

This week I parsed through my previous writings and added 10 pages to my thesis writing content for a total of 14 pages of what I would consider between a Frankenstein of previous writings and a first draft stage of writing. This week I focused on harassment research and visual depictions of video game interaction research. I reviewed and sourced 11 additional references to support this research section, which takes up a large chunk of my writing time.

PROJECT

This week I shared the first draft complete animatic with a number of people and got some great feedback.

I started on the vertical slice comic by gathering reference for the main character. Curly hair is always a challenge and since this character is based off my niece who has very curly hair I knew I would have to look at not just photo reference but how other artists drew curly hair. I made a reference board with some of my favorite artists as well as the best google searches. It was genuinely hard to find drawings of people with curly hair! It seems like many artists avoid drawing curls, so I know I have to figure out a style that works well since I will be drawing many curls.

After I selected a section that I thought I could handle for the vertical slice I opened up Maya and referenced in a 3D model I found when looking for something to work through for the previs animation.

I posed this model and used it for drawing reference. It took several iterations to get the pose similar to what I had in mind.

After setting the pose I created a layout for the page. I then started drawing an outline for the character and then an outline for the background. I searched online for comic action lines and references for almost every object. I went back and forth on the character design. I would definitely like to do a few tests for this finalized. But I made progress with how to draw mouths and eyes based on lots of trial and error for this one page. After the initial linework was done I went in and cleaned up all the edges, sharpening anything that was too rounded and bolding areas to add more line weight. Flat colors went quickly and shading was a bit slower but I thought it was well worth the effort because it really elevated the character. The last thing I added was the user interface. After my first attempt I realized there needed to be more UI elements to make the victory pose have more energy and association with game elements. I opened up illustrator and made icons and banners that I can hopefully reuse for other parts of the comic. You can click through the gallery to see the design progress of the page.

The icons I made for the top half of the comic. I tried to use bright colors. I searched for phone game references as modern games have lots of examples of icon language. The more I could express without words the better. There is a settings button, a replay button, a share button, a next button, and an exit button.

The icons I made for the top half of the comic. I tried to use bright colors. I searched for phone game references as modern games have lots of examples of icon language. The more I could express without words the better. There is a settings button, a replay button, a share button, a next button, and an exit button. This was the final page art for the vertical slice.

I also started working on pencils and posing for the next page. But I decided to refine the existing page instead with the additional UI elements.

2023/10/24

RESEARCH

After speaking with my advisor the plan for this week was to do another vertical slice of a different style of comic. This comic would be a visual representation of sections of my research paper. Combining these graphic novel pages as a sort of braided essay within the story I’m already making would be a good way to connect my designer perspective on the story with my problem space research.

I also created a mind map of my research topics and connected the existing story to areas of the problem space that the story was touching upon.

PROJECT

This week the project was a style inspired by my favorite graphic novelist, Lucy Knisley. She works research into a story, weaving it together like a braided essay. Her stories are personal, based on her own life, but they are analytical and informative at the same time. As I was looking into Lucy’s background I saw her masters degree was from the Center for Cartoon Studies. I had not heard of this school before and wondered if they had any online classes. There is a workshop class that runs from January 8-12 and then extends for an optional 8 weeks. I wondered if this workshop was something I could apply for a grant from OSU to attend, as it was highly related to my thesis.

I started out searching for fonts that are a part of the standard comic book visual language. https://blambot.com/ was a great resource and offered many free fonts.

I also created a 5 page rough layout for a vertical slice idea for a section of my research. This vertical slice reviews xbox’s community standards and serves to educate readers on what is considered illegal harassment (in the workplace), how the gaming community is divided on trash talking being ok, and how other companies are approaching toxic/disruptive behavior. The goal was to make a vertical slice but because I wanted to get all my thoughts out I made a general map of the key talking points and images I had in mind. I refined a few pages more than the others to give an idea of the layout I had in mind.

Figuring out the layouts is hard! I spend a lot of time moving the text boxes and images around, even in this rough state where there aren’t even images on most of the pages, yet. I tried to follow the clarity principle outlined by Scott McCloud. While I still have many drawings to add I tried to find information that made more sense to me as a visual. Reading what Xbox’s Community Standards defined as acceptable seemed so ridiculous in my head but so much more ridiculous when you see it on the page. I added check marks to emphasize how OK the company is with this language, even if it is going to contribute to more unsportsmanlike conduct.

But the hardest thing about turning complex ideas into a comic is simplifying them. I have so much additional information I want to add from my research. But finding a way to get my throughs across simply and concisely is what will make them more memorable. I think even this pass could be simplified more but it really is one of the hardest things about turning my research into a graphic novel!

