Hello, everyone, and welcome to Panel by Panel, a periodic exploration of comic panels around The Duck. As we established last time, this week I wanted to mix things up yet again by asking for examples of how you script your comics: namely panel directions.
If you can share your examples of scripts for previous comics with us in the comments, I would appreciate it. I am putting together a larger post that looks at different approaches, and I'll even be digging into my archives and showing you exactly how I script my comics, down to figuring out the panel placements.
You can either post a comment with an example or DM me a link, and I'll put that post together next time. In the meantime though, please fire off those examples of your comic scripts. It doesn't need to be whole scripts, I am just looking for examples that show how you plan out your comic in writing before you draw it.
If you don't do that, then any comments about your actual process would be perfect. I am aiming to do a much longer form post than usual. Thank you.
If you want to find earlier editions of Panel By Panel, click here.
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Panel By Panel: How Do You Script?
hpkomic at 8:53PM, June 21, 2024
3 likes!
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PaulEberhardt at 2:21PM, June 23, 2024
I do use scripts, but they're such a messy affair and in several languages at that, I doubt whether anyone other than me could really make sense of them. I just let my imagination drift and jot it down, almost stream-of-consciousness style.
KAM at 4:30PM, June 22, 2024
When I tried writing comic scripts that I hoped would be drawn by others many, many years ago I wrote in a modified play format. (Page # (Description, if needed) -return, tab- Panel # (Description, if needed) -return, double tab- Character: Natter grommish ipsum loren). But since it's just me I've gotten lazier. ;-) A typical 'script' these days is the dialogue and maybe a brief description of what to draw, but usually it's just the dialogue. Although sometimes I forget to write anything down, draw the picture and have to make up new dialogue since I forgot the old dialogue. D'oh!
J_Scarbrough at 8:37AM, June 22, 2024
I'm kinda in the same boat as Casscade with this one, when it comes to comics, I don't necessarily script the dialogue, persay, I just kind of figure out in my head what sort of dialogue I want my characters to say, and from there try to visualize how I can layout the text and set up the imagery within each panel to ensure there's room for everything. Sometimes it can be quite challenging depending on how many panels are fit into a page, and how much dialogue is to be spoken, such as these two pages which, unfortunately, became quite dialogue-heavy: https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Vampire_Girl/5731168/ https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Vampire_Girl/5742917/ Otherwise, if I have a feeling a certain page is going to be a little more difficult to compose, I still don't necessarily script it so much as I will do like a little rough thumbnail sketch to figure out how to layout and compose the page before I start working on it.
usedbooks at 6:39AM, June 22, 2024
I go through multiple script drafts. Usually at least three versions, but often I have to start over. (I script years in advance. I try to write down any idea I have as soon as I have it.) Then just before I make the page, I write the last script fragment to make a thumbnail page, then a full page art draft, then the page. Example -- https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/media/users/usedbooks/assets/IMG_20240622_093255998.jpg
Casscade at 5:46AM, June 22, 2024
Examples: Blobs: https://withdrawncomic.cfw.me/files/7blob.png Refined blobs: https://withdrawncomic.cfw.me/files/fin7.png Final: https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/media/users/Casscade/comics/Withdrawn/web/4fmveidipp.png
Casscade at 5:44AM, June 22, 2024
I personally don't script because the dialogue ends up feeling too stiff for me. I do jot lines down on my phone as they come out, but that's as far as I go with 'scripting' lol. I'm better at seeing things visually, so I just draw mine out instead. Sometimes I have the dialogue in my head, other times I only have a vague idea- but either way they all start as blobs first. From there, I act out the scene over and over (secretly, in a way that no one can see lmao) until I come up with little bits and pieces of dialogue that I like. Then I slowly fill out, tweak, and add panels to the base blobs as I go along. When I'm happy with what I have, then I refine the blob to prep it for the sketching phase. Annnd that's my dumb way of how I handle things! lol Hopefully this disaster of a paragraph makes sense because my process is all over the place. XD