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EL 329

EL 329 | Visual Narratives | January 2024

Useful Links Course Blog, Course Wiki, Blackboard + Find the Zoom Link @ the Wiki
Make Flash work in your browser: with Ruffle
Comic Maker: Comic Life is free for 30 days, and might be a tool that would help with your Visual Text project.

Jump to a Day: Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7 – Day 8 – Day 9 – Day 10 – Day 11 – Day 12 – Day 13 – Day 14 – Day 15 & Final

Visual Narratives is a course about what happens when people make visual images and design integral to the stories they tell. We’ll look at graphic novels and comics, including works by Lynda Barry (merging the art of the essay and the art of collage), Joe Sacco (who renders his war-zone reporting in comic book form), and Brian Michael Bendis (creator of Jessica Jones and writer for many Marvel titles). We’ll wonder if these sorts of texts, in all their unusual shapes and sizes, will be the last vestige of print publishing in the age of digital content. We’ll consider how images—alone, juxtaposed, and in sequence—can be used to tell stories and send messages. We’ll explore (and develop) critical vocabulary helpful for talking about visual texts. We’ll also be thinking a bit about transmedia storytelling—what happens when a story or set of characters jumps willy nilly from one medium to another (think especially of The Matrix a story told in feature-length movies, graphic vignettes, animated shorts, and video games). Along the way, you’ll try your hand at creating some visual narratives of your own (but artistic talent is not a requirement for the course—only the willingness to do some thoughtful play with storytelling images).

It’s a packed-full month of reading, writing, and making!

Plan to make something every day.
Plan to read some comics every day.
Plan to read some theory evey day.
Plan to blog about three times a week.

Spoiler Alert

If you haven’t watched The Matrix, you should watch it before Friday of Week 2, so as to avoid spoilers, if you mind spoilers. (The big Matrix spoiler is a doozy.) In 1/2024, it looks like the film is streaming for subscribers of Hulu and Max. (You can always check “Just Watch” to see where movies are available; it works pretty well!)

Assignments to Anticipate/Breakdown of Scores

  1. Final: A Theory of Visual Text + Visual Text Project Reflection + Translation (30%)
  2. Visual Text Project (20%)
  3. Single-Image Visual Poems (10%)
  4. Blog Postings (20%)
  5. Participation (10%)
  6. All Other Scores (Inc. Critical Term Definitions and Pop Quizzes) (10%)

Things Can Change, a Bit…

Note that I may add or alter links for reading and viewing as we go. Also, note that while I do a lot of work to keep links and linked documents up to date, the Internet is full of tricks and inconsistencies. If needed/required links are broken or documents are not available when you try to get to them, it’s your responsibility to let me know that the links aren’t working or the documents have disappeared. Send me an email right away if you have trouble getting to any assigned online text or document.

Day 0: Monday, January 1 – 2 (Week 1.1 and 1.2: No Class)

Day 1: WEDNESDAY, January 3 (Week 1.3) << First Meeting

  • THURSDAY Night: Required film screening, evening.
  • Due by 6:00, FRIDAY to Bb. — Single ¶ explanation of your initial “Visual Text” project idea.
  • Due by Class Time, next TUESDAY. — First three contributions to the course blog (here). 

Reading for Day 1

This light reading was assigned over Christmas Break (via email) to give us a jump on things. It’s due at class time on the first class day.

Please Notice that readings and assignments are due at class time on the day where they appear in the schedule, unless there is a syllabus note to the contrary. *So* for what is due on Wednesday of Week 1, look below, to Wednesday of Week 1.)

A Couple of Things to Do Today

Introduce yourself at the course blog. (This is not one of your three posts for the first week, but is a good way to begin things. Do it by the end of the day to get five easy points on the books. For each day late after today, you will lose one point, until all five easy points are gone.)

Pay a visit to this course’s student-authored Visual Narratives Glossary, which is hosted a shared course wiki (here). You and a group will be working to improve the glossary in Week 3; taking a look now will give you a sense of how useful this resource may be to you later.

