comics, cartoons and animation

lesson objectives

one Identify the codes and

conventions of comics,

cartoons and animations.

two Understand how comics, cartoons and animations

attract target audiences.

three Identify types of animation and their effects on

audiences.

character types

vladimir propp (1928) Suggested that in any story

there are only a limited

number of character types.

hero The central protagonist of

the narrative who drives it

forward and has some kind of

quest or mission.

heroine or princess Acts as a reward for the

hero for succeeding the quest.

villain Seeks to stop the hero from

succeeding in the quest, while

presenting a genuine threat.

donor or mentor Gives the hero important

information or equipment to

help him or her in the quest.

helper Accompanies the hero on the

quest, and can even help the

hero to succeed, but cannot

themselves complete the quest.

Some characters can fulfil

two or more functions. For

example, the heroine can also

be the helper.

comics techniques

text boxes Small boxes of text which give

details that would be hard to show in pictures alone.

frame links Text placed between the frames

to help reader understand

events which may have

happened after the last frame

and before the next.

speech bubbles Words of speech placed in a

bubble pointing towards the

mouth of the character.

thought bubbles Like speech bubbles, but

words are placed in cloud-shaped bubbles to show what

character is thinking.

sound words comics give the impression of

sounds by using inventive

onomapthopeic words like

‘pow’ and ‘zapp!!’.

emotion words Like sound words, comics

also use words to show

exactly how a character is

feeling.

facial expressions Simple alterations to a

character’s face to show

emotion.

movement lines Comic frames give the

impression of movement by

adding small lines around

edges of characters.

animation techniques

line drawing This technique was used by

the first animators.

They drew a figure, framed

in a background, many

times, each time making

tiny adjustments.

They filmed each picture for

just a frame or two. When

the film was shown at

normal speed the figure

appeared to move.

model animation A scale model of a character

is moved and filmed in very

small stages.

This technique uses

software that allows the

camera to film single frames to crate the effect of

start-stop motion.

computer-generated imagery (CGI) Uses computer graphics to

generate special effects.