Week 1: Shaun Tan, "The Arrival"

  I had never read Shaun Tan's "The Arrival" before today, but I ended up loving the story and found myself surprised at how easily I understood what was happening and how fluid it felt.

  In Computer Animation, we talk a lot about the structure of stories and how to stage a story properly so that it reads in a clear, visual way to the viewer.  I found that many of the techniques that we use when storyboarding a short film were also evident in this comic.  For example, Shaun Tan used a variety of shot choices; he showed close up's of the characters so we could read their expressions, but also included long spreads and full illustrations so we could see where they were.  I felt this helped ground the story, because you knew where everything was happening, and also gave it a sense of scale.  This was also especially helpful to keep the viewer interested, as there was a variety of things to look at.  Additionally, many compositions were from the point of view of the main character.  Because of this, we were able to see where the character was looking and experience how he was seeing the world.  Since this was a completely new world, I felt that this technique was crucial in illustrating the grandeur feeling of this new society, as well as show you the main character's confusion from not being able to understand any of it.  An aspect of this comic that I really loved was the element of repetition and the way Shaun Tan structured some images to feel like glimpses of memories.  This was especially helpful for the scenes where the main character was looking for a job and also when he first arrived to the new land.  Through these little glimpses, you understood what the process felt like rather than having to see every single step of it.  For some parts however, such as the factory scene, it was better to have all of the panels showing the sorting of the figurines because it let the viewer feel how mundane the job was.  Shaun Tan also did a great job at illustrating the characters' faces.  As humans, we understand what's happening with one another through our expressions.  One of Shaun Tan's strengths in this narrative is his ability to emote his characters so realistically, giving them every slight nuance to let you know what they're truly thinking. You could tell exactly how a character was feeling so you were able to connect with the story; your mind was able to fill in the gaps when the story didn't explicitly show you what was happening.

 I felt that this story was very powerful in the fact that it not only showed you what happened with the character, but it also didn't show you everything, giving the viewer room to invent.  One of the best parts in the story was when it showed the transition through the seasons, all through illustrations of the flower.  This story is a great example of how you can so clearly illustrate what's happening without words and I really enjoyed it!