A lot of scripts I'm seeing from the I-wanna-write-comic-book guys are coming over in prose form i.e. written like a novel as if their name is Stephen King or Richard Castle (heh!).
Just like a movie script, a comic book script is different from a novel.
Now luckily - comic books scripts don't technically have a standard format but the basics are usually the same.
- An issue of a comic is usually 22-25 pages.
- A graphic novel is usually a compilation of several issues.
- A script for a comic will describe each page in page number, number of panels, characters and actions in each panel, and dialogue and captions that occur in that panel and finally any sound effects that might be needed.
After that it's usually the individual writer that puts his spin on that information. He or she might say - "Panel 2 is the big panel on this one" or "In panel 3 Desdemona will begin to look feint so maybe have her eyes a little wonky."
For actual comic book scripts check out the following link.
http://www.comicbookscriptarchive.com/a ... e-scripts/
How to format a comic book script
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How to format a comic book script
Last edited by TannerArt on Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Lucas Brazzi
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Yeah. I won't work on those. The script is not prose. A comic script is more closely related to a screenplay which is a factual piece of work. YOu can't put stuff like "And he hated what he was hearing from Louis, but he hid it the best he could for the sake of Marge." - That kind of writing belongs in a novelized book.
Below is a single page sample. Generally speaking a comic book script will have only one page or two per script to describe just one page. It will be double spaced. And let's say that page 5 of your script runs over a single page but only uses the top 6th of the next page - the page 6 work of your script will be on the NEXT page and not on the 2nd page of the page 5 descriptions.
Below is a single page sample. Generally speaking a comic book script will have only one page or two per script to describe just one page. It will be double spaced. And let's say that page 5 of your script runs over a single page but only uses the top 6th of the next page - the page 6 work of your script will be on the NEXT page and not on the 2nd page of the page 5 descriptions.
Writing and Illustrating the graphic novel by daniel cooney. I'm a writer that had no idea how to script write so i got this book, its a general overview yes but it gave me a good starting point for story writers like myself and ive had good feedback. Also it gives us writers a better idea what you artists do.
I recommend the DC Comic's series of books for people who want to do comics work, and one outside of that for coloring - Hi-Fi Color for Comics by Brian and Kristy Miller.
This is the DC writing book on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Guide-W ... 848&sr=8-1
(Could a mod of this forum sticky this post... comic writers here need to learn script formats...)
This is the DC writing book on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Guide-W ... 848&sr=8-1
(Could a mod of this forum sticky this post... comic writers here need to learn script formats...)
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dbppres
dbppres,
That's not how it works in the real world though.
Professionally, you need to be good enough to do the work, and your writer needs to be good enough to explain the story without you ever needing to be on a "webcam". Besides, any amateur editorial relationship by the new up and coming writer needs to be defined - in most cases the new writer doesn't know how to tell a story visually - that's the artist's job. If for some reason the writer feels the need to have input on the page layouts, then it falls to the professional method of doing it... thumbnail sketches of the proposed page for editorial preview before advancing to the pencil rough phases or even remotely close to doing final art phases.
Generally speaking it goes.
Art-Thumbnails. (In theory you can thumbnail an entire book - 22 pages - in a day or three... depending on all the various specs)
Editor-Approval. (or they ask to make changes here... hence doing thumbnails...)
Art-Pencil Roughs based off approved thumbnails. (If you're not drawing digitally then I suggest a lightbox or using the grid technique. I sell homemade ones in SoCal - commercial ones are very expensive.)
Editor-Approval.
Art-Pencils.
Editor-Approval.
Art-Inks.
Editor-Approval.
(Then it goes to your color artist and your letterer - generally at the same time, and as long as both parties work off the exact same base file it works out.)
Although truthfully it all depends on the artists relationship with the editor. And writer's ARE NOT editors. Telling a story visually is what a comic book writer is supposed to be able to do - minus doing the actual art - although I have worked with writers who were able to thumbnail the pages for me... those guys rock.
These guys who send me prose and expect it to get magically turned into a comic book don't know how to do that.
It's the artist's job to visually tell the story - to add length and space - to turn dynamic visuals into eye candy that makes a reader go "oooh!" and "ahhh!".
It's the writer's job to provide a well thought out script (not a prose book) for the artist to follow and understand.
That's not how it works in the real world though.
Professionally, you need to be good enough to do the work, and your writer needs to be good enough to explain the story without you ever needing to be on a "webcam". Besides, any amateur editorial relationship by the new up and coming writer needs to be defined - in most cases the new writer doesn't know how to tell a story visually - that's the artist's job. If for some reason the writer feels the need to have input on the page layouts, then it falls to the professional method of doing it... thumbnail sketches of the proposed page for editorial preview before advancing to the pencil rough phases or even remotely close to doing final art phases.
