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<\/a>\u201cVisual storytelling is the synergistic collision of words and pictures,\u201d explains Ken Steacy. \u201cWe teach visual storytelling as a language in which the pictures and words are inextricable, so it\u2019s different from an illustrated story where you could either look at the image or read the story to understand what\u2019s going on. In comics and visual storytelling the two work together; if you took one out there\u2019d be a lot of ambiguity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ken Steacy says that this means students have to be on their toes with decision making when they\u2019re making their comics.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur students are constantly making decisions about how they should narrate a sequence, if it is best done silently with just the actual character or if they need to have a character saying something or thinking something. There\u2019s a lot of consideration on an ongoing basis when you\u2019re telling stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event, which is the second annual conference held by the program, will feature a keynote speech from Scott Chantler, a Waterloo, Ontario-based cartoonist.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an excellent opportunity for the students to be mentored by working professionals in the community from both here and Vancouver,\u201d says Ken Steacy. \u201cWe have 12 professionals who will be there on site.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program\u2019s students have worked hard for the last six months taking courses on, to name just a few subjects, screenwriting, perspective drawing, and character design.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to make the courses interesting, so we put ourselves in the students\u2019 shoes,\u201d says Joan Steacy. \u201cWe had to think about what we would have liked when we were their age in art school, what program and what stuff in it that would be really interesting to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students themselves say that they\u2019re enjoying the program and that it\u2019s pushing them\u2026 and they\u2019re up for the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI joined because I was using cartoons a lot of the time to explain myself and I was really enjoying that,\u201d says Comics and Graphic Novels student Lisa Joe. \u201cIt\u2019s a real challenge and it\u2019s really shaking a lot of dust out of my grey matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe program\u2019s been super fun and inspiring,\u201d says another student, Erica Drake, who goes on to express her feelings about the upcoming conference. \u201cI\u2019m mostly excited. After, I think, there will be a time of relief and then there\u2019ll be a time of satisfaction and accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n