Précis of Pascal Leférve’s “Incompatable Visual Ontologies”

According to Pascal Lefévre, films based on comic books are not regarded successes according to art critics and comic readers. Why these movies may have been successful is because of people who have hardly read the comics who watch and support these movies. The following is a concise summary on Lefévre’s article on what the problems are when making films as adaptations of comic books.

Some support these adaptations and some comic book creators completely reject them because they say that their stories were only created and intended for the comic medium.

Comics and cinema are similar because they both tell stories through sequential imagery. They also differ because comics include still frames while cinema is live action.

The audience prefers first time they experiences a story because of how they picture it in their imaginations. Movies have to also deal with this aspect.

Though animated versions of live action require an analysis of their own they tend to encounter the same problems of live action.

Though comics and cinema are both mass-produced they are different because a person is solitary when reading a comic and in a group while watching a movie. The production of a comic books are also done by a few people or one person while movies require a large budget and a mass of people to produce it.

There are four main problems in the comics medium:

1. The deletion/addition process that occurs with rewriting primary comics texts for films.
   
2. The unique characteristics of page layout and film screen
   
3. The dilemmas of translating drawings to photography
   
4. The importance of sound in film compared to the ‘silence’ of comics.

1.
There are not many adaptations that respect the original storyline of a comic. This is because scriptwriters have to consider the difference in the narrative length norms of the two medias and the fact that comics have there own norms and rules. They therefore have to cut out scenes, remove characters and add new ones.

Comic book creators understand that the stories in comics require changes as ‘retellings’ of the stories. Diehard comic book fans rarely applaud the rewritings because they see as the changes as betrayals. If a movie is too faithful to the comic book it will seldom be a good movie. This is because Cinema is another medium with it’s own characteristics and rules. The best one can do is to try there best to be as truthful as possible to the original work.

2
Comic book readers can read at there own speed, focus on certain frames and return to previous ones easily at their own free will. This is because comic books are a more spatial medium and panels are placed like a montage. Cinema obliges one to follow a rhythm of sequences in a linear-time sequence. The layout of panels is also a factor of comics. When movies attempt to fragment the image it is noticeable and breaks the usual cinematographic illusion.

3
Although comics and cinema both use flat images they differ because comics are drawn while cinema is photographic. Comic books also use static images that appear frozen in time while film uses moving images that give the illusion of realism.

The drawn images have distinct edges that photographic images in cinema do not have. The mind has to interpret the bundles of light to be able to distinguish between the objects edges. Drawn panels in comics include clear edges and contours. Though less realistic they depict what is necessary for the viewer to see according to the artist and tells more about subjects. This result may also be done through picture elements such as simplicity of shape, orderly grouping, distinction between object and ground, and the use of lighting perspectives and distortions.

Impossible elements are more easily attainable to comic book creators than filmmakers. Though film can also depict such scenes they are restricted by budgets and the fact that they also have to appear as realistic as possible. Therefore they appear are less subjective as compared to comics.

Comic books, through a regular style of images, represent a visual interpretation of the world that expresses the creator’s specific view. This obliges the viewer to see through the creator’s perspective. Photographic images of cinema fool the eye; therefore some graphic and violent scenes accepted in comics may be more disturbing in film.

This difference in visual ontology may be the reason why it is difficult to interpret stylised drawing and caricature into photographic images. The artist can balance between realism and caricature and if interpreted in film results into ‘confusion incredulous surface’. This is because of the lack of the ‘clear line’ and artist may have been using.

Despite this cinema may attempt to adopt the stylisation of comics. Comic book artists have acted as co directors and have transitioned their style and approach onto films resulting in them being more successful. Film can also represent an alternate interpretation of the content in comic books by this being a deliberate choice.

Some comic books have no unique defining style and go through changes over time yet one still does not get confused between their same content. Because of this a film may be seen as a different style and therefore one does not get confused with it from the comic and accepts it as just another interpretation.