In-Class Screening (No Need to Watch Ahead of Time; We’ll Watch Together)

“La Jetée” (Dir. Chris Marker, 1963) (at Vimeo)

In-Class Groups: Two Exercises (Mission 1)

Shoot a series of images which can be rearranged to mean different things when viewed in different orders; make sure the images display a variety of angles, and be sure to use the rule of thirds more than once. Try to apply some of what you learned from the pre-course reading on photography. Put those images into a PowerPoint (or Keynote) document, one image per slide, and create at least two different narratives by placing them in two substantially different orders.

Choose one or two images for a second exercise. Use your slideware app again to add meaning to the image using words. Do a few variations (at least three, with no upper limit). For at least one, add meaning to the image by adding a caption. For at least one, add meaning by inserting words on top of (actually ON) the image strategically. Use no more than one clichéd “Internet meme”-style caption.  

Both your narratives and your “words-added” images should be turned in using one slideware (PowerPoint or whatever) file. If the school email server won’t let you send it, use a free service like MailBigFile (the free version) or Hightail (“lite”/free version). One group member should send the file to me and “CC” it to all other group members at the same time.

Day 2: Thursday, January 4 (Week 1.4)

  • What you’re looking at here is a bullet-point summary of what’s due for (or happening on) Day 2 of the course, with some notes about upcoming deadlines you should be keeping in mind. Below, you’ll find more detailed instructions / notes for the day. So: You get a summary, then an expansion. That’s the reliable format for the schedule.
  • Hey, have you contributed to the course blog yet? If I were you, I’d post something just after reading the McCloud reading for today. Here’s a page that explains how posting to blogger works.
  • PLAN for THE WEEKEND! Required Movie Screening is part of your homework over the weekend!

Read (A Short Article, 2 Brief Comics, and Most of a Very Smart Book)

  • Seth (that’s what he goes by) on poetry + graphic design + comics. (A summary.) (This one’s short, and so is the next one. The last one is loooong, and you should take notes. Settle in!)
  • “Springtime Thaw” and “Choose Your Own…” (Drew Weing)
  • Understanding Comics (Scott McCloud, 1993) , Chapters 1-6 ONLY (Apparently, it can be found online here, in a pinch, but please do buy the book and support the author, under ordinary circumstances.) <<<THIS IS BIG! GIVE IT BIG TIME!

Do / Write

Hey, have you contributed to the course blog yet? If I were you, I’d post something just after reading the McCloud reading for today. Here’s a page that explains how posting to blogger works. First three blog contributions are due by class time on Monday.

Skim with Real Interest as You Think About Your Visual Text Project

  • Samples of Visual Text Projects from Past Students (available via a link in Blackboard, in the Assignment Sheets & Syllabus section).
  • Also for inspiration: There’s a growing list of online comics and visual narratives below. These are all ongoing projects, some very light, some very heavy. You could try clicking around among those links for inspiration. Hop down there with this link, if you’d like.

Skim Briefly, with Some Delight, and Think About McCloud’s Big Pyramid Thing

“Mikenesses” (Mike Holmes, 2011ff)  (Online)

If you don’t know what I mean by “Big Pyramid Thing,” go back and read the McCloud!

In-Class Analysis (We’ll Do This During Class: No Need to Prep)

  • “Sonic Medicine” (Scott Kolbo, 2012) (Handout)
  • We may also have time for Disney’s Paperman. Need to play it by ear.

In-Class Groups: Mission 2

Create a photo story using each of McCloud’s transitions + @ least three of the “9th Grade Modes” (discussed in class). As with the first mission, assemble your story using slideware and turn in via email (one group member, CCing all the rest). Label each slide using the comments field, so that I can tell which transition you have in mind. Traditionally, these stories are often about something bad happening to someone, though you might choose to either honor or defy tradition on that count.

Day 3: Friday, January 5 (Week 1.5)

  • Due by 6:00, TONIGHT — Single ¶ explanation of your “Visual Text” project idea.
  • Hey, seriously: Have you contributed to the blog yet? 20% of the course grade, folks!

