Understanding Comics
(Chapters 4-6)
Ch. 4) What do long and short have to do with space and time regarding comics?
How do the visual elements of line portray space, time, motion, direction, and emotional impressions?
What are some specific ways comics create synesthesia as compared to other expressive mediums?
How do styles of expression
through line, as well as culturally defined facial expressions, in
addition to iconic symbolism, create a pictorial language specific to
comics?
When crafting the art of the
invisible, or the art of audience participation, what does
simplification of intended emotional response do for the reader?
Ch. 5) What are the functions of the panel within the craft?
How do elements of the craft, such as the composition and style of the panel articulate or express time and sound?
How does the panel spaces and negative compositional space function similarly or differently to the panels themselves?
Ch. 6) How are word balloons similar to panels and how are they different in their function and variety?
What are some predictions
about the evolution of the dance of words and pictures and why it has
led recently to more cooperative and graceful dances between the art
forms?
What do the ideas of
diversion for the masses and mass commercialization do to the limit the
potential for comics as an example of words and pictures being closely
depicted together?
The most interesting part of our reading this week was in chapter six. The story being told in the pictures as well as with words; each could stand alone and independently do their job very well, but when put together it became a much more emotional and intimate view into this woman's life. This was five separate pictures and the space between the frames (as mentioned in an earlier chapter) told as much as the frames did.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter seven I felt like each of those students, as a creative writer my biggest problem is getting past the frame where the artist says, "Do I even have anything to say?" I think this is one of the largest stumbling blocks of any artist where we have to get past our own inadequacies which hold us back from our own potential. I am often caught in the battle of, "I have to learn more," as our examples did in each of their situations.
Comics seems so straight forward, but from this book I am learning that these artist go through the same self-doubt and conflict that a writer does. Their idiom is met with the same disdain that popular fiction is met with in literary circle.
Nice connection between comics and other forms of creative writing. I hope you'll continue to make these connections!
Delete“How do the visual elements of line portray space, time, motion, direction, and emotional impressions?”
ReplyDeleteTo talk about the visual elements of line is to talk about comics themselves- everything is made of a line. All the backgrounds, all the characters, all the words, all just lines. So in this way, lines create time and space by literally illustrating the scene. McCloud spends a lot of time in this chapter discussing conspicuous action lines in comics and how they, like the image of the smiley face from Ch. 2, help the reader to subconsciously make connections and draw conclusions. The action lines show the diagrammatic movement of the characters, and the composition of the scene draws our eye. McCloud mentions this invisible line which the eye follows on page 96.
“What are the functions of the panel within the craft?”
McCloud says on pg. 99, “The panel acts as a sort of general indicator that time or space is being divided.” He is sure to make clear though that the panel is not an indicator of one moment in time. There can be a lot of moments in just one panel, as illustrated by the long panel on pg. 96. McCloud made it pretty clear in Ch. 1 that comics don't necessarily need the panel to be comics, however the panel has become ubiquitous in the language of the craft. They serve, along with line and text, to guide they eye and communicate the action to the reader. The panel may not contain only one moment, but it is an invaluable tool in organizing the action of the comic.
“What are some predictions about the evolution of the dance of words and pictures and why it has led recently to more cooperative and graceful dances between the art forms?”
I think my favorite part of this chapter was the juxtaposition of the poetry and artwork of the time periods, looking at it through the context of McCloud's pyramid. It's very interesting how the two seemed to separate themselves so much- when one was being abstracted, the other was being super realistic. It is also very interesting to think about the future. As McCloud frames it, it seems as though both art and written word have shifted their positions around the pyramid so much that they seem content almost anywhere within there nowadays. Anything goes, in regards to art. McCloud mentioned the collision in the two with the DaDa movement, and while this was art at its most strange and experimental, with the rise of the internet we are seeing a bit of a revival of this collision attitude. Art and text are no longer mutually exclusive. I am also reminded of this architectural installation at the Museum of Modern Art in NY. You could call it a collision of architecture and word.
http://g.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/codesign/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2013/07/1673028-slide-750-coda-10.jpg
I agree that thinking of comic within the history of art and representation gives it a richness we don't normally hear about! Interesting insights, Tony.
