The use of a certain Panels.

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jasonb
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:06 pm
Location: Norfolk, England

The use of a certain Panels.

Post by jasonb »

Dear Mr Davis,

It has been a while since I have posted a question here for you, sir. I have however, been keeping an eye on the forum. I was drawing a page of a `Daredevil` submission I have been working on. I noticed' that I have never used a long, thin, vertical panel, in any of the pages I have drawn.
It was kind of the moment of blinding realisation that truthfully, I didn't know how best to utilise that kind of panel.

I was hoping that yourself or anyone else could divulge their knowledge to help me?
I mean, are they best for portraying height, long distances or the illusion of descent?
Any input would be immensely helpful.
Thanks always, Jas. :?
Row
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 6:09 am
Location: West Midlands, UK
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Post by Row »

The long verticle panels are very handy to show height etc as you've stated, but they can also be used to carry a lot of text or speech from characters and to create a nice page layout ( included are 2 pages from 'The Wraith' issue 5, pencilled by me that use vertical panels....shameless plug over with)

Image Image

In my limited experience they can be used pretty much for whatever you want to use them for, as long as they do the job of showing what you need to show and suit the overall page layout and still remain easy to follow.


All the best

Row
When lady luck enters, get her a seat
Alan Davis
Creator
Posts: 472
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:13 pm

Post by Alan Davis »

Jason, The panel shape (and size) can be dictated by the content of the panel and its importance within the story BUT the number of panels on a page and the position of the panel in a sequence will also have an equal or greater effect on how a particular panel fits (or doesn’t) on a particular page. While the shape and layout of panels can be used to clarify the content of the panels they also create the page tempo. For instance, panels on the same bank (left to right) happen in fairly quick succession. The fraction of a second it takes for a reader to scan down from the last panel in a bank (right) to the first on a lower bank (left) can create a beat/pause/delay. Despite the common comparisons between comics and film, I think music is a better analogy. Each panel is a note and the page a chord. The notes have to work independently but also together. In certain instances a vertical panel can be arresting and create a longer beat—especially if the image is busy and need to be read down and then back up. But this can also be confusing IF the downward reading leads the reader to miss other panels. The point is, there is no absolute right or wrong—or a neat rule. Other than tell the story!

Alan
jasonb
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:06 pm
Location: Norfolk, England

Thak you.

Post by jasonb »

Dear Mr Davis and row.

Sincerely, thank you both for the helpful words. I understand and can see how, with pacing a story, that smaller panels are used to speed up the story pace, as the eye will glance over a smaller panel and move on. As with longer/wider panels the brain has more information to process, thus taking longer to scan an image. I also tend to use full width horizontal panels to show more of the content of that panel IE. more than one character, large areas and movement.
However, I never thought that vertical panels could be used to slow the pace of a story/scene or for rolling dialog. As you both stated in similar terms, you can use a panel for many things, as long as it is within the use of telling a story.

Really, you have helped tremendously. Thanks again.
Jason :D

P.s. Could any one help me with posting my own images as I can not seem to copyand paste them.
Thank you.
Matt Platis
Site Admin
Posts: 143
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 7:54 pm
Location: Logan, UT

Re: Thak you.

Post by Matt Platis »

jasonb wrote:Dear Mr Davis and row.
P.s. Could any one help me with posting my own images as I can not seem to copyand paste them.
Thank you.
The images you want to post have to be hosted somewhere. You can host them through some free image hosting places. I have my own hosting account to host the images.

Anyone have a suggestion?
~Matt
Raj
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:07 pm
Location: UK

Post by Raj »

You can try www.imageshack.us or www.photobucket.com to host your photos/scans.
I use imageshack as you don't have to register. When you upload the images, they give you the various URLs/HTML tags you need to show the photos/scans on websites or forum posts.
jasonb
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:06 pm
Location: Norfolk, England

Post by jasonb »

Aha great guys thanks very much, your help is absolutely appreciated.
Next time that I post a Question or reply I will do my best to show one of my Pin-ups as I am still working on a scene-by-scene piece.

As always Thank You.
Sincerely Jason. :D
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