CCT 300: Critical Analysis of Media Class 4: Representation in Comics: McCloud’s Position

A quick first note… “There are no rules…and here they are.” (McCloud, 2006) Analysis done by universal application of all standard rules = rambling and superficial Your job here is critical analysis – what’s important and why? Consider your comic as a designed text – everything is likely there for a reason. Why? Your own perspective is acceptable – but not opinion as much as reasoned argument Outside research not explicitly necessary – but does it ever really hurt? (e.g., guessing what an author might intend by choice of style is one thing – quoting her/him is another!)

Comics as Sequential Art Historical emergence as “bastard child” of words and pictures Picture plane – representations of iconography, text and realism a nice breakdown of potential options with a good selection of cases – but why is the question to ask there.

Comics as Art Form (Six Steps) Idea Form Idiom Structure Craft Surface Consider your analysis in same way – surface analysis = surface comics.

Representation in Comics Moment Frame Image Word Flow (McCloud’s 2006 work, Making Comics)

Moment Comics must represent transition among time visually Comics must guide the reader’s sense of closure (i.e., leave the reader to fill in the gaps of the story…) Saturation vs. interpretation similar to hot vs. cool media - comics generally as cool medium

Types of Moment Change Moment-to-Moment Action-to-Action Subject-to-Subject Scene-to-Scene Aspect-to-Aspect Non-Sequitur

Differences in Representing Moment North American/European comics vs. Japanese - content analysis shows different ratios of moment transition Experimental comics also break with “standard” North American ratios Closure differs with each approach, as does the amount of moment transition

Frame Comics focus reader’s attention on particular elements, creating sense of place, position, focus Similar to other visual media (e.g., film, photography) - panels as designed, not accidental. Even more so in comics perhaps – drawing as a deliberate act

Framing elements “Camera” angle Lighting (or lack thereof) Closeups vs. wide shots Distance and perspective Symmetry and centering The “gutter” – presence/absence, shape, colour affect both what is seen and transitions

Image Comics as iconic, symbolic medium Often comics deliberately leave details vague to encourage reader participation in closure – e.g., our ability to see human faces everywhere

Image elements Level of detail - photorealism vs. iconography and effects of each The role of icon in comics - simple comics evoke interesting emotions (e.g., Mutts) Relation between background and foreground characters - (e.g., iconic characters and realistic background, e.g., Hergé’s Tintin) Expression (especially facial expression) and body language Role of colour – colour as symbol and accent

Word Comics mix visual and literal forms, arguably more so than other visual media A picture might equal 1000 words, but words can quickly contextualize and represent pictures in various ways Words as sound effects – representation of aural channel in literal form

Word/image interplay Word specific Image specific Duo specific Additive/intersecting Interdependent Parallel Montage

Flow Comics as sequential art - sequence of images becomes important in representation of time (e.g., photo of family gathering and reaction example) Moment, frame, image, word choice work together to create (or sabotage) flow How much of flow to show? Examples of multi-panel comics on drunk driving - different stories are told, even with same beginning/ending points

Flow concerns Cultural norms (e.g., North American/European - left to right - other cultures differ) Pace of transitions - Japanese comics and graphic novels spend more time for fuller exposition and slower moment changes Breaking norms (experimental comics) Extent to which creator guides flow - hot vs. cool again

Next week… Graphic Novel Analysis due two weeks from now – but moving on to different assignments Soon to create project groups for culture jamming/social influence project so be in the right lab. You must present final projects in one place.