The conclusion I think I want to draw for this section is that I like the ‘disruptive behavior’ approach rather than saying trash talking is fine as long as it doesn’t cross a line. I also want to add a challenge somewhere in the trash talking section that asks, “what if someone uses all the acceptable behavior but does it aggressively and repeatedly? Is that not harassment?” The disruptive model addresses that so I think that model works better on that aspect, as well.

This was a good exercise but I really do still want to return to my story as it focuses on the positives of gaming like the fun! I think these tangents or mini graphic novel essays will work well integrated into my research project and help me to defend my thesis overall. But I don’t want them to be the main focus of my time. These sections capture my research but they don’t capture the feeling of playing a game and being harassed. I still want to work as a designer and storyteller first and I still believe the story I came up with integrates my research much more fluidly and tangibly for my target audience.

I can already see sections I want to add to this work, though. I want to make it more clear how inconsistent I think it is to say you want players to be good sports but then also go and tell them it is ok to tell other players they suck.

After thinking about the layout I decided that the pages will benefit in clarity from a less is more approach, where less information is packed onto each page, giving more space and breathing room for visuals. I made notes on top of my existing rough layout.

2023/10/31

RESEARCH

This week I read through a few of the parts of Building Stories by Chris Ware, a comic collection of stories created over 10 years compiled into various formats that form a sort of game that requires you to build the story as you go. Because I am working on visualizing my trash talking research I looked into statistics and articles on perspectives on trash talking in games.

I started asking my friends for their thoughts on trash talking, saying there was no wrong answer and that I was looking for a diverse range of perspectives on trash talking. I plan to use these real responses in my graphic novel.

“I like trash talking between friends but I hate it when it comes from randos.”

“As long as the trash talk doesn’t outweigh the fun of the game I’m ok with it.”

“I won’t play online games because I can’t stand trash talking or harassment.”

“I like trash talking unless it happens to me.”

“I might trash talk my friends occasionally but I think trash talking online can ruin collaboration.”

I plan to ask this question this upcoming weekend at Blizzcon and gather the results together to

I also looked into various online formats for sharing an interactive comic. For now I will probably use Publuu because it allows gifs and videos and website embedding but eventually I will try to setup in Unity because that might allow for layered animation.

PROJECT

For the project this week I continued refining the comic project. I was able to get three pages close to finish. I wanted to get further because I want these pages completed for the presentation on November 27. But making comics takes a long time, especially if there is color and a lot of drawings. I want to spend most of my remaining time in November focusing on my writing and presentation so I’ll have to wrap up with this section on trash talking no later than November 13. In the embedded publuu below you can hit the full screen icon to view the progress on the comic on your full monitor.

2023/11/14

RESEARCH

While attending Blizzcon I had many opportunities to speak with video game players about their thoughts on trash talking as the convention has many lines that can last 30 minutes to an hour for each store, playtest, or presentation. I would start out the conversation by introducing myself as a graduate student researching video games and harassment. I said that I am working to translate my research into comics/graphic novel spreads to make the research more digestible. I then said I am working on a multi page spread where I ask players about trash talking, which I mention is not the same as harassment. I said I am looking for a small blurb on opinions about trash talking from real gamers that I can add to the spread. I said there is no wrong answer because I am trying to show that gamers have a wide range of opinions on trash talking. I said the answers would be anonymous and I would draw a randomized person voicing each opinion. On the page spread.

Some players would ask what the difference between trash talking and harassment was before answering. But many were just so interested in sharing their thoughts that they provided pages long answers.

Any woman I interviewed was in a couple. I’m just noting this because I observed that there are not many women traveling without a friend or partner at Blizzcon (I conducted all my interviews while standing in line with one female friend). Here were the answers collected at Blizzcon

“It's one of the biggest things I don't like about gaming. I don't like it at all. If I can hide the chat I will.”

“I like it when someone shows their ego and then they lose so I use that to crush their ego. In mobile games I like when there are emojis so you can still 'chat'.”

“I love trash talking. Our guild is very much about trash talking. New people don’t get trash talked. But once they feel comfortable enough to start trash talking us and cross that boundary then they are part of the trash talking.”

“In League [League of Legends] I type gg ez every single game!!” *This is discouraged in League of Legends but occurs frequently. 

“I have no problem with trash talking. Trash talking has been part of video games and sports forever...as long as it doesn't go too far. When you criticize peoples races, gender sexuality that is going too far!”