Delete(I'm responding to this question, for reference: How are word balloons similar to panels and how are they different in their function and variety?)
ReplyDeletePanels at the very baseline are functional: they are visual icons that signal a shift in time and or space for the audience by means of the shape of the panel, the number of panels, and the composition of the panels (e.g. spacing, layout). But because they are so versatile, their use becomes a stylistic choice to convey a message more clearly, to nuance meaning, to be playful, suspenseful—you get the idea.
Word balloons are actually quite similar, even though they occupy the space within the panels. They are synaesthetic icons understood by the audience as an indicator of sound in the text. Because sounds occupy a space in time, word bubbles can also orient the reader in time/duration.
Like panels, beyond their basic function, they allow versatility for a multitude of artistic expression for the writer/author. The shape and size of the balloon are one aspect of this, as well as the form and style the actual written text takes within the shape.
Combining these, we could have a large rectangular panel in which a character is small in the center, with 90% of the panel being word bubbles. We know from these cues that the words are likely important as they are dominating the space, and that whatever is being said is occupying a fairly large space in time, depending on other panels on the page. But, if we have a small square panel that shows only an upheld index finger and 95% of the panel is text within a word bubble that fades off into squiggly lines, we know from these cues that we’re probably listening to a chatter-box and what they are saying in particular either isn’t important or is being disregarded by another focal character.
We can see further variation though. Imagine again a character in center with a word bubble being jagged and flying off the page all around them. Inside the text is bolded and in all caps. Here, we can easily imagine someone raging and ranting about something—like a mother raging about her son getting detention, or a man yelling at some idiot for hitting his car, etc.
In word balloons, font can be manipulated for expressive purposes. An immature character may speak in comic sans, while the monster may speak in a font like “Chiller.” The sound effect for “CRASH” may be jagged and off-center, as jarring visually as it’d be audibly. In addition, non-verbal symbols can occupy the word balloon, like Shulz’s moody squiggle clouds. Another example would be in manga, when you may see a heart at the end of their statement within the word balloon. In can be used to signal that someone is being sweet (or sickly sweet, depending on context). For example, “Welcome back, daddy ♥” It can also be used for comedic effect when posed to be sarcastic or ironic, like a teacher saying, “Since I can see that Takeshi-san is so well prepared, I’ll have him illustrate the formula from yesterday on the board for us ♥”
So both are functional tools that are part of the comic medium’s toolbox but that are artistic tools to convey and manipulate meaning in the work.
For discussion: does anyone have an example of a really creative/effective use of word balloons or panels? Or maybe you can think of an example in which if one of these elements were posed different it would radically alter the reading of a particular work/scene?
I don't have much personal experience with reading comics, but from reading this book so far: I didn't realize that the way the comics were read could be altered so much by changing the panels. When McCloud showed various ways a single panel could be given the sense of more time passing (pages 100 - 102), I saw methods of transforming panels (borderless panels, longer panels, etc.) that I was not previously aware of, but that I thought made a huge difference in how the passage of time was perceived.
DeleteI also thought it was really interesting that in the example McCloud provided on page 114, the slanted panels really gave me a sense of speediness. I found another example of this by doing a google search:
http://www.idrawdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/different-panelmanga.jpg
Very thought-provoking questions about word balloons. I like that you're looking for (a la McCloud) ways in which words, too, have imagistic characteristics.
DeleteWhat are some specific ways comics create synesthesia as compared to other expressive mediums?
ReplyDeleteComics, which is strictly a visual medium, is not only able to create a sense of time and space, but can also provoke senses other than sight using various methods. Looking at the examples McCloud provides in chapter 5, I am definitely given a sense of loudness, anxiety, serenity and anger by the panels shown. I think this can be a very effective method of engaging readers and stimulating senses other than sight, which is so important for experiencing a comic fully and differentiating it from other mediums.
I believe that comic creators have developed more and more sophisticated ways of showing motion and emotion in comics. When I saw the early examples in chapter four of a very simplified use of motion lines compared to the ones used by artists such as Jack Kirby, the difference is significant and truly adds to the comic book experience.
