Hyper-Visual

Reading visually.  These two words seem at odds with one another, however, it is quite apparent that of course we "read" images, pictures, motion, etc.  McCloud's chapters were sort of an eye opener for me.  I actually really don't care for comics.  I have never seen the point and I really don't like the little boxes - they always seem so confining.  But McCloud made me think "outside the box" in a way that I had never considered.  I don't think I am going to go pick up a comic book anytime soon, but I can definitely say I will give the boxes more thought the next time I have a chance encounter.  I was particularly drawn to his discussion about the accessibility of the cartoon image.  As an image becomes more cartoonish, we are more likely to assign our own meaning and identify with the character - there is a certain "universality of cartoon imagery" (p. 31).   He made a really profound point about our self-centeredness when he states, "We see ourselves in everything.  We assign identities and emotions where none exist.  And we make the world over in our image" (p. 33).  Even as I quote these sentences - these words that he has strung together to convey a message - part of the message and profundity is lost without the imagery. 

 This idea was brought home after viewing the class A/V projects.  If part of the structure is missing, say no music or blurry text, the message is altered to either mean something else or have no meaning at all.  If I can't see "myself" in something, I am unlikely to identify or become emotionally involved with that something.  In particular, Matt's piece A Video About Sidewalks, is a terrific example of bringing alphabet, image, video and sound to convey a simple, yet seemingly complicated subject.  Why is a sidewalk something I should care about?  Matt provides a soundtrack and images that make me want to care.  His use of carefully chosen alphabetic text further provide his audience with the facts that he wants us to understand and use to come to a conclusion.  As he states in his post, "sidewalks aren't very sexy" but they are integral to a healthy community in the form of increased health, lower crime rates, and maybe a few less abandoned couches on the curb.  All of these observations and information were contained in a 2.5 minute short that makes me want to care that his neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks.  His rhetoric indeed has persuaded me to consider an issue that I had no idea I cared about.  If he had left out the alphabetic text and maybe just provided his audience with video of missing sidewalk, I don't think his message would have been as convincing. 

Which brings me to Sosnoski's piece Hyper-readers & Their Reading Engines.  Sosnoski says, "...reading is a highly selective process, one in which the majority of details are forgotten..." (p 165).  He also states that "graphics often play a more meaningful role than words" (p. 169).  Matt's graphic presentation summarizes a complex issue that in my mind is more meaningful than a carefully prepared oped in the Comicle.  He obviously had much more information that could have been included, yet the simplicity and directness of the video conveys the message in a way that will not be forgotten.  Matt has created a conceptual framework with his choice of music, video and alphabetic text in which I can understand his message and come to a conclusion about the importance of something as ubiquitous as a sidewalk. 

McCloud provides us with a very helpful triangular analytical tool for dissecting the "pictorial vocabulary."  The vertices are reality, language and the picture plane.  He points out that in comics, there seems to be a divide between received information (pictorial content) and perceived information writing/language content) and asks if the two sides can be reconciled.  I think Sosnoski believes that these two sides inevitably will be reconciled.  As many of us have blogged about throughout the course, today's techie generation demands digital communication and the ability to "filter, skim and peck."  He says, "...hyper-readers feel liberated from the constraints of such textual guidelines and feel that they are now free to organize textual features in patterns relevant to their own concerns..." (p. 172).  To me, Matt's video emphasizes Sosnoski's point.  Through multimedia, Matt is able to convey a message in a pictorial vocabulary in which I, the hyper-reader, am able to organize the information in a pattern that is relevant to my concerns.  I am able to empathize and respond more deeply because his message is acceptable on my terms.