I think looking at comics and converting that to cinema is an interesting way to manipulate time. It makes sense to me that long wide panels, converted into cinema, could be a shot that pans from left to right. Same thing with a small panel in a comic. Translating that into cinema could be a still shot. Looking at the first strip with the uncle taking a picture I imagine, if translated into cinema, the camera would start off on the uncle and move right because that’s how you read comics and that’s how the story progresses as far as the dialogue. This part of the comic almost reminds me of a scene from home alone, except in the home alone scene the camera pans from right to left instead of the other way around. If this scene were translated from cinema into a comic, I think it would unfold similar to the way the comic panel does.
Blog Prompt: The art of cinema involves the manipulation of the viewer’s experience of time. The duration of a shot is like a temporal framing. In “Time Frames”, McCloud describes the various comics techniques for creating different temporalities. Reading McCloud, consider the framed panel in a comic as a cinema shot. Wider or longer panels are like shots with longer durations (“long takes”). Smaller panels are like shots of shorter durations. The main difference between comics and film is that with a page of arranged panels, the reader has a spatial “time map” in the simultaneous display of frames. In cinema, shots are mostly sequential and present an unfolding now. Discuss some aspect of McCloud’s visual essay that makes you think of the possibilities of time manipulation in digital cinema or of a certain movie scene that plays with time.
Some of the key points regarding time manipulation in comics and digital cinema, inspired by Scott McCloud’s “Time Frames,” include filmmakers’ experiments with non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, and the blurring of traditional boundaries. Opening up new storytelling possibilities really allows for more complex narratives and engaging ways to captivate viewers, enriching the experience. Another fascinating insight into time manipulation is how comics provide readers with a “time map” that enables them to see past, present, and future frames simultaneously. This offers a unique way of experiencing time. Digital cinema approaches this differently. Directors and editors begin to experiment with non-linear storytelling techniques, parallel editing, flashbacks, and the use of digital effects to alter the perception of time.
I first came across McCloud’s work in DTC 354, Digital Storytelling. I couldn’t believe the level of depth contained within comics that McCloud discusses back then, and I’m still contemplating that information to this day.
Time and space are interchangeable within comics. Film, unlike comics, doesn’t typically display all their “frames” at any single moment. We as the viewer can practically experience the entire comic at our own pace, choosing when and where to place our eyes onto any given frame. However, the viewer doesn’t typically spend the same amount of time on each panel depending on its content, and in McCloud’s words, its shape as well. And as McCloud states,
“…the panel shape can make a difference in our perception of time. Even though this (referring to the page 101 with the extended panel in the middle) long panel has the same basic ‘meaning’ as its shorter versions, still it has the feeling of greater length!” (pg. 101).
Does film express its passage of time in the same ways comics do? I would place a yes/no/maybe-so to this question due to a few factors. Firstly, film is really a comic with each panel stacked on top of the other and then displayed one frame at a time on repeat until the last frame appears. In this case, time is passing automatically and the “gutters”, or frame gaps representing time, are absent. The viewer isn’t meant to pause a film just to experience the shot for a longer duration, but to rather experience the shot visually and for its intended duration.
A great example that is a near straight conversion of comic to film envisioning this idea is Sin City from 2005. This film is based on Frank Miller’s comic book series of the same name. The film takes some of the comics wider/longer panels and translates their durations into the film.
No_December4277. Comic vs. Movie (Sin city). 2022. Reddit, https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbookmovies/comments/pmnyi4/comic_vs_movie_sin_city/. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.
Another example of a film that passes time through unique cinematography is 1917. This film was shot with a particular method to appear as a “single take”. While there is a ton of methodology as to how this film was made, one factor remains that pertains to this discussion. 1917 used multiple shots of greater length to make the film appear as one whole piece. The transitions from shot to shot were edited carefully at moments of break, mere seconds in length, that would immediately return to the previous shot such as the camera passing a background element or when characters cross the frame of the camera (DeGuzman).
