Week 15 Development

Monday
I had my meeting with Brian today to discuss my current progress on my dissertation. He was quite happy with the current draft but he suggested that I modify the table of contents including the merging of certain areas and customised titles. He was kind enough to look though my introduction and make some suitable changes to to it. Some required rewording.The other issue I spoke to him was about my PDF printing process as well as my concern about some PDF publish issue featuring a white border. I feel that throughout this project I have been overzealous about my case studies. In my proposal I said I would study a large range of studies featuring films and comics. However with required reduction of words in my discussion as well as my time management, I have only analysed at least 3. Nevertheless I will include these in this blog as well as in the dissertation appendix.

Tuesday

I am hoping to do to:

• Visit Dundee Printing service and ask about proofreading the pdf before printing or asking for a test print to make sure it turns out as expected. 
• Attending meeting with Stephanie to look over current draft of dissertation 
• Polish up the visual documents for the assets featured within the comic. 
• Submit a draft of Honours Portfolio to Blackboard. 

Even if the final comic has errors in it. I can still modify changes to the final portfolio. It's not long now until the submissions but I believe I will complete everything before hand in next week.

This afternoon, I went along to Dundee University to speak to them about my PDF order. The price of the printed comic was not as expensive as I thought. I was able to clarify a few things before they processed my order. I asked them to make it A4 size and with no borders.

Wednesday
I spent most of today, looking on my blogs. and providing a consistent style. I was able to get through 60% of my blogs. However I have noticed that few posts about certain elements such the environment and characters were not included. Therefore I'll be including these soon.

Thursday
I went into Dundee to pick up the printed copy of my comic. It turned out really well. I had my meeting with Brian and I discussed with him my current state of the project such as business cards, dissertation and final submission work.

I spoke to him about my current progress with the dissertation and I was at a stage were I wanted to get this dissertation completed. Although he previously asked me to cut it down to 7,000 words, he was happy with its current state. He looked through my introduction and picked out a few areas that needed changed. However those didn't take too long.

Friday
I spent my day at home looking over my assertion and making sure the figures and case studies were up to date. I decided to include three case studies I made on Goon, The far side Gallery and The Quest by Rich Werner. I took some time to overlook the figures and prepared for Monday, which I plan to send to the copy shop.

Case Study: Far Side Gallery 2

Case Study 2: The Far Side Gallery 2

Garry Larson’s the Far Side Gallery (1989) is a series of single panel short comics which focuses on surreal humour.

Characters
The subject differ depending on the joke and scenario of the panel. Some of these include animals, tribal, scientists, situation comedies, cavemen and so forth (Wicklin 2011). The captions can represent the character’s dialogue or it can provide context to the illustration. Sometimes these are necessary to convey the jokes whereas other times, they are not needed. This study will analyse a few of these comic strips which use visuals to tell or reinforce their conveyed jokes. Sometimes they are used to reflect a figure of speech or derivatives of such a case.

Colour
Overall the main colours are grayscale but there are occasions where many of the panels have been repainted with traditional materials. The choice for no colour appears to be a cost efficiency purpose. The colouring style varies as it includes tones and this is applied in various ways for characters and backgrounds. There is always a sense of location in these panels and the tone reflect that. Various tone help suggest the presence of colours

Figure 1. (Larson 1989 P. 46)

Figure 1 features a cowboy is holding up a large branding iron. The lettering on the iron is flipped but it spells “This cow belongs to Jones so hands off.”

Most branding irons are small but the exaggerated iron is used to an unnecessarily large branding label is comical. It is enhanced with the cowboy’s grin. The five cows in the background look wide eyed in fear. From this context we can come to the conclusion that to the cows, the pain will be extremely severe. This is an example where the text and lettering which does reinforce an idea that is being conveyed and is part of the illustration. Anticipation although the panels are restricted sometimes through closure we can jump to a conclusion of what will happen. There is a present of curved liens to suggest that he iron is emitting steam. The cowboys eyes help direct us to the branding iron’s message.

Figure 2. (Larson 1989 p. 57)

Figure 2’s context of this panel is the siege of try with the iconic wooden horse which houses the Athenian army. An outhouse labelled “men” is placed just outside the horse. And we see the army pour out of the horse and into the outhouse with wide eyes, suggesting based on the visuals, that they are desperately needing the toilet. It could be suggested that they are about to make their attack but they need to use the rest room before doing so. A darkened overlay is used to indicate that it is night time. 

Figure 3. (Larson 1989 P. 56)

Figure 3 features a man at a podium labelled “Bob’s Gallery” with a series of paintings in the corner of a room. There are several props placed to reinforce that this is a gallery such as a barrier. Our first focus is on the centre of the picture which features a tilted landscape painting. All the paintings are tilted and one of the thing that comes to mind is why they are like that. The answer is visually clear as the man at the podium has his head tilted as well. Therefore form his perspective he sees the paintings as straight. The perspective of the room also helps draw the reader’s attention to the centre focal point of the panel.

Figure 4. (Larson 1989 p. 75)

Figure 4 depicts panel a cow and man are on a life raft out at sea. Both have thought bubbles of what they perceive each other as the food. The man perceives the cows as a steak and the cow perceives him as someone covered in grass. The thought bubbles help provide insight into their thoughts base on the situation. The humour comes for the fact that a cow is a food source but there is also the unexpected element where the man could be considered as well. We are given the impression that they are out a sea based on the curve lines that suggested waves and the white highlights to indicate white horses. The man also has a bear which can suggest the duration of the two of them being in the lifeboat.

