Mastering Visual Storytelling - Angles, Shots, and Camerawork for Comics
Mastering Visual Storytelling - Angles, Shots, and Camerawork for Comics
One of the unique storytelling features of comics is how an artist choreographs story beats and action through intentional camera placement and movement. Veteran comic book artist Mike Hawthorne provides an introduction on how to use camera angles and shots to pace visual storytelling in comics. He compares comic layouts to cinematography, advising artists to choose shots that best convey the story, like closeups for emotional moments and long shots to establish settings.
Mike demonstrates how to use different angles like worm's eye and bird's eye views to build atmosphere and perspective. He analyzes example comic pages, explaining how he mixes shots on a page and moves the camera to underscore character relationships and lead the reader's eye. Mike also stresses the importance of research and acting choices to make the most of angles and advises using extreme closeups sparingly for biggest impact.
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