I showed him my essay introduction, and he critiqued about the fact that no one really appreciates motion comics. Those who have read a motion comic would always comment how the animation in the comic disrupted the natural flow of comic reading. I agreed with his view, and I know this from my third year research that was because the animation did not add anything new to the comic. This also had me contemplating about the practice of my project, this friend also suggested that if I truly wished to add animation to the comic, do so sparingly. He also advised ways of how to work pass this issue, like the ability to switch from animation to comic while reading/watching on a handheld device.
I liked the ideas he had given, but I have decided to stay with my own concept of a multi-ended interactive comic, with the consideration of minimal animation. The realization point for me was, to create an atmospheric comic, to evoke the feeling of creepiness and uncertainty in the reader. The sound should be subtle and ambient, and the comic should allow the reader to follow along at their own pace; which is an essential part of the comic. If animation was added, it would intervene with the usual interactivity between the reader and comic. With this, I have made the decision to only use animation as an additive effect, and will only be used to heighten the tension and mood when needed.
With those in mind, I also asked about what existing children's horror comics are out there, and academic writing in regards to this. I was given a list of practitioners, history of comics and even a couple of books that may assist in my research:
-Doug Tennapel, comic artist who had created many horror genre comics aimed at children
-Jill Thompson, a female comic artist who also made horror comics
-The Goosebumps graphic novel series
-"Seduction of the Innocent" a look at the rise and fall and rise again of comics
-"Ten Cent Plague" also outlining the events that caused heavy censorship on comics. I came across this title recently
-"Men of Tomorrow" a history on comics
- Robert McKee, a critic of screenwriting, his look on narrative and story demands attention and his teachings give a lot of insight into good storytelling
-Joseph Campbell, the man behind "The Hero's Journey", an extensive look into narrative structure and how stories told throughout the ages go through a similar adventure
My area of research has finally opened up. I am also planning to conduct a qualitative research on the view on horror comics and their effect children, I will interview three people, one from each different age group and record their stories and perspective on the topic. The groups will be adult, adolescent and children.
Extending my knowledge on comics was immensely useful, but I feel very closed about myself after I left my friend's house. In some ways I wished I was exposed to more comics and books at a younger age, so I, too could hold informative knowledge of the field I have so much interest in. This may be stemmed from the fact that my family has always been rather conservative, as a child I was not allowed to watch a lot of television, and my access to music and toys was constricted by my parents. Very early on in my life I realized that I did not understand a lot of the references other children made while conversing about pop culture, which led to the me now being rather ignorant about the events happening around me. When my friend asked me about certain important comic figures, I would usually just shake my head, not knowing who they are. It is rather upsetting to learn that the sheltering from my parents had led to a lack of knowledge for me now. And now to catch up, I have a pile of books to go through in order for my intellect to be sufficient in this research. In my view, it is essential to always let children be aware of the events happening around them, let them be knowledgeable in the field they are really interested in. It should be much easier nowadays with the internet being the norm, and handheld devices ubiquitous. Therefore I believe that children should be exposed all different types of media, let them be informed about the various types of genres that are available, let them choose what they like or dislike, and guide them about what is beneficial and what is not.
Besides all that, I drew some rough concept sketches for the visualization of my project. Drawing is always enjoyable for me, and I wish I had more time to practice my artistic skills.
Finally some sketches in relevance to my project. It took a while but I finally had the time to do some drawings. Now it's back to reading.
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