Graphic Novel

Notes on:

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

• There are six different types of transitioning between panels


• Movement-to-movement
• Action-to-action
• Subject-to-subject
• Scene-to-scene
• Aspect-to-aspect
• Non-sequitur

• Sometimes you don’t need the panels (the lines of the box)
• Use bold to emphasize the words
• Make the readers look/think/imagine things outside of the panel
• The use of closure which allows the readers to perceive an object as a whole (based on past experience) while only showing parts of the object
• Use some black backgrounds when it’s the main character talking to the readers
• Use different sized panels
• The gap between panels are known as the gutter, which allows the readers to combine the images and imagine what’s happening between the two scene
• The readers are participating in the story as they imagine the story in the way they want
• Authors assume readers can read in the order they want
• Draw outside of the box
• Portray time on a line from left to right
• Panels (and content) serve as a general indicator of time and space being divided
• The length of the panel can convey the length of the time

What I applied in my graphic novel:

• Transitions:

Movement-to-movement

Action-to-action

Subject-to-subject

Scene-to-scene

Aspect-to-Aspect

• Used different sized panels 
• Didn't use panels for some
• Extended the panel to emphasize the length of time