What is "the gutter?" According to Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, "the gutter" is defined as the space between two comic panels. It is also, however, more than merely a small white (or black, or any other color, I suppose) strip of space used to denote separation between two boxes. "The gutter" is the place where our imagination subconsciously kicks in.
Unlike animation, which supplies every second of action or detail in a sequence, printed comics need to have a gap, for several reasons, one being the need to use limited space practically and another simply being the need for all panels to be somewhat interesting or relevant in order to keep the reader's interest. As Understanding Comics points out, there are several types of sequencing to span the ever-necessary "gutter," each requiring something from the reader's imagination. It could be as simple as the action between an eye being open and then shut (or vice versa), or it could be as complicated as coming up with a reason why we just went from a picture of a walrus on an ice shelf to the picture of a drunk couple engaging in a sloppy New Year's kiss.
That use of imagination is what makes a comic the halfway mark between a traditional novel to an animated feature. Just like when reading a novel, reading a comic produces an ongoing sequence in the mind's eye, which for people who think in purely in pictures would most likely be on par with an animated cartoon. On the other hand, however, a comic, like an animation, provides visual description for the viewer/reader, something a novel requires the reader to conjure up on their own.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
"Spectacular" Society
The reigning economic system is a vicious circle of isolation. Its technologies are based on isolation, and they contribute to that same isolation. From automobiles to television, the goods that the spectacular system chooses to produce also serve it as weapons for constantly reinforcing the conditions that engender “lonely crowds.” With ever-increasing concreteness the spectacle recreates its own presuppositions.
The best way I can think of summarizing this aphorism is "being alone in a crowd."
[nowhere near finished...]
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