Understanding+Comics+Notebook

Understanding Comics Notebook
Pink Front Cover - decorate as you choose Inside Front Cover - no requirements (**p. 6** - space for picture answer to Question #2 on p. 7 -- doesn't need to be included in Table of Contents) (**p. 8** - space for doodled blobs with eyeballs added) (**p. 10** - blank)
 * p. 1 -** (Notebook paper) - Table of Contents
 * includes the titles of all odd pages
 * p. 3** - (Notebook paper) - Bibliography
 * McCloud, Scott. //Understanding Comics.// Kitchen Sink Press, 1993.
 * (same data for each book you use) Author, Title. Publisher, year.
 * p. 5** - blank
 * p. 7** - Chapter One questions - Setting the Record Straight
 * p. 9** - Chapter Two Notes - Part One
 * Concrete - existing in reality; perceptible to the senses.
 * Abstract - having an intellectual and emotional content that depends solely on intrinsic form, rather than narrative or pictorial representation.
 * Icon - any image used to represent a person, place, thing, or idea.
 * p. 11** - two pasted in photos. **For each simple photo:**
 * 1) Draw a sketch as close as possible to the photo. (realistic)
 * 2) Draw another sketch that is somewhat more abstract. (less realistic)
 * 3) Draw a third sketch that is a very abstract version of the photo!


 * p. 12**


 * Paste in copy of McCloud's pyramid of comic reality to abstraction.
 * Draw a sketch of a main character from your chosen comic where you believe it belongs in that triangle.

We look out through a mask (our face) While we have a complex view of others (we see every detail) We have a simple view of ourselves (we don't bother to keep track of so much detail)
 * **p. 13** - Chapter Two note - Part Two

McCloud believes this allows us to personally identify with a simpler image - similar to the simpler image we have of ourselves.

to amplify - to make more powerful

Amplification through Simplification
 * simplifying parts of a story or picture to put the focus on one idea or aspect of a story.
 * If you aren't looking at every detail of setting, the overall mood may be able to come through more clearly.

In comics the gutter is often where closure takes place.
 * p. 14** - three sets of two frames each
 * in each set of frames draw your own, original example of transitions #1, #2, and #3.
 * p. 15** - Chapter 3 - Blood in the Gutter (part one)
 * Gutter - the white space on the page of comics between the picture panels.
 * Closure
 * 1) the state of being closed
 * 2) bringing to an end
 * 3) a feeling of finality or resolution, especially after a traumatic experience.
 * 4) the ability of humans to fill in what happens without being shown the whole thing.
 * we can fill in a story from a few plot points
 * we can fill in a picture with partial views of things

p. 21 - Chapter 5 questions and answers Your Comic Author Artist 1. Look over pages 118 – 120. a. Which of the pictures seem to you to match the picture? Which don’t? b. Compare your impressions with other people in your group? Do you all get the same impressions? 2. Look at the pictures on page 126. Which of these is the most like Your Comic? 3. Looking at examples of line on pp. 128 – 131, how does your comic use symbols to show something going on in the mind or the heart (or the smell!) of the character? For two examples, write down the page number and identify what’s going on. Ex. 1 – Ex. 2 – 4. On pages 132 and 133, McCloud shows a different use of line. Here he is showing how the artist might indicate what is going on inside the character by drawing differently outside of the character. Find two places where this happens in Your Comic and indicate the page number and what the unusual art is symbolizing. Ex. 1 – Ex. 2 – 5. Go around the group and share the examples you’ve chosen. Is there a wide variety in your group? Which idea is the most creative? Which is the most convincing? 6. Now, hand Your Comic to someone else in your group. Make sure everyone has a new comic (pass to the left?) Look through this Other Comic. - Who is the author of the Other Comic? - Who is the artist of the Other Comic? 7. Look at the examples on page 134 of sound in comics. What are four different examples of sound in the Other Comic in your hands? Sketch and label the four examples.
 * p. 16** - three sets of two frames each
 * in each set of frames draw your own, original example of transitions #4, #5, and #6.
 * p. 17** - Chapter 3 - part two
 * Closure (completion of the idea) happens during the transition from one panel to the next (in the gutter)
 * Transition types:
 * 1) moment-to-moment: same picture, just showing small amounts of time passing
 * 2) action-to-action: both panels could be described with verbs
 * 3) subject-to-subject: Different subjects within the same scene or idea (reader involvement necessary)
 * 4) scene-to-scene: across time and/or space, to keep telling the story
 * 5) aspect-to-aspect: the "wandering eye" looking at different pictures related to the same idea (like a movie camera)
 * 6) non-sequitir: no connection at all between the pictures; does not follow. But McCloud says our brains are always trying to find a connection.
 * p.18** - Using //at least two// ideas for the passage of time, illustrate //one// of the following scenarios:
 * kids peek through ho.es in a fence to see (and tell) about the other side
 * people give advice from below to a man hanging from a windowsill
 * a little kid arrives at a big school for the first time
 * a buzzard, a dog, and some ants fight over something tasty
 * a superhero flies (jumps, swings?) over a city while people below try to guess how he (she?) will save the city
 * p. 19** - Chapter 4 - Time!
 * How does time pass in comics?
 * moving to the next panel
 * moving across a single panel
 * different captioning affects time differently
 * it takes time for someone to say something
 * the right words give the impression of extending time
 * shape and arrangement of panels
 * spaces between panels
 * either gutters or other left-open space
 * size of panels
 * use of panel outlines
 * skip panel walls (one or more)
 * "bleeds" into the edge of pages

