CCT 300: Critical Analysis of Media

Class 4: Critical Analysis and McCloud

Critical Analysis• What does this mean?• How does one do it?• “There are no rules…and here

they are.” (McCloud, 2006)

Major components• Clarity• Accuracy• Precision• Relevance• Depth• Breadth• Logic• Significance• Fairness

Good traits to develop…• Humility vs. arrogance• Courage vs. cowardice• Empathy vs. Closemindedness• Autonomy vs. Conformity• Integrity vs. Hypocrisy• Perserverance vs. Laziness• Reason vs. Unfounded Distrust• Fairmindedness vs. Bias

Representation in Comics

• Moment• Frame• Image• Word• Flow (2006)

Moment• Comics must represent

transition visually • Comics must guide the reader’s

sense of closure (or, leave the reader to guess the story…)

Types of Moment Change

• Moment-to-Moment• Action-to-Action• Subject-to-Subject• Scene-to-Scene• Aspect-to-Aspect• Non-Sequitur

Differences in Representing Moment

• North American/European comics vs. Japanese - content analysis shows different ratios of moment transition

• Experimental comics also break with “standard” ratios

Frame• Comics must focus reader’s

attention on particular elements• Creating sense of place,

position, focus• Similar to other visual media

(e.g., film, photography)

Framing elements• “Camera” angle• Distance and perspective• Detail (or lack thereof)• Symmetry and centering• Others?

Image• Comics must represent

characters, objects, environments, symbols

• Or not - sometimes comics deliberately leave details vague to encourage reader participation in closure

Image elements• Level of detail• Photorealism vs. iconography• Expression (especially facial

expression)• Body Language

Word• Comics mix visual and literal forms• Much more so than other visual

media • A picture might equal 1000 words,

but words can quickly contextualize and represent pictures

Word/image interplay• Word specific • Image specific• Duo specific• Additive/intersecting• Interdependent• Parallel• Montage

Flow• Comics as sequential art -

sequence of images becomes important

• Moment, frame, image, word work together to create (or sabotage) flow

Flow issues• Cultural norms (e.g., North

American/European - left to right - other cultures differ)

• Breaking norms (experimental comics)

• Extent to which creator guides flow

Breaking the rules…• Culture jamming - what it is and

what it does• Depends on understanding genre

and either subverting 1) message or 2) form

• Similar to experimental/alternative work in all genres

Next Week…• Look at culture jamming sites -

what works? What doesn’t?