Proposal

I propose to create a web comic, one that uses Mccloud’s definition of sequential art in order to create a product that fully utilises the medium of the web browser. I want to create a comic that spans three acts. Each act will embody a particular genre. The first act is a western but as the user advances into the second and third acts the genres will mix, hopefully producing something that is a fresh experience. I’ve decided to use a western as my primary genre, as I believe its elements can be easily combined with that of other genres. The second act will introduce science fiction conventions and finally the third will be a film noir/ crime thriller.

Structurally the site will consist of panels that are separated by html pages. Each panel can potentially contain animations, sound effect or music and interactivity. However for the final project I hope to expand and ultimately streamline the framework by reworking the comic to display on a slideshow. Not only will this make the site ‘cleaner’ but it will allow me to employ more sophisticated technics, for example flash games and more rewarding interactivity.

On top of the remediation of a traditional form, I want to explore how genre can be effectively replicated via its semantic elements. For the western this is simple enough. Within the first act all the action takes place in the saloon, a staple of the western. The genre can be further identified by clothing, character types, sounds and iconographic imagery and form. I aim to expand into different genre in the following acts. It will be interesting to see which genre can be identified most concisely by their semantic elements.

Ultimately I want my web comic to embody some the elements that only the web browser is capable of.

Work Schedule

Week 13-14:

I might not be able to do much production work at this time, as I have a presentation on the 30^th of June which ideal I want to spend at least two weeks working on. To compensate for I will work on my production over the Christmas break. During this time I will be looking a examples of comic book art in order to develop a style for my own. I’m particularly fond of the 8 bit, pixel style. I think it would work well in my comic as I will be borrowing elements of video game play in my comic’s structure. Furthermore, pixelated art would make the animation process simpler.

Week 14-16

During these weeks I will be familiarising myself with flash. My ultimate aim is to retool the site, exporting the images onto a slideshow. Not entirely sure how complex this process will be but I feel two weeks is enough time. During this time I will be reading on up on more potential theorists. I’m slightly concerned that I won’t have another theoretical works to draw on that relate to web comics. Mccloud has proven very useful and I will be following up this interest by analysing his other books.

Week 15-19

These weeks will be spent drawing the images for my project at this moment in time I haven’t settled entirely on an art style. The pilot consisted of 11 images most of which had some form of animation. For the final project I want another two acts which mean 22 more images. I’m allotting a significant chunk of time to the illustration as they can take a while to complete. I also feel they are one of the more important elements of the site; they should be of a high standard.

Week 19-20

I will spend these weeks constructing the site. I should have the framework complete by this point. These weeks will consist of exporting the images to the slide show, building link and so on. If I have time I will begin to search for appropriate sounds to us e in the comic.

Week 20-21

During this time I will be continuing to source sounds for my site. On top of this I will begin researching for my final evaluation. I should complete a rough draft by the end of week 21.

Week 21-22

Work will likely slow down at this point as many assignments are due in the coming weeks. However the bulk of the leg work should be done by this point. The most time consuming aspect of this project is the illustrations, I feel I have assigned enough time to complete them.

Week 22-23

I will be working on polishing the site at this point. Most of the elements should be complete. I’ll need to find a suitable host for my site as well.

I’ve been thinking about comics and the ways it’s been remediated in various mediums. One of the more obvious examples is the transition from comic to film. When a comic is translated to a cinematic form it embodies all of its forms and technics, whilst the narrative elements remain the same the comic is changed on a structural level to accommodate the new medium. From what I’ve seen a large of amount of web comics conform to the limitation of its fundamental print format. Perhaps people believe that a comic should be defined by these limitations and to deviate from the status quo is to misrepresent a classic form. Artists may see the internet as a means to reach a wider audience, without considering what the medium is truly capable of. Or maybe it’s a matter of effort, it certainly easier to create a static page consisting of four panels. Jay David Bolter has the following to say in his book Remediation (1999).

'It is easy to see that hypermedia applications are always explicit acts of remediation: they import earlier media into a digital space in order to critique and refashion them. However, digital media that strive for transparency and immediacy (such as immersive virtual reality and virtual games) are also acts of remediation. Hypermedia and transparent media are opposite manifestations of the same desire: the desire to get past the limits of representation and to achieve the real. They are not striving for the real in a metaphysical sense. Instead, the real is defined in terms of the viewer's experience: it is that which evokes an immediate (and therefore authentic) emotional response. Transparent digital applications seek to get to the real by bravely denying the fact of mediation. Digital hypermedia seeks the real by multiplying mediation so as to create a feeling of fullness, a satiety of experience, which can be taken as reality. Both these moves are strategies of remediation. ^43'

I believe this relates to my project, as I’m creating an experience that by Bolter’s definition is more ‘realistic in that I’m creating a comic that is ‘fuller’ than that of a print format.

The debate prompts the problematic nature of genres, whether in film, book or television. Theorists have attempted to define genres based on a number of different attributes, but they are usually inconclusive in their methods. Genre, much like the comic medium, is far too unruly a beast to effectively define. Its definition can change dramatically based on spatial and temporal factors, a Thai western is very different from an American western as would a western from the 1930’s would be different to one from the 2000’s. Similarly, comics can be thought of in the same way but only if you expand your definition of what constitutes a comic. In a previous post I referenced the beyeux tapestry as a potential example of a comic that predates the invention of the printing press. Similarly I want to challenge the preconceived ideas that define modern comics. I want to avoid sequential images separated by panels on a static page, but rather create an experience that utilises the medium of the internet.

