Understanding Comics - Reading

This reading was an interesting insight into the world of comics, but could also be applied to just about anything visual. Plus, since it was literally a COMIC about comics, it gave useful visual examples that might not have been so clear if it had only been in text format.

Our senses can only show us what is immediately in front of us. The rest of it is just assumed to be there. In the reading, this is called the "faith" that outside of what we immediately experience, there is more. Kind of freaky to assume otherwise. In the visual world though, (like comics, or a movie, for example) it is actually true that outside of what we see, there is nothing, and we just believe that there is more happening outside the frame or in the spaces in between. This is called "closure."

This "closure" device would be a useful tool in my narratives, as I could use it to challenge audiences to fill in the spaces that I leave for them. Since I'm thinking about doing image for my next detail narrative, it seems like using what comics call "gaps," or the space in between panels (or whatever visual spacer I have) would be the best way to make these spaces.

There are 6 types of closure:

moment to moment

action to action

subject to subject

scene to scene

aspect to aspect

non-sequitur