Figure 5. (Larson 1989 p. 75)

A couple of anthropomorphic dogs are in a double bed. One is sleeping whereas the other is wide awake reading a book entitled “the mail man carried mace”. Based on the context of how dogs hate people who approach their homes, is funny to see that the postman carrying mace is see as a fear for dogs. The white light helps act as a focal point and directs to what the dog is reading.

Facial Expressions
The character of Larson’s Far Side palette of emotions is no expressive. However they do show wide eyes with pupils despite a majority of his characters wear glasses. Some of his illustrations exclude facial features such as mouths and eyes. The presence of a mouth on a charter which is open can helped determine who is speaking in the panel.

Word and picture Combinations
These panels feature various forms of verbal and non-verbal narratives between comics. In some scenarios, there are a mixture of pictorial text and speech bubbles whereas other times captions underneath the panels consist of a signal sentence or a segment of dialogue which provides additional clarity to the picture depicted in the comic.

Background
The style of backgrounds vary between the panel’s contexts. White areas determines the light source including the time of day. Therefore ab lack background with white dots represents the starry sky. According to Punofthday.com, Larson was fascinated by biology and there has been some throwbacks to this such as the reference to science in some jokes and even the study of insects.

Conclusion
The Far Side Gallery 2 has a grand mixture of narration. Larson’s art style is simplistic, providing enough clarity to communicate the jokes conveyed through the visuals. However in order to understand the humour, the reader may need to commence external research.
Stephen King’s forewords mentions how “You can’t tell a cartoon” (Larson 1992 p.5), which helps highlight the importance of visual storytelling, especially in the genre of comedy.

Reference
Punoftheday.com. 1996. Gary Larson - Biography - Pun of the Day. [online] Available at: http://www.punoftheday.com/gary-larson.html [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016].

Larson, G. 1989. The Far Side Gallery 2. 7th ed. London: Warner Books.

Wicklin, R. 2011. An analysis of subjects in The Far Side cartoons. [online] The DO Loop. Available at: http://blogs.sas.com/content/iml/2011/03/18/an-analysis-of-subjects-in-the-far-side-cartoons.html [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016].

Case Study: Rich Werner's The Quest

Rich Werner is the artist behind Plants vs Zombies, the award winning multi-platform computer games. He left Popcap Games in 2012 to set up his own studio and they in turn made a series of indie games as a self employed artist.
In connection with sequential art with little to no dialogue. He has worked on a comic entry for an anthology called Monsterpedia 2014. Whirl it is mainly wordless, There is the exception of captions for sound effects and even writing text such as the lettering on the text. However. This is limited. There are only three out of forty nine panels with the written text. I think this can still be be helpful as text are Static images themselves.

“The Quest” is a nine page silent comic, illustrated by Rich Werner as part of an entry for a 2014 collection of short comics called Monsterpedia.
The main story is about a boy who finds a note about a kidnapped princess who is being held in a fortified castle. He dashes off to rescue her. He encounters a creature which turns out to be his friend and they continue on their quest. They arrive at a site where he obtains a sword and shield. They arrive at a cave and discover a dragon. He holds up his sword and the dragon becomes friendly and obedient. On the back of the dragon, our heroes fly towards the castle, evading its defenses. They break into the dungeon and slay the villain only to discover that the princess being held was in fact a trickster in disguise. They defeat the beast only to find another letter attached to an arrow pointing out that their damsel is in another castle.

Figure 1. The Quest Page 1 (Werner 2014)

Figure 2. The Quest Page 2 (Werner 2014)

Figure 3. The Quest Page 4 (Werner 2014)

Figure 4. The Quest Page 6 (Werner 2014)

Figure 5. The Quest Page 7 (Werner 2014)

Figure 6. The Quest Page 9 (Werner 2014)

Words and picture Combinations.

The words and picture combinations were kept to a minimum, making it into a silent comic. There was a speech bubble which was used to imply that the protagonist was whistling. The way the wording and sound effects are applied makes the story feel like a montage combination. They appear as integrated elements of the picture rather than an additional element overlaying the page. The idea of pictorial words being used in this way is still an area that is needing to be explored (McCloud 2006). Some of them exist with 3D on the page which helps illusion. In figure 4, one sound affects appears behind the villain but in the front of the hero. The words follow the same direction as the action and one example merges into the borders and assists with the flow of a page.
Words are present in this comic but are kept at a minimum level. The words on the scroll suggest the end of the story but also suggest that it may continue.
The pictorial text of the creature’s roar is black just like the gutter, making it feel like part of the illustration itself rather than text being placed over it.
Based on the story, it can be suggested the creature that was defeated was not the princess but an imposter and the real princess is somewhere else. Also the line “Your princess is in another castle” can be implied to be a reference to ““Thank You Mario, But Our Princess is in Another Castle” from Super Mario Bros (1985). The other reference made, “you’re my only hope” is a reference to Star Wars (1977). The last page, figure 6 features additional minimum text including a caption in a square box suggesting if the story will continue or just end. Here it is left undecided and ambiguous insuring the story is left open with the potential to continue.

