The graphic novel Persepolis is a graphic representation about the Iranian Revolution through the eyes of a little girl names Marjane Satrapi. This story was developed into a movie that closely resembled that of the graphic novel. Many of the movie characteristics are directly from the graphic novel.
The graphic novel used simple images with great dialogue to tell the story. The novel is in black and white, as is the majority of the movie, leaving much of the detail to the imagination of the viewer. Leaving room for the viewer’s imagination to go to work allows the viewer to feel a part of the story. Famous movie critic Robert Ebert agrees when he states, “The style is deliberately two-dimensional, avoiding the illusion of depth in current animation. This approach may sound spartan, but it is surprisingly involving, wrapping us in this autobiography that distills an epoch into a young women's life”. Satrapi forces the reader to focus on the ideas of the comics rather than the elaborate illustrations as does the movie. McCloud agrees when he states, “The ability of cartoons to focus our attention on an idea is, I think, an important part of their special power”. The movie seemed to be fast paced and moved quickly through the frames found in the comic book. Though it takes getting used to, it moves at the same pace as the comic book does as you read it. The movie is shown like a comic book should be shown. The comic book feel makes the movie much more “cartoony” and the author can do much more with the cinematography. The movie used no flashy special effects and really made me feel like I was back in time in the Iranian Revolution.
Overall, the movie is a good representation of the graphic novel. The movie’s beginning differs from the novel in that it begins in present day represented in color. The novel jumps right into the young girl’s life in a less dramatic fashion. The movie adds more scenes and makes other scenes from the novel shorter. This makes it easier for the reader to imagine what Marjane was going through using easier images. The grandma plays a key role in both works because she is the anchor for Marjane. She is always the person that Marjane goes to for advice and is always on Marjane’s conscience. The movie and the novel greatly represented the moments when the feeling was somber or happy through sound or the lack of sound. By the overall demeanor of the dialogue the reader knows what the tone is supposed to be. Marjane is known to not hold back her feelings.
Both the graphic novel and the film inform the reader about the Iranian Revolution in a different perspective from that of the history books. Marjane achieved her purpose to show people that all Iranian people aren’t crazy radicals. She showed a different side of a Revolution that had many world-wide influences. The film accurately portrays what the novel was trying to do. Even thought the film left a few elements out, it still accomplished the overall purpose.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Persepolis -- Draft 1
The graphic novel Persepolis is a graphic representation about the Iranian Revolution through the eyes of a little girl names Marjane Satrapi. This story was developed into a movie that closely resembled that of the graphic novel. There are many characteristics of the graphic novel and how it compares to the movie.
The graphic novel used simple images with great dialogue to tell the story. The novel was in black and white leaving much of the detail to the imagination of the reader. Leaving room for the reader’s imagination to go to work allows the reader to feel a part of the story. Like all comic books, Satrapi used the framing to her advantage. She used larger frames to emphasize importance and grab the reader’s attention. A lot of the frames that took up an entire page were dedicated to show imaginary images that were usually in Marjane’s head. The novel is split up into chapters to inform the reader what he/she should be looking for in that section. For example, the chapter F-14’s title was used to let the reader know that the importance is placed on the F-14’s that bombed Iraq.
The movie is a good representation of the graphic novel. The movie starts out in color and moves into black and white when talking about the past. This allows the reader to easily differentiate between the two time periods. The movie adds more scenes and makes other scenes from the novel shorter. This makes it easier for the reader to imagine what Marjane was going through. The movie is also portrayed in simple images in order to leave a lot of the imaging up to the reader. The grandma plays a key role in both works because she is the anchor for Marjane. She is always the person that Marjane goes to for advice and is always on Marjane’s conscience. The movie and the novel greatly represented the moments when the feeling was somber or happy. By the overall demeanor of the dialogue the reader knows what the tone is supposed to be.
Both the graphic novel and the film inform the reader about the Iranian Revolution in a different perspective from that of the history books. Marjane achieved her purpose to show people that all Iranian people aren’t crazy radicals. She showed a different side of a Revolution that had many world-wide influences. The film accurately portrays what the novel was trying to do. Even thought the film left a few elements out, it still accomplished the overall purpose.
The graphic novel used simple images with great dialogue to tell the story. The novel was in black and white leaving much of the detail to the imagination of the reader. Leaving room for the reader’s imagination to go to work allows the reader to feel a part of the story. Like all comic books, Satrapi used the framing to her advantage. She used larger frames to emphasize importance and grab the reader’s attention. A lot of the frames that took up an entire page were dedicated to show imaginary images that were usually in Marjane’s head. The novel is split up into chapters to inform the reader what he/she should be looking for in that section. For example, the chapter F-14’s title was used to let the reader know that the importance is placed on the F-14’s that bombed Iraq.
The movie is a good representation of the graphic novel. The movie starts out in color and moves into black and white when talking about the past. This allows the reader to easily differentiate between the two time periods. The movie adds more scenes and makes other scenes from the novel shorter. This makes it easier for the reader to imagine what Marjane was going through. The movie is also portrayed in simple images in order to leave a lot of the imaging up to the reader. The grandma plays a key role in both works because she is the anchor for Marjane. She is always the person that Marjane goes to for advice and is always on Marjane’s conscience. The movie and the novel greatly represented the moments when the feeling was somber or happy. By the overall demeanor of the dialogue the reader knows what the tone is supposed to be.
