McLoud

Marc Nie 9/10/12

Eng 1510

Before you read:

 My favorite character has always been Spider-Man. Maybe it’s the mask, maybe it’s the abstract powers, or maybe it’s just the idea that some kid with no extraordinary abilities prior can do something great with just a little boost that draws me towards him. The simple fact that he struggles daily with deciding who he actually wants to be is also another aspect about him that I really enjoy.

A scene of Spider-Man that I decided to animate myself

Question 2:

            I think McCloud chose very wisely when choosing the format. Not only was it more interesting to read, but since he was talking about imagery and how we see some more abstract images, it helps that he actually used images to describe the subject matter. Had he just used text, I would probably still be reading, or giving up on that, trying to find the answer in the reading without actually having done the reading.

Question 3:

            What McCloud was getting at was that if the narrator had more detail, we would be more interested in the design and details of his character rather than what the character was saying. I agree that characters are supposed to be filled in with you. You are supposed to see yourself as a character. I leave out the word cartoon because it also applies to live action. The reason I say this is because my friends and I always have the tendency to recast almost every show/movie we see with our group of friends based on personalities. After the casting is complete, we generally see ourselves as the characters we were assigned in the show/movie.

AEI 4:

            The concept of the mask is interesting. What he is implying is that we use our faces to show what we are feeling, which we do. Being able to show how you feel with just a quick glance is an amazing ability, but in some instances can be quite unwanted.  With this it can be hard to hide who you really are from others, or it can be quite easy depending on the circumstance. Without my mask, I would still be able to perceive others, but I don’t think they would be able to perceive me because I don’t have a face in this situation. It’s kind of hard to get over that little detail, I feel.

Summary:

            I really liked this “article”. I thought it was unique and interesting the way it was put together. McCloud used the comic book style to his advantage since he was writing on imagery and perception. He wrote about how humans see themselves in almost everything we create, and how we put ourselves into the shoes of some created characters base on how simple they may look. He proved his points by using pictures of objects that ended up looking like they had a face. He states that no matter how hard we try, we will always see two dots and a line as a standard face. I find this amazing.