Shapes and Lines
Throughout the story, the main visual consists of a strong use of light and silhouettes. The protagonist of this short comic is a nameless figure who shares the head proportions of three to four heads. The character is drawn in a suitable style to appeal to a younger audience. The main characters have no facial features except his eyes. The protagonist’s simple featureless appearance actually allows him to be relatable to the audience enabling them to project themselves onto him. Speed lines help suggest the movement of objects through the space of the comic panels (McCloud 1994).The gutters are coloured black, not straight but they do connect with the childish style and tone. The black silhouettes of the characters stand out strongly. The backgrounds are painted and have a sense of depth and distance to them. The silhouettes are not restricted to the characters. They are also used for props e.g. the words are highlighted black. They also appear to merge with the gutters. The presence of highlights help make the characters stand out and help distinguish each character whenever they overlap. Implied lines are present in this comic depending on how the characters and objects are staged. There is a strong use of arcs and curves especially in the dragon’s anatomy which helps make it look dynamic and suggest agile movement as it flies. In the first panel of figure 6, we see an implied line from the protagonist, his friend, the sword, the dragon and the sword again. Their eyes help direct us to the sword which represents the point of interest.

Body Language

The characters show a strong use of body language and use of expression to an exaggerated standard. In figure 2, we see the two characters fist bump each other which helps indicate that they share a friendship. The boy communicates to his friend through hand gestures. Through closure, it is implied that he is communicating about the message he received and that he’s embarking on a journey. The two head off together suggesting that the hero was inviting his friend to come and help him rescue the princess. Although the creature in figure 2 is large and bigger than the protagonist, he is not hostile towards him and appears gentle even though he possesses horns. In terms of hand gesture the princess, before we see her as an imposter, stretches her hand to grab on the protagonist’s. However, her palm is facing down which could imply and foreshadow her betrayal of the protagonists’ trust.

Comic Layout
Each page has a varied arrangement of panels but each page balances out appropriately with space and colour. The panels are varying sizes for effect but also suggest length and duration depending on the type of shots used. Each page acts as a story beat. In figure 3, the long panel can suggest the duration of the dragons roar. The lighting works well as it helps clearly convey where the light source is positioned in this comic. The use of scale and elevation is also used. The creature takes up two thirds of the panel whereas the boy and his friend take up only a small fraction. The action in this comic is short and simple.

Colours
The antagonist has a red glow emitting from his eyes and mouth. The mixture of red and black suggests a menacing character which reflects his menacing and devious personality (Scott-Kemmis 2009). In figure 4, the onomatopoeia featured on the page presents a sense of depth. This is implied through staging, as it appears to be obstructed by the antagonist, and also the desaturated colour, which helps make it look a bit distant. The white helps with focal points such as the female character who glows brightly and provides a framework around certain elements such as the boy, his friend and the dragon. However, in connection with the twist that is revealed, it can also suggest caution.

Pink suggests a sense of love, which in this case ITV can suggest the love from the princess. However, the reddish hints can reflect the aggressive and resentful mood established when the princess is discovered to be a fraud. The red eyes and mouth also help make the antagonist appear closer than he already is. Purple is used when the two characters encounter a dragon. This colour is beneficial as purple reflects the fantasy element in the story but also creates a sense of mystery. The use of yellow helps suggest the necessity for reassurance. Since they have defeated the fake princess, they wonder what has happened to the real princess. They are not sure what has happened to the princess. The inclusion of yellow in the first and last panel emphasises the introduction of new ideas such as the desire to go and rescue the princess (Scott-Kemmis 2009). When they learn the princess is in another castle, this introduces a new goal for them.

In figure 5, when the princess turns into a monster, her white colour is still present to help show this connection. In the previous panel, the boy is holding onto her and in the next panel we see a huge monster attacking him.

Environment

The environments of this story are minimalist, hand painting with one or two colour overlay and the environment keeps changing in every page. The establishing shot in figure 1, featuring the protagonist outside his home with a pitchfork, gave the impression that although he is a boy, he could be a home owner. The buildings materials suggest that he is a figure who lacks currency to live at a certain standard or could be someone who is environmentally efficient. Some panels feature no background detail and instead a coloured gradient to allow us to focus on the character and their actions.

Conclusion

In summary, the quest is a simple “hero rescues princess” concept with a twist. The minimum colours used along with the high value and lighting help establish a unique style. The character’s body language and actions are clear and you can understand what’s happening in each panel. This comic included strong silhouettes with readable body language. The protagonist’s eyes also suggest facial expressions and emotions. curves and line work used in this comic flow across the page.
There are moments where we see strong expression in body language such as the scene with the false princess revealing her true form. The emotion is conveyed through his gestures and actions. It is not visually confirmed that there is a princess all that is shown is a message stating that a princess is being captured. The artwork and style manages to convey complex emotions and suspense with minimal words and expressions. This illustrates the power of images to tell a story clearly and appeal to an audience.

References

• McCloud, S. 1994. Understanding comics. New York: HarperPerennial. 
• Scott-Kemmis, J. 2009. The Color Purple and The Color Violet. [online] Available at: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-purple.html [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016]. 
• Scott-Kemmis, J. 2009. The Color Yellow. [online] Available at: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-yellow.html [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016]. 
• Scott-Kemmis, J. 2009. The Color White. [online] Empowered By Color. Available at: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-white.html [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016]. 
• Scott-Kemmis, J. 2009. The Color Red. [online] Empowered By Color. Available at: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-red.html [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016]. 
• Scott-Kemmis, J. 2009. The Color Black. [online] Empowered By Color. Available at: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-black.html [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016]. 
• Star Wars. 1977. [film]. Directed by George Lucas. San Francisco: Lucasfilm 
• Super Mario Bros. 1985. [computer game]. NES. Nintendo. 
• Werner, R. 2014. Rich_01. [image] Available at: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5688444d1c1210fead013295/568a0491a128e63c0adf2084/569010251c12105f19190af0/1452281939510/Rich_01.jpg?format=1000w [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016]. 
• Werner, R. 2014. Rich_02. [image] Available at: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5688444d1c1210fead013295/568a0491a128e63c0adf2084/569010259cadb6feaa167c6f/1452281919473/Rich_02.jpg?format=500w [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016]. 
• Werner, R. 2014. Rich_04. [image] Available at: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5688444d1c1210fead013295/568a0491a128e63c0adf2084/5690104d9cadb6feaa167e39/1452281958305/Rich_04.jpg?format=500w [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016]. 
• Werner, R. 2014. Rich_06. [image] Available at: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5688444d1c1210fead013295/568a0491a128e63c0adf2084/5690105d9cadb6feaa167ef3/1452281989491/Rich_06.jpg?format=500w [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016]. 
• Werner, R. 2014. Rich_07. [image] Available at: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5688444d1c1210fead013295/568a0491a128e63c0adf2084/569010661c12105f19190e02/1452281992080/Rich_07.jpg?format=500w [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016]. 
• Werner, R. 2014. Rich_09. [image] Available at: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5688444d1c1210fead013295/568a0491a128e63c0adf2084/569010851c12105f19190f61/1452282011811/Rich_09.jpg?format=500w [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016].

