In the cts session today we discussed visual sequence in moving image and in still sequences. ultimately, audiovisual moving image is time based and linear (although some films, i.e pulp fiction, break from that rule) we are expected to be taken through the story in chronological order and over a set amount of time. similarly to moving image, comic books are also linear, however, they are concerned with space and are multi-directional and we are presented with all of the scenes simultaneously meaning that we may read and understand them in our own time. Although cinematic storytelling and comic book storytelling can be similar in the conventions that they use, they are very different in that they use the conventions in different ways. For example, in cinematic storytelling we often use a soundtrack or voice overs to convey meaning however, in a comic book this is not possible. in order to show sound or narration, image must be used instead. text boxes are used over image to show a voice over or narration and often there are graphics used to express sounds such as shouting.
In order to show the differences between cinematic and comic book storytelling I shall compare the same scene from a comic book and its film. A great example of this is in ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’ although the film stayed pretty accurate to the intentions of the comic book, there are still some key differences. 
For example, in this scene we are able to hear the music and narration from the main character, it is easier to understand the atmosphere. whereas in the comic book we are expected to imagine it, the only information we are given is the words ‘Afterwards’ in the top left of the panel to explain to us that this is what happened after the previous event. However, the comic panel allows us to imagine what the atmosphere is like and allows the reader to mould the story for themselves rather than having it handed to them as in the film.
An example which shows far more differences is ‘The Walking Dead’ Below is the first scene of the comic and the first episode of the television series. The scene i am looking at beings at 0:00 and ends at 1:07.
The first difference we can notice is that the film opens with an establishing shot to set the scene, we are introduced to the scenario with a police chase and can hear the Diegetic sounds of sirens and cars screeching and extra diegetic sound which is some rocky background music which is also not shown in the comic world. We are then introduced to the protagonist as within the comic but instead of hearing him speak, we see a speech bubble and instead of the diegetic sound we hear on screen, the words ‘Boom’ and ‘Spak’ are shown to represent the diegetic sound to the reader. Then when Rick shoots we hear the noises of gun shots and the camera pans across all the police officers showing their guns firing, in the comic however we see the words ‘ping’ and ‘boom’ and flames coming from the guns to represent gunfire to the reader. We associate these signs with gunshots so it is easy to know what has happened. In this episode, when rick is shot there is a big closeup on rick as he loses consciousness and then a blackout to represent his unconsciousness and to show he is shot but in the comic we just see the hole blown through him. The comic can be more graphic as they aren’t using real people so the gunshot wound is shown whereas in the film it is not. Also we hear the shouting of the police officers saying ‘Rick!’ in the film but to show shouting in the comic, The edges of the word balloon are jagged to show distress. The film is very similar to the comic and is able to mimic it using diegetic and extra diegetic sound, the comic uses visual signs and signifiers to show emotion and diegetic sound.
Bibliography:
Moore, T.(2009)The Walking Dead.Available at: http://www.comixology.com/The-Walking-Dead-1/digital-comic/60 [online.] Accessed: 27 Feb. 2016.
Unknown. (2014) I think it should be appreciated how well “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” was adapted from the graphic novel. Available at:Imgur.com/gallery/nMRiY. [online] Accessed on: 27 feb. 2016.
Walking Dead, The. (2010) The Walking Dead- Season 1, Episode 1:Days gone by. Available at youtube.com/watch?v=Ec3UgWvvZoI [online] Accessed 27. Feb. 2016
J Whitehead - IDA 