How to avoid floating heads?

[TheLemmaLlama]

Thanks guys, I guess a combination of these really would work for most situations though the best use of them depends on the context I guess drawing what they're talking about is more for new things the readers don't know yet than the characters' reactions to stuff that's already happened?

That's a pretty helpful source No idea what Ben Day means though XD

Should action? I don't quite follow I didn't get bored reading that comic though XD

[yvettegustafsson]

Agree with SeraphicMayin WallyWood's 22 panels is a great reminder when stuck in a frame. I prefer this before having the characters talk a lot in one speech bubble. However, it's easy to forget the disposition, so it's definitely something to print and pin on the wall!

[maximumthemokona]

Just wanted to add, for some experimental / slice-of-life visual novels it's acceptable to not have a lot of variation in the panels. In these cases the "boring" art can serve to attract attention to the dialogue instead. But your writing needs to be really, really good.

[TheLemmaLlama]

I'm ... not that sure what you mean by disposition Interesting point about the experimental/slice-of-life comics though Sometimes I wonder whether webcomic creators are too paranoid and pay too much attention to stuff the average reader wouldn't even notice subconsciously ... XD

[hades]

Watch films.
Seriously.

Take your favorite film and analyze it.
Pause scenes to see how it was framed. See how they handled heavy dialog. How did they approach it? You can get such different results from various films that can later be applied to your own comics.

Cinematography is a wonderful thing that I feel gets booted out of the comic world by sheer accident or ignorance when you are first starting out. I've learned more from my time of wanting to be an animator and applying that. ;]

[Luie]

I keep reading the title and thinking you mean this:

[Cielle]

my first chapter is pretty much just two characters talking while sitting at a table. There's a lot of potential for that to be incredibly boring, so rather than just showing them at the table, I've mixed up the shots as well as thrown in some panels that illustrate what they're talking about/thinking about. I included a flashback as well to change up the scenery.
where the whole scene actually takes place:

flashback:

what they're imagining:

creative backgrounds:

My story is comedic in nature, so I have a bit more freedom to do zany things, but as long as you're creative (and as long as the conversation isn't boring), I think it's fairly easy to avoid talking head syndrome.