I looked at Katie Y's blog, who surprisingly also discussed my blog. Katie and I have similar readings of the texts and both discussed how comics convey space and time in our first McCloud blog. Katie however refreshed the idea for me and because of that I feel a need to elaborate on my previous discussion.
Katie states that,
""Each successive frame of a movie is projected on exactly the same spaces--the screen--while each frame of comics must occupy a different space. Space does for comics what time does for film" (7). I enjoyed reading the comic on the computer because it flowed more like a movie even though "the gutter" (66) still existed between frames. I was very interested in this section of the text because it fascinating how the reader can make instantanious assumptions about what happens between frames, almost to the point where they don't notice the gutter even exists."
I had compared comics to animation but never to traditional film or text alone. The point Katie makes here is the expert use of gutters and how it engages a reader. In film, there is little room for interpretation. Each moment is captured on film with nothing left for the viewer to imagine. In contrast, books or words alone give infinite freedom to a reader because they can imagine and visualize whatever they want. Readers are given freedom of interpretation. Comics, however, find their place somewhere in the middle. Comics offer a balance between absolute freedom and visual restriction. When we read, we visualize in our minds. Comics do much of the visualization for us, but allow us to play out particular moments (those trapped within the gutters) ourselves. What's great about this also is the freedom of assumption, as Katie discusses. The comic leaves out particular moments where we are left to fill it in ourselves. However, the comics are made in such a way that all readers assume to same thing to happen. Comics offer freedom in that way but are also genius in that they're set up so readers have a universal understanding of what happens in the gutter. Books often leave too much to the imagination and movies too little. I like the balance of the in-between that comics offer. I never appreciated them before but this mere characteristic alone (that of gutters and the freedom of assumption they offer) helps me to better understand and appreciate them.
In relation to this, McCloud discusses the individuality of comics on page 151 where he states that, "as long as we view comics as a genre of writing or a style of graphic art this attitude may never disappear." (McCloud 151) This "attitude" he refers to is the inferior attitude people have towards comics. This "attitude" also refers to the attitude comic artists have towards comics in general and their constant attempts to achieve higher artistic status. By considering comics as inferior in the first place, and by those who create them no less, sustains inferior attitudes towards comics. Accepting that comics are their own art form, not some sub-species of a better form, is key in allowing comic art to grow and become better appreciated.
The combination of words and pictures make comics unique, but there is more to the art than just these words and pictures, as McCloud discusses throughout his entire book. Simplicity, detail, space, time, gutter freedom, reader-to-character relation, representation, and numerous other characteristics make comics "comics." Before reading McCloud's defense of comic art, I admit that I had little to no appreciation of comics. They were crude drawings, basic, lacking in meaning. But now I understand that the "crudeness" is intentional simplicity, meant to help reader's relate to characters. Each artistic factor is intentional: the size of the frame, how characters are drawn, the language, and even the gutter space. Similarly to film where lighting, make-up, music, and setting set the tone and together create some form of meaning, so do the many factors of comics make it a meaningful art form.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Reading and Writing about Comics ala McCloud, Part 1
After looking through several of the comics, I chose "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World." This comic supports many of the points Scott McCloud makes in his book Understanding Comics.
LINK TO COMIC: http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/mi/mi-04/mi-04.html
My first point that the comic illustrates, and which McCloud also discusses, is the difference between comics and animation. McCloud compares the two modes, with animation being streaming images and comics more juxtaposed, one image after another creating a whole. The major difference here is that animation contains images in constant motion. There are no breaks. Each movement, expression, moment, is determined by the artist.
With comics, however, there are the spaces in between the pictures called "gutters." It is in these gutters that a comic artist allows the reader to be creative, to fill in the blanks, and initiate the next action. This also allows the reader to be a more active participant than with animation. McCloud uses this "gutter" approach in his comic, "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World." He defines this idea as being a sort of "limbo", a place where "human imagination takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea." (McCloud 66) In "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World," image after image the dog remains nonplussed, refusing to fetch the toy. The gutter space between these images has the reader imagining the boy's increasing irritation and impatience along with the dog's stubbornness and pleasure at being uncooperative. The comic doesn't say this directly. Instead, the gutters convey this sense of time exhausting itself as the same image repeats itself. The gutters and repeated images allow the reader to interpret the comic without the artist telling the reader what to think or feel. It brings a reality to comics, as well as humor in this case, that the reader can interpret for themselves.
