The
Arrival by Shaun Tan
The
scene with the thorny tendrils covering the town has a sense of threatening
feeling, which is caused by the tendrils.
This is because the tendrils are dark, which is one of Molly Bang’s
theories. Tan, the creator of the also
uses light in a very interesting way.
Towards the edges of this panel, it is primarily dark. This enhances the terrifying aspect because
the darkness does not make the reader feel safe. It its interesting how the two buildings on
the left that the family is in front of and walking towards are lighter than
the other buildings. This technique is
used, I think, to emphasize the tendril that is above the family and to draw
attention to the family.
Another
point of this panel is the use of lines.
Diagonals, according to Bang, can cause tension or motion, which is very
noticeable in this panel. The first
diagonals that are noticed are the houses.
The houses are in diagonal lines and the roofs of these house are
diagonal lines. This helps the reader
move down the page towards some of the tendrils. The tendrils also makes diagonals if you
connect where they come in on the page to the very end of them. This also helps the reader move around the
page, but it also causes some tension.
Tan also uses vertical lines which makes it more exciting. All of the chimneys in this panel are
vertical, which helps the tension grow because of the excitement that they
create.
This
scene is also multimodal, or it appeals to many of the reader’s senses. To me, this scene is very quiet because there
is only one family on the street. There
are many tendrils, but these are also quiet and almost have a stealthy feel to
them. Due to the tendrils being quiet
and only one family on the street, you can hear the footsteps of the family
traveling through the town. Another
aspect of this panel that is multimodal is the size of the tendrils compared to
the rest of the panel. Each tendril is a
different size. For example, there is a
quite large tendril in the top left corner, which adds to the unease of this
panel. There are also some relatively
small tendrils that are in darker areas, which helps to balance the panel. Combine the spatial and visual aspects of the
tendrils and add it to the auditory aspect and it makes this panel
multimodal.
The next panel(s) is where the main character is having a dinner party with the family who has helped him. These panels are full of light, laughter, and joy. This is because of the lighting and facial expressions. Within the main panel, the whole scene is centered, which is the most effective spot and it gets the greatest amount of attention. This gives emphasis to the party that is going on and provides the set up for the following the panels. Within this scene, the lighting is extremely useful. The main source of lighting is on the upper half of the panel. According to Bang, this causes the reader to feel freedom and happiness, which is the effect in this particular panel.
Another
technique used in this panel and the following panels, it the use of
auditory. In these pages, you can hear
people laughing and having a good time.
This is because the way facial expressions are used. The people in these panels are smiling and
look like they are laughing, this produces the sound in the reader’s mind. Another thing you can hear in this panel,
which makes it a happy joyful panel, is music.
You can see the people playing instruments. Even though you do not know
what kind of music is being played, it can be assumed the song in your head is
something with possibly a flute, banjo, and an accordion of some sorts. This is because the instruments in the panel
are similar enough to the iconic instruments that society has in the current
day. Each one of these aspects project
the feeling of happiness and joy.
The
last panel is the scene with the sun and the main character with the older
gentle man walking across the plains.
This panel uses a few different techniques to portray calmness. The sun, or what is portrayed as a sun, is
the biggest and most dominating thing on both pages. In addition to this, it is
also the lightest and within the upper two thirds of the page. Each one of these aspects draw the reader’s
attention to it first thing. The reader
ends up feeling calmness from this sun because light makes us feel safe and the
upper half of the page is also associated with spirituality, which also makes
many readers feel safe.
Another
aspect that makes us feel safe is the use of lines in this scene. For the most part, the lines in this scene
are stable. What makes them feel stable
and calm is because, for the most part, they are horizontal. Some of these lines are at a very slight
diagonal, but they are only being used to move the reader back to the massive
sun on the right side. Another point
with the lines is that some of them do make points, the ones in the bottom of
the page that look like leaves. This
should cause some tension, but it does not cause that much tension because the
lines leading up to the point are curved, which is also supposed to make the
reader feel safe. Each different
technique makes the reader have a sense of calmness and feel safe.
Journey
The last part of Journey is one of the most exciting and
hopeful moments of the whole game and this is because of how the built this
section of the game. The first reason is
because of the music. Throughout the
game the music is very impactful on the player’s emotion. During the last section, the music feels like
it is slowly building as the character goes up the mountain to reach the end of
the journey. The fact that it slowly
builds helps the player build up anticipation and excitement for what is coming
next, the end of the game.
Another aspect of this section is the surrounding
area. The direction the character
travels is almost always in a diagonal because the platforms are in a diagonal
line. Diagonals are to make the visual
more dynamic and moving. One example of
this constant diagonal direction is when the character is climbing these
jellyfish like platforms. This helps the
player build excitement for the ending.
Another use of the environment is the way that some of it is also in
vertical lines, which is also to help the player build excitement for what is
going on in the piece. One example of
the use of vertical platforms is when the character is climbing up these carpet
pillars, which are also in a diagonal direction. The last major technique that helps the player build anticipation and excitement is the coloration of this section. Colors can mean a variety of different things to different people, but the use of colors in this section really helps promote excitement and anticipation. Throughout the majority of the game, it is primarily tans and red (first section) or whites and blacks (middle section). In this last section, there is a variety of colors with blues, yellows, whites, blacks, grays, and red. Many of these colors are bright and could be associated with excitement, anticipation, and happiness. All of these techniques are used to create a very emotional ending to the game Journey.
Really nice job of carefully analyzing each image and applying the tools we've learned to your interpretations. Good work! Nice connections between each of the texts as well.
ReplyDelete