VISUAL STORYTELLING AND NARRATIVE STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF AN EDUCATIVE COMIC: CELLS AT WORK!

• Main Author: Amelia Bella Cintya, Hedi
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/57774
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

There are quite a lot of research on the prospect of comics as a medium of learning and education. The use of comics can convey something serious and complicated to be more straightforward and fun and will make it easier for learners to understand the course difficulties. Although there have been many studies on the advantages of comics as an educational medium, the potential of educational comics in Indonesia has not been fully utilized. This can be seen from the educational comics, especially those made locally, which tend to be rarely found in Indonesian bookstores. The majority of comics that dominate the market are comedy, action, fantasy and romance comics. Comics still tend to be regarded as mere entertainment media. This study will analyze the structure of the comic visual narrative Cells at Work! with the aim of formulating a method of delivering educational knowledge through comic book media which is considered successful in today's times. Cells at Work! has been named the Top 7 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! In 2016. In July 2017, 1.3 million copies of books were sold. Then more than 1.5 million printed books of this comic were sold in January 2018. Some doctors praised this comic and some Biology teachers reported using Cells at Work! as a learning supplement in the classroom. The comic has been published in several countries including Indonesia and adapted to various media such as animated series, stage plays, mobile games, novels, and has 7 different comic spin-offs. Each spin-off is thought to have a varied focus on topic, setting, target market and genre. Like Hataraku Saibou LADY which focuses on the work of cells in a woman's body, and Hataraku Saibou Code BLACK which tells of the hard work of cells in the body of an unhealthy adult male - described as a work environment that is very cruel and deadly. There is no existing research that examines the visual aspects of Cells at Work! thus making Akane Shimizu's Biology educational comic has the potential to become an object of research. The research model from Zpalanzani - Tabrani is used because it is in accordance with the nature of the visual narrative sequence or visual storytelling which will be discussed and structured because educational messages are conveyed through pictures. Based on Alvanov-Zpalanzani's visual storytelling model with adjustments to the media, comic consists of unshaken aspects, namely characters and characterizations, settings, and sequences of events that explain the story. This journal creates tables that analyze the visualization of characters, characters and characterizations, time and place settings, events / events, visual sentences for Inner Expressions which are divided into four groups and Outer Expressions which are also divided into four groups. It is hoped that the results of this research can unlock the potential of comics as an educational medium that has not been fully utilized in general and in Indonesia in particular.