Some thoughts
Question:
Are there "Generative quality" in comics? If yes, in what way? and how does it affect the creation?
What is Generative Quality?
- It must contain a structure
- The structure must be operated by Rules
- It must be an open system, in which new works can be generated by the rules.
Before the discussion, there are some assumptions and declaration about comics study:
The definition of comics is too controversial that it is almost impossible to give a definite answer.
Due to the lacking of such definition and the openness of the art form, the theories discussed here or the research outcome may not be universal to all kind of formats. To discuss any theory of comics, one must consider the following two spectrums of comics format:
a. The length of the work based on publication format
Book series -> Periodical (e.g. magazine, newspaper) -> Individual work (Standalone)
b.Dimension of the work based on number of panel
Multiple pages / panels -> Fixed number of panel -> Single panel
Comics Writing
To begin with, I would like to go back to my role as a comics writer. Unlike writing an article, in which the writer must follow the rules of language, comics writer does have more privilege to adopt different ways to express the idea. One can use a single panel or a full page with twenty panels to delivery the same message without violating the "Rules" of comics. While in written language, words must be placed in the right order to make the sentence comprehendible, comics writer is free to manipulate the images and text with the available space without considering whether the arrangement is grammatically "Right or wrong".
Having said that, comics writing is heavily influenced by conventions or traditions inherited from the pioneers along the years. Although artist has every right to invent new forms of each time they start a new work, they tend to follow the formats that have been used before. For example, while a lot of scholars see the use of panel as a defining element of comics, it is indeed more like a convention rather than a criteria of comics since it is rather easy to find a comic work without using panels at all. What I want to say here is, the rules, or principles I will reveal here does not necessarily represent a definite criteria of comics, instead it only implies a popular or common strategy or practices used in the narratives.
The second characteristic I want to raise is, comics writing has a strong combinatory nature. Chris Ware often use the a building as a metaphor to storytelling. His experimental work Building Stories is a perfect example to demonstrate how the concept of the story is constructed by recomposing scattered components togetherby the readers. Constructing a page in comics involves combination of images, text, graphics to panels to form a visual structure that tells the story. Scott McCloud emphasises the importance of making different choices in comics writing. From the choice of moment, choice of frame, choice of image, choice of text and the choice of flow, artists has to choose the right components in order to form the narrative. Obviously, every art involves making choices, what I want to stress here is, components in comics cannot work alone to perform its function. For example, the choices of path, the design of reading path cannot be realised without a proper choice of frame.
From a theoretical perspective, Neil Cohn suggests that comics, as a visual language, are not only analytic but also synthetic language. He argues that visual language also has lexicon consists of systematic units or combinations of unit to create meanings. For example, when we drawing, we are producing schemas that are stored in our memory and they can be combined by rule system.
Summary on Noam Chomsky's generative grammar
- There are three elements in Generative Grammar
- Sentences
- Competence
- Component
A . Sentences
There are a list of well-formed sentences in language but the list is too long -- infinite
There are two principles in
- Creativity :
(Native speaker should be capable to create NEW sentences)
Language should not only be learnt by imitation, but by the principles of abstraction.
This principle is innate (in-born) - Recursion / Iteration
Allow construction that involve repetitive occurrence of elements
B. Competence
1. Some sentences are grammatically correct:
e.g. The table saw the woman
The sentence is grammatically correct but doesn't make sense
2. Some are ungrammatical (something missing)
e.g. John put the car (e.g. location is missing)
3. Some are ungrammatical (Wrong word order)
e.g. Put John in the garage the car
C. Components
1. PS- Phase Structure component
Rule is needed
Syntactic tree - rules system phrase structure
2. Lexicon
Deep Structure and Surface Structure
Same "big" structure with different surface structures
Same idea can be explained in different ways
e.g. You pushes the chair -> The chair is pushed by you.
Does form induce narrative in comics?
David Bordwell suggests when we perceive and comprehend a narrative text, we tend to construct certain patterns among events. Film's syuzhet provides a basis for this activity. There are three principles relate the syuzhet to fabula:
1) Narrative Logic (causal relations)
2) Time (order, duration, frequency)
3) Space (relative surroundings / positions and paths )
In comics, syuzhet is mainly created by the following tools :
(This part will be further investigated)
- Graphics (including the characters, sign and style etc)
- Text and dialogue
- Panel
- Page composition : The arrangement of the above on a surface
Let's see the following example:
In the above case of Chris Ware' page in Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, fabula is constructed through:
- Identifying the characters (three of them, one kid, one grown up and an old man)
- Identifying the reading path (from left to right, with the help of an arrow and text)
- Identifying the spatial relationship:
- The green color on the first tier indicate they are likely in the same room.