Case Study: The Goon in Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker.

Case Study 1: The Goon in Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker

The Goon is a comedy, horror and violent comic series where the main character is a goon who works for a gangster who fights off against supernatural enemies such as the undead, ghouls and vampires. It takes place in a fictional depression-era American town and it merges genres like horror and noir quite well.

Words and Picture Combinations

Although the comic’s narrative includes dialogue, there are occasions where there were scenes where the story was told through the visuals.
The story was compelling and the characters were really interesting and it felt like a nice spin on the noir genre. The comic had a strong visual style inspired by noir films such as the sepia toned elements which mirrored the black and white visual style and cinematography of those particular films. While the comic series has focus on comedy, this issue takes more of a serious tone as it focuses on an important turning point for the goon's character. Throughout the comics prior to this issue, there is a reference to "Chinatown". Apparently it was a time when the goon could have had a better life. He is reunited by his lover Isabella who works for Xiang Yao. She comes to the goon for help and they spend a lot of time together. While the goon drifts out of touch with his old life, he leaves his friends and hopes to start a new life with his lover. However things fall apart as his lover leaves him for an unknown reason.
The scene that follows shows Goon looking at himself in a mirror and the next few pages is a sequence of him having an emotional and mental breakdown. It starts with a dull face but as the pages go along he begins to show more and more expressions and exaggeration. When I read this, I found this to be very effective as the sequence took up all the pages and it marked a key point in the Goon's life. It is a very heart-breaking sequence as he was very certain that with Isabella at his side, he would have a future free of crime ahead of him. It was a powerful scene because his face and gestures helped express what was going on with his head. As he breaks down, his confidence is damaged severely.
This sequence is told in a flashback. Visually this can be indicated by the way the panels are laid out and the main character has not received his trademark scar which he has in the story that is occurring during the present.
Powell felt that he did a good job as he said “I put my heart and soul into this book". (Dooley 2007). This is evident based on the content and the heart-breaking story which helps explain why the Goon is the way he is.
In figure 1, there is a montage of the Goon and Isabella spending time together while Frankie, the Goons best friend has to defend the streets himself. The first panel shows the silhouette of the goon and Isabella on a Chinese themed balcony with Chinese styled buildings in the back. There is a romantic atmosphere with the silhouettes of blossom flowing across the panel. There is also an arch which helps frame the moment. Although the background is not so detailed the silhouettes are strong and you understand that they are in love.

Figure 1. Goon Pages 50, 51 and 52 (Powell 2011)

The use of symbols represented here are some props such as the candle and wineglass. These are used to help suggest that this is a romantic dinner between the two lovers. In panel 2 on page 51, Frankie is hiding behind a crate as two gangster approach wielding guns, unaware of Frankie's location. Although they are equally spaced out, Frankie’s outnumbered by the two gangsters. Here I can see while the panel is balanced, if the goon was there this would be an even fight. However without him in the picture we can see how much Frankie needs the Goons assistance. In page 52, we see Isabella and the Goon smiling which is something he does not do very often. Meanwhile three of the panels consist of Frankie trying to fight Goon’s enemies by himself. We see the self determination on his face as he drives and shoots at the same time. We get the impression of this through the context of him trying to hold onto the territory that he and the Goon own. In panels 2 and 3 we get a moment transition (McCloud 1994) as Frankie gets punched by some gangster. This is suggested through the visual establishment of the gangsters shown in the previous page. The panels in this montage share no borders but some have a faded out white borders that makes the sequence more nostalgic and fragmented though memories. This is appropriate because these visual occur during a flashback. Furthermore the montage of the Goon having romantic moments with Isabella works really well in contrast to Frankie's moments of action. These moments show how much that the Goon is needed and that Frankie needs his friend to watch his back like they used to.

Panels

Although the use of words can help emphasise moments, some cases such as the Goon, do not work.
The way the panels are arranged in this sequence are effective. In the comic it starts off like a normal comic would have where the panels are juxtaposition to each other. After Isabella leaves, the panels get bigger until the scene where the Goon breaks down. The reader sees the Goons reflection in his perspective. Some of the flashback comic panels have no borders similar to the panels that occur in the present (Dawe 2014).

Colours
The colours used in this comic's flashback sequences are very minimal, washed out and sepia toned. (PublishersWeekly.com 2007)

Figure 2. Goon page 79 (Powell 2011)

 Figure 3. Goon page 80 (Powell 2011)

Goon’s posture is now in a lower position to show that he has no control of what is happening here.

