Week EIGHT

Chapter 4- Time Frames

I never really thought much about how time and space worked in comics, this chapter was thorough in explanation! McCloud explains how time is depicted through using the panels, the shape/size of the panels, sound, and motion lines. Time within comics is taken for granted, and excellently executed. All the different techniques create a unified sense of action and movement. The comparisons made between Western and Japanese artists are interesting to see. The distinction between the two styles is becoming more apparent to me, both are equally effective and of great quality for readers. It is also evident within the world of animation. Western and Japanese animations develop and evolve as they take bits and pieces of ideas from each other, yet the styles remain distinct.


[Images taken from GoogleImages- here to the distinction of styles between Japanese and Western animation]

Kimba the White Lion which aired in Japan during the 1960s and was the first colour tv animation series. It represented the manga style, with the characters often drawn with large over-sized eyes. The theme and concept of this series is very similar and followed by Lion King which was produced by Disney in 1994. Obvious concepts are assumed to be directly derived from Kimba the White Lion but the Lion King (Simba and co.) are drawn and created with Western style animation. As McCloud concludes, "..no matter how bizarre the workings of time in comics is--the face it represents to the reader-- is one of simple normality. Or the illusion of it anyways." Sums the whole topic up nicely =)

Week FIVE

Chapter 3 is an informative chapter about the meaning and use of 'closure' within comics. It is interesting to see how our minds actually work, when we see lots of images, it is amazing how we can bring those images together in our head and work out a story.

[Image taken from GoogleImages "bellyflop"]

The image is an example of how closure works. The fat man is diving off a diving board, yet we do not see how he lands, the viewers mind creates closure as they imagine the landing of the man in the water. Closure is helpful because our minds can finish off what happens more imaginative and thus funnier then watching what really happens.

The role of 'gutters' was also outlined within this chapter. Gutters are the space in between panels. I like how there are several distinct categories of panel-to-panel transitions, and how they can be all used in one comic (though rarely are) and done in such a way that readers are able to easily read through and enjoy the story. I appreciate the strategic element of it. Its amazing how certain scenes may be left out but because of our own minds we fill in the gaps and still manage to enjoy comics. This is a new concept to me and reminds me of the role of in-betweeners in animation. The difference is, we are the in-betweeners, and our minds determine how one panel relates to the following one. In betweeners draw all images from subject to subject so that the animation moves along smoothly. In a comic, the story line moves along thanks to the help of our own heads.

[This incredible graphic was created by me in photoshop]

The above image is just a quick example of the use of gutters. The gutter in between panels is where the viewers mind assumes what happened from the first panel to the second one.

Week FOUR

Chapter 2- The Vocabulary of Comics

This chapter interrelates with our workshop assignments. McCloud offers an understanding of the way cartoons are presented, the way we see them, and why. He talks about abstraction of a fairly realistic drawing of a face down to an obvious cartoon drawing which is created by symbols but still resembles a face.


[Abstraction drawing of a photo of my own face- using black artline pens. Mouths were drawn separately to be used later for animation]

A cartoon drawing helps people to identify themselves with that character,and thus get a lot more our of the story. This relates heavily with techniques learnt in class. I took a photo of my face and traced it, but the final result was purposely abstracted. I also thought it was interesting how he says that we can't help but see two dots and a line and automatically see a face, even though the symbols hardly resemble what our eyes and mouth really look like. We experimented with this theory as we had to take 100 photos of found faces in objects all around us, such as ovens and taps etc. Once found, one is chosen to animate and create a talking object. This is an example of how we can cause objects to 'come alive', just as in cartoons where cartooning is mixed with realistic backgrounds. This chapter shows the complexity behind the way things are drawn and why. Certain styles and ideas are drawn in a certain way to bring across a certain message.