4.
There is a problem when converting a story from a “silent medium” into a “sound medium”. Comics may give hints to how a character’s sound like in a comic but it will be a shock to the reader when they hear it in film. This is because the reader’s interpretation would have been different. Also dialogue in a comic may not be as effective when converted to sound in film.

These four problems are the crucial problems of filmic adaptations of comics. First, to what extent has a scriptwriter for a film to rewrite the story, second, how to go from a page layout to a single, unchangeable screen frame, third, how to translate static drawings into moving and photographic images, and fourth, how to give the “silent world an audible sound?

When evaluating a film adaptation one should forget about the original work and credit the new work for it’s own merits, which should be judged as movies and not as adaptations.

Synopsis of the Lighting on the Three Scenes

Since lighting effects the impression of a subject to the viewer so dramatically, the different types and variations of lighting can create different moods for a scene. Different tones, colors, contrasts, intensities, ect, may allow a scene to have it’s own distinct atmosphere. The following involves what moods were intended for each of the three scenes

Late Afternoon
With this seen I attempted to evoke the mood one gets at the end of a day by simulating the light that is cast by the sun towards sunset. To do this I made a spotlight as a Key light to cast a yellow light and positioned it lower and further away from the scene to simulate the suns rays. I used the Fill light to shine normal white light on the scene to simulate the light that bounces around a room. The Back light shines a violet colour to be the contrast of the yellow light. The ambient light of the objects and the scene were also set to this colour.

Ambiance
This scene was lit to give a mood brought about by ambiance in a scene by simulating that kind of lighting that a room would have at night. The Key light was placed at the lamp as a point light to be the light source of the room and set to shine a yellow light. The Fill light was placed higher than the Key light and was set to shine a red color. The backlight was placed the lowest and set to shine a violet color to be the contrast of the Key light. The ambient lights of the objects and scene were also set to a violet colour.

Torches
Though this scene has three lights they are not placed for the three point lighting technique. This is because they have a different purpose rather than lighting the whole scene evenly. Instead they are intended to make the scene appear more eerie by bringing focus to only sections of it and leaving the rest in darkness. The lights themselves represent flashlights that are searching the area.

3-Point Lighting

3-point lighting is a technique that was originally developed for lighting up subjects and scenes for film. As technology has progressed over time, 3d software has empowered the user with the ability to simulate life and elements in it such as light. 3d Software calculates how light falls onto objects, the colours it forms and the shadows that are caste by it. One also has a control of the aspects of the lighting that is not as easy to set up in real life. How lighting hits a scene or an object can affect ones mood. This is because of how one associates with the different colours, brightness, contrast and tones of light. The following explains how one can set up a 3-point lighting rig.

Types of Lights
Each light of the 3-point lighting technique has it’s own distinct purpose. The Key light is normally the strongest and is placed on the side of a subject, which casts shadows on its opposite side. The Fill light has less strength than the Key light, approximately half, and is placed on the opposite side of the main light. It is used to allow the subject to be more visible and softens the illumination of the subject from the key light. The Back light is placed behind the subject. It normally has less strength than the fill light. It is used to allow the subject to appear more separate from its background and have more form.

3 Point Lighting Technique
Before working with the lighting of a scene one must ensure that there aren't any lights already on it by deleting them. Each new scene usually has a default light, which should be deleted from the explorer. To move the lights one can select the light 'root' which dictates the position of the light. To control the direction of the light one can either use the rotate tool or move its 'effecter'. To create the first light one can create it from selecting the ‘primitives tab’, ‘light’ and selecting a type of light depending on kind and strength one requires using. This is the key light that should be placed higher than the other lights. To create the second, which is the Fill light, one can create it the same way but it should placed lower than the Key light. Lastly the Back light should be placed the lowest of all the lights. There should be a certain lighting rig for each different scene and subject because using the same lighting would not suite scenes such as indoor and outdoor scenes.

