Monday, November 7, 2011

A Question for the Readers

Resorting to a bleg because I am new to the ways of the cartooning lexicon. Question: Does its rich word-hoard contain a special term -- like 'plewds' and 'briffits' -- for that graphical convention whereby the speed of some passing object or character is dramatised by drawing doubled-exposure head-turning onlookers?*

R.: Eagle with doubled head as it watches
rapid falcon turning in the widening gyre

I tried searching the Interlattice for the search term 'comic + convention'... the results were inconclusive, except to convince me that there are more people than there are lives.

Further research indicates, surprisingly enough, that doubled heads have only recently become the arbitrary standard. The convention has evolved, much in the manner of the evolution of the fork though in the opposite direction.** Three heads were common in Renaissance woodcutlery-cuttery, as shown in an image familiar from previous weekly installments of the Riddled World of Knowledge.

It is best if the heads look similar. Otherwise the sense of motion turns into an Allegory.

See how convincingly it works when done properly!
There can be too many heads in the turning time-exposure. If they blur together into a continuous curve, the onlooker looks like a butt-plug.


* Double heads are also a useful graphic shorthand for representing the erstwhile tyrant Typhon, in that scene in Sword of the Lictor where Severian encounters his dehydrated body and unwittingly activates the mechanisms that reanimate him.

I am beginning to wonder whether Bill Hammond really has the right aesthetic for our Illustrated Gene Wolfe project.
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** Note only two tines in Renaissance forks from 1573.

Yet Morton's Fork (1487) is clearly shown with a third tine already!

15 comments:

wiley said...

Coining terms---what sweet, sweet linguistic joi.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

doubled-exposure head-turning onlookers?

Silly, that's a panel from the comic "Bicephalous Hal".

Double heads are also a useful graphic shorthand for representing the erstwhile tyrant Typhon, in that scene in Sword of the Lictor where Severian encounters his dehydrated body and unwittingly activates the mechanisms that reanimate him

Lictor? I've never even met her!

Hamish Mack said...

Otherwise the sense of motion turns into an Allegory.
Or an album cover for Rush, it's them, don't tell me it's not.

Smut Clyde said...

In an ideal world someone would have used it as the sleeve artwork for a cover version of "Dear Prudence". But not, not even the Banshees. SMUT DISAPPOINTED.

Dr.KennethNoisewater said...

That one three-headed guy has nice tits.

Dr.KennethNoisewater said...

w/v is mermal! Now this is an interesting creature and one I'm surprised the Riddled staff has not blogged about before! A mermal is a cross between a mammal--any mammal--and a mermaid. The mermal is the product of freaky, inappropriate and hot inter-species fucking.

It is also sometimes used to refer the extraordinarily rare, beautiful and elusive creature that is half merman and half ETHEL Merman.

Smut Clyde said...

nice tits

Nipples are a bit Derp.

tigris said...

Well, I'd call it a "double take" but you could throw a bicephalic in there if you want increased specificity.

Anonymous said...

Nipples are a bit "Derp.": define pls. (may have suitable limerick)

Anonymous said...

Morton's fork is not a fork, it's a trident.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

A mermal is a cross between a mammal--any mammal--and a mermaid. The mermal is the product of freaky, inappropriate and hot inter-species fucking.

So, if a man has sex with a mermaid, the resultant mermaid with human legs would be a mermal... It makes sense, from a scientific point of view.

Smut Clyde said...

"Derp.": define pls
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/derp

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Comic Guy Libel!
~

Anonymous said...

-limerick not suitable, here it is:

There once was a lady named Wharton,
Who had one long tit and one short 'un,
But to make up for that,
She'd a bloody great twat,
And could fart like a 500 Norton!

How about the term "stopmo," short for stop motion, for the two-headed phenom?

See: http://www.funtastics.com/2009/03/23/stop-motion-photography/

Dragon-King Wangchuck said...

Did you see that thing just go past?
It was here, then gone in a blast
Leaving in its wake
Many doubletakes
I would call that speed "Janus fast."