Literature Review

Literature Review

Three separate texts have been reviewed for the final essay revolving around a single artist’s journey, Jamie Hewlett, from comics to animation. The research was intended to go beneath the surface of comics and animation, therefore script writing for both comics and animation (and games) , storyboarding and one of Hewlett’s personal experiences were reviewed.

The book reviewed was ‘Writing for Animation, Comics and Games’ by Chirsty Marx. It is important to note that Marx has played an important part in all three fields of writing for the past 25years. Her award winning knowledge is portrayed clearly in this detailed book. Each section starts off with a quick informative history about the topic at hand, she then moves on to the terminology, writing methods and always concludes with tips and ways to break into the writing industry.

When one looks at the overview of all three crafts (animation, comics and games), one will notice some distinct similarities due to the fact that they are all visual media, such as less written descriptions and a good plot. In the modern corporate world there is such a thing as convergence of media within these fields. Comics inspiring movies, games inspiring comics and vice-versa. This may be seen as a good thing, but since all the successful and big names are owned by corporate giants, smaller names have more trouble breaking into the field causing a lack of creativity.

After a detailed description of animation through the years we not only get to view the evolution animation but we also see how the roles of the different individuals within the filed started to vary, most prominent of which is the role of the storyboard artist. This then links to the second book which was reviewed, ‘The Art of the Storyboard – A filmmakers introduction second edition’ (3 chapters). This is where the insight that storyboards are and have always been a key role in postproduction is revealed. It is then stated that Disney was one of the first companies to refine the storyboarding process. After an overview of the history of storyboarding we see some of the key factors needed to create a storyboard such as the rule of thirds which appears through the history of art.

Storyboards are then explained in more detail with a lot of reference to important factors such as foreground, background and middleground. Tips are also given throughout when it comes to communication and developing drawing skills. And apart from a series of frequently asked questions and the artists role within the art, camera angles and terminology used within filming are explained with extreme detail with regards to storyboards. These include camera angles, movement and lighting.

Going back to Marx’s book, so called pre-animation defragmentation is explained. This ranged form the pitching of an idea to the animatic, finishing off with selling the product. She not only explains the tools needed for animation shorts but also goes into detail for feature length animation films. Target audiences are another main topic covered, in which tricks and loopholes are revealed. As mentioned earlier she always ends with ‘breaking and entering’. This covers virtually everything from how to pitch your idea to various types of companies to getting paid and how to go about that delicate process.

Comics are the next focus in her book where she goes back to Egyptian times and explains humans needs to combine text and images thought history. Though it is important to note that comics truly began with the newspaper funnies (the comic strips still found today in newspapers). The newspaper funnies were also of heavy influence on storyboards. One cannot mention comics without mentioning the juggernauts within the field, DC comics and Marvel comics. Not only did these comics bring new characters to the field but they also created their own personal styles when it came to the creation of comics. This is where the true intricate detail is revealed for script writing with the DC style (determined by an extremely detailed script favoring the writer) and the Marvel style (determined by an outline of the details giving the artists more freedom). And once again terminology, panel transmission and breaking and entering are explained with heavy detail.

Although the last section of the book was irrelevant to my current research it was none the less and interesting read. Written in the same format as for both comics and animation, Marx journeys through the history of modern gaming and outlines the evolution from 2D graphics to 3D graphics. Terminology is once more explained and the important differentiation between a game designer and game script writer is revealed.

Last but not least is the article review dedicated to Jamie Hewlett called ‘Example of Music Industry Commission’. This article was the cherry on the cake when it came to conveying the most important

factor in both comics and animation according to both books, good communication. The entire article revolved around Hewlett’s relationship with his co-creator of the Gorillaz, Damon Albarn. But most importantly how Hewlett draws artistic inspiration from his newly formed friendships with the crew on projects he is perusing, case in point ‘Monkey - Journey to the west’.

Bibliography

Marx C., 2007, ‘Writing in Animation, Comics, and Games’ Second Edition. UK: Focal Press

Hall A.,2011 , ‘Illustration’. UK: Laurence King

Hart J., 2008, ‘The Art of the Storyboard: A Filmmaker’s Introduction’ Second Edition. USA: Focal Press