Understanding Comics Response - Crystal Giraldo

In a comic, one panel or frame does not represent a single moment. Because there are usually a few different word bubbles or visual sound effects, our minds create the connections that link the narrative of the comic together.  Unless it was a single panel that is only captioned, that moment can be considered held. Video is a little different because we are being shown many frames at once (hundreds & thousands more frames than in a comic) that if it were paused on one certain frame, yes I believe it would represent one single moment. In comics our eyes are moving through both time and space. Depending on the scenes our eyes are reading and observing, we as readers can get a good grasp on how much time has passed from one panel to the next as we also observe how the character/subject moves within the world of the panels. Does that make sense? The idea of time and space merging can be a little difficult to put into words. Besides showing us the transition from one scene to the next or by using the effect of zooming out, represented space is also something that we construct mentally from one frame to the next. Using perspective is also a way artists create the illusion of space. By using lighting, fast paced scenes, tension in sound/ music artists can evoke claustrophobia in film or music. One of my favorite artists, Peter Lik, is a wonderful landscape photographer. He successfully communicates either large or small spaces within his photographs to give the viewer a magical sense of the vast spatial relationship between the subjects.