Research Task
● What does the first panel establish in terms of place and atmosphere?
The first panel is setting up the scene. We learn that the action is taking place inside an apartment above a possible shop called Spirit. Not only that but we see that a phone is ringing.
● How does the page progress from panel-to panel?
The next two panels moves us closer to the scene where the phone is still ringing and ringing indicating that the place is perhaps empty. We then enter the building which reveals a crime has just taken place, with mess in the room and the dust cloud trailing behind a potential perpetrator.
● How does the use of sound effects inform you what is happening in each
panel?
As we move closer to the scene, the use of sound effects change slightly, suggesting that you are closer to the phone its ring is louder. The zig zig sound wave also gets sharper and more frantic once we are in the building. It informs the that the place is empty, or something strange is happening which is preventing the home owner to answer it. Giving a suspicious feeling or creating suspense.
By the third panel, we are introduced with another sound effect, a bang. Surrounded in a ball of smoke, it is unclear what this might have been, though the use of bang suggests a gun or explosion.
● How is the effect of weather created and used to add atmosphere?
The weather and the darkness of the cartoon does well to present the look of a film noir. The papers flying around the street and a wooden shop sign swinging back and forth also adds to the dramatic chaos of the weather. The rain is thrashing horizontally at the building, creating big puddles of water on rooftops and waterfalls on to the street. You get the sense of how loud the weather could be, creating an atmosphere that something suspicious is happening, that might be drowned out due to the heavy conditions. It also feels like that the type of start to a story, "it was on the evening when the storm was howling, the outside signs clashing back and forth in the wind and the rain hammering down, drowning any sound that tried to challenge it" Perfect for a crime!
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