1. + CCT 300: Critical Analysis of Media Class 4: Representation in Comics: McCloud’s Take

2. + Administration Next week: Thanksgiving (no class – Monday December 3 is end of term as a result.) Last class before comic analysis assignment due – ask questions now! Final exam: Wed, Dec. 12 th, 5-7pm, IB120 (room subject to change, check before.) Cell phone policy – don’t become a statistic!

4. + A quick first note…  Avoid “McCloud says A. Here’s an example of A.” So what? A recipe for a low B at best (worse if you get it wrong.)  Consider your comic as a designed text – everything is there for a reason.  Your own perspective on why is acceptable – outside research not explicitly necessary – but does it ever really hurt?  Analysis done by application of all rules = rambling and superficial – pick the highlights of McCloud most relevant to your own work  Feel free to critique McCloud – this book is nearly 20 years old, things have changed.

5. + Comics as Sequential Art Historical emergence as“bastard child” of word and picture duality An analysis of the history of sequential art and it’s relation to other similar media (This usually isn’t a great way to start your paper – why?)

7. + Picture/Reality/Meaning Picture plane – representations of iconography, text and realism A nice breakdown of potential options with a great (and quite historical) selection of cases Again - simply noting that your comic exists in X space is OK, but why or to what good effect is more interesting

9. + Comics as Art Form (Six Steps)  An interesting concept with considerable depth  Most people’s initial impression is surface – and many artists start there and work backwards (e.g., tracing and imitation to a better appreciation of the craft)  Exceptional work engages new ideas, new forms, expands genres, plays with structures in an innovative way  Hard to use for this assignment – why?

10. + Representation in Comics Moment Frame Image Word Flow (McCloud’s 2006 work, Making Comics, re-presenting Understanding Comics well…)

11. + 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 McLuhan’s notion of hot vs. cool media - comics generally as cool medium

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

14. + 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

15. + 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– the frame is malleable, can expand, be misshaped, disappear entirely

16. + 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

17. + 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

19. + Image elements  Level of detail - photorealism vs. iconography and effects of each  The role of icon in comics - simple comics often evoke interesting emotions (e.g., Peanuts)  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  Sound as image  Role of colour – colour as symbol and accent

20. + 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

21. + Word/image interplay  Word specific  Image specific  Duo specific  Additive/intersecting  Interdependent  Parallel  Montage

22. + 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? Example of multi-panel comics on drunk driving - different stories are told, even with same beginning/ending points

23. + Flow concerns  Cultural norms (e.g., North American/European - left to right – manga flows differ, require instructions for non- regular readers)  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

24. + Comic Analysis: xkcd http://www.xkcd.com Simple style, but subtlety complex – not “just” stick figures Occasionally plays with webcomic convention Occasionally very serious: Money (http://xkcd.com/980/)http://xkcd.com/980/ Fukushima (http://xkcd.com/radiation/) What If? – new series

25. + In-class Assignment Apply one of McCloud’s principles to an XKCD comic of your choice (point form notes fine.)