An Indoor Scene
http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/homefire/index3.html

This is an example of a scene that doesn't use the 3-point lighting system. Instead it uses lighting called global illumination that lights the whole scene evenly. The lights are placed by the models, which represent light sources. When rendering, Pass of Ambient Occlusion was also used.


References:
http://www.mediacollege.com/lighting/three-point/
http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/homefire/index3.html

The Key Point’s of Neil Cohn’s “A Visual Lexicon” and “Visual Syntactic Structures”

Neil Cohn is a linguist who attempts to reveal the structure of the language of sequential art. He describes the visual arts as having a grammar of it’s own. He does this by breaking down transitions in sequential art as if to deconstruct sentences to further understand their rules and structure. This to investigate the visual lexicon and syntactic structures. The following are Neil Cohn’s key points from his articles.

"A Visual Lexicon"

Attention Units:

Frame characteristics:

• Positive - Figures or focal attention that are contained in frames.
• Negative - The background information in frames.

Lexical Representational Matrix:

• Polymorphic - These allow for grammatical structures and event representation to exist within the boundaries of a single frame.
• Macro - Containing more than one entity.
• Mono - Only a single entity.
• Micro - Less than one grammatical entity.

• These all don’t work as syntactic structures alone but are rather ‘Attention units’. They window attention and determine where the focus is desired.
• Unlike words, panels constantly change. Words are consistent in representation while frame are inconsistent with consistant context.
• Visual Morphemes cannot exist on their own, such as speed lines and speed bubbles.
• Yet narratives are free floating morphemes.

Lexical Items:

• Open class - Figures (augmentable)
• Closed class - Hearts, speed lines (fixed)

Constructions:

• These are form-meaning patterns in language that vary in size, and can include lengths longer than individual words.
• Though not much is known about similar patterns in the visual language that does not mean that they don’t exist.

Initial state – Causative [reading of paper section] – Resultant state

• Though strips include text it is still dominated by it’s visual syntax.
• Therefore constructions may be possible.
• Bimodal constructions might also be possible, yet requires further investigation.

Conclusion

• The visual language has a variety of sizes of ‘lexical items’ that combine on several levels to create units and constructions.
• A lexical Item is a meaningful unit or combination of units of form meaning pairing that can be either productive or non-productive. They can also be symbolic, indexical or iconic.

"Visual Syntactic Structures"

Transitional Syntax

• Visual language syntax is the study of the structural organization of a sequence of images.

Results and Revisions

1. Temporal transitions.
2. Spatial transitions
3. Spatio Temporal transitions

• Transitions are measured by the relation of one panel moving into another juxtaposed panel, while identifying individual panels themselves.

Types of transitions:

1.Temporally Progressive.

1.1Moment Transitions - Time dominant factor.

1.2Action Transitions - Action pushes time.

2.Temporally Ambiguous.

2.1 Environmentally Existential transitions –
Based on the relationship around the components of a single scene and environment.

2.1.1 Subject transitions –
Shifts into a panel containing a primary acting agent of the scene.

2.1.2 Aspect transitions –
Shift into a panel containing “non – acting” elements of the scene environment.

2.1.3 View transitions –
Change the perspective of which the elements of the scene are viewed, while not changing temporally.

2.2 Environmentally Co-dependent transitions –
Based on the relations of two environments and their enclosed actions.

2.3 Environmentally Ambiguous transitions –
Including a ‘Cognable Transition’, featuring a transition into a panel devoid of connection to an environment through retaining of semantic connecting.

2.4 McCloudian Non-Sequitur transitions–
Unrelated transitions.

Three previously unmentioned conditions that varied beyond outlined transitions:

1. Inclusionary transitions
Panels within panels or concepts within concepts

2. Embedded transitions:
Contained transitions within the framework of a single image, unbroken by panel borders.

3, Overlays:Where an element of the sequence intersects another in such a way that it affects multiple panels that it touches.

