1. FMP Production Log
Graphic Novel/Comic Book,
Set in medieval times focus
Set of comic strips over a on a hunting story or a
series of newspapers or scouting mission
magazines
Graphic Novel set in
the early 1900’s
focusing on a jazz
3D model of an FMP
idea for a new singer of importance
BRAINSTORM before their fame or
style of jazz club
set in town rising to their fame
3D model of a 1900’s jazz club
Electronic comic strip released environment
online over a period of weeks o
months
Adobe Illustration of a series of old
fashioned 1900’s posters displaying jazz
music and blues instruments to be shown in
music stores to either attract jazz fans or
increase peoples interest in jazz and blues.

2. Settling on an Idea
For my Final Major Project I settled on the idea of creating
a graphic novel based the iconic jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald.
The main reason I chose this as my final idea is because I
enjoy listening to soul and jazz music and already knew a
lot about the subject beforehand, so I knew I would
understand the characters and the time and age.
I focused on Ella Fitzgerald because she is my favourite
jazz singer, and the most relatable for me. I decided to
include other jazz singers who would make guest
appearances or be more involved in the actual plot like
Nina Simone, Ethel Waters and Nat King Cole.

3. Gathering Research
For my research I went into Manchester Town
and entered a few different stores that sold
comics and graphic novels and merchandise like
that.
I took previously written up questionnaires and
asked as many people as I could about their
preferences to Graphic Novels genre, make and
style, and their purpose of being in the store on
that day. I got more than ten responses, including
one from the store owner.

4. Ideas Generation, using research collected
From handing out my questionnaires I have
discovered that the majority of comic and graphic
novel fans prefer hardback books to any other
kind, and would be interested in my idea.
Therefore I have decided to continue working
with my black hardback sketchbook for the
Graphic novel and with the general idea of Ella
Fitzgerald’s rise to fame.

5. Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Forums and Polls,
On carrying out my different types of research (qualitative
and quantitative) I went online to look at statistics of the
best sold kind of graphic novels over the past few years and
the best sold genre and type. This was to get a general
overlook of the preferences of the community as a whole
rather than a close inquiry of specific people’s preferences.
I also looked at numerous comics and graphic novel forums
and polls to witness the overall outlook of the specific
audience of people.

6. Carrying out visual research
Visiting Manchester Art Gallery and Dawson’s Music Store
To carry out extra research I visited
Manchester Art Museum and the Dawson’s
music store to look at 1900’s work more
closely. I found quite a few pieces from the
early 1900’s time frame and photographed
them including furniture and place settings.
When I visited Dawson’s music store to look
for brass instruments such as saxophones
and trumpets that would have been played
back in the 1920’s time. Unfortunately they
didn’t have anything that matched what I
was looking for in stock and only had lyrics
and note books on jazz music so I went
online instead when I returned home and
collected images from their website of old
fashioned types of saxophones and
trumpets and uploaded them onto my blog.

7. Storyline and Character List
The main focus of the project is the storyline as it is essentially a novel. I would create the project by first creating the
rough outline of what would happen, usually by using bullet points to convey the story in small parts from the beginning to
the end, and then read over it and check it to make sure that it flowed well. The bullet points therefore provide structure
to the project, the basic shell of the idea if you will.
I would specifically focus on Ella Fitzgerald's’ life and biography. This would give me a clear idea of what happened in her
early life so I could use the general scenarios in my novel so it appears if only a little realistic and follows most truths of
her life. I would be respectful above all else and show her in a good light so as not to offend anyone, but also because
she has been a idol to both me and my grandmother.
I would hopefully create unique and interesting characters with a story of their own and their own personality, without
veering from the original concept of following Ella.
The title ‘Hollow Queen’ came to me because Ella Fitzgerald was originally the Queen of Jazz. I decided on the title
because I already had an idea of how I could put a fantastical twist into the storyline to add intrigue.
I was thinking that I could add the fictional idea of a temptation which offered her fame and wealth such as a
underhand, back street voodoo character, or demons of some sort beckoning her to accept a deal for glory. This was
mainly because when she was younger she went through a very difficult time which made her vulnerable and
unpredictable, including the death of her mother Tempie and her boyfriend Joe, being sent to a rehabilitation school ,
being beaten and living rough.