Do / Write / Due

  • A single ¶ explanation of your “Visual Text” project idea, due by 6:00, TODAY/Weds. at Bb. Hold off on turning this in until after class, please, in case class interactions spark some new or modified ideas. What I’m looking for is a paragraph that explains your idea (or a couple of strong possibilities), along with some notes about how you think you’ll do it (medium / software / form). (Make sure to take a look at the example projects you can get to via Bb.)
  • + Hey, blog! Remember that for maximum points you should NOT be doing all of your blog entries on a single day. (Here’s that page about posting to a blog like ours.)

Read Ideas (An Abbreviated Article and a *Long* Webtext)

  • The EXCERPTED / Short version of “Pictures, Words, and the Spaces Between Them” (Douglas Wolk). Don’t accidentally read the long version that I haven’t cut down and highlighted.
  • “Perspicuous Objects” Sections 1-5 (Fred Johnson) (Read from “Defining Comics” to “La Ligne Juste”; SKIP long intro, unless you decide you want to read it! As you read, pay attention to section headings and make sure–as a note-taking and idea-absorption strategy–that you can summarize for yourself the main point and ideas from each section. Use the drop-down up top or the section numbers at bottom to navigate.)

Read Some Comics That Are Parts of Long-Term Art Projects

  • American Elf strips (James Kochalka) (BAC 2010)
  • Dream Comics from The Night of Your Life (Jesse Reklaw) (BAC 2010)
  • Let’s Look at Liana Finck’s Instagram (Scan it until you have the gist of it…)
  • And a small slice of a 6-volume slacker epic: Scott Pilgrim Versus The Universe (Bryan Lee O’Malley) (Excerpt from BAC 2010)

In-Class Screenings

Lynda Barry on Not Being Able to Draw
Stan Lee on “The Marvel Method”
Stan Lee on “The Marvel Method” (from Mutants, Monsters, and Marvels)
Phil Jimenez on the drawing process.
Jimenez on working with inkers.
Jimenez on the page layout process.
Learn to ink comics traditionally with a brush! – Part 1 (Leila del Duca)

In-Class Worktime

Be prepared to work on your Visual Text project. At this point, you’re likely at the prep-and-planning stage, hopefully beginning a little prototyping and figure out how you’ll build this thing.

Plan Ahead: Evening Weekend Film Screening!!

In the past this has been in person, but this class can choose to do the screening virtually and not all at once. Still! Plan your time so that you have space to properly watch a 90 minute film. (This makes Day 4-prep a busy reading / learning time out of class.) A serious note on this screening: Please *watch it*. Don’t put it on the background. Don’t try to do six other things while you sort of watch and sort of listen to it. It’s a film about comics, and it needs your eyes and your ears and your full attention. Find the info below, as an assignment due on Day 4.

Day 4: Monday, January 8 (Week 2.1)

  • This is a busy homework day!
  • By this point in the course, you should be beginning to work a bit each day on your Visual Text project. Don’t let a day go by without doing *something* to it. It misses you.
  • Due: By Classtime: Some screenshots from a favorite show or movie. See “Mission 3,” below.
  • Bonus / Unrequired: If you’re interested in seeing a series of short videos about the drawing/inking process, this playlist is pretty cool.

Prep for Visual Poems + Screenshot Assignment (Mission 3: Solo, Before Class)

To get a sense of what “Mise en Scene” means and how understanding it will help you get the Visual Poem project done, read and watch what this page has to offer, at least through the first two videos. The further you go down the page the more sense of mise en scène you’ll “get,” but manage your time. There’s reading to do for today, too!

