On Wednesday student's gathered at Columbia College to listen to author and cartoonist Scott McCloud. The auditorium at Film Row Center was packed. Students even began to fill the aisles as McCloud did what he does best, which is making others' laugh through visual art.
His entire speech was done using a well-detailed power-point presentation. All the points he wanted to convey he did through pictures and animations. Through his works he demonstrated how to put together a story using creative thinking. The five bullet points discussed were: choice of moment, choice of frame, choice of image, choice of words, and choice of flow.
"Comics are more than just pretty picture. It's about telling stories," he said.
Stories are about getting from point A to point B not necessarily from life to death, he explained.
The crowd hung onto his every word. McCloud took the audience on a venture through his life. Making reference to his father's disability- McCloud stated it was "blind faith" that he became a cartoonist and his other siblings all had professions that followed in the footsteps of their father.
McCloud gives encouragement to students. He says it's really easy to break off into comics. When he was little he really didn't care for them, but his neighbor was obsessed. One day he dropped off a stack and before you knew it he and the neighborhood children had their own comic-book press. One person wrote the titles and they would past them around and draw stories that corresponded with the title.
"There were no rules as long as they made us laugh," McCloud said displaying a comic with three people sitting in chairs looking puzzled, with the words "who farted" above their heads.
Then McCloud began to talk about a subject that journalism began to question him about- what is the future for comics?
As technology progresses each industry is trying to find a way to advance too. Most people read the comics in the newspaper, but today newspapers have even ventured to the Internet. McCloud calls it a "durable mutation," which is taking comics from one platform and putting it on another like CD-ROM and the Internet.
"It is certainly inspiring how he was talking about the future of comics and just technology was uplifting and just makes you think," fan Alberto Nolazco said.
Digital comics have opened new passageways for the world of comics. Instead of following traditional paths, reading from right to left, it gives you the option to go wherever on the x and y axis, right to left or vice versa. Some digital comics even offer the option to choose your own ending.
Student Amy Behrendt appreciated all of the advice. She says his books are like a bible to her. "Being in a big artist slump and hearing this really gets my motor running," Behrendt said.
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