Assignment 2

In assignment 2, we get to come up with a comic strip! It was really taxing to accomplish but really fun at the same time! The theme of it being 'slice of life' and we got to pay attention to layout, the use of panel to panel transition, the time space continuum and the integration of image and text. 

So here's my work. Titled: The Train Ride Home

Comments by the class are:

• Confusion of train stations, need for labeling
• Train announcement text to be shifted lower into frame 5 to avoid confusion

I meant for this comic to be relatable to a Singaporean audience. It is definitely what train commuters have to go through everyday. I chose not to do it from an international perspective even though they probably also have the trouble of their trains leaving before they get to it. This is because I feel that given the construction of the jurong east platform where the distance to the next train is relatively short and one can see it in sight, the inability to catch up to the train before it leaves makes it even more agonizing then suppose, foreign train platforms where people change trains by going up and down escalators. I wanted local readers to be able to feel that pinch because this is closer to the heart. :)

Of course this isn't done yet, there's still a 250 - 300 word reflection to be done! I'll get that written up soon and update this post! Cheerio! 

***Update: Reflections

There is a moment-moment transition from the second to the third panel. It sets the time span for the scene. Moment-moment transition indicates a slow movement to give a feeling of the mundane as the feet move across the platform to the train. An action-action transition is in panel 6 to 7 to indicate an increase in pace as the protagonist runs. This is to influence the reader to be able to relate to her feeling of panic.

In my layout, long horizontal panels are used to depict not the physical time span but the time tensions within the protagonist. For example, in the panel where the protagonist sees that the opposite train has arrived, one would imagine that she begins to get anxious and wishes that she could alight right away so she can catch the train. At that moment, time seems to go on forever and so I have used a longer panel to depict the agonizing feeling. Framing of panels are done selectively to give a claustrophobic feeling as the protagonist goes through various scenarios of being pushed for time. Some panels are deliberately left frameless to give a sense of liberation. When the protagonist gets a chance to make a dash for her train, a frameless panel gives a limitless feeling that she has hope of making it, but later transits to a framed panel when alas, she still does not make it to the train in time.

Sound effects are also used in the comic to depict both the background sounds and verbal speeches. Sound and image relationship is interdependent. For example, in the forth panel, the protagonist is not optimistic about going home early and this is further reinforced with the image of a crowded train that delays her time. Sound effects in the form of onomatopoeia are used to depict sounds of the moving train and of feet running. They are often used together with speed lines to give life to the moving object to transfer that image to the reader’s mind vividly. Text speech bubbles also vary to convey the tone of the dialogue for example, using sharp-ended speech bubbles in panel 5 and 7 to project a feeling of angst in the subject’s thoughts.