Lighting

Figure 4. Goon page 81 (Powell 2011)

The composition in the above comic page is effective as there is a strong contrast with the light. The way shadows cast over half of the Goons face is reminiscent to the lighting effects in the noir genre but it also suggests that the character is undergoing emotional stress. Here the Goon appears stable after Isabelle leaves, assuming that he has handled it well. His body language appears stable as he has both hands on the armrests of the chair and is sitting upright. In the second panel the door's framework acts as a frame surrounding the main focus. The negative space in panel 2 allows for a strong contrast and for Goon to act as a focal point on the panel.

Figure 5. Goon page 82 (Powell 2011)

The next page takes place in his bathroom. There are a few props to suggest this. The transition is momentarily and shifts close to Goon which then leads onto the next page.

Body language

The following five panels are portraits of the goon's face which fill the page. The first panel shows the goon just staring at the mirror which in turn we see the reflection. The white border helps the Goons silhouette stand out and the grayscale shading helps contrasts well with the browning sepia toned background. Furthermore the emphasis of the facial expression is not only a breakdown of himself, he also realises that he is unable to move on. Although Isabella's reasoning for leaving him is vague but to him he's convinced that no woman would ever fall in love with him again (Dawe 2014).

Figure 6. Goon page 83 (Powell 2011)

Figure 7. Goon page 84 (Powell 2011)

Here he begins to show sadness as his eyes begin to become watery. His hand covers his mouth and he’s trying to hide his expression and true thoughts of what’s happened. The wrinkle on his head begin to appear more clearly. It looks like he's trying his best to keep himself under control but he's showing weakness.

Figure 8. Goon Page 85 (Powell 2011)

This panel continues his gradual breakdown. This time his left hand reinforces the right hand as he tries to keep himself emotionally under control.

Figure 9. Goon Page 86 (Powell 2010)

His two hands now rest on his temple the fingers close together showing that there is some attempts to keep himself under control. His eyes have grown smaller and his tears are now halfway down his face.

Figure 10. Goon Page 87 (Powell 2010)

In this page of this sequence, the Goons body language and gestures illustrate his frustration and the peak of his breakdown. The hands are outstretched and clutching his face desperately causing several wrinkles in his skin. Tears are now dripping down his face in multiple streams. The eyes have gotten smaller and this emphasize the expression. Dark rings are present around Goon's eyes this helps focus on his eyes. The exaggerated facial expression adds to the thought that are flowing through his head at this moment, his mouth is wider and nearly open and you can nearly see his individual teeth. Closure allows us to perceive as if it were an animated sequence.

Background

The background has lost its colour and has darkened to emphasis that he has descended into darkness where he believes there is no return. His hair is now quite mess and unkept. The best thing about this scene is that words are not necessary for this sequence. What is more important is that it was statement that the goon will never be happy. Overall, you feel very sympathetic for the Goon in this sequence and this makes it a tragic moment in the comic's series. The background lacks in detail but it allows for the reader to focus on Goon's face. The sequence takes place in the bathroom and as these rooms are a place of privacy and secrecy this is an appropriate place for him to express how he is feeling visually.

In Conclusion, The flashback visual style is appealing and the transition of bordered to border less panels in figure 1, helped reflect this. The visual language of the expression and hand gestures helped convey Goons's emotional breakdown. The panel layouts helped make the scene stand out.

Reference

Dawe, I. 2014. Comic Con Discoveries Part 1: The Goon and The Guns of Shadow Valley. [online] Sequart Organization. Available at: http://sequart.org/magazine/48739/comic-con-discoveries-part-1-the-goon-and-the-guns-of-shadow-valley/ [Accessed 17 Jan. 2016].

Dooley, C. 2007. Eric Powell’s Legacy Continues With ‘The Goon: Chinatown’. [online] Comics Alliance. Available at: http://comicsalliance.com/eric-powell-s-legacy-continues-with-the-goon-chinatown/ [Accessed 17 Jan. 2016].

Mahmoud, M. and Robinson, P. 2011. Interpreting hand-over-face gestures. 1st ed. [ebook] Cambridge: University of Cambridge. Available at: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mmam3/pub/ACII2011-Doctoral-2011.pdf [Accessed 29 Mar. 2016].

Mateu-Mestre, M. 2010. Framed Ink: Drawing and composition for visual storytellers. Culver City: Design Studio Press.

McCloud, S. (1994). Understanding comics. New York: HarperPerennial.Sims, C. 2011. The 13 Greatest Hits (and Stabbings, and Gunshots...) of THE GOON. [online] Comics Alliance. Available at: http://comicsalliance.com/the-goon-comic-best/ [Accessed 14 Feb. 2016].

Powell, E. and Stewart, D. 2010. The Goon in Chinatown and the mystery of Mr. Wicker. Milwaukie, Or.: Dark Horse Books.

PublishersWeekly.com, 2007. Fiction Book Review: The Goon: Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker by Eric Powell, Author, Eric Powell, Illustrator . Dark Horse $19.95 (128p) ISBN 978-1-59307-833-1. [online] Available at: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59307-833-1 [Accessed 17 Jan. 2016].

Research Methodology

While I still need to lay the foundations for my research question, I do have a few methods about how I want to carry out my research project.

Here are some questions that I need to ask myself;

• Can I convert a story from a literacy source into a wordless narrative in sequential art?
• Can the story be told without words in a comic?
• How can I take a complicated story such as HP Lovecraft and have it presented as a  wordless narrative in the form of sequential art?
• Can I apply principals of animation into sequential art?
• Does the comic need to be silent in order for me to tell the story especially that of a particular Lovecraft story?
• Can it be told through no dialogue and speech bubbles?
• How much do characters contribute to a wordless narrative in the form of sequential art?