Another thing McCloud discusses in his book is simplicity and its potential to engage the reader. He states that, "When we abstract an image through cartooning, we're not so much eliminating details as we are focusing on specific details. By stripping down an image to its essential "meaning," an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can't." (McCloud 30) "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World" is composed of very simple drawings. It is not the quality of the art that makes the comic good or bad, successful or not, but rather the entire package.
The simplicity of this comic is beneficial in this case (and in many cases) because there is nothing to distract the reader. The reader is not consumed by the boy's appearance, nor is the dog extraordinarily beautiful. Instead, the combination of dialogue, gutter space, repeated images, and obvious facial expressions make the comic understandable, comical, and effective. Something as simple as the three beads of sweat on the boy's face show his exhausted, impatience, and irritation with his dog. In addition, because he is so simply drawn, the reader relates to him, which McCloud states is a major plus of simply drawn characters. Otherwise, the reader would be "too aware of the messenger to fully receive the message." (McCloud 37) When the messenger (the boy in "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World, in this case), is simple, a universal face, undetailed, it is easy for the reader to relate to them and share their experiences. Because of this lack of focus on the messenger, the reader can focus on the message. The dog is not the most beautiful dog in the world, else it would be elaborately drawn. Instead, the comic expresses the dog's arrogance and stubbornness, suggesting the dog itself merely thinks it is the most beautiful dog in the world.
These concepts of simplicity, repetition, and gutters are something I had never considered nor appreciated about comics. Now however, I understand that these factors are intentional tools used to convey a message, or tools that allow a reader to extract a message from a comic.
LINK TO COMIC: http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/mi/mi-04/mi-04.html
My first point that the comic illustrates, and which McCloud also discusses, is the difference between comics and animation. McCloud compares the two modes, with animation being streaming images and comics more juxtaposed, one image after another creating a whole. The major difference here is that animation contains images in constant motion. There are no breaks. Each movement, expression, moment, is determined by the artist.
With comics, however, there are the spaces in between the pictures called "gutters." It is in these gutters that a comic artist allows the reader to be creative, to fill in the blanks, and initiate the next action. This also allows the reader to be a more active participant than with animation. McCloud uses this "gutter" approach in his comic, "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World." He defines this idea as being a sort of "limbo", a place where "human imagination takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea." (McCloud 66) In "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World," image after image the dog remains nonplussed, refusing to fetch the toy. The gutter space between these images has the reader imagining the boy's increasing irritation and impatience along with the dog's stubbornness and pleasure at being uncooperative. The comic doesn't say this directly. Instead, the gutters convey this sense of time exhausting itself as the same image repeats itself. The gutters and repeated images allow the reader to interpret the comic without the artist telling the reader what to think or feel. It brings a reality to comics, as well as humor in this case, that the reader can interpret for themselves.
Another thing McCloud discusses in his book is simplicity and its potential to engage the reader. He states that, "When we abstract an image through cartooning, we're not so much eliminating details as we are focusing on specific details. By stripping down an image to its essential "meaning," an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can't." (McCloud 30) "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World" is composed of very simple drawings. It is not the quality of the art that makes the comic good or bad, successful or not, but rather the entire package.
The simplicity of this comic is beneficial in this case (and in many cases) because there is nothing to distract the reader. The reader is not consumed by the boy's appearance, nor is the dog extraordinarily beautiful. Instead, the combination of dialogue, gutter space, repeated images, and obvious facial expressions make the comic understandable, comical, and effective. Something as simple as the three beads of sweat on the boy's face show his exhausted, impatience, and irritation with his dog. In addition, because he is so simply drawn, the reader relates to him, which McCloud states is a major plus of simply drawn characters. Otherwise, the reader would be "too aware of the messenger to fully receive the message." (McCloud 37) When the messenger (the boy in "I am the Most Beautiful Dog in the World, in this case), is simple, a universal face, undetailed, it is easy for the reader to relate to them and share their experiences. Because of this lack of focus on the messenger, the reader can focus on the message. The dog is not the most beautiful dog in the world, else it would be elaborately drawn. Instead, the comic expresses the dog's arrogance and stubbornness, suggesting the dog itself merely thinks it is the most beautiful dog in the world.
These concepts of simplicity, repetition, and gutters are something I had never considered nor appreciated about comics. Now however, I understand that these factors are intentional tools used to convey a message, or tools that allow a reader to extract a message from a comic.
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