CCT 300: Critical Analysis of Media

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. 12th, 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’sTintin) • 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/) • 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.)