Sequential storytelling in VEI books

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erwinrafael
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Sequential storytelling in VEI books

Post by erwinrafael »

Two weeks ago, X-O HoboJoe and I hijacked the Saga thread with our discussion of sequential storytelling techniques in Saga. I promised I will create a thread for the VEI books, and here it is. I've been meaning to start a thread like this so that we can better appreciate how much thought our artists put in their work. They do not just draw pictures, they tell stories!

First example is something that is simple at first glance, but, actually, was designed so intelligently, it's perfect. It's my favorite sequence in VEI so far, by Pere Perez.

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Simple, well illustrated sequence. Here is the analysis.

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I'm geekingly giggling in delight. More examples later!

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jmatt
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Re: Sequential storytelling in VEI books

Post by jmatt »

I like your analysis. Keep going. :thumb:

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ilzuccone
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Re: Sequential storytelling in VEI books

Post by ilzuccone »

I love this kind of stuff!

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erwinrafael
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Favorite title: Archer and Armstrong
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Re: Sequential storytelling in VEI books

Post by erwinrafael »

Here's one of my early favorites. Clayton Henry, using decreasing vertical panel sizes to create a the feeling of getting crushed.

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Very smart choice to use vertical panels. Follow the individual characters, how they are all consistently going down, but with a deliberately larger downwards movement for Armstrong to create the effect that he was the one bearing the brunt of the weight. By the end, you really feel that there is no more space left.

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ilzuccone
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Re: Sequential storytelling in VEI books

Post by ilzuccone »

Here are a couple more thoughts on these 3 panels. Only looking at Pere's drawings.

Pere emphasizes the upward momentum of not only Faith but the mood of the spread with an upward triangle composition (red line). notice faith's jacket, the direction of her face, and the shadows on the tree trunks in the first panel. the hard black tree line in the third panel. all of this leads to faith's face. this spread is all about the "please don't fall moment." which is the highest in the spread.

The yellow line shows a softer counter to the upward triangle. the side of the tree to faith's waist to shoulder wrinkles to the flight path. helps to balance the page and puts some emphasis on the flight. Pere might not have planed this. it could be a side effect of being a good artist.

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finally in order to keep the page from being visually stagnant Pere stagers the heights of the key images. Pere avoids alignments where he doesn't want them and places them where he does (the red triangle).

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great selection erwinrafael!

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RogueJedi74
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Re: Sequential storytelling in VEI books

Post by RogueJedi74 »

Never looked at it that way. Great analysis! :clap:


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