I plan to explore the aspects that go into making a wordless graphic novel and see if I can take an existing narrative and present in a wordless sequential art format.

Experiment

Since it's a comic, I could show it to other students in my year and ask them if I can see if this is readable without words. It would be a helpful approach for feedback and areas for improvements.

Practice 

Practice will help me develop my current skills in illustration. I should look at example of artists and see if I can take some inspiration from their works in regards to composition of characters or layout of characters and postures. This can also apply to my current presentation skills.

Interviews

 During an early stage of my project, I sent an email to an artist I saw in a magazine. I asked him why he chose his particular style. He told me that it was all about preferences and that he took some influences from previous artists.

Case Studies 

I can do a case study of existing comics both good and bad to see their strengths and weaknesses.
Furthermore, I can look into the different ways sequential comics can be used.

Additional Concerns

My other concern is my business card is requiring a redesign. My current presentation is needing to be updated and expanded upon I think it will need a redesign have additional work to my portfolio. I'm also worried that my work is too broad to the point where I'll be unapproachable.

Foreign Comic Analysis

A relative returned from Spain to bring me some comics that were in Spanish. One example was oriented for a young female teen demographic and another that was oriented for an audience who main genar interest was horror. I looked at these to see if I can get an idea of the story without trying to understand the language to know what the story is about.

The first one was difficult to fully understand all the panels but I go the idea that it was about a group of five girls who fight the supernatural.
While I couldn't read the Spanish dialogue I could understand that it was a high school drama themed show as well. I also knew that its audience would be an aimed at a young audience as the use of colours are .I could understand this through the character proportions and design , choice of colour and the chosen style. When it came to a flashback or cut away to a retelling of history, I could clearly understand those differences the the use of colour and visual traits. However when it came to understand the entire story fully, there were a few occasions where the previously read pages had to be revisited in order to understand the context.

W.I.T.C.H Page Sample

Creepy Comic Page Samples

The other sample was from the Creepy 1985 magazine. Here, the style is a complete contrast to the girl oriented one. Here, there is only black and white printed worked where the contrast is high an there is major focus on the use of silhouette. there proportions and the choice of colour helps suggest that this aimed at an older audience. With the themes of death, gore and horror shows that this for an older audience. The main style for the narration is they use a black background with white text whereas when the dialogue is represented in white speech bubbles and black text for the dialogue. The style of shots in this comic are more cinematic.

The Importance of Silence

During my experience of reading and watching media. I have slowly began to show some appreciation of silent moments in comics and films.

When it comes to characters, some times given them too much to talk about can make them annoying. In the Miramax version of the Thief and the Cobbler, the main character and the thief end up saying too much in every scene they are in. For example, there is a scene where the Cobbler escapes a cell and he states that he was free. Another scene where he's changing the Thief he making a lot of yelling  and it distracts us from eh intimation of the scene. In the edited version of the film which include unused storyboards, the same scene is a lot better without any of the main characters saying anything. Doug Walker addresses this saying hat instead of the two characters saying anything and instead says the story is told through the animation.

In this re-edit of the film, Thethiefarchive attempted to restore the film to the level that the original; movie's director Richard Williams wanted the story to be about.

In the same instant can be used here with the Spider-Man animated series. There is an entire scene where there is no pace. It feels very rushed and doesn't take a break. The animations moves from scene to scene and it feels like it was very rushed in telling a story. I can see this through the way the frame and timing are set up. Although I am looking into how comics can visual tell a story, comics also have their version of how time can be visually interpreted. Even when there is a scene which can be visually shown to use the voice over still feels obliged to basically state the obvious.

Spider Man TAS Season 01 - Episode 01 (Spider-man: The Animated Series 1994)

Although these examples are a different medium, the idea of using dialogue or words can be applied in comics. At times, visuals can convey a clear message but then the words included in the speech bubble repeat this unnecessarily. Eisner (1996 p.66) explains that it “is important not to repeat the information or to bore the reader by dwelling on details that have already been conveyed with the drawing or with the text”. This means that visuals have the ability to convey ideas without the assistance of words.

References

Eisner, W. 1996. Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative. 5th ed. Tamarac: Poorhouse Press.

TheThiefArchive, (2013). The Thief and the Cobbler Recobbled Cut Mark 4 Pt. 1. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZibUpH-AME&list=PL18B0CA620B61D076&index=1 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2015].

S. Templeton, E. (2015). Spider Man TAS Season 01 - Episode 01 (Night Of The Lizard). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Lv1XrY1Cw [Accessed 20 Oct. 2015].

Spider-man; The Animated Series. 1994. [television broadcast]. Fox Kids. November 10th.

Case Study: Dagon Illustrated by Alice Duke and R,J. Ivankovic

Comic Adaptations of H.P Lovecraft's Dagon

For this study, I have chosen to pick a short story that has been adapted in to a comic book. Based on some examples I have chosen, I will look at the differences between them and how they relate to the original story. The reason I am wanting to look into this is because I have gotten quite interested in H.P. Lovecraft's work and I always wanted to retell the story in my own style. The following images are an adaption of Dagon, illustrated by Alice Duke.

Figure 1. Page 1 and 2

Figure 2. Page 3

Figure 3. Page 4

Figure 4. Page 5

Images of The Dagon Story from the Lovecraft Anthology comic (2011)

Moments

This version of the story is done in only a few pages but it does highlight the key events. The first page consists of one panel of him writing about his tale, the next one shows him escaping the occupied ship The following panel shows him in the boat on the ocean and then the last panel shows him waking up on the desolate plane. This does summaries it quite briefly and the visuals do help show a flow of what is happening. 