“Trash talking is something that works really well when you know the people but not when it is from a stranger.”

“Uh, I think trash talking is good to a point but there is a reason I mute all communications in game.”

“Emote trash talking is super toxic.”

“Trash talking is really fun if everyone involved is ok with it. But sometimes I'm in a bad mood and I can't handle it.”

“I don't talk because I hate trash talking so much. My partner talks for both of us.”

“Overcooked can create emotional turmoil. I like pure collaboration.”

“Trash talking is situational. In the heat of the moment it always feels cool, but blind, over the computer you might not feel cool with it.”

“Throwing insults for no reason because you can feel like I’m playing with a bunch of old children.”

“It’s ok if you are friends.”

“There are different levels: There is friendly and then there is the type that just does anything they can get away with.”

“Trash talking can be healthy but there is a boundary. As soon as you bring in race it's bad. “GG EZ” is OK. It’s kind of a troll. Kind of like a competitive thing.”

“For me, I’m not a trash talker to strangers. Maybe people in my guild. Usually I enjoy my peers having a good time. From strangers, context is hard for sarcasm. Over voice I have it turned off to avoid trash talking.”

“It depends on the game you are playing. For casuals or beginners it is uncalled for to trash talk too far. If you are playing a high ranking game in an FPS [First person shooter] then it is almost expected.”

“Just be ethical about it.”

“I have different expectations for trash talking. Trash talking in Overcooked ruins the game but I expect trash talking in Spec Ops: The Line.” *Overcooked is a collaborative cooking game and Spec Ops: The Line is a first person shooter

So far I have asked 25 people. You can find the full transcription here.

I took some time to attend the Raina Telgemeier show at the Comic Museum. Her work as a New York Times Bestselling Author published by Scholastic was shown with original pencils, inks, and her thoughts on the market for comic stories told from the perspective of a child and young adult for children and young adults. I started reading one of her first published works, Smile. She has a beautiful way of inking and her work feels very personal and relatable.

My advisor also reviewed the current state of my writing this week and I started reviewing the suggestions and adding them to my to-do list for next week in my progress report. I started adding my gathered research from films and comics showing video game interaction to a spreadsheet. Here is a link to the current spreadsheet. Here is an example of what the categories and spreadsheet looks like:

PROJECT

These last few weeks were research heavy but for project I was able to start drawing out the randomized people for the research gathered data on trash talking section of the comic. I plan to draw more people for a number of the quotes from the trash talking player responses. I plan to do characters that are random but I think I should leave the gender of the participant the same.

Emily Subr modeled a 3D interior environment for The Gamer comic to use as environment drawing reference when placing the character.

Yuxin created and textured painterly rocks for the video game world, helping to develop the visual style.

2023/11/20

RESEARCH

Reviewed How to Draw Comics the Scholarly Way in preparation for my presentation. I expanded upon the Braided Essay Layout and started converting and estimating the length for sections. My target was to get the whole graphic novel under 100 pages.

PROJECT

This week I created a rough layout of the graphic novel. I laid out all the drawings I created for the animatic and other comics I’ve made into a rough draft for the comic. I was working very quickly to showcase all the work I have done so far in this semester and how it relates more closely to how my final project will function. There were over 350 drawings I created for the animatic so there are thousands of ways that I could layout out the images. As I was roughly placing the images there were some sections that if was clear that something that was very clear in an animatic was less clear in a comic. Those sections would need new designs and clarity. But for now the rough draft helps to serve as a prototype for my thesis plan to share with my committee and in my presentation.

I also continued to draw characters for the Trash Talking section of the comic.

2023/11/27

RESEARCH

This week I presented my third year progress in front of the design professors. I spent this week organizing research for supporting arguments for the benefits of comics and braided essays to support my design research creating a method for converting complex topics into a more accessible and digestible medium.

You can view the Presentation here.

The feedback I received from the design professors:

Seb: To show effectiveness of the method you can do a test, boring format ask to complete a questionnaire, and see if the method is more conducive than just a paper. Email me about developing that A & B testing.

Mary Anne: Your subtitle is more likely your title.

Jeff: There is room to include the classical research in visual storytelling and visual narratives when communicating emotional expression.

Peter: You write about the writing to visualization but you can also write about the typographic strategies. You consider visualization but you can also discuss how text can have a tone of voice. You can discuss your visual strategy and tone of voice. First person, second person, all of those decisions. Type integrated with the comic and time sequence. Type as a brand and visual form. Analysis structure to build upon this method. Feel free to email me and we can meet and discuss more.