• Mcloud’s equation of the space equals time as a ‘temporal map’ is problematic to the ‘Temporally Ambiguous’ class.
• Mcloud also never elaborates on a methodology.
• Web diagrams – based on transitional taxonomy and can be used to draw transitions such as:
• Parrellel cutting – Two or more environments occurring simultaneously in a single linear stream.
• The mind splits these different environments into separate paths as retained knowledge.
• This dual mental track allows for an enclosed environment’s occurrences to be maintained and connected as a “concurrent streaming environment’.
• This does not fall under the Multi-Engaged transitions such as inclusionary, embedded and overlay transitions.
• Unifier - Method for divisional forms of Aspect transitions which deals with the issues of image consistency.
• The Problem with Web analysis - It does not account for the additive knowledge from frames between transitional frames.

An Alternative Perspective in a Traditional Field

Markov chain:

• This remedies the problems of the web diagram by linking words by their transition between word types. The same diagram may be apllied to the visual language.
• It is expressed through a ‘state diagram’ which contains expressed grammatical constructions up to a certain point.

Syntactic Structures:

• These remedy the problem of sentences of infinite length

Rules:

1. Sentence = Noun Phrase + Verb Phrase
2. NP = Determiner + Noun
3. VP = Verb + NP

• These are represented by a tree diagram and can work for the visual language as well.
• The task is to move from a state-to-state to a generative grammar for visual language syntax.

Texture Assignment: Motivation for the Textured Scene

Though textures are mostly used to allow objects to appear more believable and realistic to the viewer, I attempted to make an interpretation of the subject in an abstract manner. Instead of creating exact representations of how they would appear in reality, I textured the scene to represent how an individual may perceive a room as a memory in their mind. The following covers how I attempted to texture such a scene.

First the objects in the room and the walls were distorted before texturing them. This is to set a feeling of imbalance and discomfort in the scene to suggest that the person remembering the room has had a particular memory of an event that occurred within it. This distortion of objects is influenced by Van Gogh's 'Chambre de van Gogh a Arles' where the furniture in the image are not completely in the correct proportions and perspectives.

The wooden tables and frame have exaggerated textures so that the room appears further distorted. The grain is larger than it could appear in reality because of how it may appear in a memory.

The walls and floor have also been given a texture that they would unlikely have in realty. In this individual’s memory, the hazy texture is what they perceive in a memory of the scene.

Though the scene is not as aesthetically pleasing as it could have been, this textured scene is the attempt to experiment and search for another manner of interpreting a subject and representing it through distortion and abstraction.

Image and Procedural Texture Mapping Techniques

No matter how well a surface is modeled, even if its form is an exact copy of the original subject, it will not appear naturalistic and have a bland appearance. By applying textures, objects will have more visual complexity and appear more believable or aesthetically appealing to a viewer. There are two kinds of approaches to texture mapping that are called image and procedural texture mapping. The following discusses these techniques in texturing through XSI.

Image textures
These textures are any image in a picture file that one wishes to use to wrap around the surface of a form. These are particularly useful for forms that require specific images on particular parts or sides of them.

Procedural textures
These textures are generated mathematically and are calculated to simulate natural materials. There are two types of procedural textures that are 2d and 3d. 2d procedural textures only simulate an objects surface appearance while 3d procedural textures are used to simulate a forms internal structure. The software calculates how the surface of the form would appear depending on how it would it be structured internally. For example, the appearance of grain on wood is determined by how the layers of wood would be structured inside it.

Materials and Texture projections
When working with textures one should select the texture view mode from the top corner of the view screen so one can see the textures that one has assigned to their surface. Before a texture can be applied on a surface one has to prepare it. First a material has to be assigned to it. To do this the surface must be selected and a material selected from the materials tab such as a Phong, Lambert or Blinn. A menu will pop up that allows one to determine the aspects of the surface such as its colour, reflection, ambient light, ect.