It is really interesting to me that comic book artists have become so successful at evoking feelings, sensations, textures, etc. through the use of ink on paper. I believe one of the reasons they are able to do this is because readers fill in the gaps using their imaginations and past experiences. In this way, comic artists make their medium an even more interactive experience for readers. This is another characteristic that differentiates comics from other mediums.
I really appreciated that McCloud also provided the historical context for this change in comics by showing that it was influenced by other types of art. I can definitely see how expressionism influenced comics because this subjective approach to art, radically different from what had come before it, was able to capture not just a scene, but the feelings it evoked in the artist.
I agree that the historical context is useful (although I don't know if everyone agrees with McCloud). And, a very interesting response to the evocation of emotions in comics. Looking at how sophisticated comics artists have become in representing affect/ emotion would be a great paper, Jenny.
Deletechp 4. McCloud shows examples of how differently time can be represented in a comic. His best representation of a long length of time is the ‘zoomed’ out frame of a guy. As I get into technical aspects of what goes into that kind of frame, I think there should be lots of emphasis on what goes into that ‘long’ frame. The artist needs to be cautious of what is drawn in that frame since every bit of detail is important. By showing more of the environment in that frame, it helps explain more to the reader in less words and more visuals. Space on a page is limited. So every inch counts. The more information the better. (most of the time) By copying a frame multiple times doesn’t have as much of an impact since it’s the same information over and over again. He later discusses the importance in showing motion. Those simple little lines are crucial in showing motion. To me, huge factor of showing motion is drawing a person moving mid frame. Having the human body in a position in something other then it being at rest signals to us, the reader, there was a transition from a static position to a moved position. Those delicate little lines trailing the swing of a bat or the repeated lines to show a blurred car have become icons in themselves. They signify movement. I guess I never really thought about where those came from, but comics use them as a main source of communication. So they must of come up with them, right?
ReplyDeletechp 5. There are many functions in the panel that help depict emotion and sounds. By using different line thicknesses and weights it signifies emotions or sounds. Those emotions vary from sadness to anger to joy. It just depends on what the author is trying to portray. As I was emphasizing in my previous statement, every inch on the page is priceless and needs to be payed attention to. By adding more ink to the page in a very aggressive manner portrays anger to the reader. It can be used as backdrops behind characters or it could be visually depicted in the line weights of the characters themselves. What makes a good story is having the reader be emotionally engaged. It is up to the author/artist to grab their readers. Their only tools are paper and ink so every choice they make is impactful with the final result.
chp 6. Just a point I wanted to mention, not relating to the prompted questions. He first talks about how in the early days everything was communicated by stylized pictures carved on walls. Then eventually pictures faded away and became text that was then printed in the new technology of printing presses. With emoji icons we use today, we can practically text our friends, using all icons (pictures) to tell them what we would normally tell them in the form of text. Are we starting to go back to original methods because it’s easier to understand? Does the phrase, “a picture tells a thousand words?” come into play because there is more than can be explained in an emoji icon then texting what we are feeling? Do we find it more convenient to send an icon then write things out? Just something to think about.
The artist has complete control over which way he/she wants the reader to dance among the pages. Whether he/she uses picture specific combinations, duo-specific panels, parallel combinations of words and pictures or just a montage of things, it all leads up to the impact of the deliverables. It has led recently to more cooperative and graceful dances between the art forms by keeping the reader engaged and not let things become predictable. Leaving mystery in things and NOT showing the whole story gives it the needed variety to engage the readers interest.
About your response for chapter 6: That's very true! It is definitely becoming more common for people to communicate using images (whether they are emojis, instagram pictures, gifs, etc.) I think the reasons this is happening more often probably involve convenience and other factors. I also thought it was interesting that you pointed out that people are using quick, simple, convenient icons like emojis to possibly say more than words (a picture says a thousand words) and I think this ties into what McCloud talks about in chapter 2 - about the universality of cartoon imagery and how we see ourselves in these abstracted images.
DeleteReally nice response to how the artist and reader interacts. I wonder if McCloud is suggesting that the reader eventually has more power than this...
