Lab+3...+cct300


 * Lab Assignment #3**

=**Do you agree or disagree with McLuhan when he defines comics as an extension of photographic media?** =

You may refer Marshall McLuhan's //Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man//.

**Response...**

 * I do agree with Marshall McLuhan when he states that comics are an extension of photographic media because comics are still photographs that are just hand drawn as opposed to having them from camera lens. When looking at photographs, the viewer uses their imagination to determine the meaning or the purpose of the photograph through their own beliefs and meaning. In comics, “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer." Basically McCloud states that comics are images drawn out, placed side-by-side to show a sequence of thought or action that may or may not use caption or bubbles to tell a story or have a specific narrative. A different way to look at it is, comics tell a story, and photographs don’t necessarily have to.
 * The part where I get mixed feelings is when McLuhan defined both photographic media and comics as "cold" media. Cold media is when the reader is provided very little information and asked to interpret the meaning. This is totally different from film or television shows which require almost no action from the viewer, and are considered passive mediums, which is referred to “hot” media. Both Photographic media and comics are cool media that require the viewer/reader to pay close attention in order to get the full understanding. One exception is in comics, as they are an extension, in the sense that they are explaining more through multiple sequences of pictures, but also the focus always remains on one comic strip at a time, making it hot in a sense that direction to the reader is passive and constraint to one strip at a time.