Another step one has to take before being able to add a texture to a surface is to assign how the texture would be projected over a surface. Depending what shape the object is determines what type of texture projection one is required to use to project the texture on the objects surface. For example if one has a sphere as an object, one should use a spherical texture projection. If wants to place an object onto a flat surface one should select one of the uv, xy, yz, and xz texture projections depending on what axis the surface is positioned. To assign one of these texture projections to a surface one must select the object, click on the property tab, texture projections and then select the texture projection that is suitable for the object. The scaling, sizing and positioning of the texture projection object will determine how an image is projected onto a surface.

Image texture mapping
Finally one can apply an image to the surface of the object. To view the materials and edit them one can open the 'material manger'. In this menu one can view different textures and materials in the 'render tree' as 'nodes' and edit, add or delete them. To add an image texture to a material one has to select the material from the material manager and press enter. This will reveal options to edit the material. To add an image as a texture one can select the plug tab next to the diffuse bars and select 'image'. This will give one the option to load an image from outside of XSI. The image will be wrapped around a forms surface depending on the texture projection. To edit how the texture is projected with more control one can select the Texture editor with Alt+7. This allows one to move vertices that determine how the image is displayed over a surface.

Procedural texture mapping
2d procedural textures can be applied on an objects surface in a similar way as one does with an image texture. By clicking on the plug button, in the material's option window, one can select one of many texture presets. The program will mathematically calculate how the texture will cover the object depending on a certain algorithm. To edit the texture one can access its options by selecting its node from the render tree and pressing enter.

3d procedural textures can be applied by to an object to clicking on the nodes tab above the render tree, selecting texture generators and choosing a texture. This will create a convoluted surface on the surface of a form instead of just being an image on a surface that gives the illusion of textures.


References.

Digital tutors DVD
XSI tutorials

Bones of Contention: Thoughts on the Study of Animation

The writer of this article, Andrew Darley, does not claim to be an animation specialist but rather an individual with film, new media and visual cultural studies interests. In his paper he discusses the prejudices against and claims about the medium of animation. He also suggests solutions for this from a neutral perspective instead of arguing how superior animation is to other mediums.

First he discusses how animation has been undervalued as an art form and compares it to other media such as ‘live action film’. Also that there has been too much claimed about the medium. Instead of finding the most superior form of animation their distinguishing characteristics should be researched. This is so one can ‘diversify’ the field. Animation scholarship has also engaged in the larger questions instead of the immediate required questions such as the animation’s ‘historical, stylistic, aesthetic and cultural’ questions.

Animation has as much depth and history as live action film and therefore should have greater scholarly attention because it is an equally important subject. The ‘distinguishing characteristics and the important areas of commonality’ between live action film and animation should also be determined.

He explains how animation scholars have claimed that animation is superior to other mediums by being more ‘imaginative’ and allowing more ‘control necessary for genuine art making’. Yet other mediums can allow as much control from using certain techniques. The quality of a work should be established from a ‘stylistic, generic and conventional comparison’ coupled with ‘analysis of semantic elements’. This should not be determined from which medium is being used.

The new digital medium has broken down the boundary between animation and live action. Despite a claim that one will not be able to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, Darley writes that live action and animation already both include realistic and fantastical subject matter. Animations can already be realist by depicting iconic or symbolic images.

Darley finds that previous writings on animation have been far too theoretical and ‘futile’. They should involve the real aspects of animation such as it’s ‘practices, forms, techniques, production and reception contexts, let alone films with their possible significance and meanings’. These writings are too interdisciplinary rather than focussing on the important aspects of the animation. They leave one with no knowledge of the real practices for the medium.

According to Darley, how to rate an animation should be from the ideas and processes or practices, which are supplementary to the technique of producing the impression of movement in space and time. These aspects should also be compared to characters, scenarios, stories, styles and meaningful images.
In his conclusion he explains how he perceives animation by not being more superior but rather just another medium that is no more special than any other. Therefore it should be as understood and researched because of its ‘rich history of incongruous practices, forms and styles, of institutional, cultural and national diversity’. Animation should be focussed on as the ‘true object of study’ for its distinct aspects and these in relation to other animation and media.

