ILLU5060 - The Graphic Code Of Comic Books

The Graphic Code Of Comic Books Lecture Notes

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• The Graphic code of comics – graphic signs that are unique to comic strips, easily understood & accepted conventions
• Encoding & Decoding – Design’s impact on story & readership
• Comic strips have an underlying complexity to their design that is not immediately apparent on a surface viewing.
• American & British comics developed separately, and so conventions & designs differ.

 
The Graphic Code of Comics

• Character Abstraction – Simplified depictions of characters. More relatable, & efficient to draw.
• Gutter –
• Speech Bubbles – Conveying the spoken, word within comics.
• Sound Effects – Audio elements visualised. Onomatopoeia.
• Symbolic Icons – Culturally dependent icons to denote a variety of things.
• Narrative Box – Setting conveyed through the written word.
• Though Bubbles – Conveys the inner thoughts of characters.
• Panels – the frames of the story, individual snap-shots.

 

• Encoding – creating. The Intelligent design behind the creation of a work & the narrative behind it.
• Decoding – reading. Understanding the connection between

 
Plurivectorial flow

• Comics display past, present, & future all at once.
• Focus & direction of eye movement across the page can be erratic. Constant reference to past events in the story.

Various strategies can be employed to direct the reader’s eye:

• Page Layout.
• Strip ellipses.
• Key panel coordinates.
• Page breaks & cliff-hangers.
• Use of negative space.
• Reader “closure”.
• Transition types to show the passage of time.

 
Deconstructing a comic page into its constituent frames:
Text box & balloon > Panel Frame > strip > hyperframe > page margin > single page
Page – The whole page as one.
Strip – Sequential style & aesthetics considered, the direction of the narrative is managed.
Panel – Detailed examination of word & image and transition between panels
 
Significant Panel coordinates – entry/ exit points and center
Negative space –Drawn elements show only a portion of the story content.
partial visuality: omitted, implied, content of the story that is not drawn within the frames. Negative space prompts the reader to imagine beyond.
The gutter as a transition device:

• Moment to moment – Small lapses in time, self-evident depictions
• Action to action – Different actions within the same scene.
• Subject to subject – Same scene/ concept different subject of focus. Reader has to work to understand the narrative.
• Scene to scene – Significant movement of time/ space within the story.
• Aspect to aspect – Scene setting transition, no apparent change in time. No narrative progression, just reinforcing the setting.
• Non-sequitur – No clear connection between panels.

Comic Transition Types Write-Up

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Moment-To-Moment - Small jumps in time showing the same subject or setting progressing from one moment in time to another

Action-To-Action - Single subject of focus transitioning from one action into another, generally small time-frame, but can be longer or an ambiguous duration of time between frames.

Subject-To-Subject - Narrative thread remains the same; different subjects within the same scene shown in different panels.

Scene-To-Scene - Different settings shown, great difference between time or location between each frame.

Aspect-To-Aspect - Subjects within the same setting, reinforcing the setting by showing features between frames that share aspects of the setting, the same mood/ tone/ location/ concept/ aesthetic.

Non-Sequitur - Frames with no discernible connection to each other.

Comic Transition Types Case Study: By Chance Or Providence

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Double Page Spread From By Chance Or Providence

Annotated Comic Transition Types

1. Action-To-Action - The transition from standing in a forest to the action of searching through bags/ pockets
2. Action-To-Action - From searching pockets to the action of scattering items.
3. Action-To-Action - Items being scattered to items hitting the floor (could be interpreted as  moment-to-moment or aspect-to-aspect as it shows a small jump in time, but also the same narrative thread/ scene in a different perspective)
4. Aspect-To-Aspect - The same scene of being in the forest, ambiguous time difference, two different parts of the same scene (could also be interpreted as action-to-action as the implied turning of a head could be seen as an action).
5. Action-To-Action - The same subject goes from standing in forest to drawing blood on their sword.
6. Aspect-To-Aspect - Scene goes from the subject's hand drawing blood from the sword to a close up reactionary shot of the same subject's eye.
7. Subject-To-Subject - Close up of the eye of one subject transitions into a wide shot establishing a new subject within the narrative. 
8. Aspect-To-Aspect - Same subjects/ setting transition to a more detailed revealing shot of the subject. Initial frame shows a obscured view of this subject which is one aspect of them, then the subsequent frame reveals them in more detail, which is another aspect of the same subject.
9. Scene-To-Scene - Transition from one setting in the narrative to another entirely new (relative to the isolated spread) setting in the narrative. This transition is especially distinct as the colour pallet, and the panel border changes drastically compared to those before.