07 THE NARRATIVE ARMATURE

1. What are some advantages of depicting characters as more abstract and cartoon than realistic? Could this be applied to architecture? (McCloud)

2. Why do some artists employ the strategy of utilizing detailed and realistic backgrounds in combination with characters drawn as cartoons? In what ways, if any, could this technique be beneficial for communicating architecture? Would it be better in reverse? (McCloud p 42)

3. McCloud discusses the ranges of pictures and words within the scale of received to perceived, how can we use this idea to think about how we communicate architecture? (McCloud p 49)

4. Storyboards in film are a preliminary design tool, in what ways could they be a design tool for architecture? (Davids)


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Tyler's Questions

1. McCloud notes, "When two people interract, they usually look directly at one another, seeing their partner's features in vivid detail. Each one also sustains a constant awareness of his or her own face, but this mind-picture is not nearly so vivid; just a sketchy arrangement... a sense of shape... a sense of general placement."
   1. Spend one minute drawing your neighbor to the right and one minute drawing yourself. Is the class able to match the drawings to the correct people? Is there a higher success rate with one over the other? More detail? 
2. McCloud discusses the abstraction of faces to their simplest forms. He also claims that we are better at connecting with abstracted figures rather than highly detailed ones (p. 36). Is this accurate? Is this why architects use objects to abstract inspiration from rather than making "duck" buildings. Does this empower the observer?
3. Storyboards. Architects regularly use storyboards to express their projects. Perspective renders are typically a key component but growing trends outsource these images to other companies. Is there an inherent value in developing the content of the storyboard or does the value exist solely in the final product? Is the same true for physical models?
4. How can architecture express time? Why is this important? 
5. Davids says, "The shift away from illustrating the human figure in architectural space is a shift away from architectural form as a setting for life in favor of architecture as a form of personal expression." Why do you agree or disagree? Why do we tend to use entourage in renderings but photograph buildings without people?