graphic novels

Visual rhetoric

The use of visual images to communicate meaning. How cultured meaning are reflected

Visual literacy

The ability to interpret analyze decode and evaluate material that communicates images as well

Slash panel

Panel that takes up most of the page

Full bleed

Image runs off the page on all sides

Tier

The box around two panels

Panels

The fundamental piece in graphic novels

Splash page

Panel that takes up a full page

Gutter

Blank space in between panels where the action occurs bc we can not see it

Camera angles

Narrative box / voiceover

Speech bubble of narration

Emanda

Things coming of the head to show stress or nervousness

Borderless panel

Nothing around the outside

Recto/verso

Right page/ left page

Mockup

A rough layout of pages to plan a book

Printers spread

The layout of pages for printing

Four frames

Subjective, structural, cultural, critical

Subjective frame

Emotional response to image or words (what does it make me feel?)

Structural frame

Framing,body language,positioning, color

Structural- miseenscene

What is included in the image and what is left out

Structural- layout

Foreground, background, is anything displaced

Structural- balance

Symmetrically or assimetrically, rule of 3rds, centered?

Structural- salience

A point that matters, how well an object stands out from the background

Structural- vectors/lines

Imaginary lines that direct the viewers eyes in a particular way

Structural- foreground/background

How things are directed and why they are placed

Structural- kinesics

Body positioning, facial expressions, gestures

Structural-gaze

The way that people in an image are looking at the viewer

Structural- proxemics

Distances between bodies and bodies in spaces

Prosodics- structural

Covers the non language aspects of voice and tone (accents, sighing, articulation )

Structural- accessories

All the artifacts that a person wears

Structural- monochromatic

Black and white images, shades of gray

Chiaroscuro- structural

Strong contrasts of light and dark, convey emotions in monochromatic

Contrast- structural

Arranging juxtaposition and different posing elements near each other

Structural- symbols and icons

Symbols are a category of icon, icons are universal

Cultural frame

What are the historical, political, social contexts

Historical context

Addresses times and periods, social, political, viewers contexts. Some things were acceptable but now offensive

Social context

The same historical moment can contain a umber of differing social contexts

Political context

An image consider how power and influences are distributed in communities, as well as preferences and groups who lay claim to power

Viewers context

Our own histories, experiences, and prior knowledge influence how we interpret an image. Our brain fill thins we might not understand

Which is more important to our brain

Most important to least

Proximity-color-size-shape

Focal point

Areas of interest, emphasis, or difference within a composition

Critical frame

Positioning of the viewer, manipulation of the image (how can we read this)

Critical- gaps

Created for clarity, emphasis, and style

Critical- silences

Sometimes what a character does not say carries more interpretive weight than they do

Manipulation of the image- critical

Manipulation of our understanding for better or worse, uses distorted imagery, uses panels

Critical- positioning of the viewer

Everyone has their own perspective, higher means more important, lower means smaller

Formal analysis

Study the language, visual rhetoric, color, composition, panels, page, layout, tier, individual panels

Cultural studies

Race, gender, war, studies, deepens our understanding with how this resonates in societies and cultures

Narratology

Presents us with the illusion of dynamism

Historical/authorial perspective

Look at particular trends or traditions, how this text relates to the time period or even present day time

3 levels to understanding an image

Literal, inferential, evaluative/applied

Graphic novel

Book length story, single volume, sequential image panels, art is equal or more important than text (1970s)