  • WATCH: What is Mise en Scene in Film? Defiition and Examples (StudioBinder)
  • AND THEN, Mission 3: Spend some time looking at some favorite scenes from movies or TV shows. Snap some screenshots (3 or 4) of really beautifully set-and-filled scenes that you can share with your Visual Poem team. Send those snaps to me, too, via email, so that I can give you credit for the work. (Use Skitch for screen snaps. Should do the trick!) << DUE by class time today. Worth 5 quiz points.
  • On Screenshots: The Skitch app works great, or you can see some other methods here.
  • Optional Additional Links for Learning More about Mise en Scène:

Read Ideas: 2 Short Articles, an Excerpted One, and a Longer One

Read Short Comics About Everyday People

  • “Killing and Dying” (Adrian Tomine) (Bb)
  • from Asterios Polyp (David Mazzucchelli) (BAC 2010)
  • from Acme Novelty Library (Chris Ware) (BAC 2010)

Watch a Film About the History of Independent Comics

Comic Book Confidential (Dir. Ron Mann, 1988)
** You’ll need to watch this before class on this day, Day 4.
** This is a really helpful short history of underground comics.
** Also, definitely R-rated, even though officially “unrated.”
** As you watch, keep track of big historical moments, and keep track of the featured artists and creators. Try to take a note for each major “player” discussed.
** We’re watching this virtually (via the link on Bb or using an alternate online source). If we’re not all watching together, think of this as definitely a “quiz-able” assignment.

In Class Screening and Viewing

  • Short video, “Composing the Frame” (Dir. Dave Monahan).
  • Skim with Real Interest: Crumb’s Genesis, Seth’s Clyde Fans Book 1, Chris Ware’s Building Stories, and Will Eisner’s A Contract with God.

In Class Work Time

Work time today will go to your group “Visual Poem” projects.

Day 5: Tuesday, January 9 (Week 2.2)

  • Due by Class Time, TODAY — Three contributions to the course blog.

Do / Write

Blog entries are due by class time today. If you’re scrambling to do them all at once, change your ways for future weeks! The idea is to spread these out and interact with one another along the way; bunched up entries score just a little lower.

Read Ideas: 1 Article

“An Art of Tensions” (Charles Hatfield, 132-48)

Read a Long Visual Text: Heads Up on the Length!

What It Is (Lynda Barry, 2008) (through page 136)

Read and Watch Some Short, Inventive Visual Texts

  • “Here” (Timothy Masick & William Trainor) and
  • Here (video remediation) (Richard McGuire)
  • “Blanket Portraits” (Geneviève Elverum) (Bb; featured in BAC 2016)
  • “Deep Space” (John Pham) (BAC 2010)
  • “The Swim” (Anne Emond) (View Online; featured in BAC 2016)
  • Three 1-page comics by Sophia Zdon: “Bike Fast,” “Coney Island,” and “Dad” (Click the separate comics below the first comic…)

Skim with Real Interest (In Class)

In Class Screening and Viewing

In Class Work Time

Be prepared to work on your Visual Text project. (Or to connect with your Visual Poem group, if needed.)

Day 6: Wednesday, January 10 (Week 2.3)

  • It’s Spider-Man day!

Do

Budget time for making progress on projects!

Read Ideas: 1 Article

“How Comics Came to Be” (Robert C. Harvey, 25-45)

Read Comics, Watch Videos: Spider-Man

  • Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Volume 1
    (Wr. Brian Michael Bendis; Art. Sara Pichelli, 2012)
    Because Marvel sometimes puts out collections of these stories in different ways, I need to clarify here that what you need to read is issued 1-5, up to where Miles puts on the black Spider-Man costume given to him by some new “friends.”
  • Additional Amazing Spider-Man comics
    (Wr. Stan Lee; Art. Steve Ditko, 1962ff)
    Find at Bb.

Skim with Interest (In Class)

The Sandman, Volume 1 (Wr. Neil Gaiman)
The Spirit, Volume 10 (Wr. Will Eisner) 

In-Class Screening

Camera Angles + History of Editing in Film (Parts 1 and 2) (Dir. Dave Monahan)

Day 7: Thursday, January 11 (Week 2.4)

  • Go, Blog, Go! (Don’t forget to be blogging.)
  • REQUIRED MOVIE SCREENING! Tonight
  • As with our other movie screening day, anticipate giving more time to the course today.
  • Be prepared to work with Visual Poem groups.

