Framed Ink - Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers

CONTENT

Foreword

Introduction

CHAPTER 1: General Thoughts on Narrative Art

• Think, feel. What is the whole story, the specific sequence, the shot about?
• How do we bring an audience into our world?
• The general tone of the story / Consistency
• Not telling the audience things, but making them feel things

CHAPTER 2: Drawing and Composing a Single Image (Basics)

• Atmosphere
• Lighting
• Drawing in chiaroscuro
• Studying reality as it appears in front of us
• Working the flat surface / A basic checklist
• A quick word on lenses

CHAPTER 3: Composing Shots with a Purpose

Introduction

Part 1: The visual message within a still composition (analyzing examples)

• The restaurant (a general case)
• Establishing shots
• Animating the scene
• Looking down, feeling down
• Overpowering upshots
• Using the negative space
• Order vs. Chaos
• Complex vs. Simple
• Big vs. Small
• Angular vs. Curved
• The "tree vs. forest" effect (numbers)
• Big, medium, small
• Landscape as a character
• Conceal and reveal (emotions)
• Weird beats, weird shots
• POV (point of view)
• Daytime / Nighttime
• Keeping the focal point
• Scale progression
• Knowledge vs. unawareness (intercutting)
• Beyond the standard points of interest (icons)
• Action shots

Part 2: Working with motion

• Camera move within the set / Camera motivation
• Horizontal pan (The train station)
• Vertical pan (Epic shot)
• Changes in the mood (The visit)
• Reveal (A new land)
• Locking the camera (Road diner)
• Locking the camera (High desert meeting)

CHAPTER 4: Composing for Continuity

• How one thing affects the next: thinking in continuity
• Why build up to a climax?
  • Ramping up (1) - Train flat from the side
  • Ramping up (2) - Train in perspective
• Using the same elements we can deliver very different messages
  • "Cowboys" Part 1: Keeping the camera on the same spot
  • “Cowboys" Part 2: Changing the camera position with a purpose
• Using the same elements we can deliver very different messages / Transitions ....
  • “The Bikers" Part 1: Mystery house
  • "The Bikers” Part 2: Mobsters in the attic
• The line

CHAPTER 5: The Graphic Novel

• Introduction
• Part 1: The characters
  • Overall silhouette / The head
  • Overall silhouette / The body
  • Dynamics of expression / The face
  • Dynamics of expression / The body
• Part 2: The panel and the page
  • The panel
  • The page
  • Balloons and onomatopoeias

Last Thoughts

Index