This research examines the application of Scott McCloud's theory of the Infinite canvas, specifically the horizontal example outlined in Reinventing Comics (McCloud, 2000). It focuses on the useability and effectiveness of the Infinite canvas theory when applied as a practical example of a comic outcome for the Internet. This practical application of McCloud's horizontal Infinite canvas model has been achieved by creating a digital comic entitled Sad Reflections; a continuous horizontal narrative that is 20cm in height and 828cm in length and was designed to be viewed in a digital environment. This comic incorporates traditional comic techniques of gutters, time frames, line, with combining words and pictures, as outlined by McCloud (1993) in his first theoretical text Understanding Comics. These techniques are used to ensure that the project fulfilled the technical criteria used by the comic book industry to create comics. The project also incorporates McCloud's personally devised Infinite canvas techniques of trails, distance pacing, narrative subdivision, sustained rhythm and gradualism as outlined on his website. These new techniques are applied to assess their effectiveness in the creation of the horizontal Infinite canvas and ability to be integrated with traditional comic techniques. The focus of this project is to examine the strengths and weaknesses of McCloud's Infinite canvas theory when applied to the practical comic outcome of the Sad Reflections. Three key questions are used to guide this research. These questions are: 1. Does the application of traditional comic techniques affect the effectiveness of the Infinite canvas when implemented to a horizontal format? 2. Are the new Infinite canvas techniques as outlined by McCloud able to be applied to a horizontal format and what impact do these techniques have on the process? 3. Is the application of a horizontal Infinite canvas of benefit to future developers of web comics? Based on the outcomes of the above questions, this paper nominates strategies, considerations and suitable production processes for future developers of web comics.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/210115 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Slack-Smith, Amanda Jennifer, not supplied |
| Publisher | RMIT University. Computer Science and Information Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.rmit.edu.au/help/disclaimer, Copyright Amanda Jennifer Slack-Smith |
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