The Persistence of Animation

Splash Pages and Freeze Rays:Stasis and Speed in Superhero Media

Abstract: All sequential art creates the impression of animated spaces using only still images, but superhero comics have further developed their own hyperbolic mechanisms to show motion. I will explore what formal effects superhero narratives have on sequential art, and how the peculiar spatial and temporal aspects of the medium best represent the impossible abilities. I will explore the conceptual cues designed to illustrate super-speed on the comic book page, as well as how recent animated and live-action superhero narratives must replace motion created in the non-space of the “gutter” with new narrative conventions and special effects.

Biographical Statement: Martyn Pedler is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Melbourne, currently completing his interdisciplinary thesis on superhero narratives. Since receiving his Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne in 2003, his work on the transmedia incarnations of superheroes has been published in The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero (2008), Overland journal (2008), and the forthcoming Visual Crossover: Reading Graphic Narrative and Sequential Art. He has published widely as an arts critic, providing material for Senses of Cinema, The Australian Ballet, Madman DVD’s “Directors Suite” releases, and Lounge Critic: The Couch Theorist’s Companion (2004).

Balancing user driven pacing and narrative control in Animated Graphic Novels

Abstract: How can the auteur evaluate the importance of narrative purity versus the experiential benefits of interactive viewer experiences?

Utilizing a case study of Maintenance (currently in production), this paper investigates methods for evaluating and balancing the issues of narrative pacing and audience empowerment in the medium of interactive graphic novella animation. The project documentation explains the author’s method for gathering user pace-preference indicators, used to adapt the animated experience for customized delivery, while maintaining narrative direction and plot. The method addresses and attempts to negotiate the imperfect balance of narrative pacing preference between creator and viewer.

Biographical Statement: Andrew Buchanan is an award-winning animator, digital artist and educator. His previous productions include explorations into the space between 2D and 3D animation, and his research areas include facial animation and user response. He is fascinated by the idea of paper-craft in animation, and is the creator of Looking for Joe, a pop-up-book style animation. Andrew is currently teaching in the UAE, and working on independent productions, with on-going digital art exhibitions in his native Australia.

Note:Andrew will not be coming to the conference because of problems with funding.