Comic Tips, Tricks, and Guidelines

[Nekomata]

Layout and Paneling

Panel Size and the Illusion of Time.

Okay, now that we've gotten some of the basics on how to approach writing for comics, it's time to move into more in-depth areas of focus. To be more specific- Layout, Paneling, and how they effect pacing.

One thing you'll probably ask yourself when scripting a scene/page is 'How many panels should be on the page?' If you haven't asked yourself this, stop and do it right now. This is important, because the number of panels and how they're presented on a page is crucial the pacing of a comic.

Think of a comic page in terms of time. The page represents a total of x minutes. When the reader's eye goes across the page, you're looking at part of that time. If a panel takes up half a page, the reader is looking at 1/2x minutes. If there's many small panels across the page, the viewer will read through them at a faster pace instead of lingering on a larger panel.

See what I'm getting at here? By manipulating the amount of space of a panel, you're creating an illusion of time in the story. You can use paneling and lout to create a sense of urgency or to focus on a moment of time in the story.

For example, if you've got a fact-paced action sequence or chase, you want a lot of smaller panels in a single page. Imagine seeing a fight scene using single panel pages? Wouldn't that feel longer? Fight scenes are chaotic and require a lot of quick thinking, action, etc.

Going back to the area of a page representing 'x' time. Due to the fast-paced nature of action-y things, it makes sense for a lot to happen in a short period of time- and this should translate into the page. On the other end, if you want to give an illusion of extended time or 'slow motion'- give more of the page's time to a panel.

I mentioned in the previous guide that larger panels should be used for important things. So what if that important thing happens to take place in a relatively small amount of time? This is where writer/artist's choice takes over. Will giving the panel more space interrupt the pacing of the story? Will it diminish the importance of the panel if it's too small? Balance can be hard to find. In the end, what matters most is how much time you want the reader's eyes to linger on a scene.

A quick rundown on when to use large vs small size panels

• Quick-paced sequences should typically have smaller panels to emphasize the speed of time.
• A panel with a single character talking probably should be smaller. There's no point in taking half a page with a headshot and dialogue (unless it's a LOT of dialogue, then you might have a problem with the 'show, don't tell' rule.)
• Dialogue heavy scenes are tpyically in smaller panels. Think about it, you don't want to waste 4 pages with dialogue that could easily be done in 1 or 2 pages.
• Establishing shots are typically medium to large panels.
• Important panels containing things like big plot twists, reveals, etc. should be in medium to larger panels.
• Using med/large panels should also be used to slow time down for more dramatic sequences.
• Larger panels are also good for introducing new characters.
• Use larger panels for anything you want the reader to spend more time looking at.

Here's some pages I'm pulling from- to no one's surprise- MTMTE to talk about the paneling. I'll keep them relatively spoiler-free (even if there's a PERFECT example of using an entire page to emphasize emotion and the extension of time that'd I'd love to use...)

Example Page #1

Spoiler:

Three panels. The first two aren't particularly big, so your eye goes across them rather quickly- the last one however, is a reveal panel. It's large for dramatic effect as well as an introduction to unknown enemies.



Example Page #2

Spoiler:

A lot happens on this page. It's not a full-blown action scene, but there is definitely plenty going on. It all happens rather quickly. Try imagining if this scene took two or three pages? Poor Rung there would be dangling for quite a bit longer- or it would feel like it!



Example Page #3

Spoiler:

Here's an example of using panels to express a sense of time. The bottom row of panels are very similar- it's focusing on the face of a character as he's processing some information he just received. The way it's layed out in the bottom there suggests that he waited a good few seconds before coming to the conclusion "Cool."



Example Page #4

Spoiler:

Look- a dialogue heavy page. The first panel is larger because it happens to be an establishing shot showing the change of setting from the previous page. Dialogue heavy panels don't need much space- just enough for the speech bubbles and to express any important reactions or facial expressions from the characters.



Example Page #5

Spoiler:

Another action-y scene. Note that the panels with the security system coming out are quite small- they're big enough to show what's going on, but don't eat up much space that could be used for more important things! If you can express an action in a smaller panel without losing effect of timing/importance, then you should!


Panel Layout and Rhythm

Nearly done, guys! Okay, so after you decide how to use panel sizes and whatnot to give the illusion of time, you have to determine how you'll be presenting the panels. This seems like a silly thing to consider- why not just slap them on the page? If only it were that simple...

Page layout is important. It determines the path in which the audience's eyes go through the page. Think of layout like a rhythm. Any rhythm that repeats long enough gets a bit boring, right? So be concious on how you arrange your panels. Repetition can be good when used in moderation though.

Look at the script and what you've written. Consider the time in which each panel takes place. Do you have a bunch of smaller panels close to each other? Larger panel in the middle? Maybe a few medium panels? How can you best tell the story while making it easy for the reader to know what panel comes next?

Look at the above examples. You'll notice that the panels vary in sizes- even on the same page. You may have two identically sized panel followed by one slightly larger. Some panels don't take the width of the page, leaving white space on either side. Some panels take the entire width and lack borders. This is all to help give some variety to the paneling.

Just be sure to make it clear what the panel order is. Bad paneling can make a reader view the panels in the incorrect order. Typically, we read top to bottom then left to right, yes? You start at the top row, go right, then proceed to the next row. Keep this in mind when picking your panel flow. Do your eyes travel the page naturally in the right order? Or do you need little arrows to point to the next panel to clarify the panel order to the readers? If it's the latter, then that's a big no-no!

Here's a good image I found on the internet that expresses the issue of panel flow. See how the intended panel order of this artist's page worked? It didn't feel natural reading in that order- so he changed it!

Spoiler:

Speaking of that image, those are thumbnail images! What better time to talk about those than now, yes? Thumbnail pages are basically the very rough outline of a comic page. They're typically used to experiment with layout and paneling before doing any serious sketching or drawing for the page. As a result, they're very rough and undetailed- why should they? They don't need to be! It is highly recommended to thumbnail your pages ahead of time to see how they flow both in terms of layout and pacing of the story!

Planning ahead like this will give you the opportunity to edit things before they go through timely sketches- or even worse, final colors! See a scene that you think might work better with an extra panel or two? Edit it in and redo the thumbnails! Best to catch the layout/pacing issues in thumbnails than final sketches.

Here's an example of MTMTE (Hahaha!) Thumbnails from a more recent story arc. Note they aren't particularly detailed but contain enough information for the paneling and layout.

Spoiler:

Last thing I want to discuss in this guide is panel spacing. It goes along with the layout. Typically, it is best to have space between panels to make a clear distinction where one panel begins and another ends. A lot of times, you'll see webcomics use nothing but a line to break apart panels. This makes for very cluttered looking pages and is a big no-no. It can make it difficult to differentiate between panels.

Of course, it's not bad to have panels overlapping from time to time- especially in more fast-paced scenes. You'll notice at least one of the MTMTE examples I used has some overlapping panels. Another type of panel would be the borderless ones- panels without borders are typically reserved for larger more important panels. It's not uncommon to see smaller panels on top of the borderless ones!

So, some things to remember/consider:

• Regularly use space between panels! Borderless panels and overlapping panels can be used to good effect, but shouldn't be used too frequently in a page to avoid looking cluttered.
• Thumbnails are essentially the outline for comic artists. Outlines change, so do thumbnails- use them to plan ahead!
• Panel flow is key! Bad panel flow can lead to confusion for the reader.
• Variety in panel size and placement can be a good thing- as can be repetition. Remember to think of it like a rhythm- consistency with a little variation is what makes it interesting. Too much variation makes it feel random.