Images vs. words

McCloud’s chapters for today center on images, words, and how they function together. Word and picture combination today is a viral concept, comics embody what it means to show is to tell, and to tell is to show (161). Instead of keeping writing and images as two different objects opposite on the “art” pyramid, the combination of pictures and images becomes a balanced scale allowing artists and writers another venue “of self-expression” to explain/illustrate Why am I doing this? (162).

McCloud says “when pictures carry the weight of clarity in a scene, they free words to explore a wider area…on the other hand, if the words lock in the meaning of a sequence, then the pictures can really take off” (157-159). The writer and artist must find a balance that meets his steps to a creation of art, and are “ultimately left to the creator’s instincts” (161). There is twice as much in play when the artist is working with images and words versus one or the other. 

McCloud breaks down the six steps to the creation of the art, and how the reader comes into contact with the comic. I found the six steps very accurate, but rather “expected” especially when it came to the appropriate balance/procession of steps. I like how he lays out the step 1 through 6, explain the struggles, and then says that people should be a slow and steady purpose from end to beginning (183). I found this very true in my own progression of the A/V short video. I knew what medium, I knew “why am I doing this”, but I have been struggling with step 4, structure. I keep asking “what video should I include? What should I say, what is the best way to articulate my argument?” Composition has been so difficult for me. (and this project is due on Friday!). Playing with structure has been the most time consuming. I finished my project and discovered that my argument was being lost in how I was composing my video (and now I’m back to just my video, no audio).

The one frame that I felt had a larger point for comics is when he says “we all have something to say to the world. The real question is “will anyone listen” and unfortunately there’s no way to know that in advance” (178). This applies to everything and anything that an artist/writer of any form comes in contact with. Even though someone might be a better writer than Stephanie Meyer, who is going to say that someone will be listening? Woody Allen, the screenwriter, was one of many writers that was among the “listened to”, but there are many other screenwriters that aren’t discovered. (but I think that this point is probably a little off topic, so I’m going to leave it where it is.)

Here is a meme to distract you: