{"id":1629,"date":"2021-02-09T14:29:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T22:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=1629"},"modified":"2023-12-19T14:31:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T22:31:25","slug":"carousel-030-preparing-the-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/carousel-030-preparing-the-script\/","title":{"rendered":"Carousel 030: Preparing the Script"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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CAROUSEL BY JESSE HAMM<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carousel 030: Preparing the Script<\/h1>\n\n\n
Jesse Hamm<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Toucan<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Welcome to my 30th Carousel column! This month marks three years of my columns here on Comic-Con\u2019s Toucan blog, and I\u2019m glad to have you all aboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I\u2019d like to describe six steps that will help you, the Artist, prepare a comics script to be drawn. Comics scripts don\u2019t always arrive on your desk in their easiest-to-draw form\u2014even when you\u2019ve written the script yourself!\u2014so it\u2019s useful to comb through the script before you begin, in order to iron out any potential wrinkles. Supposing you\u2019ve agreed to draw a comics story and the script has arrived in your inbox, what should you do before grabbing a pencil and diving in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. First, give the entire script a brisk read-through, beginning to end. This will familiarize you with its overall mood, and help you begin to visualize the story you\u2019re about to tell. Even before you begin thumbnailing each page, this initial read-through will allow your subconscious mind to start formulating ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Next, save the original script in a digital folder (see Carousel #10<\/strong><\/a> for tips about using folders), in case you need to consult it later, and make yourself a second copy that you can chop up and change. Comb through this \u201cedit copy\u201d and delete or consolidate as many words as possible. The dialogue should remain intact, but you\u2019ll want to get rid of any lengthy descriptions or asides that are inessential to the task of drawing the story. Sometimes the writer will \u201cthink on paper\u201d with passages like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBen casts his troubled gaze out the window. He had never liked autumn days. The falling leaves remind him of death. \u2018Autumn,\u2019 he sighs, reflecting on seasons past. Think of this panel as his \u2018Michael Corleone looking out at the lake\u2019 moment. Use plenty of shadows and have fun with it!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, you will reduce to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BEN (troubled, looking out window): Autumn.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll need to trim the script as much as possible because you are going to be glancing back at it often while you draw, and you won\u2019t have time on those occasions to wade through any superfluous text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Count the panels on each page of the story, and include the panel-count beside each page number. The heading of each page should look something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 1 (5 panels)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panel 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(And so forth.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This panel-count will help you judge at a glance how much space you should grant each panel on that page. Three panels? Plenty of room to play in! Eight panels? You\u2019ll need to do some squeezing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the writer has already included the panel-counts, count the panels anyway. Sometimes a writer will accidentally miscount the panels, which will cost you time and effort if you are thumbnailing a supposedly five-panel page and suddenly realize the page has six panels. (This is especially true of inset panels, which writers may fail to include in their panel count. If you were planning to squeeze Panel 5 into a narrow space, but then you discover in Panel 5\u2019s description that it includes an inset panel, you\u2019ll have to rework the whole page to make room for that inset. Count insets!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Isolate the script of each comics page on its own page of text. Twenty-page comic? Twenty-page script. You don\u2019t want the descriptions and dialogue for Page 1 to continue onto a second or third page of text, because then you\u2019ll be flipping between multiple script pages while you draw Page 1, which is a hassle. If, instead, the script for each page of comics occupies its own text page, you can refer to it in its entirety at a glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully, deleting superfluous words (as we did in Step 2) will reduce the text of each page enough to fit it on a single sheet. If not, shrink the font size enough to make it fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5. Print out these script pages: one sheet of paper per page of your comic. Keep a cork-board near your workspace where you can pin up whichever page of script you are working from. This will allow you to glance at the script while you draw without cluttering up your screen with a text window\u2014or, when drawing traditionally, your desk with an extra sheet of paper. (If you have multiple screens available, such as a laptop AND a tablet, you can skip printing anything and use one screen to display the script page while you draw on the other screen.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However you arrange it, it\u2019s important to refer to the script while you work because you\u2019ll need to ensure that your characters\u2019 faces match the moods described in the script. Otherwise, you risk forgetting that the shouting face you roughed-in earlier was supposed to look happy, and on your final pass you may end up making him looking angry, or vice versa. Many comics have been hampered by the omission of details that the artist forgot somewhere between the first read-through and the final art. Avoid that mistake!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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6. Read the whole script again, this time prepared to add notes in red (or any color that stands out from the text). Circle or highlight any locations, objects, or outfits that are unfamiliar to you and may require reference. This will give you a  \u201cshopping list\u201d to refer to later when you gather reference photos to inform your drawings. (It\u2019s best to gather reference all at once, after thumbnailing but before pencilling, so that you won\u2019t have to interrupt your drawing time to hunt for it, piecemeal, later on.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look also for any panels where characters must interact with their surroundings, such as by opening a door or grabbing a prop, or by placing objects into their pocket or purse. Highlight those moments, reminding yourself to include a door or prop in that location, or to add a pocket or purse to the character\u2019s outfit beforehand. For example, Page 1 of a script might say, \u201cShe enters  a nondescript house,\u201d<\/strong> but later, Page 19 might say, \u201cShe ascends a stairway near the foyer; pulls a flashlight from her purse.\u201d<\/strong> If you designed a stair-less house without checking the whole script, or failed to include a purse with her outfit from the beginning, you\u2019ll have to go back and amend the intervening pages. Avoid that trouble by adding notes like \u201cPURSE\u201d<\/strong> and \u201cSTAIRS NEAR FOYER\u201d <\/strong>to the description on Page 1, during this preliminary pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There. Now your script is ready to be thumbnailed! (Check out Carousel #12 for advice on that<\/em> topic.) This whole process will take a couple of hours and may seem daunting, but it will fast become second nature, and in the long run it will spare you from a thousand little hassles that arise when you haven\u2019t prepped your script. We all have our preferred methods, and these steps aren\u2019t sacrosanct, but do give them a try and see if they don\u2019t improve your workflow, and your results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See you here next month!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carousel by Jesse Hamm appears every month here on <\/em>Toucan! Starting in March, Jesse moves to the third Tuesday of each month.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Jesse Hamm<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n