Interesting, entertaining and informative, as always.
COMIC SCRIPTS: Like you say, everyone seems to have their own way of doing it, and their own "rules." Me, I work in a hybrid of Full Script/Marvel Style where a I write a quick paragraph for each panel, including possible (but certainly not final) dialogue. The artist then can push/pull that info, making a 5-panel page into 6 (or 7) (or 4).
One of my "Rules" is that when describing a panel, make sure you list the people in the panel IN THE OPRDER THEY SPEAK IN. So if Phil enters a room but Kat is the first to speak, my description will mention Kat first. ("KAT looks up as PHIL enters the room.") I also always capitalize the name of any character in a panel, so at a glance the artist knows how many characters they need to fit. And I'll often give my artist a choice. ("KAT looks up as Phil (off-panel?) enters the room.")
I will say CLOSE-UP, MEDIUM SHOT or LONG SHOT, but rarely give any other camera direction to my artists. And, quite frankly, I NEVER tell them how to arrange the panels on a page, except when there is a very specific, very special thing I'm going for. (In the next EVEN STEVEN story, the first page has about 20 panels on it, getting smaller as you read down the page. THAT was a case where I was very specific about the page's composition.)
I'm also a fan capturing the FEEL of an image rather than describe it in exact detail. "Emotionally devastated, KAT crumples to the floor like wet paper." "Yeah, it's just a comic-book, but PHIL stands there like Cerberus guarding the gates of Hell."
Interesting, entertaining and informative, as always.
COMIC SCRIPTS: Like you say, everyone seems to have their own way of doing it, and their own "rules." Me, I work in a hybrid of Full Script/Marvel Style where a I write a quick paragraph for each panel, including possible (but certainly not final) dialogue. The artist then can push/pull that info, making a 5-panel page into 6 (or 7) (or 4).
One of my "Rules" is that when describing a panel, make sure you list the people in the panel IN THE OPRDER THEY SPEAK IN. So if Phil enters a room but Kat is the first to speak, my description will mention Kat first. ("KAT looks up as PHIL enters the room.") I also always capitalize the name of any character in a panel, so at a glance the artist knows how many characters they need to fit. And I'll often give my artist a choice. ("KAT looks up as Phil (off-panel?) enters the room.")
I will say CLOSE-UP, MEDIUM SHOT or LONG SHOT, but rarely give any other camera direction to my artists. And, quite frankly, I NEVER tell them how to arrange the panels on a page, except when there is a very specific, very special thing I'm going for. (In the next EVEN STEVEN story, the first page has about 20 panels on it, getting smaller as you read down the page. THAT was a case where I was very specific about the page's composition.)
I'm also a fan capturing the FEEL of an image rather than describe it in exact detail. "Emotionally devastated, KAT crumples to the floor like wet paper." "Yeah, it's just a comic-book, but PHIL stands there like Cerberus guarding the gates of Hell."
Anyway, that's my two cents.
KK
Some wonderful insight! -Kat
Thanks for sharing! Your “rule” about speaking order is a great idea.
Thanks for so much great advice and media recs! Another excellent newsletter. ❤️
THANK YOU! -Kat