Generally speaking it goes.
Art-Thumbnails. (In theory you can thumbnail an entire book - 22 pages - in a day or three... depending on all the various specs)
Editor-Approval. (or they ask to make changes here... hence doing thumbnails...)
Art-Pencil Roughs based off approved thumbnails. (If you're not drawing digitally then I suggest a lightbox or using the grid technique. I sell homemade ones in SoCal - commercial ones are very expensive.)
Editor-Approval.
Art-Pencils.
Editor-Approval.
Art-Inks.
Editor-Approval.
(Then it goes to your color artist and your letterer - generally at the same time, and as long as both parties work off the exact same base file it works out.)
Although truthfully it all depends on the artists relationship with the editor. And writer's ARE NOT editors. Telling a story visually is what a comic book writer is supposed to be able to do - minus doing the actual art - although I have worked with writers who were able to thumbnail the pages for me... those guys rock.
These guys who send me prose and expect it to get magically turned into a comic book don't know how to do that.
It's the artist's job to visually tell the story - to add length and space - to turn dynamic visuals into eye candy that makes a reader go "oooh!" and "ahhh!".
It's the writer's job to provide a well thought out script (not a prose book) for the artist to follow and understand.
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dbppres
unless a writer is willing to micro-scrutinize the tiniest detail of the composition of each panel, then the artist is going to take the initiative, to fill in, those tiny, but possibly significant details, and possibly cause frustration and/or aggravation for the writer's vision.
a webcam, ENSURES that such things almost never occur, on an irreparable extent.
a webcam, ENSURES that such things almost never occur, on an irreparable extent.
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Greg Stephens
- Forum Founder
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I'm aware of your fetish for working with a writer watching you. You seem to be under the impression that this will save you time from having to redo your art. I can reason that you go straight to final art and don't develop your pages via a production process as outlined below. And honestly - it's a selfish and unprofessional demand on the writers you are offering to work with.
You are learning how this works still - that's obvious. I'll boil it down to basics so we can return this thread to what it's really about... how a comic writer is supposed to format his or her scripts.
The writer writes a script (not a prose style story) that details: # of panels per page, # of pages, the action and characters happening in each panel and all dialogue and lettering needed per panel. They should also include any story specific details that they deem important to each panel should it be something necessary to the storytelling. This is important info in a script... and you should be able to visualize it from the script... the pacing of the story is all dependent on the script.
Assuming in your world writer also means editor...
The professional artist will do thumbnails - if on paper usually about 2 inches by 3 inches in size (however it's all personal choice how one does thumbs). These are very fast layout ideas based on the script - usually very messy and only meant to design the layout and structure of each page. You can do several of these one day - I can personally do about 5 or 6 which is a good divisible number of the number of pages in a book. Editors ALWAYS approve thumbnails before the artist moves on to the rough pencils. If they see something in this stage it's easy to adjust the thumbnails and send them back for re-approval.
Once thumbnails are approved - the artist can begin the rough pencils phase - based on the approved thumbnails. SOMETIMES an editor will want to see rough pencils... it's often true at the beginning of a relationship that the editor will want to see each stage until they become comfortable with your abilities and storytelling style. If the editor is not approving rough pencils, the corrections should be minor and easily fixable, and not major since your roughs are based on the approved thumbnails.
Once roughs are approved, it's time to either go straight to inks aka finishes or tight pencils depending on your production schedule. Personally, I go straight to inks after my roughs phase... doing tight pencils is redundant in my style and work process.
This is how Jim Lee works. This is how they all work.
Feel free to continue your one-man war on having someone watch you on your webcam while you work. But please don't do it in this thread. This thread is for writer's to learn what to do to work with us. Not the other way around.
(edit: Thanks Greg. You posted yours while I was writing my reply... kinda funny.)
You are learning how this works still - that's obvious. I'll boil it down to basics so we can return this thread to what it's really about... how a comic writer is supposed to format his or her scripts.
The writer writes a script (not a prose style story) that details: # of panels per page, # of pages, the action and characters happening in each panel and all dialogue and lettering needed per panel. They should also include any story specific details that they deem important to each panel should it be something necessary to the storytelling. This is important info in a script... and you should be able to visualize it from the script... the pacing of the story is all dependent on the script.
Assuming in your world writer also means editor...
The professional artist will do thumbnails - if on paper usually about 2 inches by 3 inches in size (however it's all personal choice how one does thumbs). These are very fast layout ideas based on the script - usually very messy and only meant to design the layout and structure of each page. You can do several of these one day - I can personally do about 5 or 6 which is a good divisible number of the number of pages in a book. Editors ALWAYS approve thumbnails before the artist moves on to the rough pencils. If they see something in this stage it's easy to adjust the thumbnails and send them back for re-approval.
