Jake Parker Presentation

I don't know how I spaced out on responding to Jake Parker's presentation. I've been going over what he talked about with us again and again though, noticing how applicable it is in relation to our current reading list. So even if this is the first evidence you're seeing of my attentiveness, please don't think I wasn't putting the information to use.

Anyway, that's what forgiveness is for.

All of my big interests have already been taken and shared in previous posts (which is what I get for being the last to respond), such as panel pacing and sizing and the effectiveness of word bubbles in directing flow.

So while I may not be able to bring anything new to the table as far as bringing up new insights, I can say that I have gone back to my notes and Jake's presentation in creating my beta comic. I was really struggling to figure out where to start and how to do it, and thinking about my layout actually gave me the final direction I needed in my story telling and narrative, which is a little backwards from what I was expecting.

Jake Parker Response

Something that I haven't seen anyone mention yet about his presentation is the brief photoshop tip he gave about how threshold automatically puts everything in black and white. Also on pacing, detail of the artwork can also modulate pacing and more detail can slow the readers down.

A Little Bit About Panel Layout, by Jake Parker

Find the presentation HERE, courtesy of Jake Parker.

Jake Parker's Presentation

First I really liked how organized Jake's lecture was. It was also really helpful in teaching about the layouts of comics. I was one of those people who found word bubbles as a problem that covered art or got in the way of what you wanted to draw, but now I see it as an indispensable to forcefully guide the reader's eye where you want it to go. I also learned about the sizing of comics which will be helpful for when I want to make page layouts. Oh and I found his talk about grouping thoughts and ideas as a great tool to make my own comics flow better. Very cool!

Jake Parker

One thing I took away from Jake's lecture was his writing process.

Iteration is something emphasized in visual development/character design... all that good stuff. I noticed Jake was creating multiple iterations of his ideas IN WRITING. what a novel concept (pun mostly unintentional...) breaking that down, I pulled three main things from that part of the presentation which I thought were being iterated. Comment please if more come to mind:

-Iteration with world creation and ideas revolving around that (also another pun mostly unintentional..)

-Iteration in story and how character's personalities could potentially conflict or harmonize

-And once the world and story were set up, he went into script. General to Specific - a classic design principle. And it's quite possible he went through different iterations of script as well.

Jake Parker

I really enjoy taking classes from Jake! He's got loads of industry experience and is always willing to pass on tips or critiques.

The lecture was very well organized. I'm glad we have that link to that presentation so we can have that great reference. It was interesting to see the way he planned out word bubbles as a way to draw the eye. They tell the story with word, yes, but they also are part of the illustration.

Jake Parker, Leading the Eye

Something that I really caught onto when Jake was going over Comics was that of design with your word bubbles.  I never would have even thought that they were part of the design.  I figure that you should jsut try to cram them in there wherever it doesn't cover up your art.

His big example of Mignola and the way his word balloons lead the eye not only from panel to panel but sometimes across the page and through a piece of art as well.  The seemless use was enlightening to me.

Alot of other things were already covered by others such as simplicity in panels and shape of panels.  Those things seemed to really coincide with what I have been reading in making comics as well.

Overall a great presentation.

Jake Parker - Panel Pacing

Jake listed the common sizes and panel numbers of American, European, and Asiatic comic books. I only recorded the American size, 10-1/2 x 6 inches.

Interestingly Jake instructed the class that the average reader will spend roughly the same amount of time on each panel, regardless of size. However, on can control the pacing of the read by number of panels. More panels will slow the reader, fewer panels will speed them up. Though size didn't determine time spent on them, the size did communicate the importance of the action being detailed.

Jake also talked regarding panel shape and orientation, noting an artist can communicate a greater sense of action by making an erratic shape, or stop motion completely by changing the orientation of the panel, book ending chapters as it were by opening and closing with either horizontal or vertical panels.

The amount of time spent on panels could also be sped up or slowed down by the amount of detail contained therein, increasing the visual detail should slow a reader down, getting them to spend more time on a greater amount of information.

Most interesting to me was the incorporation of word bubbles into the visual elements guiding the reader's eye through a page. I had always imagined the word bubble to be the constraint against which artists struggled, but Jake showed us an example from Hellboy: Third Wish where the bubbles were used, in addition to Mike Mignola's pencils, to lead the reader through the page.

Then I had to leave and you all got story advice from a working professional. Double jerks.

