Section outline

  • General Information / All sections

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    Class Time: Thursday 10.50 - 15.20 

    Room: C-201 (except May 11 D211)

     Co-working Lab (voluntary):  Tuesday 15.30 - 17.20 - A420

    Basis:

    Built as an interdisciplinary lab, the course aims at introducing students to the language of comics, both as a conceptual framework and as a practical tool for production and dissemination of academic research.

    General goals:

    The course’s objective is to develop a short (6 to 8 pages) comic based on each student’s research. Over the course of six weeks of intensive discussion and production, the class aims to lead the students through the history of the medium, its narrative mechanism,  the potentiality of visual content to develop a pragmatic approach to academic research, and its dissemination.

    Prerequisites:

    1) Being able to draw is not a prerequisite, effective communication through sequential art is not about good drawing skills.

    2) Have a story in mind you want to transform into comics, this can come out of your fieldwork, archival research, a conceptual reflection, a piece of writing that you want to render graphically, or an idea. You need to come to the first class with this story in mind as the class is to be built around developing it. 

    3) Having read McCloud "Making Comics" before the course. We will go over this each week in class but for you to have read the book ahead of time will be essential for the discussion (pdf is attached below). 

    Learning outcomes:

    This class aims at providing the students with:
    Theoretical and practical knowledge about comics as a medium developing critical reading skills;
     Basic knowledge of the comic’s storytelling mechanism;
    Practical experience based on a project on how to use the comics language in academic research and its dissemination 

    Instructors:

     The class will be led by Sara Fabbri, an award-winning comic artist and art director, and Claudio Sopranzetti, Associate Professor in the Sociology and Anthropology department. Together they co-authored the King of Bangkok (Toronto University Press 2021), a graphic novel based on ethnographic research in Thailand which won the 2021 Thai Editor Choice Award, the 2022 PROSE Best non-fictional graphic novel award of the Association of American Publisher, the INDIES Bronze medal for best Graphic Novel and was shortlisted for the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing. The book is available in the CEU Library and downloadable with the link below.





     

  • WEEK 1 - APRIL 27 - Elements of comics theory and student project pitches

    This class will be divided in two parts: a lecture with practical exercises on the language of comics and a discussion and crit session on your projects.

    PART ONE:

    a. Comics as a language

    b. The ways to say it: the articulation of a binary system.

    c. How come are you already be able to read a comic?

    • In class drawing exercise 1: Everyone can read a “visual story”

    • In-class drawing exercise 2: Show, don’t tell - Ivan Brunetti exercise ( J.D. Salinger classic, The Catcher in the Rye)

    PART TWO:

    Class activity: pitch presentation of studentsì projects (5 mn each)

    a. What is the purpose of the story?

    b. Who are the characters?

    c. Who is the target?

    d. How can summarize the idea in 6/8 pages?

    HOMEWORK for next week:

    - Readjust the pitch based on feedback and put it in writing.

    -  Exercises from Barry (at home or in the lab)

    -  Read Making comics – chapter 2 

  • WEEK 2 - MAY 3 - 3 pm TO 6.30 pm - From Idea to Subject

    THE CLASS WILL TAKE PLACE IN ROOM D-105


    The main assignment for this week is for you to develop the subject (see below to understand what a subject is).


    What is a subject


    HOMEWORK FOR NEXT CLASS


    1. Developing the subject based on the Batman model that we discussed in class. If you already used that format last week move clean it up and start thinking about the images you will need to tell this story and create an archive.


    1. Drawing the main character and one setting shoot that you may use later on. Think about style, color or not, mood (see batman exercise art component)


    1.  Drawing exercises - Cartooning 37-44


    1. Chapter3 – McCloud


  • WEEK 3 - MAY 11 - From Subject to Storyline/plot sequence

    For the class please bring with you:

    Colors (ink or watercolor) - the most expressive the better


    HOMEWORK FOR NEXT WEEK:

    1. work on your plot structure, break down your story in all the actions and use the structure we gave you to build the narrative so that we can then start thinking about the script

    2. Continue to experiment with your own drawing and use exercised from chapter 5 and 6 of cartooning book (in attachment) to play with grids

    3. Read Scott McCloud Chapter 4

    PLEASE TURN IN YOUR PLOT STRUCTURE BY TUESDAY EVENING





  • WEEK 4 - MAY 18 - Starting to Develop the Script - ACT 1

    For class bring to make collages:

     - Glue

     - scissors (we had a few but if it is easy for you bring your own) 

  • WEEK 5 - MAY 25 - Concluding the Script

  • WEEK 6 - JUNE 1 - The storyboard

  • FINAL PROJECT DEADLINE - JUNE 7