ha! yes, i find that as an adult, even though i also did not sit at the cool table as a kid, i often sit at it as an adult. perhaps this is b/c as adults we have made our own "cool kids" table??? do let me know how your students react to watchmen, etc., please. currently, i am writing a book on teaching the graphic novel in secondary education english language arts. :) katie
Yes, I saw your query on Katie's wall. I can understand your situation but I'm wondering why the McCloud is only helping a little bit. So much can be said that I'm not sure where to start except to say your instincts are good in that you know a main part of the text is being left out if you're not dealing with the visuals.
So here's a quick idea that could be way off-base:
How comfortable are you with visual media in general, specifically moving image media (fine art and painting would be all right, too)?
In other words, I would choose a lens through which to approach the graphics that you're already familiar with.
For example, do you enjoy the films of Alfred Hitchcock or John Ford? Do you like how they're edited? Do you like how the shots are composed? Or the way the camera moves? I'd be more intuitive and approach the formal elements of comics in terms of what you already respond to in your gut instinctively. After all, isn't that how you'll have to teach some of the students who may also be quick to pick up on the narrative elements but not the visual grammar?
So I'd look at basic things in Watchmen to start: what characters get close-ups, and when... and therefore why? What's going on in the foreground vs. the background? What stuff is left to be inferred (i.e., is in the gutters, a la McCloud)? What colors are used symbolically? Within a panel, who is positioned higher or lower? How is the reader made to feel uneasy through asymmetry, juxtaposition, etc.? All of these things could also be asked of a film or TV program, and most could be asked of a representational painting. The trick is, by aligning graphica with these art forms/media, you suddenly have many more resources to draw upon.
katie monnin
Jan 20, 2009
Peter Gutierrez
So here's a quick idea that could be way off-base:
How comfortable are you with visual media in general, specifically moving image media (fine art and painting would be all right, too)?
In other words, I would choose a lens through which to approach the graphics that you're already familiar with.
For example, do you enjoy the films of Alfred Hitchcock or John Ford? Do you like how they're edited? Do you like how the shots are composed? Or the way the camera moves? I'd be more intuitive and approach the formal elements of comics in terms of what you already respond to in your gut instinctively. After all, isn't that how you'll have to teach some of the students who may also be quick to pick up on the narrative elements but not the visual grammar?
So I'd look at basic things in Watchmen to start: what characters get close-ups, and when... and therefore why? What's going on in the foreground vs. the background? What stuff is left to be inferred (i.e., is in the gutters, a la McCloud)? What colors are used symbolically? Within a panel, who is positioned higher or lower? How is the reader made to feel uneasy through asymmetry, juxtaposition, etc.? All of these things could also be asked of a film or TV program, and most could be asked of a representational painting. The trick is, by aligning graphica with these art forms/media, you suddenly have many more resources to draw upon.
Hope this helps.
Jan 21, 2009