“Suggestion provokes imagination, and imagination builds reality.”
– Don Miguel Ruiz, The Toltec Art of Life and Death
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“SEE THAT SPACE BETWEEN THE PANELS? THAT’S WHAT COMICS AFICIONADOS HAVE NAMED “THE GUTTER.”
AND DESPITE ITS UNCEREMONIOUS TITLE, THE GUTTER PLAYS HOST TO MUCH OF THE MAGIC AND MYSTERY THAT ARE AT THE VERY HEART OF COMICS!
HERE IN THE LIMBO OF THE GUTTER, HUMAN IMAGINATION TAKES TWO SEPARATE IMAGES AND TRANSFORMS THEM INTO A SINGLE IDEA.
NOTHING IS SEEN BETWEEN THE TWO PANELS, BUT EXPERIENCE TELLS YOU SOMETHING MUST BE THERE!
COMICS PANELS FRACTURE BOTH TIME AND SPACE, OFFERING A JAGGED, STACCATO RHYTHM OF UNCONNECTED MOMENTS.
BUT CLOSURE ALLOWS US TO CONNECT THESE MOMENTS AND MENTALLY CONSTRUCT A CONTINUOUS, UNIFIED REALITY.”
– Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics
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A story must have space for the reader or viewer to use their imagination to fill in gaps.
Some mystery is needed to keep us engaged.
Just like those people we meet who quickly exhaust us with the minutia of their lives.
So do attempts by filmmakers to overstuff and overwhelm with backstory.
A prime example are the Star Wars prequels. I didn’t want to see where Darth Vader came from. I preferred his existence as a ready made and terrifying villain.
The original trilogy became less interesting as a result of this overabundance of information.
I liked the mystery of a character’s origins. It was an invitation for my imagination to take part.
Rewatching Blade Runner: it was the Final Cut, which reinstated a voiceoer removed from the Directors Cut – the version I grew up watching.
What makes the film so special to me is the lingering shots of the city soundtracked by Vangelis’ haunting score.
There is space to linger in. A world to be absorbed into.
In the Final Cut this was babbled over with pointless exposition.
This overwhelmed and filled the gutter.
I like a bit of mystery to a film. It is satisfying to make links. It rewards multiple viewings. I do not want to be told everything up front.
Give me a suggestion of a motive. A glimpse of a world. A limited perspective.
Isn’t this what we want from art? A curation based on someone else’s point of view?
If everyone else’s opinions are accommodated we descend into a crowd, where voices are only registered as decibels, rather than what they are designed for: conversations.
Gimme some space!
Conversations With Quotations 