COMICS JOURNAL 08: Understanding Comics (Ch 3)
Title: Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Author: Scott McCloud
Pages 60-93: Chapter 3 Blood In The Gutter
The panel-to-panel transitions for storytelling in comics require readers to interpret the missing part between panels. Readers perceive the fragmented panels as a whole by filling in the blanks with their knowledge, experience, and assumptions. According to McCloud, the automatic interpretation of the missing parts by the readers is called "closure".
Author: Scott McCloud
Pages 60-93: Chapter 3 Blood In The Gutter
(Page 69) McCloud says, "Participation is a powerful force in any medium".
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Page 63, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
by Scott McCloud
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This is similar to the major premise that exists in our mind unconsciously. For instance, we will give the elderly a helping hand when we saw them crossing a busy road. We take this action because we "believe" that it is a correct behavior. The unconscious assumptions and concept always help us to make judgement. However, the assumptions that based only on visual analysis can be wrong sometimes. In comics, the gutters and white space between panels encourage readers to commit the "closure" unconsciously in order to connect the panels as a whole and make sense of the story.
If the graphic novels include text, I will always read the text first, then the pictures. According to McCloud's investigation, most of the Western comics tell stories using the action-to-action, subject-to-subject, and scene-to-scene approach for panel transitions. These transitions may skip a few moments that we have to use our knowledge, experience, and imagination to link the panels together. Only looking at the pictures to connect the panels involve more work than reading the text directly. So, when there are both text and pictures, I tend to read the text first because text is more specific and require less imagination or assumption. So, reading text before interpreting the pictures can always save reading time unless the panels have too many words for digestion. On the other hand, after reading the text once, I seldom read the text again when I re-read the comic books. This is because I knew the connections between panels already. I can automatically relate them to form a story by just looking at the pictures.
I tend to read text first because I may misunderstand the story based only on visual interpretation. Text describes specific things and picture allows more rooms for imagination. Therefore, a combination with text and pictures is the perfect strategy to present a story with least effort.
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Page 74, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
by Scott McCloud
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If the graphic novels include text, I will always read the text first, then the pictures. According to McCloud's investigation, most of the Western comics tell stories using the action-to-action, subject-to-subject, and scene-to-scene approach for panel transitions. These transitions may skip a few moments that we have to use our knowledge, experience, and imagination to link the panels together. Only looking at the pictures to connect the panels involve more work than reading the text directly. So, when there are both text and pictures, I tend to read the text first because text is more specific and require less imagination or assumption. So, reading text before interpreting the pictures can always save reading time unless the panels have too many words for digestion. On the other hand, after reading the text once, I seldom read the text again when I re-read the comic books. This is because I knew the connections between panels already. I can automatically relate them to form a story by just looking at the pictures.
I tend to read text first because I may misunderstand the story based only on visual interpretation. Text describes specific things and picture allows more rooms for imagination. Therefore, a combination with text and pictures is the perfect strategy to present a story with least effort.
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Page 81, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
by Scott McCloud
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(Page 81) McCloud says, "Traditional Western art and literature don't wander much. On the whole, we're a pretty goal-oriented culture."
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