p. 23 - Group Work on Sound in Comics 1. Have each person in the group pick one sheet of comic art. 2. Have each person pick one slip of dramatic content. 3. Using ideas from pages 134 and 135 in Understanding Comics (or ideas from anywhere else in the book), add sound and words to make your picture match your background dramatic content. · One character knows something dangerous that can’t be told to another character.

· One character suffered something from another character some time ago, but won’t talk about it. · All characters know that their city/country/planet is about to be destroyed ·
 * Animals and/or robots have taken over the world

· All characters are very different from what they seem to others.

p. 25 ? p. 27 - Chapter Six – Show and Tell Name _ 1. According to McCloud, what do we learn as we progress from children’s books to books written for adults? 2. How do movies and television contradict our basic cultural rules about words and pictures?

3. By the early 1800s, what was the effect of the distance between words and pictures?

4. How does this change look on the bottom of his “comics triangle”? (bottom of p. 145) 5. What did the art look like when the words and pictures came together toward the middle of the triangle with modern art (p. 148)? 6. What are the seven types of relationships McCloud recognizes between words and pictures? 1st.– 2nd. – 3rd. – 4th. – 5th. – 6th. – 7th. – 7. McCloud shows a page of panels on page 157. What are three possible ways words could be used to add to the scene (pages 158 – 160)?

p. 29 - Chapter 7 & 8 questions and answers Chapter Seven – Six Steps to Great Art What does McCloud say are our two basic instincts? Define the six steps on the path to great art, according to the author. 1. Idea/Purpose

2. Form 3. Idiom 4. Structure 5. Craft 6. Surface Chapter Eight – A Word About Color 1. Why does McCloud say “in comics the career of color has been. . . ‘spotty’”? 2. What are the three additive primaries, and what do they add up to? 3. What are the three subtractive primaries? Why is it called subtractive? And why do these colors apply to comics? 4. On the right side of the middle of page 187, what does the little chart of different shades of colors show? 5. How has commerce affected the use of color in comics? 6. Why have traditional comics used primary colors? 7. In Your Chosen Comic, are traditional bold “comic book” colors used, or is there a more subtle shading? Explain whether or not you think the use of color is effective in your Chosen Comic

p. 31 - Write a list of how **Your Comic** addresses the issues in Understanding Comics. Ch. 2 – p. 29 – Photographic vs. Iconic Ch. 3 – p. 70 – 72 –Transitions · which are used? · how does it affect the story? Ch. 4 – Time Ch. 5 – p. 126, 128-131, 132-133, 134-135 – Line · for mood/story o in and around character · for word balloons Ch. 6 – p. 153-155 – Show and/or Tell? · Does your comic show more? Tell more? o show fights? Tell plot? Other? Ch. 7 – Steps of Art – what was the main concern of the author of your comic? · what is the theme? what is the author’s main concern? Ch. 8 – Color – p. 190-191 – How does your comic use color?