Alright, kids.
We're going to talk about comic script writing.
The first thing to keep in mind is that... and Dwayne McDuffie said it a lot better than me:
Note that there is no industry standard format for plots or scripts. This is just the way I do it. In general comic scripting is somewhere between screen writing, prose and movie direction You're going to need to dictate action, delineate dialog and set the pace of the story. You can be as wordy, or as spartan as you like with your descriptions, somebody like Alan Moore is essentially writing a novel broken up into panels when he generates a script
http://fourcolorheroes.home.insightbb.com/killingjokescript.htmlSee? Guy's pretty verbose.
There are a few key rules that you have to wrap your head around and after that, you're pretty much golden.
In my opinion the most important rule is
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CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA- You're going to need to treat your camera... and by extension your readers as an ever-present, lethargic all-seeing character. When you set your scene, where exactly are we seeing it from? Is there any reason for that? There doesn't have to be, but it's worth some thought.
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SOMEBODY IS GOING TO DRAW THIS- So please try and keep their sanity in mind. Try and keep impossible shots or absurd things like multiple actions for a single person in one panel to a minimum, please.
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/- The '/' is typically used to denot the separation of word balloons in a single panel. This can be useful if you like to break up dialog for effect.
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Let us know where we are- Generally in comics and in films, the first time we see a location, there's a establishing shot letting us know that there's been a scene change, and more importantly where the scene's changed to... this isn't always the case, but most times it is. In your script, whenever you switch a scene, you should make it known.
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Words aren't good or bad... they're powerful. Use them wisely and sparingly- You know how sometimes you'll be reading a comic and you're kind of getting into it and then BAM! You run into like three pages that are just like walls of text and talking heads? It ruins your whole day right? Well maybe not, but another rule of thumb: Try to keep track of how many words you're using per panel. I generally feel that thirty is pushing it and any more kind of becomes unweildy to fit into a panel on a two-tiered six panel page where there's any sort of action. Your mileage may vary, but I severely doubt it.
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What's that look like?- The first time something important shows up, whether it's a person or a magical talking wristwatch, describe it.
Ok, so here are some terms that you should probably know and use.
Worm's Eye View(WEV)- The camera's on the ground and looking up at the subject. Good for making something look big or powerful
Bird's Eye View- The camera's up above and looking down on the subject. Good for making something seem introspective, or give a feeling of unease/being watched
Close up (CU)- The camera's focused in tight on something. Usually something important.
Medium shot- a kind of standard shot where you can see most if not all of the subject. Generally played very straight
Wide shot- The camera's pulled pretty far out from the subject. We can see all of the subject and of fair bit of their surroundings.
Establishing shot(EST.)- a shot establishing location.
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FORMAT-Ok, so the meat and potatoes of things. HOW DO I WRITE FOR SCRIPT?! Ain't no thang, baby. I'll show you how yours truly formats a script. The meat of the thing goes Page->panels->descriptions/action->dialog
Pg 1 Setting: Hell's Belles: a fine eatery
P1-Establishing shot- We open on a rather bland rectangular building. The exterior's painted a gaudy, stinging purple and the windows are all painted black. A tacky neon sign reads 'Hell's Belles'. There's a lone car in the nearly empty parking lot, A modest green affair. A man walks toward the front door. This is Leon Apostoasy, the greatest salesman in the universe.
P2- The camera closes in and we can see that he's a grizzled blond fellow. He's wearing a tacky plaid shirt and tan pants.
P3- The interior of Hell's Belles, the camera is facing the door's Leon opens it and sticks his head in.
Leon: Anybody home?/ I got lots of great crap to sell you.../ I mean unless you're vampires./ Leon HATES vampires
P4- The camera swings around to Leon's point of view and now we can see that Hell's Belles is a sort of Golden Corral style steakhouse. There's a hostess, standing right in front of us. She's smiling her ass off. Her name tag reads Rae
Rae: We're not vampires silly, but we don't allow solicitors here/ so I'm going to have to ask you to leave
P5- Leon is now standing just inside the door. He's got an incredulous look on his face.
Leon: Have to go?! Little girl, do you know who I am? I'm LEON APOSTASY! I killed that hydra in detroit!
P6- Medium shot, as Leon aggresively positions his pointer finger right at the end of Rae's nose. He's angry and sneering.
Leon: After I sold it some VERY nice bedroom shoes!
Rae: Get your finger out of my face, sir.
So there you go. If you think I left something out, or you have any questions just post them below and when I awake from the coma I'm about to swim into, I'll answer them!
COMA: ACTIVATE