Lesson 6-7

 

How can you access comics?

iPhone 

Desktop 

Tablet 

E-comics

They are now made digitally and can zoom in to read text on devices, making it catered to tablets, for example

Additionally, e-comics are optimised for different screen sizes and resolutions

apps: comiXology 

conventions:

comics use images and drawings to depict emotions, actions, text - everything we see (mise-en-scene) 

sounds, movement, emotions are represented through speech bubbles

Scripting

- format for comic script different to film and TV

- must state what is happening on the specific panel using words to describe the picture, then the dialogue that would feature in the comic

- title page and then describe action for each panel & page

EG

life-likeness - cartoon style

right - connotes youthfulness, bland

left connotes more action and targets older demographic 

- Because a comic strip is a sequence of frames similar to a filmed sequence of shots it uses film conventions: use of shot distance (ELS, LS, MS, MCU, CU, ECU) and angle (high, straight, low, canted); zoom in/out; shot-reverse shot; eyeline match

- Direction: left-right, top-bottom (in Western culture)

- Black and white or colour

comic strip structures 

- Micro-structures: inter-frame relationships: shot-reverse shot, repetition, contrast, Q/A, non-sequitur, flash-forwards, flashback

- Macro-structures: narrative structure:Comic strip narrative structure is often similar to that of mainstream film and television e.g. Todorov’s narrative stages (equilibrium, disruption of the equilibrium, reinstatement of the equilibrium), utilises Propp’s character types (hero, heroine, villain, helper etc)

comic strip terminology

- Panel: A panel is one illustration on a page usually surrounded by a border. A comic book page is made up of one or more panels. Each panel moves the story along, by depicting an action with figures and speech bubbles

- Gutter: This is the space between the panels. These spaces can be large or small, impacting how easy it is to read the pages

- Tier: A single row of panels

- Splash: A full-page illustration which often is used at the beginning of the comic book to introduce the story and establish setting and mood

- Spread: An illustration that is spread out over more than one page

- Caption: A box that is separate from the rest of the panel usually used to provide context for what’s happening through the voice of a narrator

- Speech bubble/balloon: These contain the dialogue of the characters and inside the panel. Each balloon has a “tail,” which points to who is speaking the dialogue

- focal point has bigger panel

- some focal points have ripped panels, especially if storyline showcases a fight scene

my comic 

synopsis: 

Alien wakes up on earth and is sad that they look different. As they go to high school, everyone laughs at them. A bully comes up to them and hits them - as he hits it, they both fly up to another planet. Now the bully is the odd one out and the alien, along with its alien friends, laugh at the bully. 

genre:

comedy/ feel-good

characters:

alien (randomly woke up on earth and is unsure why. feels left out and misses home)

bully

other high school students

target audience: 

7-11 year olds