I tried and struggled with storyboarding 1 page of a short comic I've been wanting to do and it feels like I would've saved much more time if I had a few references in my script.
So I was wondering if any of you guys have references stored up when you storyboard, and if so what's your process like!
Apr '24
May '24
Yeah I always get stuck storyboarding 
I usually take a bunch of comics from my bookshelf to look through while I do it, it helps a lot with layout inspiration!
I don't use refrerences while boarding. I generally have an image in my mind when writing, so I write very visually. When it's time to board, the text on the page easily translates back into an image for me to draw.
The hardest part for me is that I see the scenes in animated form haha. SO I need to kinda take mental snapshots of the most interesting keyframes
First is to always assume your reader is consuming your work on a phone regardless of how you make your art.
Webtoon format?
Layouts don't really matter despite what the Tapas hint page tells you. The audience scrolls by too fast to take in your efforts to control the passage of time in your comic. Draw big and compose simply if you want to meet them on their terms.
They read like pigs at the trough so you have no choice but to shovel it in. The only excuse for a lot of small close-up panels is to avoid drawing backgrounds. The reader will scroll through your action scene at the same speed they scroll through your dialog.
You could try the extremely lame large empty space with a single word balloon if you really want to try to control the pacing but they'll just roll through that even faster.
Your composition focus in an infinite scroll should be the panels themselves. Rule of Thirds is brain dead easy to use. But in the end everything will just be stacked on each other like a pile of shipping containers because that's the format.
Be clever sparingly. They're not there for clever. They're there to scroll as they poo.
Printed page format?
Not that readers don't skim these like they do a webtoon format comic, but the physical act of needing to read side to side, and turn/ load a new page does slow things down.
As a general rule your page should lead to either a moment that will be resolved in the last panel. Or it should be setting up something to be resolved on the next page. The end of the page is a break in the action.
Resolution on page.
ex 1- Holmes discusses the evidence with Watson. Six panels of clues. Last panel: "Clearly we're dealing with Mormon Ninjas my good man!"
ex 2- Two men are having a sword fight on a cliff. Four panels showing the back and forth. “I know something you don’t know.” Pause. “And what is that?” Last Panel: “I’m not left-handed.”
Set up for next page.
ex 1- The hero steps back from the villain he just punched. The villain laughs, "This is not even my final form!" Three panels. Last panel: "URAAAAAAAAAH!"
ex 2- Party looks down upon the fallen monster and wonder what to do next. "I have a great recipe for cockatrice!" says the dwarf as he takes out his wok. Final panel: "NO!" yells the elf.
The number of panels is merely how many you need to set up that break point. If you have a long set up, create a natural break in the dialog.
ex - Blah blah blah particle physics blah blah. Ten panels. Final panel: "deep breath"
A word about panel layouts
If they're all dutch angles with a lot of dynamic poses, not only will it look like you're trying to hide things you're weak at (backgrounds), it'll be a jumbled mess for the eye to follow. This is a flaw I see a lot in webtoons and in modern cape comics.
Save the action panels for the action scenes. They will pop more when used.
tl;dr- You don't need references. You just need to think about what you're writing a little more.
I was aware of storyboarding but never used it for my comic. Everything is set in my mind. I know how starts, what's at the center and how it ended.
This is about how much planning I'd put into a page before the storyboarding process and its precisely why I want to be looking for page inspiration while doing my actual comic page layout. I know I want the last panel to be the "I'm not left-handed" reveal. I know I want four panels of fencing and I want to indicate a pause as the opponent considers what they might not know that the other guy knows. It could all feel very easy in my head but when the time comes to put my brain vision on paper I might realize it's more complicated that I thought. Are four panels really important to communicate that they are fencing and in that case, why? Which panels are less important and can be smaller and which ones to I want to be bigger and more attention grabbing? Do I want two panels to indicate the pause or do I want to use another tool for such a thing? Is the last panel a closeup of the right-handed fencer's smug face or a full-body pose showing how they changed hands?
It's about a 50/50 chance that I can solve these questions by myself or if I want to thumb through comics in with a similar panel layout style as what I'm aiming for. I think it's a good way to learn how to make your own pages better.
None of them. The panel layout is there to deliver the idea as clearly as possible and they all serve that goal.
A comics page is usually a single idea. A gag strip has Set-up, Expectation, Punchline and a page of a story comic isn't much different. Simple panels are good because that effectively gets the idea across. You seem to be getting hung up on the layout or the look of it.
Page layout exists solely to deliver the idea and everything else follows from that.
Goku turning Super Saiyan for the first time
Idea conveyed on page: Goku is so angry at what Frieza just did that he becomes the the legendary Super Saiyan.
Set-up: Goku's brain breaks.
Expectation: His hair turns white (Yellow in the anime)
Punchline: Everyone is shocked at what they see. (What do they see? Turn the page.)
Panel 1 is small because we only need to see that Goku is shaken. Panel 2 is a close up to show that something has snapped inside. Panel 3 is an extreme close up to show that last moment before he becomes something new. Panel 4 is tall because his hair is now tall and white. Panel 5 is small, but it only needs to show Gohan's shock. Panel 6 is bigger because it needs to show that Frieza is still up in the sky and yet even he doesn't understand what's about to happen.
Note that the panel shapes are rather normal. They are not designed in an exciting manner at all. Toriyama was a master because he knew readability was job one. This is the most important moment of the story and he needs everything to be as clear as a church bell. A lot of Dutch angles and zigzag panels would ruin that. The page layout serves the need of the idea.
Gohan vs Buu
Idea: Gohan is hella powerful and hands Buu his ass.
Set-up: The much bigger Buu gets angry and takes a swing.
Expectation: Nope.
Punchline: Gohan beats his ass.
This idea took five panels to convey because Toriyama decided that was the number needed. See the angled panels on the bottom? Buu is much taller than Gohan. The panels are laid out to make sure that size difference is always clear. Page layout must serve the needs of the idea- Little guy beats up big guy.
So look at your script. What idea did you want to convey on, say, page ten? Think about how many panels you need to convey that idea. Think about how to deliver it clearly. If that means nine equal rectangles on a page then it's nine equal rectangles.
Another artist's work is how THEY found a way to convey THEIR ideas and that's why you shouldn't copy it. Also, if you can find it so can someone looking to embarrass you.
If your script is rambling in the webtoon infinite scroll manner and you can't convey an idea in the page format, rewrite it so it does. That's how you make your own pages better.
Maybe I didn't express myself clearly, since what you're doing here is exactly what I meant I do when I look at other artists' work. This is studying the work of another creator and figuring why they made the choices choices they made and why it works so well. This is a good thing that will help you figure out your own layouts in the future. And you did these analysis, do you not think that what you learned from it will help your own creation process?
^ is this not the same as:
In that example, panel 1 is not the important on this page. The most important moment, is Goku turning super saiyan, and thus panel 4 is the biggest panel. Toriyama made the decision to let the most important moment take up the most space on the page, along with all the decisions you also said.
Meanwhile, the nine panel layout grid is more common in French comics. So if you want your comic to lok and feel like a bande dessinnée, studying artists such as your other example is a better option than studying manga artists such as Toriyama. But that's a decision you gotta make based on your own style and story.
I never claimed to be copying another artist nor was I implying that copying was a good thing to do. I also don't think that's what the creator of this thread meant when asking about using storyboarding references either.
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