Back on the topic of my project, I continued with more reading on Wednesday. I read a couple of useful academic sources regarding motion comics and interactive comics, as well as a paper by Lev Monovich about hybrid media. Craig Smith was one of the very few people who investigated and analysed motion comics and their production in depth. My focus was not here, though it was informing to learn about the various difficulties and censure that motion comic adaptations receive. Smith analyses mostly motion comics that are adapted from original comic books and graphic novels, and he discusses the issues concerning authenticity and respect for the original material. It was quite rare to find scholarly papers surrounding motion comics, let alone advocate them, since the majority of the comic community (both readers and creators) seems to scowl when the term is mentioned. Smith brings about some strong arguments in support of motion comics, and I stand by in a neutral position, as my project is not too concerned with this area. But it should be acknowledged, that motion comics and interactive comics are hybrid media. This was discussed briefly in Monovich's article, that by integrating certain parts of an existing artifact to another does not just create an additive combination, but something entirely new.
An important who practices experimental digital comics is Daniel Merlin Goodbrey. He was mentioned in a paper about the study of emergence and interactive narrative through comics on a multi-touch interface. The experiment described in the paper itself was interesting, though I find the set up of a custom large multi-touch surface not exactly pragmatic; the stylistic features and narratives of the comic were not very appealing, but the focus was on the user experience of an interactive narrative within the comic. The ideas were certainly compelling, as the practitioners were striving to create a new experience in interacting with comics both physically and cognitively. From this paper I received insight as to how to program such a narrative, and some aspects of this kind of storytelling that I should be aware of. The interactions made with the user must forward the narrative, thus causing the user to feel more involved and therefore engaged in the story. It was also from this paper (by Daniel Andrews, Chris Baber, Sergey Efremov and Mikhail Komarov) that I discovered Goodbrey's work in "Hypercomics", super-large scale comics that inhabit a digital environment with multiple story lines that are intertwined with each other, and the reader may zoom in on any of them to examine the narratives. McCloud states that the computer screen is an infinite canvas, a vast space for comics to exist without the physical limitations of paper; and this hypercomic may fit in that canvas perfectly. Goodbrey has also made various different short comic narratives that require the reader to explore the digital space of the comic in order to unravel the story. Some of them demand of the reader to make decisions in choosing a path, some of them are adventure type games in a comic format, allowing the reader/user to go on a journey and discover the narratives themselves. All these were very fascinating, and as I read/played through a couple of them, I found myself quite invested in the narratives. Though one of the interactive comics became a bit repetitive as I had to constantly journey back and forth within the world of the comic to find items in order to advance the story. I was made aware that the interactivity of these comics, like the animation in motion comics, has varying degrees. How much is enough interactivity? How much is too little and the comic just becomes one of those web-based comics that one clicks to turn a page? I hope these questions are what my lecturer regards as "deep questions". But reading these materials has definitely shed new light on my understanding of interactive comics, and I am one that believes comics' potential is yet to be explored.
My rendition of the "Little Mermaid"; with the mermaid princess and her prince. Here is the pencil sketch on normal paper.
This is the coloured version. I worked longer than I hoped to on the tail of the mermaid, but I guess I am moderately pleased with how it turned out. The pencil lines were retained to act as guides for the colouring process. I still need to improve on lighting and shading, as well as finding suitable colour palettes.
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