8.17.2011
Your Wednesday Sequence SupaSpecTac DeluXXXury Edition #1
Peep that video and tell me it isn't a comic. Over at Robot 6 in a special edition of my sequence column, I discussed how and why that statement's true. It's fascinating to see a piece of filmmaking that denies its home medium's propensity for onscreen motion in favor of the still staccato hits of the comics grid. Really amazing stuff. Plus if you happen to go to the theater between drinks six and seven or thereabouts, that soundtrack is bangin'.
Of course, there are problems with my claiming this piece of film as comics -- it has to break some rules to get there, like you can only see one panel of it at a time and the flow of its progression is predetermined. But the advent of webcomics sees rules being broken like crazy, new grammar flying at us all over the place. Webcomics like this provide a viewpoint through which a screenbound montage of single images can seem like something that's familiarly "comics". And even if you don't buy that, I think it's really important for comics' critical language to cultivate an ability to do readings of works in other media as comics, the same way older and more ossified forms strip mine us all the time. Watchmen in literature classes, Eisner in film class and bullshit like that. Time to strike back, to claim what's never been ours. This youtube clip is film? Fuck that. It's comics. Why? Here.
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4 comments:
I spend slightly less than half on comix. that's still too much, but I've accepted life with a substance abuse problem. Thanks for the snaps, I'm really glad you've been enjoying my artwork!
Of course you know this means war...
Yes. When I saw "Peep that video and tell me it isn't a comic" I was like whaaat and then I started watching the video and I said to myself, Shit, he's totally right! Most of the images move a little bit but it still has that comics feel, where even if there's a little wobble in there somewhere it reads more like a still panel.
Gotta love that first comment on Robot 6. "No." Such insight! A masterful counter-argument.
When I first heard the term "motion comic" I kind of expected something like this trailer. Or even something like "La Jetee" (despite the lack of suggested motion that you talk about here), which is completely static images with narrative and soundtrack. There's definitely a ton to explore here. Great post.
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