Comics Terminology

Page Panel/ frame Gutter (space between panels)

"Camera" angles shot-reverse shot close up long shot Splash panel. Also, splash page (if full page) Bleed (image runs off page) Also, full bleed, image runs off page on all sides. Borderless panel Thought balloon/bubble Speech balloon/ bubble Emanata Narrative box/ voice-over

Other terms Spread: two facing pages in a printed book Recto/verso: technical terms for pages in a spread. Recto = right page, verso = left page Printers spread:the layout of pages for printing. Not the same as a spread in a printed book. Thumbnail: a rough sketch of a comic, delineating placement of figures, word balloons, and background elements, as well as content of word balloons. Pencil: a relatively defined drawing preliminary to the final inked stage. Inks:

the final stage of a comics drawing (applying ink to the pencil guidelines) Mockup: a rough layout of pages to plan a book Paste-up: the final artwork pages ready for printing Indicia: important copyright and other legal information printed in a book, usually at the beginning.

Often comics will contain very sophisticated literary devices, but since it is a visual medium, it is often hard to spot them. Foreshadowing: Authors use a number of techniques to foreshadow, including dialogue that reveals a charactertrait, describing the behaviour of one or more characters, a plot turn that alters thecircumstances for a character, or a brief setting change that divulges information that willbecome crucial later in the story. Similar techniques are used in comics, but often through theart as opposed to the words. Examine the pictures on the next three pages from the wordless graphic novel Tuesday by David Wiesner. 1) What kind of mood do they present? 2) How is this achieved? 3) What is the effect of getting closer and closer to the lizard on the first page?

4) How does the last panel of the first page relate to the double page spread that follows? The twist on the second page is surprising, due to its surreal image of flying frogs, but not unexpected, due to the foreshadowing.. Task: Now, try to write a description of the scene that unfolds over the first three pages of Tuesday.Be as descriptive as you can, and try to make the revelation of the frogs as shocking aspossible (often hard to do when you are writing at a slower pace!)

Onomatopoeia:
Onomatopoeia is where a writer attempts to imitate a sound withwords. This is a technique more often associated with comics thanliterature especially if you have ever seen the 1960s Batman TVseries! Comics have to be very descriptive with their onomatopoeia, as thereis often a lot of action in a single panel and the reader has to knowwhich action the sound refers to. For example, guns will never goBang! in comics, they will go Blam!, Brrrekkk or Braka! Braka!Braka!

Task: Examine a variety of comics, then note down interesting uses of onomatopoeia and what sounds they are describing, e.g. Kunkk a metal door being slammed. Use this technique in your own writing, to make the sounds more interesting and individual. Forget clocks going tick tock - what sound do theyreally make?

Literary Devices with Comics