English 190G the Graphic Novel
English 190G—The Graphic Novel
Fall/Winter 2013-2014
Instructors: Scott Hutchins and Shimon Tanaka
TTh Class 3:15-5:05; in Meyer 220Office 460-221
T Lab 6:15-9:05 in Meyer 220Phone 725-5242
Hutchins Office Hours: TTh, 2-3 and by appt in 460-221,
Tanaka Office Hours: TBD in 460-212,
Course website: graphicnovel.stanford.edu
Texts:
Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
The Arrival, Shaun Tan
Safe Area Gorazde, Joe Sacco
After the Deluge, AD: New Orleans After the Deluge, Josh Neufeld
American Born Chinese, Gene Yang
Zahra’s Paradise, Khalil Amir
Books available at the Stanford University bookstore.
Course Objectives: This interdisciplinary course is designed to examine the evolution, subject matter, form and future of the graphic novel genre. The focus will be on how artists create stories and characters that matter in this genre, rather than how to interpret and contextualize such works. Students will study the conventions and possibilities of the graphic novel through reading, discussion and guest lectures by graphic novelists. The central project of the course will be the collaborative creation of a graphic novel via a team of writers, illustrators and designers.
Course Backstory: After a century of development, the graphic novel is finding its potency and maturity as a serious art form. The contemporary graphic novel is a collaboration between text and image, which blends the shape and arc of the novel with the conventions of visual storytelling. Unlike the novel, which is often created through drafts and revisions, the graphic novel, because of its labor-intensive nature, is edited beforehand through storyboarding, structural visualizations and response that is often collaborative. For this reason, the graphic novel can teach writers skills that include adapting, editing, structural design, scene sequencing, and moment-to-moment evocation. Conversely, the novel genre can impart upon visual artists narrative storytelling, temporal landscapes, character arcs, psychological subtext, voice, and dialog.
Course Considerations:
We Seek to Make a Creative Zone, so feel free to bring your art supplies, laptops, music, snacks, fuzzy slippers—anything that will inspire your best work.
Collaboration Will Be the Norm, and your comfort level will depend on previous experience with groups, your ability to be inspired by others, and the degree to which you can share creative control. Collaboration challenges your instincts, makes you question your artistic decisions, asks you to articulate your aesthetic, opens the door for innovation and synergy and allows you to contribute to something much larger than you’re individually capable of. We’re also collaborating in the teaching of this course, so we’ll share in the risks and rewards, too.
The Public Display of Your Work will be an integral part of the course, and we’re creating with the aims that at minimum our projects will be web-based; and if the stars align, we’ll publish a book with all your names on it. So, from blogs to projects, assume an audience. To this end, students who contribute to the final project will need to sign a release of rights so that our project can be displayed online and in print form. You cannot contribute to the graphic novel unless you agree to release your rights to the instructors as editors and copyright holders. Signing a release, however, is not a requirement for the course; not signing one simply means you can’t contribute to a collaborative project. If you choose not to sign a release, there are alternate, individual projects a student can undertake that will fulfill the requirements of 190G and impart many of the same skill sets.
We Are Engaging in an Altruistic Endeavor. Certainly many of our exercises and projects will have a central aim of teaching and building skill sets, but at some point, we’ll transition to the goal of creating the best work of art we can in a graphic novel. But both those course elements—learning and creating—will only be successful if we proceed from the notion that we are all engaged in a process whose sole goal is the understanding and promulgation of art.
Your Book Will Be Your Own. Whatever project the class decides to take on—and however that comes about—is fine with us. We trust the creative-collaborative process. We only offer three guiding principles: That the work be a product of adaptation, that it be sourced from the real world, and that it be conceived with the capacity to do some kind of good.
Course Requirements:
Weekly Reading: There are several graphic novels on the reading list, so most weeks you’ll be responsible for a book. The course’s lighter writing component reflects this emphasis on reading.
Reading Responses: After reading each reading, you’ll post a brief response on the blog. Most times we’ll be reading to study particular craft elements, but we’re always interested in your personal/artistic responses.
Several Writing Exercises: These exercises may be done at home or in-class; be prepared to share your work, as well as read, discuss and respond to the work of others.
Attendance at 2 outside events: You’ll be asked to attend two events this quarter through the Creative Writing Program and verify attendance with your instructors.
2 Comic Presentations: You will be asked to lead a discussion on either particular chapters or particular craft issues in the graphic novels we’ll be reading. Please provide your peers with a handout.
Short- and Medium-sized Projects: Sometimes collaborative, sometimes individual, these will be opportunities to practice skills that will be required for the class’ graphic novel. These projects will include adapting source material, storyboarding, panel creation, critiquing, dialog generation and so on.
Term Project: Our goal for the course is the group creation of a graphic novel, a process that will include selecting and acquiring source material, adaptation workshops, story development meetings, prototyping sessions, outside mentorship, critiques, creating production schedules, project layout and assembly and printing process and coordination
Attendance is crucial; if you must miss a class or lab, we expect you will make arrangements with us beforehand. Come to class, come on time, and come prepared. Each unexcused absence will reduce your course grade by 1/3 grade point—an A drops to an A-; an A- drops to a B+; and etc.
Grading: Generally, if you participate in all aspects of this course and work hard, you will get some form of A or B. Specifically, your course grade will be based on the following: our assessment of your short- and medium-sized projects (30%); our assessment of your participation and presentations in class (30%); and your contribution to the final project (40%.)
A Few Final Notes on this Course
Process: This course will take us from scratch to a final publication of some sort. The quality of that publication is entirely in your hands. We have big shoes to fill. The four previous graphic novels have garnered national attention, and the most recent—From Busan to San Francisco—is currently being used as a text book here at Stanford.
We’ll begin with theory and examples of the graphic novel, and work with exercises to develop the opening skills. Then we’ll move into the larger project, which has five distinct equally important phases: story selection, script writing, thumbnailing, finish art, and production (the compiling and creation of the actual book). Everyone will be involved in story selection and production. Additionally, you will be responsible for script writing, thumbnailing, or finish art. If you’re interested in two categories, we’ll do our best to help you work in both.
Social Experience: This is a collaborative creative process, which is often both the greatest and toughest part of the process. Our challenge is to find ways to insist on excellence while being open to other’s ideas. Your initial idea will not always carry the day—in that case, you must find ways to continue to contribute your very best. Our great helpers will be humility, hard work, mutual respect, and a sense of humor.
Impact: Students who go on to work in creative fields cite the great training they received at the script table, or in the conversations between the writers and the thumbnailers or the thumbnailers and the finish artists. One of the great personal learning experiences you get in this course is how to be a player in a larger artistic production.
Perhaps more than that, however, this course gives you the opportunity to really reach beyond the bounds of campus. The graphic novels we’ve made in the past have started discussions on the web and in major newspapers. They’re read around the world. This course is very much in the national eye, and this gives us the opportunity to make our story count. By addressing a human story in the middle of a larger political situation, we can create awareness, change, connection, and a deepened appreciation for the human condition.