DeleteDepending on the length and width of a panel, or image, all images in a scene could happen in as little a second(time wise) or over a much longer space of time. It depends on what space the artist/writer has chosen to use to describe the scene. For example, the long panel on page 95, describes many things happening in the same moment of time, the Uncle saying smile and taking a picture, all the way to the far right of the panel where the two older gentleman are playing chess and talking about the man taking the picture. Its like the camera panning across a scene in a movie, all of these things are taking place in the same moment in time. Long moments can be pictured the same, just by lengthening the panel or using “bleeds” or full page images to describe the scene.
ReplyDeleteLines within the panels also express the emotions in the scene, not just time. The Japanese manga have made this a truly expressive concept, and use distort parts of the background or character to express the emotions in the scene. These distortions portray an array of emotions and actions, like running or sadness, and create a somewhat realistic view. When you’re running, doesn’t it look like the scenery is moving rather than you?
I'm glad you're bringing manga into the conversation, which McCloud often doesn't. I think you're right that Japanese style uses time in a different--and truly expressive--way.
Delete
ReplyDeleteIn response to long and short spaces within comics and their usefulness in showing time to an audience. When perceiving a moment within a comic the time the reader spends to take in the entire moment truly dictates how our minds without any other visual cues add the 4th dimension to paper. If 4 pages within a graphic novel is a series of images showing a character coming to grasps with himself writhing in pain and anguish you will feel that time. When you yourself have to experience the time of scanning over those pages to see what is happening to the character it becomes, although not an accurate depiction of the time, a relatable experience.
Within comics a panel can show comfort, consistency, emotion or lack there of. If every panel has the same style the moment one of contrast shows regardless of context its contents are taken as significant. This could be in itself a form of closure. I really like how McCloud breaks down the way our brains perceive time on paper. These nuances that are inherit to all readers and explains it in such a way that we feel we can lead an audience better than before.
Nice use of closure in your response. I think it's right to expand the definition in this way, Austin.
DeleteChapter 4: the length between comic panels and number of panels between certain moments of time tell a lot about time and space in a comic. You can have two distinct panels each different sizes with completely different picture showing a sharp change in time or place or by presenting more panels in between these multiple panels, you can show a much longer and smooth progression of time. As shown in the McCloud graphic textbook, panels can also present length of time in a single conversation. Having one panel of a man waiting to answer can easily mean a single moment while adding more of the same image over and over again, can show that time was a lot longer than what it looks like. The pause or time was much longer between the question and answer. The way, in which a comic panel is organized, you can show a sudden change in space or a lengthy change in time using a simple layout. Regarding emotional impression, having a longer looking pause, it may represent the lack of concentration or care in one characters personality. In a larger panel showing a scene of multiple interactions, each interaction is a single moment and not occurring at the same time. The order of the bubble language in this panel shows the time and space of the scene. One interaction after another creating a wide look at the party itself. Time is flowing in a single direction and we are winding through it in a single and unstoppable line. Other then the direction of our reading, the use of lines in a comic to represent motion is important in showing something we aren’t able to see in a comic. Each panel represents and instant while the inclusion of lines showing, for example, a ball flying through the air can show not a single instant but multiple seconds of a ball or something else in motion. Lines were adapted over the years in comics to create something that has never been seen anywhere else. The use of lines as these motions can add a depth to a scene showing a powerful transition of time and even space.
ReplyDeleteChapter 6: World bubbles and panel each tell a part of the story. The panel is showing a distinct action as well as emotion while a bubble can extend the panel itself. A single panel showing a picture of a puddle would lack the ability to tell the reader what exactly the puddle has to do with anything. A word bubble can describe why the puddle is there or talk about a character’s interaction with it. There are many combinations of panel and bubble interaction. Each giving a part of the story the other cannot or going hand in hand together to reiterate what each other tells the reader about anything. A vast description using dialogue can open up the world set up by the panels and again vise versa. Larger world created by the panels can lead to better or easier descriptions using dialogue or simple words. When a panel depicts a scene and the bubble follows it, if each element tries to lead the story in the same direction, the story and advertisement will lose it's audience and seem forced. A comic needs to flow well with both panel and dialogue bubbles. A comic isn't a comic if the story is being pulled a long into multiple direction in one panel.
I thought chapters 4 to 6 really explored closely with the structure of a comic. What does it mean for a comic to work with the layout of a page.
