Assignment+2

Fatima Ali 996098235

It took me some time to come up with a theme for my comic. After days of thinking, I decided to make a comic about social networking, specifically Facebook. I chose Facebook because I believe it is the most popular on a global level, and unfortunately, not many people read the terms and conditions before signing up, including myself. However, over the years, as a Facebook user, I began to hear from different people about certain conditions that we have agreed to and have never actually been aware of. Most social networking agreements tend to be very long, and repetitive, therefore discouraging the reader from actually reading them. I’m also realizing now, that even though many people are starting to understand the conditions of Facebook and its theme of “ending privacy” they are still very active. One could say it is the influence from their peers. People using Facebook have a connection. We have started to use terms like “Facebook me” and Like my page, or accept my invitation on Facebook. It’s become a crucial part of our lives, regardless of their terms and conditions. I went through some difficulties while creating this comic. My first concern was coming up with a general theme and an interesting topic to base my comic on. My second obstacle was the actual artistic part. Trying to create emotions in my characters that described what I was trying to portray, as well as being able to draw the same characters more the once. Mccloud explains that emotions are actually quite important in sending the message across. Without emotions, it might be difficult to explain sarcasm, anger, confusion, or whatever emotion is being used in the comic. I tried to use Mccloud's advice in several panels actually. However, when I found it difficult to try to explain what was going on through the cartoon, I had to use text to describe what was going on. You can see this in my second panel when I was trying to show that my character had been waiting in line for quite some time to sign up for Facebook. However, Mccloud did say that the perfect way to show that time was passing is by creating longer panels. I did this in the fourth and sixth panel when the receptionist was giving my character information on Facebook and how to register. I emphasized the timing characteristic mostly on the 6th panel because I was trying to give the reader an idea of how long the Facebook’s “terms and conditions” is. Finally, I also tried to use Mccloud’s closure in my panels, to give the reader a better understanding of what is happening in my comic. . Closure is defined by Mccloud as several panels which portray certain images that we then have to connect in our minds. The best example of this in my comic would be in the first and second panel. In the first panel, I have drawn my character walking into the social networking registration. On the second panel we see that he has been waiting in line for quite some time. I tried to show this affect but showing the line of people standing behind him. This was my attempt to give the reader a feel that between the first and second panel, a long time has passed, and my character was now excited about being closer to the registration desk. I enjoyed making this comment. I never thought I would be interested or successful in making a comic but with help from Mccloud, I would consider my comic creation a beginner’s success.