Lectures and Panel Discussions

I lecture at a variety of venues on graphic novels, film and media. This page is a collection of lectures and panel discussions that I have given over the past several years.

Abel Gance and J'accuse: Cinematic Pacifism and Filmic Poetry

An exploration of Abel Gance's contributions to cinema technique and storytelling via his film, J'accuse (1919). Acknowledged as the first anti-war feature film, J'accuse is unique in its use of battlefield footage and soldiers on leave from the frontlines at Verdun as actors. Presented at The Cambridge Center for Adult Education with an associated screening of excerpts from the film. (November 2009)

Comics and the Storytelling Imperative

A comparison of story structures within comics and cinema with an emphasis on how viewers and reader are led through storytelling. Examples from Ernie Bushmiller, Chris Ware, Bernie Kriegstein and David Mamet. Taught as a class session for CMS.405 Media and Methods: Seeing and Expression, a class in MIT's Comparative Media Studies Program taught by Glorianna Davenport. (March 2009)

Cracking Peanuts: Gleaning Design Intuition From Comics

What can we, as user experience designers, learn from daily comic strips like Charles Schulz's Peanuts? This was a short presentation given in the context of a panel discussion at Media Fabrics for Media Makers (June 2008)

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Video of Talk

The Transcendental Style in Film and Graphic Novels

Working from the thesis that the everyday can become transcendent by skillful manipulation of form, this talk built on Paul Schrader's ideas around communicating a spiritual state of being through cinema media. Aspects of cinematic form including plot, acting, composition, pacing and style were paralleled with similar aspects of sequential art in graphic novels. Examples were drawn the cinematic work of Robert Bresson and the graphic novels of Chris Ware. Co-taught at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education with Rich Rose, faculty member at RISD and The Art Institute of Boston. (November 2007)

Turning Comics into Movies

How does the static page of the graphic novel make the leap into the motion-dependent form of cinema? Image and word become picture and sound combined with the common element of juxtaposition. We explored several adaptations of graphic novels including Frank Miller's Sin City, Harvey Pekar's American Splendor and Tim Burton's Batman. Presented at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and the Center for Cartoon Studies. (2006/2007)

Framing Comics

One-hour overview of the history and language of comi. Presented multiple times at the Maine College of Art. (2005/2006)