Yes, and it can be so hard to focus on structure like this, but I think Hatfield helps us attend to the page in such detail. It can be tedious at times ( !), but I think, ultimately, worth it.
DeleteI found the idea that the width of a panel could create the illusion of a moment lasting longer than a second. I had never really considered that but it made sense. Time is very loose in comics it seems. Lines convey motion in comics as McCloud pointed out, usually through the motion blur. It is interesting how the motion blur has developed and the different ways it can be used; the moving thing can be in focus and the background. can be blurred lines, or the object in motion can have the blurred lines while the background is static.
ReplyDeleteComics have created synesthesia by developing iconic symbols for things like smell and sound that are not really part of the comic reading experience, but are unique to comics. Whereas a book would describe a smell, or a movie lay a track of sound, comics have pictorial symbols that represent these things.
Words and pictures are certainly in a dance with comics and it seems that with more time the art form will only get stronger. McCloud gives examples of a comic strip without words, but with pictures, and then one with the pictures and no words. Both seemed to be lacking something narratively (especially the one without pictures). I feel like the one without words could have worked, but it didn't really mean anything. It was simply a girl running home in the rain to eat ice cream. Words and pictures amplify the other in comics.
McCloud notes that comics are usually considered a lower art form and a diversion of the masses. He cites that this could be a result of advertising's use of words and pictures. I think he failed to mention political propaganda as well. It is a form of advertisement, but with its own cultural stigmas which might lend to comics getting bad reputation.
The comics theorist Charles Hatfield has some very cool stuff to say about how comics use space to represent time. I think that you're getting at that in interesting ways in your response.
DeleteCh 4. talked about the smell lines and the smoke lines and WAM! lines and making movement and I was, again, surprised at how articulate McCloud is with his definitions, explanations and vocabulary. In this chapter, I felt like he gave insight into how well versed he is in art and prose and history. I am amazed at how he draws every style he mentions he is oozing talents and has such a charismatic voice/presence on paper. I really enjoyed the nod to The Futurist and Nude Descending A Staircase.
ReplyDeleteMcCloud knows how every Comic artist is successful. In Chapter 5 he goes on a long and thorough journey through different panel uses and I couldn't imagine being able to explain my craft as well as he can explain his. Did you see he just released a segment of his upcoming graphic novel? It's brilliant.
Chapter 6 is where McCloud lets his ambition show for what he hopes will become of the art form. I like the idea of artist in the Comic/Graphic Novel world searching for a "harmony" between word and image.
Hopefully, McCloud can give us an interesting vocabulary for use in talking about comics this semester! He does have a lot to say about everything, including the smoke and WAM lines.
DeleteMost of the reading this week just left me frustrated with McCloud's attitude. There's a lot of interesting talk about how things like panels and lines function in relation to time and space, but the intent seems to be to try to play apologist for comics. It seems as if he is far too concerned with the way comics as a whole are viewed, and I also think he's making a lot more of some of the criticisms of the medium than reality suggests. I also don't think that a lot of the criticisms are unfounded.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, the discussions about time were my favorite part of this week's reading, as it's always fascinated me how competent comics artists can lead the reader along in the way that they do. How our eyes and minds process time, and how this processing adds a participatory level to taking in comics, is one of the medium's biggest strengths. I think the biggest weakness of visual media is the disconnect between the viewer and the presenter. I think film and television and the fine arts suffer a lot because of this separation, and I think comics is the only visual medium that can provide the best of both worlds. I can feel just as "plugged-in" to the author's brain as I would when reading a novel, but also I can enjoy the simpler, aesthetic beauty of the art. I think that's what makes comics most interesting, so discussions of just how the artists use the tools available to them to drag the reader in to the story are really rewarding to me.
I see what you're saying here. I think it reflects (in a good way!) how far comics have come since McCloud was writing. Even in the '90s, there was still a lot of suspicion of comics, so I think you're write to note that he spends a lot of time explaining himself and trying to argue for comics as important.
DeleteThe concept that the space between the panels can be representative of the story just as much as the panels themselves is increasingly interesting to me. Symbols and white space are a vital part of story telling in the medium because"a picture can evoke an emotional or sensual response...emotions can also be portrayed either between or within panels." (121) This simplicity and vagueness gives the reader power in the storytelling process; and makes the process a richer one. The panel and between panels represent emotion, space, time, moments. It does not break the story into chunks, but connects it.