In my comic I want to use explore both the framework of the comic and its possibilities and limitations as well as the possibilities and limitations that exist in genre. I want to see how icons, sounds, images, animation and interactivity can defy expectations in genre and comics.

I’ve been reading Scott Mccloud’s Understanding Comics, the early sections of the book deal with definition, what a comic is. Mccloud states that the comic books are generally perceived as a low form of art, its cultural capital is worth significantly less than say a painting or sculpture. The consensus is that comic books are ‘crude, poorly drawn, semiliterate, cheap disposable kiddie fair’ (Mccloud 1993). But this is to privilege a view that defines comic book far too narrowly.
Mccloud rejects the low brow consensus and instead proposes that comic books potential is ‘limitless and exciting!’.

In his effort to dismiss the claim that comic books are not worthy of a serious art form, Mccloud attempts to separate form from content, analysing not what is contained within but how the contents are presented, in Mccloud’s words: separating the message from the messenger. I feel this is particularly relevant to my project as I’m attempting to subvert preconceived convention of comic book forms and practises. However, mccloud’s definition of comic as sequential art has made me think that perhaps my animated panels are not so different from the classical form.

Mccloud states that comic books differ from animation because in animation the frames are separated by time and within a comic it’s separated by space. My comic attempts to combine both the temporal and spatial, the panels are separated by page and within those pages the panels contain animations. Mspaintadventures does the same:

Elements are separated by both spatial and via time in the form of separate panels and the use of animation.

Ultimately comic books are extremely difficult to define; they appear not only in the pages marvel and DC but arguably on elaborate tapestries and as ancient hieroglyphics. Mccloud debates whether the forms match up entirely but he acknowledges the similarities. I believe that these ancient forms could act as a possible precursor to modern day comics.

It’s not difficult to see the similarities that exist between this and more contemporary forms. Images are spatial in order to create a narrative. It does however lack panels, and is instead one continuous piece. The point I may illustrating is that the comic book form is capable of accommodating more than just pulp fiction. Indeed, ‘sequential art’ is found in many pieces of high art but rarely are these pieces referred to as’ comics’. It would appear that a comic carries with it an intricacy negative connotation, one that is defined not by form but taste. Mccoud himself cleverly subverts this idea by using comics as a medium for his ideas; he successfully uses what is generally perceived as a low cultural form to present theories and values that possess a high cultural capital.

Mccoud departs from his look on the past and instead casts his eyes on the future. By using Mcccloud’s definition of ‘sequential art’ it’s possible to open comic books to an almost unlimited range of possibilities, ones that don’t include superheroes or talking animals. In fact no one genre can, or should be, dominate using this definition, all have equal place on the comic framework. Furthermore, the aesthetic the technical process by which these comics are created is able to expand into area that may be seen as untraditional. Sequential art does not railroad the form into a ridged position wherein the comic can only exist as a low brow form with a standardised process of manufacture. Mccoud concludes by stating that these definitions are, by their very nature, evolutionary, an on-going process.

Dead Space Motion Comic

I thought this was an interesting comic/video.

Not only is it a remediation of a comic but also a video game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD1paM_Vq9I

the video format makes me think that perhaps comic is the wrong word to describe it, however you can see where the 'panels' separate the images. by Mccould definition this would be considered animation as it progresses on a temporal level.

Mspaintadventures

http://www.mspaintadventures.com/

An internet comic that challenges conventions of a standard comic book structure

with the comic you'll find animated gifs, use of sound, interactive segments, fully animated sequences and the ability to influence the comic's narrative.

example of one 'panel'

http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002146

Another based on flash that allows the user to explore the environment and interact with characters.

http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003258

It should be noted that both these examples are simply another 'panel' in the sequence that makes up the comic.

Oktotally

Oktotally is an art blog that has a focus on remediating film, television and games into a mock 8bit style. looping gif animations something that my site will rely on, atleast for the prototype. I'm fond of the retro video game aesthetic it works rather well with the looping, low frame animation, as that is how it would appear in a game of its era.

Scott Mccloud

http://scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/trn/index.html

Link leads to a an interesting webcomic. users navigate through the narrative by clicking an image embedded in the panel. Each panel leads to a new panel with another image embedded in the centre.

This gives the impression that the user is piercing deeper and deeper into the story. This comic has got me thinking about comic book forms and how they might reflect the themes. This is what I want to achieve in my webcomic, I want the framework of the internet to work in tandem with the themes of the narrative, rather than simply have a comic that happens to be hosted on the internet.

Animated Comic Covers

Here are a few example of some remediated comic book covers. I particular like the Spiderman cover, what is a relatively simple 2 step animation manages to make the image much more dramatic.

Source:http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/excellent_animated_comic_book_covers

Here's is a image that will become part of my 'title page'. the idea is that each of the three acts of my comic will reflect a chosen genre. the first act is a western so 'Sal', our main character, is dressed in western trappings. Act two will be a science fiction, in act two I will attempt to blend the conventions of science fiction and the western. finally act three will begin to blend element of the film Noir.

A title page will be made for each act. Sal's appearance will reflect the semantic elements of the genres within the act. The finished comic will be a genre mash up.

(click image for full size plus animation)