Well, the examples from last Thursday's class were pretty simple and it was rather easy to see McCloud's ideas, such as icon and simplification, and apply them to the works. But when I looked over the newer examples, however, they didn't seem to be as cut and dry as the first ones...
Looking again, though, gave me some more vision into them, making the cross-referencing easier.
First, "On the Night of Mr. Melvyn's Murder" was truly terrific, and such fun. It can certainly be discussed in the "sequential writing" (or lack thereof) topic. It uses links, that you as the reader choose, to meet new characters, see how they connect with one another as characters, and that ultimately tells the story. You can't make a wrong choice. You can just either lengthen or shorten the story, depending on the path you choose. The fun of the story would be gone if it had to read sequentially. Part of the excitement is trying to make sure you get through every character profile before the end. The non sequential aspect really works, and adds thrill, to this writing.
Also in this piece is the iconic portrayal of the characters. They are pretty stereotypical (and hilarious), and do wonders for the writing, as it would be pretty bland without their visual presence. ("Drag" is pretty funny.)
The "Zombie and Mummy" cartoons seem to fit well into the "amplification through simplification" approach. The illustrations are easily recognizable in their form, and go well with the simple and ironic stories.
The juxtaposition of the small, non-framed, continuous scroll cartoons within the larger scene really add to the effect. Because you actually have to locate, and interact with the cartoon its self, is a significant part of the reading. The use of boundaries (or none) is important in "Zombie and Mummy."
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I agree. The "On the Night of Mr. Melvyn's Murder" was pretty entertaining. Sequence through hyperlinks were used to move the plot along and also to develop characters and how they connect with the murder and also the other characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well, as Ashley and I am sure others have in the class. It was extremely entertaining. My favorite part was how the use of hyperlinks were put into place making the plot have flow.
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed the non-sequential aspect of mr. melvyn's murder. It made the story entertaining and actually, at least in my opinion, gave the story more depth through the anticipation the reader has when the click the link. Even reading up to the link doesn't always let the reader know what they're about to get into, what waits around the corner of that link.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the lack of a lot of McCloud's elements make reading more enjoyable. "On the Night of Mr. Melvyn's Murder" definitely does not show any sequential writing since the reader has to choose 1 of many links on any page and go to this link to get another part of the story. The piecing together of the events kinda comes from the information about the characters.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of narrative, I agree that you have to read about each character to be able to figure out the plot. After I clicked on all the links, the plot is still questionable. An even more challenging component of narrative in "On the Night of Mr. Melvyn's Murder" is the story. Unless you've read the through all the links several times, there is no way to determine the chronological order of the events. --Jenn