The Timeline of the Comic Medium

1837
‘The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck’ by Rudolphe Rudolph Töpffer was published in Europe and is considered to be the first comic book. It was released in United States in 1942.

1887
‘The Brownies: Their Book’ by Palmer Cox was considered the first internationally successful North-American comic.

1895
‘Yellow kid’ by Richard Felton Outcault is the first comic to use balloon dialogue or speech bubbles. It was also one of the first continuing and consecutive comic strips to be released into newspapers and was released into the New York World. The main character lived in poverty stricken urban environment called Hogan’s Alley.

1897
The ‘Yellow kid’ newspaper comic strips were published into book form by the Heart Syndicate.

1901
‘The Blackberries’ was the first full colour comic book to be released.

1922
‘Comics Monthly’ was the first monthly comic to be released and included popular comic strip characters from King Features.

1929
‘The Funnies’ was the first comic strip to include original comic strips rather than used reprints from newspapers.

1930-1931
‘Mickey Mouse Book’ created by Walt Disney was first released.

1930
‘Tintin in the Land of the Soviets’ was released by Herge who was Belgian.

Early 1930’s
Because of the depression, free comics were released in the United States and were used for advertising.

1933
‘Detective Dan, Secret Op #48” by Norman Marsh was the first comic of it’s type to have original content in it.

‘Funnies on Parade’ was the first comic to use the format that comics use up to this day. By folding a tabloid comic four times, Harry I. Wildenburg discovered a suitable format for a comic book, which he used for the funnies. Comics that followed were ‘Famous Funnies’.

1934
M. C. Guines proposed an idea to his boss Wildenburg to price and sell comic books that were previously free and included with newspapers. Wildenburg did not believe anybody would pay for comics. Guines put 10 cent price stickers on to each comic and gave them to news stands to sell. By the next Monday they had all sold out.

1936
‘The Clock’ was the first masked character ‘The Phantom’ was the first costumed hero.

1937
‘Detective Comics #1’ was the first DC comic to be released.

1938
‘Action Comics #1’ was the first comic to feature Superman who was also the first character to have such powerful super human abilities. The character was created by Siegal and Shuster.

1939
‘Detective comics #27’ included the first appearance of Batman who was created by Bob Kane.

‘Superman #1’ was the first comic book that involved only the main hero’s stories.

‘Marvel comics #1’ was released.

1940
‘Brenda Starr’ was the first comic strip released that was written by a women.

‘Robin the boy wonder’ was the first sidekick and first appeared in ‘Detective Comics #38’.

‘Justice Society of America’ was the first superhero team to be released in a comic.

1941
‘Peanuts’ by Charles Schultz was first released.

‘All Star Comics #8’ included the first appearance of Wonder Women.

“Captain America #1’ was the first comic to be created for a super hero without first being included in another comic book unlike other super heroes.

‘Pep Comics #22’ included the first appearance of Archie. Later the company that created the comics called MTL Magazines changed its name to Archie Comics.

DC Comics formed a committee to defend their comic industry because of the bad name comics were beginning to gain.

1948
Dr. Frederic Wertham expressed his views in a symposium in New York called “The Psychopathology of Comic Books’. Negative reactions from society towards comic books began almost immediately after this.

Comic books were collected from house to house burned in masses on the streets.

The ‘Association of Comic Magazine Publishers’ was formed. They censored aspects of comics by before they were released by changing and editing the images within them.

1949
The Canadian Government enacted a law against crime comics because how they were believed to instigate actual crime.

1950
‘Cincinnati Parents Committee’ started to rate comic books.

The U.S. Senate’s special committee blamed crime comics for real crimes committed by juvenile delinquents.

1952
‘Mad Magazine’ published by William Gaines, started to be released monthly and was a popular satire despite of all the restrictions for comics at the time.

