CCT300+Comic

=**Out of this world**=

[[image:COMIC.png width="800" height="2188"]]

 * By Ruth Yirgalem**

The story I decided to visually create in the form of a comic is a comedy entitled "Out of this World". The story surrounds a young man named Evan who, after witnessing something completely bizarre and frightening, frantically runs home to alert his older brother. After failed attempts to get his message across to his laid back brother who is more interested in the game than what his brother actually has to say, Evan hears noises from the kitchen which causes him to be even more alarmed. His brother laughs at his paranoia, reassuring Evan it is only his friend who went to grab a beverage. When his friend enters the room however, Evan is both blindsided and startled because the very thing that led him to frantically run away from the park is now staring at him in his very own living room. Evan then quickly storms out of the house, causing his brother and his friend to laugh at his weird behaviour and make jokes at his expense. While creating my comic, I relied heavily on Scott McCloud’s novel Understanding Comics to ensure that the intended message I wanted to deliver to the audience was being successfully understood and received. Using the ideas and concepts learned from McCloud’s novel, I will discuss and analysis how I applied them to my comic to create my story.

====The artistic style I chose to use to create my comic with was with a comic illustrator website called Pixton. The site allows you to create a variety of different comics using predesigned characters and backgrounds that allow you to produce a lot of different frames and scenarios to help visually express your story. McCloud explains that an illustration that “can evoke an emotional or sensual response in a viewer is vital to the art of comics” and I feel that my comic is able to resonate those feelings from the audience (McCloud, 121). In the second, third and fourteenth frames of my comic, no words are used to describe the frames. However, Evan’s emotions are easily displayed through his exaggerated facial expressions and body movements after what he becomes exposed to. McCloud discusses the idea of amplification by simplification and this relates perfectly to my comic. The images I used to help tell my story are amplified and are able to represent different actions, emotions, and expressions in a way that realistic art just simply cannot. The simplistic nature of the character’s features and its cartoony essence allows for the emotions to be intensified and easily read by the audience. ====

====Another element I applied to my comic is discussed in chapter 5 By McCloud titled //living in line//, in which he discusses how lines and other symbols can be rendered in different ways to convey different meanings. In my third and fourteenth frame, I used particular backgrounds to help strengthen the emotions I wanted the audience to feel. I used both lines and bright colours to connote both elements of alertness and surprise. McCloud discusses how “backgrounds can be another valuable tool for indication of invisible ideas …particularly the world of emotions” (132). The lack of wording in certain frames forces the readers to pick up on symbols and icons to help guide them through the story. Visual iconography is also used to display the state of uneasiness Evan is feeling. Since words are not used to help describe his state of mind, symbolic indicators like his constant sweating and rosy cheeks are able to help visually elaborate the character’s emotions. Also, the seventh and sixteenth frame, word bubbles with the words “zap!” and “bang!” are used to describe different noises. While the audience cannot actually hear these sounds, the exclamation marks, the bolded lettering and the specific word bubbles that are used all work together to emphasis intended meanings. Word bubbles can come in different shapes and sizes to highlight the dialogue or the mood of the panel and can help to convey sound. In my comic, the usage of words to convey sound and to signify emotion are important and McCloud helped me to realize the impact that it can have to collectively form the basis of my story. ====

====In my comic, I used moment to moment representation in a majority of my frames, particularly in frames one through four. Evan notices a spaceship in the sky and becomes quickly startled. The next panels show him running from the park all the way home. In frame five however, the background changes from an outdoor setting into an indoor sitting. While the audience does not see Evan entering his home, the previous frames hint to his destination because of the houses in the background of frame four. This transition can be referred to as frame to frame. McCloud states that “the white space (or lack of it) between frames tells a story too; comics allow each reader to use his or her own imagination to close each panel and move on to the next” (67). In other words, in moments where the frames completely change within my comic, I rely on the audience’s participation to be able to form closure between panels, which is discussed by McCloud. The majority of my comic relies heavily on subject to subject representation. From frames five through twenty, Evan is seen interacting both with his brother and his friend, who is introduced in frame twelve. Subject to subject and moment to moment representation is used heavily throughout my comic because they are vital components to the story my comic is trying to convey. ====

In the end, coming up with a concept and story line that I felt readers would be intrigued by was a very difficult feat because it requires the ability to think of a concept that could be enjoyed by a wide audience, not just by a select few. Also, the illustration aspect required a lot of patience because every dynamic, including the symbols, icons and expressions used were very important to the comic’s story line and overall flow. In order to ensure that my comic was understandable and enjoyable, I allowed others to read it so I could recieve feedback and constructive criticism on how to further improve my comic effort. Overall, I feel as though my comic was able to successfully integrate McCloud’s concepts and ideas into the story making it a lighthearted and delightful read for the viewing audience.