The 99 Tales are written by Matt Madden and I am going to introduce you these creative tales this week.
These 99 tales are the same story but they are told and expressed in different methods. I think it is interesting and amazing to express the same story with different combinations of words and images. Let me take the original one and the one ‘Map’ as the examples. The picture above are the two examples. The right one is the original one and the left one is the map. The original one tells us a man leaves his work and is finding something he wants in the living room. However, when he goes to the living room, his friend asks him a question. Therefore, he forgets what he is looking for and opens the fridge foolishly after he is being asked a question. This story is expressed by a short comic which is with words and images. Actually, the story could be told in a very interesting way. The writer turns it into a map. He uses different spots to tell readers where is the character and what has he done at home. For instance, when he is in the study area, he is sitting on his chair and using his laptop. It is interesting to tell a story in such a creative way indeed.
Apart from the various creative expressions of story, I think that the designs of the pictures, characters and words’ styles are also important elements of the tales. The difference in designs shows different meanings and situations of the story. For example, the original one and the ‘Emanata’ have a very little difference in design. In the sixth picture of the Emanata, some icons of heart have shown. This design makes me imagine that the one who asks the question is the characters’ girlfriend. The character is in love with her sweet voice and therefore he forgets what he is looking for in the living room. Because of the small difference in design, readers could have different understandings of the story. It’s quite amusing!
Moreover, the use of colours creates spaces for readers to think about and get different understandings of the story. Let 's take a look the pictures above. If the design is colourful, like the ‘Superhero’, readers could understand the meanings and story with the colours are shown. For example, the superhero in pictures is in red clothes, readers may imagine that the superhero is brave and upholds justice. But we could have rooms of thinking when we read some story which is expressed in black and white. In ‘Emanata’ which is in black and white, if we imagine the icons of heart are red in colour, we will recognize them as ‘In love’. That means we think that the characters fall in love in the story. However, if the colour of the hearts is black instead of red, readers may have different understanding. They may think that the reason why the character opens the fridge foolishly is that he is very angry or unhappy with he is being asked a question and therefore he opens the fridge accidentally.
All in all, I think that these tales are fascinating which could be expressed in many different interesting ways and become creative stories. I am going to recommend these tales to my friends!
Resource:
The original: http://www.exercisesinstyle.com/images/exercises/01-template.gif
Map: http://www.exercisesinstyle.com/images/exercises/12-map.gif
Emanata: http://www.exercisesinstyle.com/images/exercise/43-emanata.gif
Superhero: http://www.exercisesinstyle.com/images/exercise/superhero.gif
All in all, I think that these tales are fascinating which could be expressed in many different interesting ways and become creative stories. I am going to recommend these tales to my friends!
Resource:
The original: http://www.exercisesinstyle.com/images/exercises/01-template.gif
Map: http://www.exercisesinstyle.com/images/exercises/12-map.gif
Emanata: http://www.exercisesinstyle.com/images/exercise/43-emanata.gif
Superhero: http://www.exercisesinstyle.com/images/exercise/superhero.gif