Comic+creation

The Wrong Message



CCT 300 Critical Media Analysis Instructor: Michael Jones Lu Meng Han 997040786 With the development of Internet, the door of the comic has been opened up for every Internet user. Compared to the traditional comic, the concept of comic has been amplified by the flourishing of new elements. In this comic, I make use of the real object, a plush toy, and abstract lines and shapes to tell the short story. I was inspired by a joke. A boy received a text message from his girl friend saying that she is going to break up with him. However, she texted him again five seconds later saying that she sent the text message to the wrong person. It’s pretty simple and funny. Nevertheless, I replaced the main character with a plush toy. A plush toy is cute and easy for readers to accept, especially kids. Additionally, it’s possible for me to add some crazy scene without being attached to the violence issues. There is nothing wrong with a bear toy jumping from the top of a building. If it’s a human being, it’s not going to be easy for people to read it. I took many photos of the plush toy from different angles instead of drawing them and chopped out them from the original background in Photoshop. The real object could stand out from the background automatically in terms of the different materials. The real photo is the representation of the reality while the background and other elements are the representation of the imaginary world. I was trying to create a fantasy combining the reality and the virtue world. Just like a dream, we are walking in the abstract world and directed by our minds. The format of a real photo also restricts its expression. To make the character vivid to the audience, it is necessary to utilize extra iconic signs to emphasize the change of mood. Although the photo is complex enough for the reader, I added the most abstract expression sign to the photo, such as a line for the eyebrow. I selected pink as the key tone in order to be consistent with the appearance of the object. Solid and warm color also sets up the foundation of the story. Strong strokes address the irrational aspect of the comic to some extent. Thus the comic would not be too colorful and messy. Those strokes stand out of the picture from the solid and stable background. Another vital factor, text, acts as two different roles in this comic. Texts appear more often to be the content of a text message to help narration. However, I employed text as a background in the second frame. It functions both as a story-teller and a background decoration. With the help of picture, this piece falls into “duo-specific panels in which both words and pictures send essentially the same message.”(McCloud 153) Picture and texts interacts with each other in the process of narration. In addition, the change of the color also reveals the process of the story. I changed the color from warm color, pink, to cold color grey when he got the bad news. At the end of the story, it’s full of grey and no pink any more. Finally, the story simply comprises of two characters, the bear and an invisible lover. Therefore, there is not much movement between characters. That’s why I take the scene-to-scene category to show the story. In conclusion, color and texts are important for a short comic to complete the process of closure. With a few frames, it is hard to complete much movement. Therefore, the scene-to-scene category is useful for my story. Texts and picture have to cooperate well to convey multiple feeling through the visual channel. In this perspective, duo-specific panels are good choice for me.
 * Comic “The Wrong Message” **

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Bibliography Scott McCloud. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York, USA: HarperPerennial 1994