Jake Parker

Like Ryan was talking about, I really appreciate the focus on simplicity. Simplicity in silhouette/staging makes everything easier to read and lets the timing flow. I also noted the information given on word bubbles. It's impressive how word bubbles can lead the eye so well. I hope I can get my comic to read well like that and flow dynamically at the same time.

Has anyone read Dead Pool? There's some funny use of boxes and bubbles with him having three way conversations with himself.

Here's some side notes:

Jake Parker's website - agent44.com

good short story references - Twilight Zone episodes, Ray Bradbury, and a comic called Planetary

I don't know if I can master it, but I like the idea of experimenting with panel shapes and sizes.

Jake Parker - Simplicity in Panels

The above panels are an example from Jake Parkers graphic novel Missile Mouse. It is a good example of using of simplicity in your panels and pages. Jake went over the importance of using simple scenes in your panels and using simple panel layouts to convey your story to your viewer and to lead them through your books efficiently. He believes, and I tend to agree, that it is much more important to relate your story in a simplistic way thoroughly then it is to try to shove too much detail or information into your panels and pages. If the reader cannot understand what is going on in your pages and panels or where he is supposed to go next in the story he will be less likely to relate to the story and become engrossed in it. Therefore making the book less successful in conveying the narrative to the viewers.

In the page above, it is very easy to understand what is going on in each panel, what panel you are supposed to read next, and you can easily understand the information the page is trying to relate to the reader. In this way Jared Parker has successfully told his story thoroughly in a simplistic fashion.

Jake Parker - Panels

Christina already covered a lot of this, but Jake Parker had lots of good info on comic panels. One thing he mentioned specifically was that the shape of the panel itself can convey information. Not every panel has to be just a square or rectangle. A tilted or unbalanced panel can create the feeling of chaos. A long vertical or horizontal panel can depict movement in that direction. Be creative with your panel shapes, use some variation.

This brought to mind a fantastic web comic called Hanna is Not a Boy's Name. The artist is very liberal with her use of panels and finds some very creative alternatives to just square and rectangles.

Jake Parker - Panels and Pacing

Comic Panels and Pace
Jake Parker gave some very interesting, and useful information about panels and how they determine the pacing of a comic.

-The average American comic has 5-7 Panels.
-The reader spends roughly the same amount of time on each panel, so the number of panels helps determine the pace of the story.
-More panels=Slower pace
-Less Panels=Faster Pace

-Not only are the number of panels per page important, but also the size of the panels.
-The size of the panel equals time (bigger=faster) and importance (bigger=importance)
-Large panels can be used to emphasize plot, action, emotion, and thought.

Jake Parker, Missile Mouse, and you. (+RW)

Jake Parker will be taking the reigns for this Monday's class. There are just too many cool things Jake has been involved in to say in this little post, so instead of saying it all here, go find out for yourselvesHERE; (that's an order).

Mandatory: Before this monday's class, you are required to read all of Jake's sample comicbook work online, you can find it >HERE<, and then click on "COMICS".

I have only recently go into Jake's work. I have the first volume of Missile Mouse on order, and will make it available to you in time. Jake's work can also be found in the "FLIGHT" story collections.

Just as we did with Jake Wyatt's day of instruction, you are required to document things of note in a post (labeled "Jake Parker" and "Wow") by the following Wednesday night.

In other announcements, we have Ryan Woodward to teach you a thing or three on Monday June 6th. You'll need to read his Darkhorse-published 4-issue "Invincible Ed". I'll bring a copy on Monday for you all to take turns reading before June 6th.

If you haven't taken the time to formally go through his website - you'll need to do that before June 6th. Check it out >Here<.

Assignment 5; Final Project (weekly) - Comic Book Treatment in 4-Parts

Label “Treatments”

Post title: “(Title of Story) by (Name)”

-These are weekly stages:

1. Idea

2. Story

3. Appropriation

4. 1st draft, 2nd draft

-One post only: re-edit original post every week as you complete each stage

1. Idea stage: (Consider Orson Scott Card’s Chapter on World Creation – 1. Where Ideas Come From.) Write 2 one-sentence ideas. Come up with 2 seemingly unrelated ideas, with the intention that the two ideas will combine into one story (which you'll deal with in stage 2). Also, please note where each idea came from (i.e. dream, news, doodling, watching or reading something, etc.). 1 week to complete.