1953
Companies such as Marvel and DC attempted to bring back old super hero comics.

1954
‘Seduction of the Innocent’ was released by Wertham. This was research on the effects of comic books on the youth. This influenced anti comics campaigns that would cause the comics industry to suffer economically. This not only happened in the United States but also 17 other countries.

The ‘Comic Magazine Association of America’ began and also established the ‘Comics Code Authority (CCA).

1955
The U.S. Senate committee approved the CCA so comic book companies could do independent self-policing.

1958
‘Strange Worlds #1’ was the first comic to be created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who started working for Marvel.

1961
‘Fantastic Four #1’ was released that involved the first group of super heroes that did not always get along, particularly the character Ben Grim.

‘Asterix the Gaul’ was released by Goscinny and Uderzo who were Belgian.

1963
The ‘Amazing Spider-man #1’ was released and created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The hero was a character that people could relate to because of his real life challenges that all people faced He also seemed to be more of human being than previous super heroes.

‘X-Men #1’ was released and was created by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky. It involved a story where humans were racist to the mutants much like the racism that occurs in real society.

1966
‘Fantastic Four #52’ includes the first black main super hero called the ‘Black Panther.

1968
“Zap #1” and “Zap #0” were created by Robert Crumb and sold on the streets of San Fransisco by Crumb himself.

1970
Jack Kirby who was hired by DC comics from Marvel Comics created ‘New Gods’.

1971
The ‘Amazing Spider-Man #96-98’ was not approved by the CCA because it involved drug abuse. The comic was successful despite this. From then on CCA started to reduce its restrictions.

1973
In ‘Amazing Spider-Man #121’ Spider-man’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacey, was murdered by the Green Goblin. An evil villain has never succeeded before in such a manner.

1973-4
Anti-heroes begin to emerge such as the Punisher in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ and Wolverine in ‘Incredible Hulk #181’. These heroes had distinct flaws and were not as pure hearted as previous heroes, therefore people could relate to them.

1977
‘Cerebrus’ created by Dave Sim, was the first comic from an independent company that was successful.

1979
Frank Miller pencilled ‘Dare Devil’ # 158 and brought a darker style to comics.

1984
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1’ was released.

1986
Frank Miller created ‘Batman the Dark Knight Returns’.

The owner of Heroes World sold Marvel Comics to the businessman Ron Perelman. He influenced Marvel to use gimmicks to sell more comics such as twists in stories or stories that would cross over to other comic books so the reader would have to buy more. Other companies also followed this trend.

1989
‘Sandman #1’ was released and involves a super natural being in a dream world instead a super hero unlike most of other comic book characters made by DC comics. This was the first of DC’s Vertigo line of comics.

1992
‘Spawn #1’ is the best selling independent comic up to date.


References:

Bellis, M. “The History of Comic Books”. 2008. http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/comics.htm

Coville, J. “The History of Comic Books”. http://www.collectortimes.com/~comichistory/frames.html (accessed 09 2008)

Hastings, W. “Art Spiegelman (1948- )” 2003. http://lupus.northern.edu/hastingw/maus.htm

McAllister, M.P., Sewell, Jr., E. H., & Gordon. “Comics and Ideology”. 2001. http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/m/p/mpm15/C&IChapter1.pdf

Santos, D. “CBW Comic History”. 2008 http://www.dereksantos.com/comicpage/comicpage.html

Tychinski, S. “A Brief History of the Graphic Novel”. 2004. http://www.graphicnovels.brodart.com/history.htm

Walker, B. D. “The American comic book: A cultural history”. 1998. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI9900405/

Wood, “The History of Crumb”. http://www.crumbproducts.com/history/history4.htm (accessed 11 2008)

Polygons, NURBS and Sub-Divisions

Polygon, NURBS and Sub-Division surfaces have different characteristics and require different techniques to manipulate and model each type. Surfaces become the forms of the subjects that one intends to depict through modelling. These surfaces are all comprised of faces and vertices. Different modelling programs may have different terms for these elements but they are essentially the same. Textures can be applied to these surfaces that can make them appear more naturalistic or realistic to the viewer so that it is more believable. There are certain advantages and disadvantages while using certain techniques on each surface. The following covers what these are through Maya.