- The red balloon across the first two panel further confirm they share the same space
- The text balloon "koff" in panel 1 and 4 gives even more hints
- The second tier, though with different color background, could still be understood they are staying in the same scene, probably the room inside - from the hints of the same red balloon. - Identifying the temporal relationship:
- The time from the first to the second tiers are linear
- The third tier seems presenting another space and time as the visual relationship with other panels are lacking
- The different type of color and the look of the character indicates they are flashback.
- The two graphics (chicken and the meal) are without panel, they exist beyond the current space and time relationship. They may represent the inner thoughts of the old man.
In the above process, fabula of that particular page is roughly constructed with a general understanding of space and time in a logical sense although not all the "riddles" are resolved. It also shows that the process of constructing fabula, or in other word, the syuzhet is very much connected to the language of the medium. Although according to Bordwell, the syuzhet patterning is independent of the medium (p.50), the specification of the medium does impose particular impact to the comprehension process. In comics, the juxtaposition of images allows (or encourage) the reader to flip through the pages in a non-linear way. The physical limitation of the medium, let's say the book form has forced the story to be divided into pages. The page-turning may only happen in a second but it gives the author an opportunity to arrange the plots into different sections and it becomes a useful tool to create the moment of suspense, surprise... and other effects.
In the following, I would like to demonstrate how the format of comics could affects the syuzhet in two different scenarios:
A) "Pre-defined Format" precedes Syuzhet
A lot of comics works, especially those being published regularly on periodicals such as newspaper or magazine, often use a pre-defined format. What I mean "pre-define" here, is that the format (e.g. dimension, shape, position) are specified before the work exist. It is very common to see formats such as single-panel, 4-panel strips, Sunday comics... all being used in specific types of narratives according to their visual structure. If Syuzhet is the way how events are organised, we can say that such arrangement is very much limited or constrained by the form, in other words, the number of panel available.
Take single panel comics as an example:
Single panel comics are often used in gag cartoons in order to make the reader laugh imminently. While single panel may not necessarily means a "single moment" as multiple dialogues are possible, it does mean "progression" in space and time is not allowed.
Due to the limited space, the punch line usually lies on the dialogue or simple gesture. The format indeed also has impact on the graphic style (if we see graphic style as part of syuzhet). The depiction of character or story background becomes more important as the views has to identify the character and the background straight away since there is also no room for "introduction". (In the above case, one must recognise Trump and Hilter in order to get the idea).
Four-panel comics, on the other hand, allows more flexibility in syuzhet. It allows the traditional 3-act structure to be barely applied with the first panel to be used as the opening of the story whereas the second and third are used to depict the progression. The last panel usually features the twist and the conclusion of the story. Of course there are exceptions and indeed various patterns can also be found in a lot of 4-panel strips. For example: The peanuts comics sometimes uses a pattern with almost identical first three panels plus one final panel featuring the twist.
While Peanut Sunday usually contains a general 3x3 panel gird, its syuzhet has more variety:
http://www.chiutat.com/writing/2017/7/12/does-form-induce-narrative-peanuts-comics
Comic strip artist tends to follow similar narrative pattern as a strategy to build up their own style and identity. As comic strips are short and simple, even with some possibilities to employ different strategies in syuzhet...
B) Format as Syuzhet
Another scenario to understand the relationship between form and syuzhet is to see form as a narrative strategy. Unlike those works with pre-defined formats, the format of the works is designed or generated based on a narrative strategy, or the syuzhet.
"Here" - by Richard McGuire
The first example is the book "Here" by Richard McGuire. It is a graphic novel depicting the story of the corner of a room, and its inhabitants, between the year 500,957,506,073 BC and 2313 AD. The work appears in a book form in which each spread is showing a drawing of the scene of that corner in the same perspective and position (with panels floating around). In this case, the decision of using a book form could emphasise the changes along the time. The thickness of the book becomes an evidence to portrait the time. The "rule" or "constraint" of showing the same space with the same perspective comes from the physicality of the book and it is part of th....
"Metronome" by Veronique Tanaka
Metronome is an experimental work by Veronique Tanaka (a fictional name, the actual artist is indeed Bryan Talbot). The whole work has a strict format that all the pages are composed of 4x4 panel grid without any text.