Once thumbnails are approved - the artist can begin the rough pencils phase - based on the approved thumbnails. SOMETIMES an editor will want to see rough pencils... it's often true at the beginning of a relationship that the editor will want to see each stage until they become comfortable with your abilities and storytelling style. If the editor is not approving rough pencils, the corrections should be minor and easily fixable, and not major since your roughs are based on the approved thumbnails.
Once roughs are approved, it's time to either go straight to inks aka finishes or tight pencils depending on your production schedule. Personally, I go straight to inks after my roughs phase... doing tight pencils is redundant in my style and work process.
This is how Jim Lee works. This is how they all work.
Feel free to continue your one-man war on having someone watch you on your webcam while you work. But please don't do it in this thread. This thread is for writer's to learn what to do to work with us. Not the other way around.
(edit: Thanks Greg. You posted yours while I was writing my reply... kinda funny.)
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dbppres
your writer needs to be good enough to explain the story without you ever needing to be on a "webcam". (TannerArt)
do you see what you wrote there? THINK about what that truly entails, ok? a panel's composition is going to visually relate "the total sum of all details" in that panel, which means, as i've mentioned more than once, micro-scrutinizing all of the details. I.E. the direction of character concentration/focus, intended interactive direction of various actions, etc. THOSE details.
so no, im not trying to distract anyone from the importance of this subject, because i read that sample, and it IS missing some of those important little touches, that the writer visualized in his/her conception of their project, that will make it complete.
do you see what you wrote there? THINK about what that truly entails, ok? a panel's composition is going to visually relate "the total sum of all details" in that panel, which means, as i've mentioned more than once, micro-scrutinizing all of the details. I.E. the direction of character concentration/focus, intended interactive direction of various actions, etc. THOSE details.
so no, im not trying to distract anyone from the importance of this subject, because i read that sample, and it IS missing some of those important little touches, that the writer visualized in his/her conception of their project, that will make it complete.
For anyone remotely interested in this: dbppres' full thoughts on process can be viewed in this thread here: http://www.zwol.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4191 And I expect him to reply to this note there... as that is where my reply for his comment from here will be.your writer needs to be good enough to explain the story without you ever needing to be on a "webcam". (TannerArt)
do you see what you wrote there? THINK about what that truly entails, ok? a panel's composition is going to visually relate "the total sum of all details" in that panel, which means, as i've mentioned more than once, micro-scrutinizing all of the details. I.E. the direction of character concentration/focus, intended interactive direction of various actions, etc. THOSE details.
so no, im not trying to distract anyone from the importance of this subject, because i read that sample, and it IS missing some of those important little touches, that the writer visualized in his/her conception of their project, that will make it complete.
So, back to the original topic...
For anyone that can't find the books referenced above (or can't afford to get them, though most libraries in the many places I've lived have almost always had the DC book) here's a very good site that will cost you nothing more than the time it takes to read it, Joe Edkin's "Writing for Comic Books" http://mysite.verizon.net/joe_edkin/wfcb_writing.html. Chapter Five is specific to scripting, but it's good info all the way through.
For anyone that can't find the books referenced above (or can't afford to get them, though most libraries in the many places I've lived have almost always had the DC book) here's a very good site that will cost you nothing more than the time it takes to read it, Joe Edkin's "Writing for Comic Books" http://mysite.verizon.net/joe_edkin/wfcb_writing.html. Chapter Five is specific to scripting, but it's good info all the way through.
That's pretty good info Z.
I think the thing that will help most writers is reading the DC, Marvel and other scripts in the link I posted in an earlier post. I know I learned to write that way - although since I generally draw what I write I can leave out a lot of details as long as I get the story meat down.
Seeing how professional writers do it is a huge boon.
The most important thing is a good story structure. Good pacing... knowing that they can write empty panels is also good. There are so many nuances to telling a story and the writer is one part of the team with the pencil artist. The artist needs to be equal parts DP, extras casting, production designer, costume design, special effects supervisor, physics expert, physician (if the artist doesn't study anatomy then well... damn... you just gotta know anatomy to be a comic book artist...)
Read the scripts and compare them to the real books - it will be a huge help.
I think the thing that will help most writers is reading the DC, Marvel and other scripts in the link I posted in an earlier post. I know I learned to write that way - although since I generally draw what I write I can leave out a lot of details as long as I get the story meat down.
Seeing how professional writers do it is a huge boon.
The most important thing is a good story structure. Good pacing... knowing that they can write empty panels is also good. There are so many nuances to telling a story and the writer is one part of the team with the pencil artist. The artist needs to be equal parts DP, extras casting, production designer, costume design, special effects supervisor, physics expert, physician (if the artist doesn't study anatomy then well... damn... you just gotta know anatomy to be a comic book artist...)
Read the scripts and compare them to the real books - it will be a huge help.