Read Ideas: 3 Articles

  • “Auteurs…Art Comics…Ugly Drawings” (Douglas Wolk, 29-59)
  • “Preface: A Manifesto Anyone?” (from Journalism) (Joe Sacco, xi-xiv)
  • “Introduction” (from Safe Area Gorazde) (Christopher Hitchens, 2pp)

Read Comics That Are Also Nonfiction and Reporting

Examine/Skim with Interest (In Class)

  • The Arrival (Shaun Tan, 2007)
  • Scott Pilgrim comics (Bryan Lee O’Malley)

In-Class Screening

Edgar Wright on Visual Comedy in Films (from Every Frame a Painting)

Think Ahead

Your “Visual Poem” group should be planning/scheduling so as to be ready to present this coming TUESDAY. (There may be some work time available today, depending on how discussion is going and has gone.)

Evening Film Screening!!

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Dir. Edgar Wright, 2010), probably 6:00-8:30 pm

** As with Comic Book Confidential, this is noted here and “due” for tomorrow’s class. We will discuss as a group how to screen this one.

Day 8: Friday, January 12 (Week 2.5)

  • Group Visual Poem projects due next TUESDAY in class, w/presentations. You and your Visual Poem group ought to be finalizing all the things today.
  • ALSO: Keep bloggin‘. Try not to need to blog on the day you’re finishing up the Visual Poem work!

Read Ideas: 3 Articles

  • “The Construction of Space in Comics” (Pascal Lefevre, 157-62)
  • “The Arrow and the Grid” (Joseph Witek,149-56)
  • “Landsman of the Lost” (Michael Chabon, 133-40)

Watch

  • Watch Scott Pilgrim v. the Universe before class. Currently available on Netflix. This is the movie, not the animated show. Let me know ASAP if you have access issues!

Read Quirky Comics

  • Comic Strips by Ben Katchor (Ben Katchor) (BAC 2010 + Handout)
  • “Norman Eight’s Left Arm” (Theo Ellsworth) (BAC 2010)
  • from The Lagoon (Lilli Carré) (BAC 2010)
  • “Lobster Run” from Johnny Hiro (Fred Chao) (BAC 2010)
  • “Dear Interior…” comics and “When we first meet…” from Eleanor Davis

In-Class Screening and Reading, Etc.

  • Ben Katchor Video and Comic Strips
  • Visual Poem Groups Examine the Course Glossary (Details TBA)
  • You and your Visual Poem group ought to be finalizing all the things.

Day Off: Monday, January 15 (Week 3.1) <<<MLK Day

Day 9: TUESDAY, January 16 (Week 3.2)

  • Head’s Up: No Class on Monday! MLK Day
  • Head’s Up: The Reading for Wednesday is Kind of Long
  • Due Group Visual Poem Projects due today in class, w/presentations.
  • Every Day: Advance your Visual Text Project a little, every single day. Long weekends can be an especially nice time to do that…
  • Every Day: Blog a bit. Three entries due by WEDNESDAY at class time.

Due

Visual Poem projects are due in class today.

Read Comics (The third is the longest.)

Low Moon (Jason, 2007)
Salamander Dream (Hope Larson, 2005) (@Bb or Archived Online)
George Sprott (Seth, 2007)

In-Class Screening

  • Your Visual Poems!
  • Paperman (Disney Short) (If we haven’t already done this…)

In Class Work Time

Be prepared to work on your Visual Text Projects.

Day 10, Wednesday, January 17 (Week 3.2)

  • Due by Class Time, TODAY — Three contributions to the course blog.

Do/Due

  • Three contributions to the course blog. Due @ class time. (There is *lots* to blog about in the Jenkins reading. )

Read Ideas (It’s Loooooong! And Suuuuper Influential!)

“Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling” (Henry Jenkins, 95-134)

Brace For…

Usually the geekiest day of class. Previous knowledge of Marvel, DC, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Matrix and other fictional storyworlds will be a plus (but is not required).