Thomas: You are braided methods or approaches to creating the comic as well as the braiding of the comic itself. Any of these methods could be utilized by other researchers hoping to visualize complex problems and data. You should also shoot Dr. Richardson an email about asking about how to talk about comics as research for additional resources.

Reflecting on Thomas and Peter’s feedback I think I can talk about different methods that I approached creating the comic. I can use the specific example for me trying to describe how difficult it can be to show harassment online and how the design choices create bias. When writing about the topic I came up with several examples and metaphors and described the visuals. But I realized people were not fully grasping the challenges of designing the decisions and a comic with me showing the differences of those decisions can much more concisely show the idea. This could potentially be the comic I use in the A & B test Seb was recommending or it could be an example case in my project paper documenting the process.

For the presentation I spent the most time designing the visual for the braided essay to help share my research plan. In this visual I am conveying the thread of topics I am weaving together as an index for the different comics I am putting together in this braid.

PROJECT

This week I added a few line drawings of people that will be added to the trash talking page and I also added video to the Heyzine comic for the presentation. I asked people for other ideas for people I could add and got suggestions to add a muscular male football player and a red headed male.

2023/12/04

RESEARCH

This week I was happy to learn that my funding request was awarded for $350 for the Career Development grant. I’ve been very defeated these past weeks with my chronic pain flare ups and seemingly slow thesis progression (even though I’m putting in 40+ hours each week). But receiving this award has been reinvigorating to strive toward my goals. When I received the grant award email immediately went and registered for the Center for Cartoon Studies Online Graphic Novel Workshop with Paul Karasik. This workshop runs from January 8-12, 2024 online and an 8 week online extension of the workshop where students have the opportunity to refine their work with faculty and peers, and complete comprehensive final drafts of their projects. I have to ask Maria about additional funding opportunities I might be able to get from the Department of Design to supplement the $1075 cost of the workshop plus ~$140 in recommended supplies.

I also started gathering together all the comics and graphic novels that I have been reading but not necessarily documenting here. I have been noting sections that will be helpful reference for drawing or layout purposes in almost all of these books. I have read full series of Ranma 1/2 (vol 1 - 36), InuYasha (vol 1- 56), Mars (vol 1 - 15), and Scott Pilgrim (vol 1 - 5). Though, I have read most of these series multiple time through, just not with the editing/designer reference eye. I will use this section to help put together style ideas for the different comic braid threads.

PROJECT

This week I continued drawing and making pages and trying to improve layouts. I had the idea for this layout and it turned out close to what I was imagining. But I experimented with less text to try to help it feel less busy. I asked a few people for initial reactions and realized most people preferred the version with the least amount of text.

Digital Blue Pencil Layout + Animatic Rough Draft, Procreate

Second Draft 3D Set & Character Reference, Procreate

Layout Reference: Adventure Zone Vol 1

I also tried converting a video transition section to a more comic style layout. This is still a rough draft. The drawings Scott Pilgrim was one of the main references.

For the very first page of Mya’s Adventure/The gamer braid thread I found reference in the first page of adventure zone for layout ideas. This page lays out the space and then has four panels to introduce three characters and their dynamic. I am introducing one character and one environment. I thought about introducing the living room space but one of the critiques from my second year review was to show that the character does have an active life outside of video games and another critique from Brenda Chapman was to introduce the character’s helpful personality trait early. So showing her helping another person build a snowman outside in the first image can address both of those points while also letting me quickly get to Mya’s love and excitement to play her video game. Following through with a note from a previous meeting I am doing this version in pencil and ink but I am using some digital technology and a lightbox to help in the drafting phases.

I noted that when I printed out the second draft drawing with refined text I realized I could lower the scale of the text at least 2 points. I plan to do a few printing tests on the text to test the printed text size. I was using 14 pt but it appeared too large when compared to my references.

When I was drawing with the lightbox I found that I wasn’t tracing for the character or even all of the background. But the lightbox really helped with perspective and cleaning up the drawings, especially for the backgrounds.

Animatic Converted to Rough Draft

Second Draft Rough Drawing, Procreate

Second Draft Text Bubble Refinement, Procreate

Repositioning of background and text scale and layout adjustments, Photoshop

Digital Blue Pencil Layout, Procreate

Second Draft Rough Text, Procreate

Printed and taped to lightbox for drawing.

Initial inking for establishing and first 2 panels. Adjustment in pencil for eyes and bag text.

