McCloud, S. 1993 Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art , Tundra, USA (Specifically “Chapter 3: Blood in the Gutters”, pp60-93)
3 thoughts on “McCloud, S. 1993 Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art , Tundra, USA (Specifically “Chapter 3: Blood in the Gutters”, pp60-93)”
I have found this comic book funny and interesting since first time read it in year one editing class. It is much easier to read compared with the academic readings mentioned above. In chapter three, the author is looking for a suitable grammar for his comic, which he calls ‘closure’. The closure means ‘observing the parts but perceiving the whole’, which is just like his example at the beginning: you don’t see my legs, so you can assume they don’t exist. The closure occurs a lot in and between frames, not only for comics, but also compatible with films. For example, the six possible types of frame transition are widely used in contemporary film editing process. It will be useful to read and study these types of transition and practice them in my editing exercise.
In this chapter McCloud gives a clear, concise insight into the idea of closure in comics. He describes closure as the act of the reader filling in the blanks of the comic. He goes on to suggest that in comics, as well as film and television, closure is the agent of change, time and motion. He explains that there are 6 different types of transitions in comic books: moment to moment (requires almost no closure), action to action (requires the visualisation of an action), subject to subject, scene to scene, aspect to aspect (a change to a different aspect of the same place), non sequitur (no relationship at all). Interestingly, all of these transitions can be applied to film editing, and the principles are very similar. This makes McCloud’s discussion of closure highly relevant to the study of the shot and the cut.
McCloud’s comic illustrates the essential elements which form a comic. Although not all of his theories can be applied to film, some ideas like “closure” and the “gutter” have quite direct connections with the editing process. “Closure” is described as being the “phenomena of observing the parts but perceiving the whole” and the “gutter” is the blank area between panels. Closure in film occurs when the audience perceives the 24 frames of images per second as movement, and the gutter, perhaps, a cut. McCloud argues that for anything to actually occur from one panel to the next, audiences must be participating to form closures and that they are equal to the writer in producing meaning. By showing less of a scene, the author can evoke more imagination from the reader. McCloud asserts that “the art of comic is subtractive as it is additive”.
Though McCloud’s area is in comics, much of his writings draw correlations to film. His writing on the gutter specifically is an area of interest as it discusses how the placement of the gutter between which panels can affect meaning or mood. His categories, moment-to-moment, action-to-action, subject-to-subject, scene-to-scene, aspect-to-aspect, and non-sequitor, are all shot combinations that can be observed in film. The ideas discussed by McCloud here evokes a new way to think about film and editing.
I have found this comic book funny and interesting since first time read it in year one editing class. It is much easier to read compared with the academic readings mentioned above. In chapter three, the author is looking for a suitable grammar for his comic, which he calls ‘closure’. The closure means ‘observing the parts but perceiving the whole’, which is just like his example at the beginning: you don’t see my legs, so you can assume they don’t exist. The closure occurs a lot in and between frames, not only for comics, but also compatible with films. For example, the six possible types of frame transition are widely used in contemporary film editing process. It will be useful to read and study these types of transition and practice them in my editing exercise.
In this chapter McCloud gives a clear, concise insight into the idea of closure in comics. He describes closure as the act of the reader filling in the blanks of the comic. He goes on to suggest that in comics, as well as film and television, closure is the agent of change, time and motion. He explains that there are 6 different types of transitions in comic books: moment to moment (requires almost no closure), action to action (requires the visualisation of an action), subject to subject, scene to scene, aspect to aspect (a change to a different aspect of the same place), non sequitur (no relationship at all). Interestingly, all of these transitions can be applied to film editing, and the principles are very similar. This makes McCloud’s discussion of closure highly relevant to the study of the shot and the cut.
McCloud’s comic illustrates the essential elements which form a comic. Although not all of his theories can be applied to film, some ideas like “closure” and the “gutter” have quite direct connections with the editing process. “Closure” is described as being the “phenomena of observing the parts but perceiving the whole” and the “gutter” is the blank area between panels. Closure in film occurs when the audience perceives the 24 frames of images per second as movement, and the gutter, perhaps, a cut. McCloud argues that for anything to actually occur from one panel to the next, audiences must be participating to form closures and that they are equal to the writer in producing meaning. By showing less of a scene, the author can evoke more imagination from the reader. McCloud asserts that “the art of comic is subtractive as it is additive”.
Though McCloud’s area is in comics, much of his writings draw correlations to film. His writing on the gutter specifically is an area of interest as it discusses how the placement of the gutter between which panels can affect meaning or mood. His categories, moment-to-moment, action-to-action, subject-to-subject, scene-to-scene, aspect-to-aspect, and non-sequitor, are all shot combinations that can be observed in film. The ideas discussed by McCloud here evokes a new way to think about film and editing.