Polygons
A polygon surface is comprised of faces that are flat surfaces that form into shapes. These faces are connected together by a poly mesh. This is a grid of edges that connect each face together. Each face is completely flat therefore the angle of each face to another is what determines the form of the surface.

Polygon Modelling
By creating a polygon primitive one has a basis to model from. The polygon shape might not have enough subdivisions so one can model it with more detail. Therefore one can subdivide it so that it consists of more polygons faces. To model the polygon one can select the vertices or faces and move them with the move or scale tools. By selecting the arrows on the tool one can model a form in the X Y Z axis’s. If one desire’s to model in a more symmetrical manner without having to split the form in half and duplicating it in symmetry, one can use the scale tool. By selecting vertices or faces on opposite sides of the form one can model a polygon in a symmetrical manner. If the polygon mesh is not in order and the surface of the polygon is not smooth one can use the smooth tool to smoothen the surface and organise the polygon mesh. Polygons can be split in half with the split polygon tool that allows one to create more faces on a certain area. If one wishes to make an extension from the form of the polygon one can select a polygon face and select ‘extrude’. This allows one to pull another face from the surface to create an extension.

Advantages
Polygons can be used to create rounded or hard-edged forms depending on how sub divided the poly mesh is and the amount of faces it has. They are the best surface to use for video games because they use the least amount of data (Maya PLE) and therefore allow greater performance from a system.

Disadvantages
Forms may appear blocky and don’t easily appear as smooth as do NURBS without having many polygon faces. One also cannot create smooth and organic appearing surfaces as easily as one can with NURBS.

NURBS
This abbreviation stands for ‘Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines’. NURBS use a method of mathematically describing curves and surfaces that are well suited to 3D applications (Maya PLE). NURBS surfaces are created from curves that determine the form of the subject that one intends to create.

NURBS Modelling
Though one can start modelling from a primitive NURB can also create a one from using a control vertices curve tool. With this a curve can be created that defines the form of the NURB. By selecting the revolve option the round from of the NURB is created. By moving the control vertices the whole form of the NURB is changed as if one is working with clay on a spinning wheel. This technique is suitable for round objects such as plates, cups and vases. One can also model from NURBS primitives. By selecting the control vertices of the primitive one can move and scale them to bend the curves of the NURBS surface and change it’s shape.

Advantages
NURBS are suitable for designs in motorcar and engineering industries because of the smooth appearance of the forms and still use less data (Maya PLE). The Curves used to create NURBS can also be used to create motion paths that lead movement in an animation.

Disadvantages
It’s not as easy to use NURBS to create flat and sharp edged objects as it is with polygons.

Sub-Divisions
This kind of surface holds the characteristics of both NURBS and polygons including it’s own that the other surfaces do not. The level of detail of the form that is displayed can be changed without affecting the result of the final rendered image or animation.

Sub-Division modelling
By creating a sub-Division primitive one can model the surface with control vertices with the same complexity as one can with polygons with the rounded appearance of NURBS. One can also switch between levels of detail, which reveals more control vertices ands allow one to model with more sensitivity. If one selects polygon proxy mode, a polygon box will surround the Sub-Division. This box will not show on the final render but allows one to model the general shape of the Sub-Division with the Polygon’s faces and vertices. If one extrudes a face of the Polygon, a part of the Sub-Division will be extruded with it.

Advantages

One can work with Sub-Divisions in a similar manner that one can with Polygons and NURBS. This kind of surface is easier to use to create organic forms and also be shaped with fewer vertices. One can build up form from one primitive instead of stitching primitives together where on has to with NURBS.

Disadvantages
Working in higher levels requires a lot of performance from the hardware of a computer.

References:

Maya PLE Tutorials