{"id":4751,"date":"2010-07-08T06:54:26","date_gmt":"2010-07-08T06:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/?p=4751"},"modified":"2012-07-09T16:04:42","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T16:04:42","slug":"understanding-comics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/?p=4751","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Comics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"top\" \/><em>Scott McCloud<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Setting the record straight<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Comics can be simply de\ufb01ned by the terms \u201dsequential arts\u201d. However, a more speci\ufb01c de\ufb01nition can be given : \u201djuxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and\/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer\u201d &#8211; p.9<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The vocabulary of comics<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In the non-pictorial icons, meaning is \ufb01xed and absolute. Their appearance does not affect their meaning because they represent invisible ideas. In pictures however, meaning is \ufb02uid and variable according to appearance &#8211; p.28<\/li>\n<li>When we abstract an image through cartooning, we are not so much eliminating details as we are focusing on speci\ufb01c details. By stripping down an image to its essential \u201dmeaning\u201d, an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can\u2019t. Cartooning can thus be seen as a form of ampli\ufb01cation through simpli\ufb01cation &#8211; p.30<\/li>\n<li>Another aspect of cartoons is their universality. We cannot avoid, for example, seeing faces all around us, not only in cartoons &#8211; p.31<\/li>\n<li>Through traditional realism, the comics artist can portray the world without ; and through the cartoon, the world within &#8211; p.41<\/li>\n<li>The area described by the 3 vertices labelled \u201dreality\u201d, language and the picture plane represents the total pictorial vocabulary of comics or of any of the visual arts &#8211; p.51<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Blood in the gutter<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Closure is the phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole &#8211; p.63<\/li>\n<li>If visual iconography is the vocabulary of comics, then closure is its grammar &#8211; p.67<\/li>\n<li>\u201dTo kill a man between panels is to condemn him to a thousand deaths\u201d &#8211; p.69<\/li>\n<li>Panel-to-panel transitions can be organized in 5 categories : moment-to-moment, action-to-action, subject-to-subject, scene-to-scene, aspect-to-aspect and non-sequitur &#8211; p.70<\/li>\n<li>The type of iconic drawing style employed affect the ef\ufb01ciency of closure &#8211; p.90<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Time frames<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Just as pictures and the intervals between them create the illusion of time through closure, words introduce time by representing that which can only exist in time : sound &#8211; p.95<\/li>\n<li>The panel acts as a sort of general indicator that time or space is being divided. The duration of that time and the dimensions of that space are de\ufb01ned more by the contents of the panel than by the panel itself &#8211; p.99<\/li>\n<li>Just as a single panel can represent a span of time through sound, so too can a single panel can represent a span of time through picture (i.e., movement) &#8211; p.110<\/li>\n<li>Cartoon movement icons are of four basic types : movement lines, multiple images, streaking effects and subjective motion &#8211; p.112<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Living in line<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The invisible world of senses and emotions can also be portrayed within panels, through the use of line styles &#8211; p.121<\/li>\n<li>Some other lines are not pictures anymore ; they are more visual metaphors, or symbols &#8211; p.128<\/li>\n<li>Backgrounds can be another valuable tool for indicating invisible ideas ; particularly the realm of emotions &#8211; p.132<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Show and tell<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Impressionism, while it could be thought of as the \ufb01rst modern movement, was more a culmination of the old, the ultimate study of light and color &#8211; p.146<\/li>\n<li>Soon after impressionism came the explosion. The main trust was a return to meaning in art, away from resemblance, back to the realm of ideas &#8211; p.147<\/li>\n<li>The art form of comics is many centuries old, but it\u2019s perceived as a recent invention and suffers the curse of all new media : being judged by the standards of the old &#8211; p.151<\/li>\n<li>Each new medium begins its life by imitating its predecessors &#8211; p.151<\/li>\n<li>There are 7 different ways in which words and pictures can combine in comics : word speci\ufb01c, picture speci\ufb01c, duo speci\ufb01c, additive, parallel, montage and interdependent combinations &#8211; p.153<\/li>\n<li>In comics at its best, words and pictures are like partners in a dance and each one takes turns leading &#8211; p.156<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The six steps<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Art can be conseived as any human activity which doesn\u2019t grow out of either of our species two basic instincts : survival and reproduction &#8211; p.164<\/li>\n<li>The creation of any work in any medium will always follow a certain path, consisting of 6 steps : idea\/purpose, form, idiom, structure, craft and surface &#8211; p.170<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>A word about color<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In black and white, the ideas behind the art are communicated more directly. Meaning transcends form. Art approaches language. In \ufb02at colors, forms themselves take on more significance. The world becomes a playground of shapes and space. And through more expressive colors, comics can become an intoxicating environment of sensations that only color can give &#8211; p.192<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Putting it all together<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Media convert thoughts into forms that can traverse the physical world and be reconverted by one or more senses back into thoughts &#8211; p.195<\/li>\n<li>The mastery of one\u2019s medium is the degree to which a project represents what the artist truly envisioned to be, the degree to which his ideas survive the journey &#8211; p.196<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scott McCloud Setting the record straight Comics can be simply de\ufb01ned by the terms \u201dsequential arts\u201d. However, a more speci\ufb01c de\ufb01nition can be given : \u201djuxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and\/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer\u201d &#8211; p.9 The vocabulary of comics In the non-pictorial &#8230; <a title=\"Understanding Comics\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/?p=4751\" aria-label=\"Read more about Understanding Comics\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[621],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4751"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22831,"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751\/revisions\/22831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.labri.fr\/perso\/barla\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}