2. Story stage: (Consider Freytags Five-Part Dramatic Structure) Write a 5-sentence synopsis. Write a sentence for (1) Back-story, (2) Rising action, (3) Climax, known as the “turning point” (4) Falling Action, and (5) Denouement. !! Big Picture vs Short Story: Some of you will be working on really big ideas, stories that could take hundreds of pages to tell - this could pose a serious problem for you during stage 4. of this final assignment, because you will have to create a 3~30 page beta comic based off of this 5 sentence synopsis. So if your story is too big for a short story comic, you will need to write an additional 5-sentence synopsis of a Short Story that takes place in the Big Picture. 1 week to complete.

Example for Big Picture & Short Story all-in-one:

(1) The Turtle and the Shark is one of the most popular Samoan legends. (2) It tells the story of a man and a woman who are to be separated by the King Malietoafaiga. (3) To avoid separation, they flee to another island. (4) However, fearing their act of disobedience would bring dishonor on their families, they willingly gave up their lives at the cliffs of Vaitogi. (5) The gods had mercy on them and transformed them into a turtle and a shark to live together, forever. (c) Ryan Woodward 2009

Example for Big Picture story synopsis with an additional Short Story synopsis:

Big Picture: (1) When a rogue faction of an advanced alien race invades the inhabitants of an early industrial planet, the alien’s peaceful faction initiates a premature first contact in hopes to offer protection. (2) But because alien resources are limiting, society is gathered into major cities; the alien protectors must limit their hand in technological advancement despite the dangerous and strange things that are happening everywhere. (3) As a result from these two races living together, a handful of individuals across the planet, both native and alien, are forced to deal with a strange metamorphosis as they begin to develop peculiar abilities – abilities that were the rogue faction’s aim since the beginning. (4) While estranged on both sides, it becomes clear that these special individuals are the key to stopping members of the rogue faction – most of who have full command of these new abilities. (5) Conflict leads to the uncovering of the planet’s secret origin – leaders of the aliens and natives acknowledge that they are on the brink of a new evolution, and that they are in it together. (c) Jared Greenleaf 2011

Short Story (30 or less pages): (1) A doubtful young alien-girl hybrid, who is an alien ambassador, is on route via the ropeway to deliver the all important (hand-sized) detection device to a city recently connected to the ropeway system. (2) A “grinner” attacks; taking two “guardians” out, the girl is next. (3) She surprises herself (and the grinner) by putting up an amazing fight – with powers she never thought she had. (4) The grinner is too powerful and is about to finish her off, but decides to take off - reinforcements arrive. (5) The ambassador reaches the city, puts on a strong show to distance herself from the city leaders; the first moment she is alone she breaks down crying. (c) Jared Greenleaf 2011

3. (a) Appropriation & Style test + (b) Short story supplement stage: Find a place in Provo (or the surrounding area, or from pictures of a place from your hometown growing up, or a place you’ve visited and have photo or sketch documentation), and appropriate that place into a scene in your world. Make a fully-realized three-panel style example, and while you don’t need to push any sort of plot or narrative, at least one panel needs text. In this stage of the assignment, you will give us a taste of what your finished comic will look like in terms of style and execution.

Example:

(c) Jake Wyatt 2011

In addition to the 3 panel style example, you will need to answer these 4 questions:

What is your story's (b1) dominant MICE quotient?

(b2) Primary Conflict?

(b3) Theme?

(b4) Major World rules and limitations?

I'll post an example on Miazaki's Nausicaa here.

1 week to complete both parts (a) and (b).

!! Make a NEW POST for your Beta Comic. Make sure the post title has the word Beta Comic in it !!

(Blogger has irritating bugs when it comes to adding a lot of images to an existing post, which is why its easier to just make a post exclusively for your Beta Comic)

4. Beta comic Stage: Create a 3~30 page beta comic (beta-comic example). Go over the Paul Pope example that is posted. In addition to that is Jake Parker's well thought out presentation on Panel Layout. And finally, you can also refer to the Short Story Comic Examples provided on the column of this blog. Then, rough out a 1st draft on your own. Post it so that I can make a brief check on readability. Taking into account my notes, work on readability and then post your 2nd draft. 1st draft due 1 week after part 3.; final draft due last day of class.

-Note that while 2 is contingent on 1, and that 4 may be contingent on 2 & 3, there is nothing stopping you from starting on 3 as soon as possible, as that has to do more with a look and feel than it does the development of a story from an idea.

By the end of this final, you will have the components to create a very sustainable property or treatment - Check out Catfish Deluxe for great examples of this.

(extra) 5. Don’t Stop! From here on out its up to you; come up with goals, work parallel to other story-makers, give and receive help, keep in contact! Now you're ready to take the sequential-art class provided by the Illustration Area.