Comic Book Techniques (Year 11) Flashcards
panel
a box that contains a given scene.
cliffhanger
a narrative technique used to sustain the reader’s interest level; biggest cliffhanger is usually placed at the end of a comic.
symbols
a technique used to save time and convey commonly accepted meanings that are easily recognised.
the front cover
advertising or promotional page used to sell the comic.
the narration box
all other types of text aside from word balloons and thought bubbles.
motion lines
create the illusion of movement, lines designed to show the movement of characters - more lines create a sense of speed and pace within the panel.
mood
created through lighting, background and how thick or thin lines are drawn. Thick lines are dark, threatening; thin lines convey a sense of relief and wild lines create a sense of weirdness.
Tail
pointer leading from balloon to speaker.
Time
repeated panels to create the passing of time. Key phrases in narration boxes are also commonly used to show time - ‘later in space’, ‘next morning’ ‘some time later’ and ‘meanwhile’.
Tier
row of panels (left to right) on the page.
Thought bubbles
tell the reader what characters are thinking.
Word bubbles
the container of a text-dialogue spoken by a character.
Sound effects
the objective of the illustrator is to draw the word reflecting its shape to show its sound, onomatopoeic words are commonly used - eg ‘biff’, ‘bang’ and ‘boom’.
border
the outline of a panel
Gutters
the space between the panels