On Monday I met with Kat Leonardo for a two hour zoom chat. She is a comic artist and previous OSU undergrad. She got her masters from the Center for Cartoon Studies. I asked her about CCS, since I’ll be attending the workshop in January, and she said has a rolling admission so people can apply at any time. She said she moved to New Hampshire and went to school in Vermont. The school is perfectly located so you don’t have distractions. Really beautiful. If you are fine with lots of snow it is great and helps you focus on making work. She said she stayed up every night making comics. After graduation she moved to California and she now works at the Peanut studio in California.

Tips/critique for Comics:

Manga does an upside down T for gutters. You are intuitively doing this and that is great.

Have you read any comics by the Nib? Almost shut down but historically a comics journalism site. Great examples of comics journalism for the stylization for your research braid.

Your style is very similar to manga, where your gutters are not aligned, which is very helpful for reading. Add thinner vertical and thicker horizontal, subconsciously it helps reading legibility.

Generally there is more back and forth when it comes to the page styles that are like your research pages so they take longer. The flow visually and informatively has to make sense. It is like the braid and making it as digestible as possible.

Consider using an Alias when publishing online. There are many people who lack basic online literacy.

Page 12 the top side 4 panels are a bit confusing change the scale to improve the read order.

Page 15 the thinner vertical and thicker horizontal it is easy to make your way through the page. If you can make the text smaller you can have more room for the art. Reduce the text side. The amount of words isn’t too much.

It is good to have it laid out in this page rather than vertical scroll because people spend more time with it.

When you scroll through a web comic you consume it much faster but it turns it closer to animation. Page comics you can really slow down so it is good you are using this format.

Start with the braid introduction because it will help the transitions for the reader.

Vertical scroll and different comic designs for online

Go all out for some shots layout wise, especially establishing shots, but not all pages need extraordinary layout.

Consider having overlapping parts of the frame. Using diagonals in your gutters can also add interest.

Look into other Dungeons and Dragons comics for reference. Daughter of the Lilies is a great reference.

Now is a great time to get into comics with the market open to print and web.

References to check out:

https://madijobaker.com/hourlies

https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/1029

https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/1023

https://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/1019

Part of the fun of comics is anything can be anything. Anything can be a panel. Anything can be a vehicle to tell a story.

Kill Six Billion Demons.

https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comic/wheel-smashing-lord-3-54-to-3-55/

https://tensukemarket.japanmarketplace.com/

Advice on trips to Japan. Zip Air out of west boast. Hatachi seaside park, summer is fields of blue flowers. In the fall those flowers are red bushes. October is a more affordable time to go. Cherry blossom season is way more beautiful. Snoopy café was really well priced for two course meal in Harajuko. Favorite thing in Tokyo was walking galleries.

2024/1/12

Workshop

I created a PowerPoint to summarize what I learned from the workshop.

I also took about 75 pages worth of notes from the workshop that I will summarize and will be the starting foundation for my paper.

2024/1/16

RESEARCH

After meeting with Maria we set a goal for my research for this week was to create an outline for my paper based off of my comic workshop. Sections we discussed including were some of the differences I noticed as an animator from comics.

We talked about the general schedule for graduation and set a plan for the dates and deadlines. The way the process is typically structured students submit their completed paper to their committee two weeks prior to their scheduled oral exam. At the oral exam the committee returns the paper with notes and say to make these changes.

My prospective schedule:

3/25 Paper Done

4/8 Oral Exam

4/19 Thesis Paper

4/10 - 4/12 Grad Show Install

4/15 - 4/19 Grad Show

For my presentation Maria suggested that I start filming myself working on the different sections such as penciling or inking.

PROJECT

For this week I completed the thumbnails for the entire planned project. This means adding in two sections in thumbnail format 1.) The Avatar Section 2.) The Finale, the heart of the book.

The first homework assignment at the workshop was to summarize the main feeling of story in one image. I created this image as a result of the assignment. Then as a group we analyzed the image and attempted to talk about the feelings it evoked. The feedback for my image was highly consistent with my entire thesis goals which hit on many of the key sections of my research.

During this homework I reflected on the main feeling of my work. The heart of my story is about the people we interact with online. I realized that the final section could just be me talking about how significant games and the people I have met has been in my life. I can talk about the lasting communities you can be a part of online when you are positive and kind. I can say that I speak from experience that the toxic communities fall to the wayside and the places of collaboration, shared goals, and encouragement bring forth the most lasting relationships. I am imagining sharing drawings of photos of people I’ve met in real life and a map of the locations where my known internet friends live. Perhaps the hours spent gaming.

Sections I wish I could include are personal story about covid and how games helped me function. Impact of Blizzard. But these sections will likely need to be cut for time.

Next

Real Time Lighting in Unreal & Unity