Frames

The gutter in this story more shows us moving form one scene to another. when the man comes across the monolith there is a transition of aspect to aspect showing us the details on the monolith then the ideas relating to the fact that is might have been worshipped by a tribe. There is a sense of consistency in this page. The panel featuring the monolith helps act as a focal point due to the glowing effect as it was described in the book.  With protagonist running back to the boat, the panels at that point in the story are border less and give us a clear suggestion that theses feeling there are the moods the protagonist is experiencing one in his head. It also suggests how fragmented his memories only, capable of capturing key elements such as the creatures face and hand.

Colour

The art style looks like it was painted traditionally with water colours.  I like the idea of how it uses a traditional painted art style because when it comes to the flashbacks it feels distorted and even a small bit faded as it is being talk from the protagonist's memories. Cool colour palette works well with the night time setting and the mixture of green and purples gives us a dreamlike and mystical atmosphere. However there is a sense of fear and wonder of the unknown. It can also suggest of the creatures otherworldly origins too. At times it even feels a bit like the character is some dream state and it could even consider that it was a all a dream.

When the main character see the beast and runs back to his boat the sequence there feels blended together a series of aspect to aspect and subject to subject transitions as it begins to become jumbled up.I like this lack of uniformed panel layouts because it helps relate to H.P. Lovecraft's theme of madness that are usually refereed through his work. It also helps connect with the line "I think I went mad then." I also like the gradient effect used when the man wakes in hospital and the the framing becomes more organised again with the white gutter. the third last panel depicts the man's visions of a what will come and here it feels like a jumble of two images. One where that sea creature is eating man and other of two crawling out of a street  grabbing some poor souls.The two images feel like figments merged together to emphasis the consequence of what is to happen.while I admire its colourful traditional painted style I still found that particular style to be difficult to see clearly. The ending itself even is unclear with what happens we are not sure if it was him imagining these things or if the entire experience was real or not. Never the less this clarity may encourage further discussion of the story. When the man comes across the chasm, it is depicted like a wide canyon whereas I always depicted it like a narrow sea canyon.

Style of Narrative

The story is told through extracts from the original story summarising the points. I have noticed the adapter did not use all of the extract and has done this as a means to condense the story and highlight the key moments.The creature is depicted as a more humanised creature but shares a few traits of fish such as the eyes, the gills and the webbed hands and feel. However it keeps a intimidating appearance with having pupil-less eyes with blue liquid emitting from its tears and sharp teeth while drooling. The eyes are glowing to emphasis its inhuman appearance and personality. It's giant scale also emphasises it's appearance. These traits help convey its scariness. The monolith is show as a large cuboid with a pyramid top similar to monuments in our world such as the Washington monument and Political Martyrs' Monument. The obelisk is white with cool colour hue that helps emit a blue glow to its surroundings.

An artist called R.J. Ivankovic produced a series of illustrations based on H.P Lovecraft's work. His 

art style is inspired by Dr Seuess. These Lovecraft illustrations feature a narrative that is very similar to how Dr Seuss structured his picture books.

 HPL's Dagon (for beginning readers) - P20-21 (DrFaustusAU 2013)

The depiction of the monolith and its carvings are in sync with the simple line art work style for the story. Despite it being not as detailed as the previous style the artists went for, I still got an idea of what it was meant to be. The monument is round that fits with the child orientated art style. The character's white colour helps make him stand out in the pictures and contrasts with the unknown surreal environment. What I also like about this style is how child friendly it looks while being based of a short horror story. The use of curves, round and the the small head body ratio shapes helps emphasis its visual appeal to a young. The is not shading just base lighting however there is a a sense of gradient certain assets. the use of the soft line work helps emphases the stickiness of the environment around him.

HPL's Dagon (for beginning readers) - P08-09 (DrFaustusAU 2012)

In this depiction of Dagon, the gutters in these two pages helps give a sense of panning across the scene. The scene is not fully cluttered and you can see what is there. There is a sense of unknown as we are just as confused as the main character is. there is small evidence of where we could be.Not only does this establish the new environment but we get a sense of wanting to know what is going on. There are decaying fish, a rowing boat with cargo and we have the main character covered in muck and slime. We get the idea that this character is a sailor because of his cap and his anchor tattoo which is a visual cue associated with the navy. 
 Dr Seuss was a author who wrote children's books that use rhythm as a form of verbal narrative.This artists has developed a style that is very similar to Dr Seuss's visual style. Ivankovic's work such as the Call of Cthulhu looks more liker something that Dr Seuss could have written as it shares similar traits. However his stories have been given further updates versions. The two example are two example of him changing styles and even story layouts and moments. The first example looks like something out of a 1920s/1930s cartoon whereas the other has some traits similar to Dr Seuss unique art style such a the way the style of shading depicted in the picture. this is shown to help emphasis the sticky texture seen in the above image.

I really like how this is a innocent retelling of a horror story in the form of a famous children's author visual and literacy style.

References

DrFaustusAU, 2012. HPL's Dagon (for beginning readers) - P08-09. [image] Available at: http://drfaustusau.deviantart.com/art/HPL-s-Dagon-for-beginning-readers-P08-09-336348560 [Accessed 8 Oct. 2015].

DrFaustusAU, 2013. HPL's Dagon (for beginning readers) - P20-21. [image] Available at: http://drfaustusau.deviantart.com/art/HPL-s-Dagon-for-beginning-readers-P20-21-353467254 [Accessed 8 Oct. 2015].

