Comic Pages Storyboard Tutorial
OKAY SO! @biazerod asked me a little help on storyboarding and i decided to make this tutorialā¦iām not a professionist. so donāt take these as golden rulesā¦just advices! Ā and as always sorry for the englishĀ
FIRST THING FIRST! the storyboard part is the most important phase in a comic page !Ā
you can spend an entire day storyboarding! because itās the structure, the essence of the page!Ā
hereās some tips :
1- a page can start from 1 panel/frame (called splash page!) until how many f*cking panels you can fit ! (some pages , especially in french comics/bd Ā can reach 24 panels/frames!)
Exaple of splash pages:Ā
(these are from the green lantern,DC and the newest Thor ,marvel )
Splash pages are a priority of American comics, you rarely can find them in french Bd ! they represent a scene of impact! a fight! a revelation! be careful! use it only one if two times on a range of 50 pages! cuz it cut the narration!Ā
instead in french bd Ā you find this :
first one is from Blacksad 2# and second one is from Atar GullĀ
see how high the number of the frames is??Ā
the number of frames is very important in a page because it decide the narration time! :D also it all depends on the kind ofĀ āādirectionāā you want to use on your comic! so be really careful when you decide the number of the frame!Ā
LETāS PASS ON THE CREATION!Ā
1- when you have a page that contains more than 3 Frames ALWAYS. ALWAYS HAVE AN ESTABLISHING SHOT!Ā
the establishing shot is fundamental! BECAUSE READERS CAN UNDERSTAND WHERE THE CHARACTERS ARE!Ā
DONāT DO A COMIC PAGE FULL OF FACES !Ā
DONāT DO THIS! LET THE CHARACTER BREATH! LET THE READER BREATH! PLAY WITH YOUR CAMERA! YOU HAVE THE POWER!Ā
in a comic page, is important to put the camera far away from the character most of the time! play with the different shots! Ā
(found this on google)Ā
WATCH MOVIES AND TV SHOWS.Ā
lot of them can help you so much you have no idea! Ā a comic artist and a director do the same job when creating a story
2- Candy eye
this is a tricky trick that can help you with the audience! when a character is saying something important or you have to introduce them , USE THE CANDY EYE DUDE.Ā
the candy eye is , basically, a bust shot where you show the character,their features , usually with a cool or a funny expression ( or of course it depends from the situation) and believe me WORKS 10/10 with the audience ;)Ā
3- HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANT SCENE IN THE PAGE!Ā
FINAL TIPS:Ā
- when youāre doing dinamic poses try and try again! the first one isnāt always the best!Ā
-USE REFERENCES.
-A STORYBOARD PAGE CAN REQUIRE EVEN 4 HRS IF NOT AN ENTIRE DAY IF NOT AN ENTIRE WEEK. REMEMBER THAT THE STORYBOARD IS THE ESSENCE. AND THE REST IS DECORATION.
- IMAGINE THE SEQUENCE! NOT THE SINGLE PAGES.Ā
THINK IN SEQUENCES! imagine what would happen after the page you are creating! connect the various pages NOT THE SINGLES FRAMES !Ā
YOUāRE CREATING A STORY! NOT A SINGLE ILLUSTRATION!Ā
-AGAIN DONāT DO PAGE OF FACES.
most important thing:Ā
if the page youāre creating it stresses you! STOP.
continue it when you are in a better mood ,dude.
our job requires lot of time and effort, but it should be the job we love.Ā
so donāt stress yourself and keep calm.
hope this is useful. donāt take this as golden rules, this is just the way i work :)
jbbartram-illu
theartofmadeline
turnnoffyourmind
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