ReplyDeleteI believe McCloud comparing the medium to abstract/expressionism art is very fitting in my opinion. He says the more distorted the story seems, the more it lends to the reader filling in the blanks. I think there is nothing low brow about that, and I think McCloud may be being overcritical, but then again there would not be much to learn if he wasn't.
I'll be interested in your thoughts when we read Maus and see Spiegelman experimenting with abstract expressionist style in the form of the comic-within-a-comic.
DeleteIt’s interesting to see McCloud’s path of thought through his comics, considering he asks a question, he automatically states what idea comes to our minds, and answers his question accordingly. In regards to the long and short question, he makes an accurate point which probably is overlooked by many, “time and space are one in the same,” when it comes to comics of course. When reading a comic, it isn’t hard to determine the time it takes from one frame to another, but the author can use many creative ways to lengthen or change time by adding more panels, by changing the shape of the said panel, and even by increasing the pause with the same panel repeated numerous times. This may also answer your question about the visual elements used to portray space, time, motion, direction and emotional impressions. It isn’t difficult to follow the visual elements and get a sense of direction, time and motion when it is very clear for us to see.
ReplyDeleteI believe McCloud is an astounding author, especially with his way of writing, he is very detailed and doesn’t lose you with all his ideas, he follows a determined point of focus.
My colleagues point out very well observations, and I think it’s amazing how each person has their own interpretation about his writing. A few questions answered in numerous ways.
The reading for this discussion starts with one of the most fascinating parts of comics. The passage of time. How time flows within a comic is something that interests me. I love how McCloud describes the various elements in which comics creates a fabric of timing not only between panels but within individuals panels as well. How sound, like the flash of a camera, allows a second to pass. The conversation from left to right are anchored through time. Each individual person, line, and action have a sequence that plays out. In comics time does move spatially, and space can indicate time. The manipulation of gutter can be used as a tool to depict greater sense of time.
ReplyDeleteSince reading this book I have started to think of an aspect of comics that I will admit I have taken for granted. The effect of panels and gutters to create emotion. While enjoying comics, the majority of emotional context I remember have come from the individuals within the panel. Just like fine art, movies, and music, there are variety of elements working to help portray emotion. In movies a background track can immensely change the emotion of the scene. Art uses different brush strokes, landscapes, and lighting. Comics are similarly diverse. Peanuts by Charles Schulz has some of the best examples of different emotions. Lucy's annoyance with her brother Linus comes through extraordinarily well. Snoopy's joy and laughter apparent. It goes beyond just facial expression. How a character is drawn, which way lines are going, the shape and style of vocal bubbles, the words of a character all effect the individual perception of a character.
McCloud's ability as an artist to create a comic textbook is amazing. The details, concepts, and lessons are laid it in a comprehensive manner. It remains true to the art form in allowing a universal story to be told while allowing individuals to put themselves into the reading.
These three chapters in Understanding Comics are valuable, not only for their insights into comics on their own, but for what it teaches us about the tools and techniques employed in more traditional media, such as literature and graphic arts. The question of how length in comics tie in with space and time has a considerable amount of depth to it, I think. It’s ultimately looking at what kind of standards or expectations we might hold onto about space in time when we start reading a comic. I think what makes comics so powerful is that we can’t have any expectations. Whether it’s because of the very nature of comics, or simply because it’s a young medium, there is no given standard for how one handles space and time in comics. Jumping from panel to panel, piecing together each fragment of a scene, both the author and the audience have no small amount of flexibility with how they pace their story.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned earlier, these chapters happen to break in to a number of concepts highly relevant to the media of literature and graphic arts. Synesthesia in comics is achieved in a very similar manner to these two art forms. For instance, onomatopoeias can be seen not only in comics, but in normal print as well, where physical sounds are best represented with symbols we know as letters. In fact, onomatopoeias are practically synonymous with comics, given the extent to which most comic artists use them. With graphic arts of course comes the idea of bringing other senses into the experience of comics. Needless to say, visual perception is of course readily exploited in the pictures provided in comics. But I feel that graphic arts are capable of capturing more than just what we see. As McCloud explains in chapter five, an artist’s use of lines to capture feelings such as smell, texture, or even human emotion allows for a unique approach to characterization in a story.