Lovecraft, H., Lockwood, D., Edginton, I., Davis, R., Hine, D., Moore, L., Reppion, J., D'Israeli., Oakley, S., Culbard, I., Stafford, M., Gallagher, L., Hartman, D. and Duke, A. 2011. The Lovecraft anthology. London: SelfMadeHero.

Lockwood, D. ed., 2011. The Lovecraft Anthology. 1st ed. London: SelfMadeHero.

Paintings in Sequence - Thomas Cole

I understand that sequential art does not always apply to comic strips but also to paintings. I plan to make a canon of work and one of these examples I considered was perhaps to tell a story I had in mind through single panels rather than in a comic strip. When I was in my HNC course at Carnegie College in Dunfermline. I learned about an American artist called Thomas Cole. I was fascinated by Thomas Cole's work as he showed the history of a an empire and provided us with visual cues that's tells us more about this world. Thomas Cole created a series of paintings which told of the rise and fall of a civilization. While the angle and perspective of these paintings change, it takes place in the same location and provides a story. The evidence of this is recurring images of the coast and the distinctive mountain through the series.

This YouTube video provided me with information about the artists and his paintings.

 The Course of Empire: Thomas Cole's Warning to America

The Savage State (Cole 1834)

This is the first painting of Thomas Cole's Course of Empire series. It depicts a primitive land where tribal man roams the wild lands. Here we can see a primitive human hunting a deer with a bow and arrow. In the distance we can see other hunters. We also see a primitive wigwam village with smoke in the centre. We can see that this civilization knows about hunting for feed and resources and has discovered fire. There are also canoes in the river in the distance showing us that this tribe has found methods of transporting across water. In short, we can see a civilization at a primitive stage.

The Arcadian or Pastoral State (Cole 1834)

Here we can see that small buildings are beginning to appear showing that this civilization under stands the way architecture works. Small settlements have appeared down at the shore and we can see a boat being built suggesting that these settlers also understand boat construction. We can also see a shepherd herding sheep. The environment still holds its natural state. In the bottom left we see an old man using a stick to draw equations in the ground suggesting that here are intellectual minds in the development stage. We also see chopped tree son both ends of the painting. We can see that the natural environment is slowly beginning to disappear as the trees are being cleared for farming and resources. We can see roads and mounted horses showing that this civilization knows how to use horses for transport and have constructed basic roads. The sight of farming and fishing boats helps give the impression that these people know how to feed off the land.

The Consummation of Empire (Cole 1836)

What I do like in this painting is how detailed the environment is. There is a great scene of scale and signs of this prosperous ours civilization such as the use of vibrant colors and large mass enveloped in warm lighting and colour. Large crowds of imperial citizens cover space there is to see their leader's return. From this we can see that he is popular and has a great stature. We can see that he is draped in a red cloak and his position in the crown is at the highest point not only to make him stand out but to show how powerful he is. However there are hints of its dark side as in the parade shown crossing the bridge. While it shows the leader of this empire returning he brings with him imprisoned people of a civilization elsewhere which has been defeated by this empire. However visually, this is difficult to see. The mountain from the previous paintings is visible but we can see that the civilization has expanded to that point and this would give us an idea of how vast this luxurious civilization has grown.

Destruction (Cole 1836)

While the previous painting portrayed a prosperous civilization then destruction shows the hellish destructive downfall of this once great nation. the water is more disturbed, the sky is full of fire and smoke. We see a headless statue where its damaged shield helps point the viewer's eye towards thee centre of the painting. Here we see enemy civilization coming into the conquer this city. All the ships we sawing the bay in the previous image are all destroyed with complete anarchy ensuing. The bridge also acts as a point which separates one side of the painting from the other. Its broken as well as off the architecture we saw previously. Throughout the painting there is death and madness. 

If there was one thing I would say that this painting done's do well is I cannot tell which side is which. 

Desolation (Cole 1836)

Here the empire has fallen and has been left for a long time. there is pillar that is overgrown with plants. The bay is calm. While mankind is absent nature has returned to the environment.There is also a sense that a new civilization will rise and take the fallen one's place.

I like how this story appears as a set of painting but are told in sequence. Each of them tells a narrative and gives visual cues of the civilization at each of it's stages of development. As they are large paintings, there are additional details that help tells us more about this civilization without the inclusion of printed text. I also like how it feels like an allegory to the way America has developed, ,taking influence from Roman architecture for its buildings such as the Congress building. Even the names "The Savage State" and "The Arcadian or Pastoral State" links to the name America gives its provinces. It's amazing how every single small minute details helps gives us more information about this world. Furthermore the spacing between the paintings helps give us a sense of time. While I do not plan to do a full digital painting exercise like this, I found the idea of illustrations created in sequence, quite helpful in visual story telling.

References

Bomboy, R. (2012). The Course of Empire: Thomas Cole's Warning to America. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA2bnof3-D8 [Accessed 24 Sep. 2015].

Cole, T. (1834). The Savage State. [Oil on Canvas] New York: The New-York Historical Society.

Cole, T. (1836). Destruction. [Oil on Canvas] New York: The New-York Historical Society.

Cole, T. (1836). The Consummation of Empire. [Oil on Canvas] New York: The New-York Historical Society.

Cole, T. (1836). Desolation. [Oil on Canvas] New York: The New-York Historical Society.

Cole, T. (1834). The Arcadian or Pastoral State. [Oil on Canvas] New York: The New-York Historical Society.