or towards the ensuing storm. But this section presents another point
at which I attempt to jar the logical order, the falcon should move with a
swift grace, yet rather than a portrayal of speed, or grace under pressure,
it is more the distant tempest which is depicted as moving with a slow
and assured confidence. The storm is, in terms of its literal immediacy,
a naturally occurring event in a harsh and unforgiving landscape. It has
caught the attention of the falcon and may therefore be the very reason
for which it cannot hear the falconer. An allegorical image of chaos and
figuratively (in this interpretation at least) burgeoning world war.
Page 2. panels 7/8/9
Another important piece of imagery is introduced, death, as shown by
the skull. A lost soul somewhere in the barren landscape has met his end
years before, which I used as connected to the overarching temporal
flow, as death is inescapable regardless of time. I was hopeful that this
might allude to the undefinable time period of the desert landscape.
The falcon passes over the skull. Page 2 panel 8 shows the face of the
Bedouin (the common man), he will have no recourse to escape his fate,
as ‘the best lack all conviction’. This however raises the question ‘Will
the man’s fate be brought about by natural order of things, or (as the
next panel possibly hints) will other more unexpected forces interject?’
The face of the Bedouin should show despondency that contrasts
against the indifferent desert sun in various other panels. Page 2 panel
9 is the point at which Nazism initially becomes clear in the adaptation,
although the image should be intentionally shaky or opaque, as though
the image is only just forming. The stark contrasting imagery of eagle
over skull on the SS officer insignia was an attempt to mirror the falcon
passing over the skull (panel 7) but it may not really have come through
very well graphically.
Pages 3 and 4 / The storm map
This double page splash should increase the sense of scale, while still
portraying sequential continuity of the desert storm from the various
preceding panels. The jump from smaller panel to these larger ones is
where I try to affect the pulsing sense of imbalance mentioned earlier.
These irregularities and teetering imbalances are a continuous reference
to things falling apart and unsteady centres. What these two pages show
is a map of Europe, but the swirling storm twists and contorts the countries’
borders as each of them are gradually warping into the maelstrom and
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