Narrative Image: The How and Why of Visual Storytelling

Narrative Image The how & why of visual storytelling By Daniela Molnar

Stories are integral to human culture.Visual stories are a powerfully directmethod of conveying information,ideas, and cultural wisdom.

Part 1: How do imagescommunicate? Part 2: Types of narrative images

Part 1: How doimages communicate?

Images tell stories using semiotics, asort of visual grammar.> Semiotics <Visual cues, or signs, are combinedinto patterns that transmit messagesto the viewer.

Philosopher/scientist Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 - 1914) categorized signs as iconic symbolic indexical

An iconic sign looks like what it represents -- aportrait or a scientific illustration, for example.

A symbolic sign does not look like what it represents andits meaning must be learnt. Its meaning is fundamentallyarbitrary because it is based on cultural associations. Forexample, a stop sign, a flag, a traffic light, a company’s logo,or the Statue of Liberty.

An indexical sign is a clue that links meanings. Itsassociation with this meaning is not arbitrary but isphysically or causally connected. Smoke, for example, isan indexical sign of fire; a pointing finger is an indexicalsign of whatever it is pointing at; 90 degrees on athermometer is an indexical sign that it is hot out.

“heart”iconic symbolic indexical

All of these types of signs are used in combination invisual communication. This is how images tell stories.iconic, symbolic, & indexical

Walton Ford, Falling Bough, 2002Iconic: This is an identifiable scene; the log looks like a log, the pigeons like pigeons, the sky like asky, etc. We can look into this landscape as we look at the world.Symbolic: In cultural terms, the passenger pigeons represent societal shortsightedness, bloodlust,and violence against nature. They also represent species extinction, and, more broadly,environmental destruction.Indexical: The falling log suggests imminent danger or destruction. The sunset colors suggest a timeof transition. The strong diagonal composition creates a sense of unease in the viewer.

Images have the power to impact how cultural messages are transmitted and received. This gives them the power to alter the culture itself. In March 2010, the Obama administration appointed Edward Tufte to a paneladvising the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (RAT Board), which monitors the way the $787 billion in the stimulus package is being spent.

Republicans released the above graphic explaining how the Democratichealthcare plan will—or wont—work. The process looks horrifyinglycomplex; how will we get our insurance?!

This chart, which explains the same process, was released by theDemocratic party. It’s soothing tones and rounded edges suggest thatthe new system will be as delightful as ice cream on a sunny day.

Part 2: Types ofnarrative images

> Flavored <A subjective, editorialized depiction ofa thing, person or place. The story is inthe implied viewpoint.Another term for the “flavor” of animage is its connotative meaning.Many images have a denotativemeaning that differs from theirconnotative meaning. The denotativemeaning is the literal meaning of theimage, while the connotative meaningis the implied meaning, or the “flavor.”

Flavor can be thought of a meta-narrative that is present in allimages in varying degrees. F lavored Linear Paneled Aggregate

Some of the most obvious examples of flavored images can be found in advertising.The literal, or denotative meaning of the original ad: This guy is a pretty smoothcharacter and he smokes Camel cigarettes.The implied, connotative, flavored meaning of the original ad: Our cigarettes will makeyou rich, sexy and powerful.The literal, or denotative meaning of the Adbusters ad: Joe Camel is now Joe Chemo andhe is sitting sadly in a hospital bed alone.The implied, connotative, flavored meaning of the Adbusters ad: Cigarettes will notmake you rich, sexy or powerful, but they will kill you.

Even scientific images can be flavored. The author of the Pernkopf Anatomy atlas, Eduard Pernkopf, was a leading Nazi who purged the University of Vienna medical faculty of Jews. It is thought that the cadavers portrayed in the Atlas’ paintings are likely victims of Nazi concentration camps. The denotative, literal meaning of this illustration: this is how the muscles of the face, throat, and shoulder look. The connotative, flavored meaning: some human life is disposable.

> Linear < Depicts the passage of timeand/or space in a single image> Aggregate < Depicts (non-temporal)relationships between things in a singleimage composed of multiple parts> Paneled < Depicts the passage oftime and/or space in multiplesequenced images

> Linear < Depicts the passage of time and/or space in a single imagePiero della Francesca, Battle between Heraclius and Chosroes, c. 1460

Piero della Francesca, The Discovery and Proving of the True Cross, c. 1455

Chauvet Cave

Maria Sibylla Merian

Hadley Hooper, illustration about Parkinsons disease

> Aggregate < Depicts relationshipsbetween things in a single image composedof multiple parts Wendy Zomlefer

Lilian Snellling, Aerides houlletianum

From Colors 13, the wordless issue. Art directed by Tibor Kalman

Galileo’s engravings of the moon in Sidereus Nuncius, 1610

Robert Weaver, April 1959, Esquire

> Paneled < Depicts thepassage of time and/orspace in multiplesequenced imagesBayeux tapestry, c. 1077.224 ft long embroidered cloth which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England as well as theevents of the invasion itself.

Luoshenfu, Gu Kai Zhi, 344-406 CE

STMATTHEWI S LAN D

How paneled images tell stories > Closure < > The frame as time < > Transitions < > Interdependent words & images <

> Closure <Closure is the psychological leap that is essential to make paneledimages work. Closure occurs in the gutter, in the space between panels.

> The frame as time <The frame is a unit of time – it can be a second, a minute, an hour, or an eternity.The dimensions (and shape) of the panel are as important as the space betweenthe panels, as well as the placement of the panel on the page.

> Transitions < There are six major types of transitions between frames, each of which has a different effect on the pacing of the story.moment-to-moment subject-to-subject aspect-to-aspectrequires very little closure shows different people or things transitions between aspects of a in a scene or idea place, idea, or moodaction-to-action scene-to-scene non-sequitursingle subject in a process spans significant distances of no logical relationship - lots of time or space closure required

scene-to-scenespans significant distancesof time or spaceaspect-to-aspecttransitions between aspectsof a place, idea, or mood

> Interdependent words & images <Most, though notall, comics rely ona combination ofwords and imagesto convey anidea. If the storyis driven mainlyby the imagery,then the words The words are telling most of the story herecan wander inmany directions.If the story isdriven mainly bythe words, thenthe images canwander, becomingmore abstract and The image is telling most of the story hereutilizing moreclosure. No words

Suspended In Language: Niels Bohr’s Life, Discoveries, And TheCentury He Shaped By Jim Ottaviani, Illustrated by Leland Purvis,Roger Langridge, Jay Hosler, Steve Leialoha, Linda Medley, Jeff Parker

Other titles by Jim Ottaviani Published by G.T. Labs

Clan Apis By Jay Hosler

Visual stories are auniquely powerfulway to communicate. They have the power to change the way we understand the world.

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Narrative Image: The How and Why of Visual Storytelling

by Daniela Molnar on Jul 18, 2011

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