Both the graphic novel and the film inform the reader about the Iranian Revolution in a different perspective from that of the history books. Marjane achieved her purpose to show people that all Iranian people aren’t crazy radicals. She showed a different side of a Revolution that had many world-wide influences. The film accurately portrays what the novel was trying to do. Even thought the film left a few elements out, it still accomplished the overall purpose.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Persepolis
I really enjoyed getting the chance to be introduced to graphic novels. This graphic novel was great because it gave a first hand account to the Iranian revolution. I really felt connected to Marjane and the movement itself after reading and watching it. My roommate is actually Iranian so it was good to have him as a reference while reading it. For people to band to together and at least attempt to overcome evil is always good to hear about. Makes me feel like no matter what people can always rely on each other. Since the movie was basically the comic book I felt it did a good job leaving a lot of the story to the readers imagination. The plain pictures made the reader/viewer really dive into the story and make it their own. They did leave out certain parts and cut some corners, but nothing that made me feel like it should be in there. Overall, I really enjoyed the "Persepolis experience".
Spiderman 2 critics
After reading both critics I think it's amazing that people can watch the same movie as me and come out with a completely different view. I have seen Spiderman 2 and agree with each person. I guess it's true that every person has a mind of their own.
I felt that Gilchrist focused a lot on the physical aspects of the movie. For most of his article he talked about how many of the scenes were too drawn out. He thought that a lot of the plot was beat into the audience while leaving out more important moments in the movie. He said that the first movie was a much better adaptation of the comic, in contrast to Ebert who thought the opposite. Gilchrist did say he liked the movie but couldn't help but be critical of it.
Ebert thought the movie was a masterpiece. He said that after he saw the first movie he was disappointed but after seeing this movie he thought that Raimi, movies director, did a marvelous job. He said that he thought the action and adventure depicted the characters dreams and wishes as does the comic. He was estastic about the fact that the movie concentrated more on the superheroes personal feelings rather than the superpowers. For example, he says the movie does a great job showing that the superpowers are actually a burden on Peter Parker. One of his last points was that the special effects were great. They made him feel apart of the movie and the action.
I felt that Gilchrist focused a lot on the physical aspects of the movie. For most of his article he talked about how many of the scenes were too drawn out. He thought that a lot of the plot was beat into the audience while leaving out more important moments in the movie. He said that the first movie was a much better adaptation of the comic, in contrast to Ebert who thought the opposite. Gilchrist did say he liked the movie but couldn't help but be critical of it.
Ebert thought the movie was a masterpiece. He said that after he saw the first movie he was disappointed but after seeing this movie he thought that Raimi, movies director, did a marvelous job. He said that he thought the action and adventure depicted the characters dreams and wishes as does the comic. He was estastic about the fact that the movie concentrated more on the superheroes personal feelings rather than the superpowers. For example, he says the movie does a great job showing that the superpowers are actually a burden on Peter Parker. One of his last points was that the special effects were great. They made him feel apart of the movie and the action.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Weathermen
For my "off topic" blog this week I can't help but discuss the inadequacy of the weathermen of late. If I am not mistaken for the entire day Monday, the weathermen were predicting "2-6 inches of snow by Wednesday evening". Over the course of three days we got no more than a little bit over an inch. I'm not saying I want the weatherman to be perfect because let's face it, it's hard to predict the future. I am though, asking them to be less optimistic and raising the hopes of students nation wide that maybe, just maybe, they might get a day off from school.
Graff - Exercise 1
a. Various scientist's experiments suggest that there are dangerous levels of Chemical X in the Ohio groundwater.
b. It has become common today to state that this novel has certain flaw.
c. Few people think that football is boring.
d. Many sociologists claim that male students often dominate class discussions.
e. The majority of critics believe the film is really about the problems of romantic relationships.
f. Skeptical students are afraid that tempolates like the ones in theis book will stifle their creativity.
b. It has become common today to state that this novel has certain flaw.
c. Few people think that football is boring.
d. Many sociologists claim that male students often dominate class discussions.
e. The majority of critics believe the film is really about the problems of romantic relationships.
f. Skeptical students are afraid that tempolates like the ones in theis book will stifle their creativity.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Eisner and McCloud
Even when I was a kid I never really read comics. I guess I read the occasional comic in the Sunday paper, but never consistently. So, when I read all of this analysis on the comics I was kind of blown away at the thought put into it.
Eisner had more a formal way to explain the art of comics. He talked a lot on how reading is now thought of as seeing letters on a page and what hey symbolically represent. He said that comics are when art and literature become one in our mind. Our mind comprehends both of these simultaneously. Comics are also repetitive images in order to drill certain ideas into the readers head. He said that comics interlock timing and rhythm through the action and framing throughout.
McCloud had a more enjoyable way to explore comics. I liked how he used comics to explain comics. He pointed out some very interesting things like how comics have the same idea as movies except comics don't always have the same frame space. He concentrated a lot on how words are just symbols and in our minds we put ideas to pictures. He also said our minds take simple cartoons and make them into reality when in reality, they are far from the an actual image.
Eisner had more a formal way to explain the art of comics. He talked a lot on how reading is now thought of as seeing letters on a page and what hey symbolically represent. He said that comics are when art and literature become one in our mind. Our mind comprehends both of these simultaneously. Comics are also repetitive images in order to drill certain ideas into the readers head. He said that comics interlock timing and rhythm through the action and framing throughout.
McCloud had a more enjoyable way to explore comics. I liked how he used comics to explain comics. He pointed out some very interesting things like how comics have the same idea as movies except comics don't always have the same frame space. He concentrated a lot on how words are just symbols and in our minds we put ideas to pictures. He also said our minds take simple cartoons and make them into reality when in reality, they are far from the an actual image.
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