Mccloud & Sousanis on the Animated Clips of Hiroshima

After reading both works from Mccloud and Sousanis, i have come to the conclusion that both have one similar understanding. Both of the authors believe in the importance of signification within the objects depicted in comics and how the audience reacts and interacts with them. Now, the interaction and reaction of the audience towards a specific face or object in a comic is dependent on how the comic depicts such object.  The depiction of an object can be presented by picture plane, language and reality, these three components represent the total pictorial vocabulary of comics (Mccloud 51).

                                           

                                       

Mccloud talks about non-visual awareness when people come in contact with inanimate objects (Mccloud 38). A very common and simple theory to think about that seems to resonate with each and every one of us. Mentioning perfect examples, like how when we drive a car we perceive the whole car as an extension of our body, if someone where to rear end your car one would say, "damn someone just rare ended me", we refer to someone hitting our car as if someone had hit our actual body.  Thus expanding on how greatly an object like a car or any other object that has been drawn and designed carries so much meaning. These drawn objects carry so much meaning that we tie them into our personal lives and relate to them as of they were part of our bodies.

Sousanis is more about the conceptual world rather than the sensual world. He knows that the way we perceive things is through our vision but he believes that what fills in the gaps is our imagination (Sousanis 90).  How what we see and what we derive from it is based on the common place or what we have already seen or experienced, back to taking ideas and connecting them to a grounded things in order to understand a complex idea more thoroughly. By connecting what we see with our imagination we create a "third space" in which new episteme is reached. This episteme is reached through the help of thousands of people which we do not know but that have walked our "path" many times before and have contributed to every piece of information that has helped us reach that new episteme. The act of pre inscribed knowledge that has been passed down and constant repetition is what ensures that behaviors in humans are second nature and dont have to be re learned every single time (like tying your shoe laces).

Clip 1: Animation Depicting the Hiroshima Bombing
This animation clip uses a variety of hybrid techniques in order to exemplify the horrific events that happened during the Hiroshima bombing. The contrast between the detail from the highly cartoon looking characters, like the children, in comparison to the arial view of the city works hand in hand. Just like the distinction between american plane bombers and the Japanese children. The american bombers had very detailed jaw lines and looked very masculine and dominant meanwhile the Japanese children looked nice and powerless, thus giving the audience more compassion for the "nicer" looking characters that where affected by the bombs. Then the highly cartoon like death that each and every character experienced helps us use our imagination in order to feel the excruciating pain that the people actually felt during the time of the bombing. Yet, the still shot of the explosion toward the end of the clip resembles that of an actual real life picture of the mushroom cloud made by explosions. The use of a real looking explosion picture at the end of the clip makes the whole cartoon clip tie into real life. The use of non Japanese faces in the characters affected by the bomb make anyone and everyone feel compelled toward the characters. Without the clear distinction of a specific race on the characters faces the audience can more easily assimilate with the characters and feel compassion for them.

Clip 2: Hiroshima a Bomb Attack Animated
This clip is more of a traditional cartoon style clip, mostly constructed of all cartoon characters and places. This clip does a great job in showing us what life was like for the traditional Japanese families . This clip does not leave too much room for the use of the audiences imagination as all characters depicted highly resemble Japanese people and their customs, thus leaving less room for compassion and relation with the characters from a standpoint of all westerners. But the use of music instead of words leaves room for single interpretation and adds the feel of a thrill to the whole clip.  The way the clip is shot is almost as in putting us in the feet and eyes of the Japanese before and after the attack. We can see what it felt like and what it was like to undergo such a tragic event, it is this quality in cartoons that is so valuable. It allows for one to step into another persons life and experience what was experienced by those affected.