After looking into these discussion prompts concerned with the potential comics have, I’d like to bring up my thoughts on what might be one of comics’ limitations. In chapter four, McCloud brings up the idea of viewer choice being a possibility with comics. Do you think this is feasible? What other ways can comics work with branching narratives?
McCloud has actually already made branching narrative comics on his website if you mosey on over and look around. You might be stuck a while though since he's made so many other interesting things. Basically everything he predicts in Reinventing comics has been made up there in one way or another.
DeleteBut branching storytelling in paper? It's pretty unfeasible. Too many pages would need to be printed for not enough story. Believe me- I wanted to make them...
McCloud is brilliant. He explains the use of time and motion in a very simple way, and in a way I hand't thought about it before. Like, the way panels are used to show a progression of time, or a reaction. Spaced out panels are used for pauses, and panels that span a whole page can be used to tell a story through reactions. I never really thought about that when I read comics or manga (back in the day) but the use of that, panels running off the page, and line to show motion, is really everywhere. Panels show time, and the lines show movement. I'm really excited to see how this flows into the other books we read this semester, because now that I've seen these written down, you can bet I'll start seeing it everywhere!
ReplyDeleteWell long and short are both relative to space, but I know what you mean. McCloud's non theory comic work shows his using one panel of space showing long stretches in time. Which is ideal in my head. You want to engage the reader for as long as possible on the least amount of paper.
ReplyDeleteAll the questions about ling and pictorial icons are making me feel that Understanding is a bit dated (tear...) since artists now are starting to do creazy things with painted artwork, collage art, CG, (I could go on) but my point is they are creating comic art without using line at all, or the pictorial iconography described in this book and it works! A perfect example is David Mack's Kabuki series. It evolves from a McCloud-like B/W iconographic comic into a painterly collage work that's mind blowing. So the ways that line and icons used to be subjective of comics are now being broadened. I guess that's what I was trying to say. Sorry I got excited.
(ref. Ch 5) Wait. Comics is a craft? Ouch. Slam. That's an insult in the art field. A big one. I'm just going to pretend you said medium and move on by answering your question about sound.
Ah now this is an interesting point about comics- time and sound! When talking with non-artists about experimenting in comics they almost ALWAYS think they're being so smart when they say "well why don't you add sounds and animations?" And as we all know after reading McCloud's work (especially in his reinventing comics, which if you liked understanding you should all go read!) this isn't possible. So comics needs to get around using time based media in order to tell stories. Long panels take up unnecessary space, but translate to longer time spent than shorter ones. Sounds are usually represented with sound effects spelled out on the page and integrated into the artwork (in America) or have their own shape and characters (in Japan) or are completely left to the reader to imagine the sounds (in my work and a few notable comic creator work).
Within the comic craft, the panel functions as a window into the action/scene/time. The panel acts as the reader's viewing lens, they give the reader a snapshot of the time, a freeze frame if you will. With this in mind it is interesting to note that the panel spaces and the negative compositional spaces function antithetically to this. The space between panels rather gives us no snapshot of the action/scene/time, and instead naturally lends itself to our brains as a space for creating the action. The negative space becomes a green screen of sort, allowing our brains to form the action which leads from one panel to the other. As in the panel spaces are jumping off and landing points, while the negative spaces create the flight between jumping off and landing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the evolution of the dance between words and pictures i think McCloud brings up an excellent point likening comics to the pictographs and hyroglyphics used in ancient societies. I say this because of the age old adage that history tends to repeat itself, and I believe this is the direction we are headed. The deeper digitization becomes ingrained in our society, the shorter our words and phrases will become. The letters forming these objectively concrete symbols, which we put together into words forming less objective, though still very concrete symbols, will continue to get more and more subjective. A fine example of this is LOL. Anyone over the age of 40 would probably tell you LOL means, or used to mean Lots of Love, however anyone born within the last 10 generations would tell you LOL means laugh out loud, hence the objective symbols (L.O.L.) form a subjective symbol (Lots of love/Laugh out loud) just the way an emoticon can or something along these lines.