Plot Development

Plot Development


Whilst producing my graphic novel, I will need to brainstorm and produce several key ideas that I’ll be able to use in order to make a unique graphic novel which will make perfect sense to my audience which are in this case, readers. There are a few key elements I’ll need to take into consideration. Under plot development, I will explain each element in detail to show my knowledge and understanding of each term.

Exposition is simply defined as the part of the story timeline where the settings (location) and characters are introduced. This is most commonly introduced at the beginning of the story however, it can happen further in the story. Exposition is a great code/convention as it helps the audience gain an understanding of the plot from the beginning, it also introduces the main characters in order for the audience to differentiate between the main characters and supporting acts. Within my story, the characters are introduced on a mainland bridge which is located in Japan.


Conflict is well known as the trouble or strain that happens to occur in three stages, it works closely with climax by creating suspense to the story. In my opinion, I’d say it's compulsory to have this element in your story and this is simply because it draws in the audience’s depending on the strength that the conflict holds in your story. The reason conflict is an important element is because it usually helps in creating a relationship with the audience and characters because of the terrible situation that may have taken place within the story. In my story, a nuclear bomb caused a human made earthquake which broke bridges causing cars to crash dramatically, this was my conflict in the story.



Rising of Action is a part of the story where the tension that was caused during the conflict is increased greatly, the situation is tense and things are almost getting out of control. The events that happen during rising of action generally lead to the climax. Rising of Action is important because stories need an increased tension after conflict to give a better understanding of why they're in trouble and also to describe how serious the conflict is, it's all based on exaggeration which puts the audience in their feelings. In my story, the family the story is based on is yanked out of their cars by "Nacho" which is the Japanese equivalent to CIA which is known by Central Intelligence Agency.



Climax is defined as many problems or one problem that can produce a high point in the story. In many stories you can see that the story is near to ending however, not in all stories. The climax is the highest point of all troubles, things are usually not able to get any worse. The reason climaxes are major keys are because you need a midpoint between things getting hectic and things getting better and this is precisely in the middle of both, this has been built-up from the beginning of the story where the conflict was taking place. In my story, the family are brought to a laboratory when they thought they were being saved by the police they were not quite being saved.



Resolution is commonly explained as the part of the story where the conflict has been solved and it often indicates what will happen in the ending however, in most cases the stories result with a happy ending after all the negativity that may have been happening through-out the whole story. The reason Resolution is an important element is because it usually shows the audience why all the negativity makes sense at the ending, by the resolution you should've understood the concept of the story. In my story, a Resolution wasn't including as I finished my comic on a cliff-hanger where the family break out of the human experiment tubes. My audiences will have to see the next comic in order to gather more knowledge of what happens further down the story.

 

Character Development

• Genre

My comic story is based on a heroic family of four, who survived in a severe car crash. Luckily, they were able to stay alive with plenty of help by the government. Although, the story is based on a whole family, it is directed at three main characters which are; Marine-o (pronounced as məˈriːnˈəʊ) who also plays the father in this comic (Sylo), Reign - Real name known as Janet (Daugther) and Obsidian Mermaid (Mother).

• Back Story

The parents of a family of four were given the opportunity to travel to Hiroshima, with the accepted decision of the father. The father who went by the name of Sylo was a professional engineer who was asked by the Japanese government to work on an extraction site for a few months, with the plans of extracting raw materials from the ground. However, during this time Japan were going through problems with other countries, United States in particular. Further down the line, the family moved to Japan and were happy with their lives until, one day they were driving along the dual carriage way and they saw a massive explosion from miles away, the family never thought much of the explosion until, they saw it coming towards them at unbelievable speeds. Cars flipped, windows smashed and airbags exploded. Amongst all the people who were dead at the scene, only a few survived including this specific family. Once they had enough energy, they all exited the car in complete fear.(The family consisted of only two children, son and daughter) The daughter was known as a shy person, she hardly spoke at family gatherings or took part in much activities however, when the car was upside down after the disaster she was the first person on the road to exit their car, the next 5-10 minutes following the father came out of the car shivering of fear. It was confirmed that it was a nuclear bomb that took place, scientists told us that when the nuclear bomb took place there were particles in the air which were proven poisonous, the daughter and father were the first to exit the car and they strongly believe that they inhaled the particles mentioned by the scientists. After being fully diagnosed, the scientists found out that the fathers bones grew stronger underwater and he was able to breathe underwater for up to 6 hours before returning to the surface, the government had plans of taking the daughter for experiments as she had a highly valuable power which included weather change to a degree, she was able to change the weather wherever she was, dependent on how she's feeling at the time.




Sylo (Father)


Character Tropes - This is the element of story that conveys great detail about a character however, they come in two parts.The father who went by the name of Sylo had a good height and a fit weight, he was able to adapt to swimming underwater for great lengths of time so his physical description is fairly understandable later in the story.



Role - This is defined as the part in which a character in a story plays, there are various roles that can be played in stories. For example; Mother, Father, Sister, Cousin, Friend, etc.
Sylo was a hero which also played the key roles as the father of the main family. Sylo isn't a natural born hero and it's only because of the codes and conventions, things that happened during the conflict made the father become a hero.




Motivation - Sylo has several reasons why he does what he does, going into deeper detail of what is mentioned in the backstory. Sylo nearly drowned in the sea after being grabbed by the current, this took place whilst his parents were relaxing on their sunbeds on shore. He helped himself by pushing himself towards a yacht he saw from a distance until, he was spotted by civilians and rescued.


Attitude - Sylo has an nonchalent attitude, he doesn't really care too much and he's very sure that all problems have been solved, the reason for this is that when he recognises the powers he has after the nuclear bomb he becomes more calm however, before he was very strict and less laid back. The bomb held a major effect on him.


Janet/Reign (Daughter) -
Character Tropes - Janet is the daughter, which is later on in the story known as Reign. She was a weakling from young and her brother taunted her regularly throughout their childhood but, never once did she fight back as she was abnormally skinny and she had back problems in her early teenage years, Janet couldn't stand on the spot for too long as she would start to bend as she was the tallest in her family from young. It appears that her body structure helps her further in the story for intense and severe weather conditions.


Role - As explained in the 'Role of Sylo', there are various types of roles that can be played in a story. However, Janet's role is important because although she is known as Sylo's daughter, you'd simply think the father always comes to save the day however, it's the completely in a reversed cycle. In this story, Janet plays the role of a hero and a victim, but it some-how all comes together.


Motivation - Janet has never had enough motivation and this has always been her major downfall however, when she's snatched by the government it seemed as if her heart grew and multiplied in size. Although she was in a car crash she still had 20/20 vision once she was out of the car, she saw her mother being manhandled by armed force whilst Janet herself was being thrown into the back of a top tech van. Ever since, Janet has been different from when she was younger and she has definitely grown a backbone.





Attitude - Janet has always been the strong but, quiet one. She has never been taunted to the point where she would have to use her strength until this incident. Janet has a very positive attitude along with positive energies however, when she turns into Reign it's completely a whole different story. She is so powerful to the point where it is extremely difficult for her to obtain and control herself so it becomes a gigantic disaster.