The M.A. in Film Studies offered by the University of Malta’s Faculty of Arts is proud to announce a public talk entitled ‘Sequential Storytelling: The Language of Comics’. The talk will be delivered by two professional comic-book artists, William Calleja and Mario Sciuto, on Monday 2 December 2019 at the Dun Mikiel Xerri Lecture Centre, Room 120, Msida Campus, at 17.15.
This public talk will be covering some basic, intermediate, and advanced concepts of comic-book visual storytelling techniques; where and how such techniques came into being; and how and why they are still relevant today. The discussion will consider different comic-book traditions from different countries around the globe, and how these traditions formed and influenced one another. The technical details of each element that makes a comic-book page will be explained and examined along with an appraisal of how such elements are put together to construct meaning, rhythm, and flow. Various techniques which comic-book writers and artists have borrowed from the silver screen will be surveyed, as well as what cinema in turn has learned from comic-book narratives. Finally, the talk will be covering the tools which comic-book artists actually have to use in order to create a satisfying story.
Always fond of comics and drawing, William Calleja (Malta, 1983), after graduating in Computer Engineering and pursuing a career in the computer industry, attended the three-year course of Palermo’s Scuola del Fumetto (i.e. school of comics).
After spending some time working in accountancy and marketing, Mario Damiano Sciuto (Catania, 1983) took the plunge and devoted himself entirely to comics and illustrations. He attended the school of comics in Palermo, and has since collaborated with publishing houses such as Star Comics (Italy) and Petit à Petit (France).
Both William Calleja and Mario Sciuto contributed to the graphic novel ‘Il Ragazzo Invisibile – Seconda Generazione’ (Panini Comics, 2018), which draws its inspiration from the film by the Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores. William Calleja and Mario Sciuto direct the Malta-based WM Art Studio, coordinating a team of up-and-coming creative young talents.
Mario Sciuto and William Calleja are currently working for the games studio company NARC, respectively as lead concept artist and technical artist.