Gibbons-Neff, Thomas. The Main Theme of ‘1917’? The Innocence That War Destroys. 31 Jan. 2020. The New York Times Magazine, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/magazine/1917-innocence-war.html. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.
Malcolm, Christopher. How Cinematographer Roger Deakins Lensed WWI Epic 1917 As One Shot. 25 Jan. 2020. Fstoppers, https://fstoppers.com/bts/how-cinematographer-roger-deakins-lensed-wwi-epic-1917-one-shot-448138. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.
Film, much like comics, experiment with the perception of time in ways that fit their respective mediums. I will certainly be keeping an eye out in the future for moments like these.
Thanks for reading,
-Caleb
Works Cited:
DeGuzman, Kyle. “How Roger Deakins Shot ‘1917’ to Look like One Take.” StudioBinder, StudioBinder, 1 Feb. 2021, www.studiobinder.com/blog/1917-one-shot-cinematography/.
Here is my short video for the Make Space assignment. It was a bit late as I somehow missed it during the snowstorm the previous week. Let me know what you think and what could be improved.
Blog Prompt: Watch the 12 min silent 1929 film by Dimitri Kirsanoff called Brumes d’automne (Autumn Mists). In this experimental short there is no plot just the visualized thoughts of a woman. Describe the editing. What is she thinking? Does the montage work? Does it evoke something for you? Kirsanoff said that his intention in the film was to represent a state of mind “through drastically changed images in which nature was losing its density and unity.”
Editing
The editing is innovative because of the fluidity and juxtaposition of images.
Uses techniques like cross-editing, superimpositions, and fast intercutting.
Establishes a rhythm that aligns with the protagonist’s mental state.
What is she thinking?
Her thoughts are abstract and is reflected in the contemplation of nature, life, and longing.
There is no concrete narrative. The montage allows the viewers to project their own interpretations of the film.
Does the Montage work?
This montage is effective since it conveys thoughts and emotions without dialogue or an explicit narrative.
Engages with the viewers imagination and emotions which creates an immersive experience.
There is a blur between the lines between reality and abstraction.
Does it Evoke Something for You?
The abstract and poetic nature of the montage creates a dream-like feeling.
The montage creates a mood that makes viewers feel nostalgic longing or sad fleeting moments, possibly ones you have had in the past.
The film uses visual metaphors such as the seasons changing or the shifting of landscapes.
The way that the director describes this short film, Autumn Mists, is a perfect way to describe it, in my opinion. It is built much like any other montage you see today but the structure of the individual shots and how they are put together really sells his description of it.
To represent a state of mind “through drastically changed images in which nature was losing its density and unity.”
The various items and scenes captured, along with the editing, make it feel almost panicked or stressful. How things feel almost unconnected or unordered although still having a structure to it. Each scene shows emotion, especially when the main character first appears. Her emotions and thoughts are shown purely through what we are allowed to see. Various shots of things that can relate to her mental state, much of it being a sort of chaos and breaking.
The use of music in the film also sells it well. The very calm moments of the song fit the sort of calm images and the same for the opposite can be said. When we she her start to sort of panic the music speeds up and becomes broken and intense.
I feel the mix of intense and somber music fits the well-edited shots throughout the film. They are both great into each other and can’t have one without the other.
Scott McCloud’s visual essay made me think about the possibilities of time manipulation in digital cinema when he talked about the space between the panels being a “gutter”. From what I gathered from the comic is that the gutter is a moment where time is dictated by the reader. The gutter represents the moments after what we just saw, or in some cases could be guiding the flashback to a memory of the characters.
Movies that I can think of that do a good job at showcasing a manipulation of time are Inception by Christopher Nolan. The movie plays with the idea of dreams happening within dreams. In each dream time moves slower and slower.
There was also Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction film. The film used a disjointed narrative structure. The film used a timeline to help tie together stories that made the whole movie’s story.
There is also movies that have been iconically referenced like the Matrix. Where Neo is dodging bullets in slow motion. The slow motion was to represent the movement of time.
