This weeks reading was a comic by Scott McCloud, titled ‘Blood in the Gutter’. The basis of the comic was discussing closure within comics, but also within all forms of media. I really enjoyed this reading, mainly because it made the concept at hand really interesting. I’m also quite a visual learner, so having a lot of the concepts drawn out was super helpful, along with the examples.
The idea of closure was based around the fact that us, as readers and viewers fill in the gaps between frames, shots, and scenes. This was a really interesting idea, and one that was quite obvious and I couldn’t believe I’d never really thought about it or really acknowledged it before. Writers and creators make assumptions about their viewers capability to fill in the gaps that they have left. It essentially allows the viewer/reader to become more closely involved with the media they are consuming.
In one particular section of the reading, McCloud writes about how essentially the same story can be told in more or less frames. Less frames, meaning more gaps in the plot allows for the reader/viewer to put meaning to the story and make assumptions about what has happened between the opening and closing frames. Writers often base their stories off assumptions that audiences will be able to use their own common experiences to fill in these gaps, and create closure for themselves. As the piece is mainly talking about comic books as to film, McCloud states that comic books are one of the only medians that involve the audiences creative participation, as much as the writers themselves. I really liked this idea/concept because it almost allows the reader to create their own story, personal to them.