So this weeks reading, Blood in the Gutters (Scott McCloud, 1993, ‘Blood in the Gutter’, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Northampton, MA : Tundra Pub) was actually pretty interesting. Despite its title this… comic (for lack of a better descriptor), is actually about how we, as humans close the gaps when it comes to two separate images telling a story, this is called closure. How we use our imagination to complete the action or movement we assume is taking place. though the reading does focus on comic’s as a medium it also touches on how the human brain commits closure almost involuntarily, by connecting two still frames to form what seems to be a moving picture. I, however, believe this article is much more relevant to film than is alluded to in the article.

In the past (e.g black and white movies) the audience was given all the information, from every movement of the main character to long sweeping establishing shots. More recent film, however, forces the audience to use their imagination much more, from connecting shots of the outside building to the noises coming from within it via voice over, to simply connecting the spatial orientation of a person from when they open the door to where the end up in the room they enter. The way shows are edited these days assume that the audience has a complete grasp of closure and the imagination to match.

I personally think this idea is awesome, and makes sense! The fact that we can, almost unknowingly make these links between what we see and what we assume is happening it truly a testament to the power of the human brain, and probably more amazingly, the power of our own unconcious imagination.