In-Class Screening

Shorts from The Animatrix (Various Directors, 2003). (Most Likely: Beyond)

Day 11: Thursday, January 18 (Week 3.4)

  • Every Day: Make progress on your Visual Text Project
  • Caucus with your group about the upcoming (due FRIDAY) contribution to the Visual Narratives Glossary at our course wiki.
  • Right about now, if you haven’t yet, you should be turning some real attention to the “Final” essays.

Spend Quality Time with J. Alfred Prufrock for This Day

Skim with Interest (For Style and Tone)

Examine/Skim (In Class)

Sin City: That Yellow Ba****d (Frank Miller, 1996)

In-Class Screening

Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of That Yellow Ba****d  (Part I)

In Class Work Time

Be prepared to work on your Visual Text project.

Day 12: Friday, January 19 (Week 3.5)

  • Every Day: Make progress on your Visual Text Project and the Final
  • And don’t forget to blog! Find a rhythm this week of reading, responding on the blog, and then devoting a chunk of time to working on your project and the connected writing.

Due

Group contributions to Visual Narrative Glossary

This One First: Think About the Form

“Pup Contemplates the Heat Death of the Universe” (Drew Weing)

Watch (Before Class) and Read Some More Scott McCloud / Theory

  • “Scott McCloud: The Visual Magic of Comics” (TED, 2005)
  • Scott McCloud explains the Infinite Canvas
  • And also this random dude doing a nice job thinking about comics online:
    • Yves “Balak” Bigerel on the Potential of Web Comics. Find these at Bb, but note my notes there at Bb, about the difficulty of playing them.

Examine/Read/Play Some Online Texts

  • ** If Flash is a problem for any of the comics below. **
    • Make Flash work in your browser: with Ruffle
      • Then delete or turn off the plugin later, if you don’t want it.
  • Spend Some Time with Kate Beaton’s Hark! A Vagrant comics
  • Read, Skim, Ponder: the creep horror comics of Emily Carroll 
  • Behold, The Oatmeal (Explore a bit…)
  • Read “Can Do” (Maira Kalman)
  • Read “Uninhabitable” (featured in BAC 2019) AND “Sun” (Jed McGowan)
  • Explore “Click and Drag” from XKCD (Randall Munroe) (DO click on the biggest panel and drag it!) (And spend a little time exploring XKCD in general.)
  • Play? Is it a game? Or what? “Four Derangements” (Daniel Merlin Goodbrey)
  • Play “Icarus Needs” (Daniel Merlin Goodbrey) (This may be broken, even with Ruffle… Try it on a PC.)

In-Class

Be ready to work on your Visual Text projects!

Day 13, Monday, January 22 (Week 4.1)

  • Every Day: Make progress on your Visual Text Project and the Final

Read

Stitches (David Small, 2009)

Follow Up from Last Time

This one is zoomable.

In-Class

Be ready to work on your Visual Text projects!

Day 14: Tuesday, January 23 (Week 4.2)

  • Due by Class Time, TODAY — Three contributions to the course blog.
  • Due WEDNESDAY at Class Time: Visual Text Project.
  • Due WEDNESDAY at 6:00 PM: Final Exam/Essays.

Do / Write

Final blog entries are due by class time today.

Take a look at these to get the gist. Don’t try to read the whole series! But consider how these artists are developing stories online.

Play? Puzzle Through? Ponder and fiddle. It may drive you crazy. It can be solved. Is it a story?

  • Hapland (Robin Allen) (rec. by Olivia White, 2014)

Play? Solve? (Actually this Flash may truly not work, even with Ruffle.)

Read, Skim, Explore Some Comic Strips Online (+ Maybe Some Additional Links, TBA)

In-Class

Bring your project-makin’ materials! Or be ready to work on writing the essays for your final!

Day 15: Wednesday, January 24 (Week 4.3)

  • Due TODAY at Class Time: Visual Text Project.
  • Due TODAY at 6:00 PM: Final Exam/Essays.

In Class

Presenting Your Visual Text Project

Bonus Play…

An always incomplete and poorly curated list of comics online you might explore. Click at your own risk, of course. The Web is a Wild, Wild World.