Looking Outwards 12 Ellan Suder

When searching for motion comics, I found this scrolling style comic — it is a compilation of animated horror comics called “Chiller” (2015) by several different artists. It uses the scroll to trigger the effects.

I think this is a really interesting way to adapt horror comics. It’s kind of a middle ground between regular static comics and horror video games, where it’s still linear but gives a little control to the reader. The reader controls the story instead of passively watching like they would for a horror movie. By including this interactivity in the reading experience, the reader is more immersed in the story and hopefully more susceptible to fear.

The sounds were the creepiest part of the comic for me because of how sudden they were, like auditory jumpscares. They added to the dread the reader feels when scrolling further down the page.

The second motion comic I found was also controlled by scrolling, but this time it moved horizontally. The comic is an informational comic about The Walking Dead’s BTS makeup effects. Scrolling animates the character to make him walk forward through the buildings, where info about the show will appear. There are also clickable elements, play buttons for videos that reveal themselves as they scroll.

It’s a really fun and interesting way to present information, as opposed to maybe an article or long video. The feature I liked most was the reversibility. Instead of the scroll triggering an effect and then ending there, the scroll was actually directly tied to the motion itself. So in the ending scene where the zombie is shot, you could control the animation frame by frame by scrolling.