CCT300+-+Comic+Creation

=**Assignment 2: Comic Creation**=

media type="custom" key="11160934"






 * David Soo **
 * Professor Mike Jones **
 * CCT300 **
 * 03 November 2011 **

//STFU //

The web comic, //STFU//, was created with a storyline which touches on the subconscious thoughts people and society experience. It is a satirical moment. It represents our subconscious desires, our imagination, and the consideration to just “lose it” to the nuisances which North American culture tolerates on a daily basis. The story and art direction voluntarily enlists the reader into a space that is further enhanced through the unique medium of web comics while utilizing Scott McCloud’s theories on framing and participation.

Several elements of McCloud’s doctrine on participation were incorporated into the flow and movement of the story. A mixture of moment-to-moment, action-to-action, and subject-to-subject panel transitions were used. However, a distinct choice was made to include “aspect-to-aspect transitions [which] have been an integral part of Japanese mainstream comics almost from the very beginning” (79, McCloud). This was evidenced in the panels dedicated to character mood and moments experienced. Participation was further enhanced by “creating a sequence with two or more images... endowing them with a single overriding identity, and forcing the viewer to consider them as a whole” (73, McCloud). This technique was used within several areas of the comic to create an overwhelming sense of building emotion and surrounded activity. We see this used when the character begins to change moods within the panels “devoted to portraying slow cinematic movement... [while] setting a mood” (80, McCloud). However, participation and transitioning styles were not used solely but was instead, creatively illustrated while carefully selecting the appropriate McCloud framing theories mentioned above.

//STFU // was also created with careful consideration to panel size, placement, and selection of framed elements. All panels were sized according to the value held within the story. Smaller panels focused on the subject’s specific elements which required attention. Larger panels illustrated the amount of information and content the reader had to be aware of, especially in spacial-relations. This was because “the panel shape... actually [made] a difference in our perception of time... [and, also the] long panel [had] the same basic “meaning” as its shorter versions... [but with] the feeling of greater length!” (101, McCloud). Several panels also had their frames purposely omitted. This created a stylized sense of closure as the panel shape, size, and position ultimately drew the reader to the illustration of focus alone, without a traditional frame. An example of this technique was used when the character began his “return to reality” from the momentary lapse of rage within his imagination. The panel size and position request “the reader... [to] assemble a single moment using scattered fragments” (79, McCloud).

The final and most powerful element used within the creation of //STFU// was the choice of medium used. A web comic should employ its most powerful asset - the web. As such, the multimedia technique of an animated GIF was used to enhance reader participation. The panel illustrating the character’s rage showcased “the durations of that time and the dimensions of that space [and was] defined more by the contents [within] the panel than by the panel itself (99, McCloud). The animated GIF enhances this facet and states “the assumption that if observing a moving object can be involving, being that object should be more so” (114, McCloud).


 * Works Cited **

McCloud, Scott. //Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art//. New York: Harper Collins, 1993. Print.