Tuesday, 2/23 in Cartooning

Transitions and Closure

Closure is the understanding that your reader has when they read your comics. As a writer/artist you must give your readers directions in understanding your work. These directions are called transitions and they happen in seven different ways.

1. Moment to moment: this shows time passing. The result is similar to showing something in slow motion in a video.
2. action to action: is similar to moment to moment, except it doesn't show every little step along the way. It usually show the beginning and ending of an action.
3. Subject to subject: this takes place in one scene, but switches between characters. This is commonly used for dialogue.
4. Scene to scene: this moves from one place or time to another.
5. Aspect to aspect: shows multiple views of the same scene and it is usually silent. It helps to deepen the mood.
6. Symbolic: takes place within the storyline and depicts something non-literally. It is making a point about a character's state of mind in a metaphoric way.
7. Non-sequitur: this is two panels that seem to have no meaning when put together.

TO DO: Look through the comic section of the newspaper. Cut out panels and re-arrange them in order to tell a story. Glue this in your sketchbook. You can use the existing dialog, or you could cut it away and write your own. Decide which of the transitions from above is used and write it down.