"It is sixty-four square pages, sixteen panels each page and is in 4/4 time, like music. And music is a theme. The man in the story is a composer. The individual panels often make designs over the whole page. The book is about one instant and about memories evoked in that instant. It begins where it ends and could be read again after, like a loop. It is a visual poem but there is a strong story under the surface." (Veronique Tanaka)
According to the author, the strict format of the book (i.e. square shape, 4x4 grid) is developed based on the theme of the story (i.e. Music). If we see such decision as part of the syuzhet, the format itself is part of the narrative. The most interesting thing is, on each page, there are individual rules for each page (or spread). And all those rules are subordinate to the format of the 4x4 grid.
For example, one rule across the whole book is, each tier on a page usually featuring a single object (or idea). In page 10, 4 objects, a fly, a plant, keyboard and the fan each occupy four panels in their own respective tier with slight motion / camera movement.
Page 10
In this case, the number of panel required to portrait the fly is decided by the format instead of the movement of fly itself. In other words, if the format is 6x6, the movement of the fly has to be expanded to 6 with extra details.
The gird format also allows ambiguity in the reading process. While we understand the reading path is from left to right, sometimes the author tries to confuse us by making connection among panels vertically. The example on P.7 shows the author's intention to create a transition using the first panel (the black one). One can actually read the work either horizontally or vertically.
What I want to suggest here is, in this case, there are often two levels of rules that is affecting the syuzhet, one comes from the format of the work (which can also be part of syuzhet) and the other one is the rules that is developed subordinated to that format.
...to be continued
Does form induce narrative? (Peanuts Comics)
Fixed form found in Sunday supplement.
A 3x3 invisible grid
Tier 1 : Title Panel + 1 panel (monologue, introduction)
Tier 2: Usually divided into three panel evenly (Progression of story)
Tier 3: More flexible division of space (twist, climax, conclusion)
Metronome by Veronique Tanaka (Bryan Talbot)
http://metronome.shadowgallery.co.uk/index.php?refresh=yes
"It is sixty-four square pages, sixteen panels each page and is in 4/4 time, like music. And music is a theme. The man in the story is a composer. The individual panels often make designs over the whole page. The book is about one instant and about memories evoked in that instant. It begins where it ends and could be read again after, like a loop. It is a visual poem but there is a strong story under the surface."
Summary of David Bordwell on Fabula / Syuzhet
Formal systems both cue and constrain the viewer's construction of a story.
We can analyse the film as consisting of two systems and a remaining body of material
Fabula / Syuzhet / Style
- There is a difference between the story that is represented and the actual representation of it, the form in which the perceiver actually encounters it.
- This distinction goes back to Aristotle, but it was fully theorised by the Russian Formalists.
Fabula
- Fabula embodies the action as a chronological cause-and-effect chain of event occurring within a given duration and spatial field.
- It is a pattern which perceivers of narratives create through assumptions and inferences.
- The viewers builds the fabula on the basis of prototype schemata (identifiable types of persons, actions, locales), template schemata (the canonic story) and procedural schemata (a search for appropriate motivations and relations of causality, time, and space).
- A film's Fabula's is never materially present on the screen or soundtrack.
Syuzhet
- Often translated as "plot"
- The syuzhet is a system because it arranges components
- "Syuzhet" names the architectonics of the film's presentation of the fabula. (hence rightward arrow in the diagram)
- Syuzhet patterning is independent of the medium; the same syuzhet patterns could be embodied in a novel, a play or a film.
Style
- "Style" simply names the film's systematic use of cinematic devices. Style is thus wholly ingredient to the medium.
- Style interacts with Syuzhet in various ways; (hence two-way arrow in the diagram)
We tend to construct certain patterns among events. We can now see how the film's syuzhet provides a basis for this activity. There are three sorts of principles relate the syuzhet to the fable.
I. Narrative Logic
- In constructing a fabula, the perceiver defines some phenomena as events while constructing relations among them. These relations are primarily causal ones.
- The syuzhet can facilitate this process by systematically encouraging us to make linear causal inferences. (In comics, composition also facilitating such process)
II. Time
- Narrative time has several aspects.
- The syuzhet can cue us to construct fibula events in any sequence (order).
- The syuzhet can suggest fibula events as occurring in virtually any time span (duration).
- The syuzhet can signal fibula evens as taking place any number of times (frequency).
III. Space
- Fabula events must be represented as occurring in a spatial frame of reference, however vague or abstract.
- The syuzhet can facilitate construction of fibula space by informing us of the relevant surroundings and the positions and paths assumed by the story's agents.
Our schematising and hypothesising activities are guided by the syuzhet's cues about causality, time and space.