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v__tori asked about: uhhh posing characters interestingly when theyre just like talking or standing around, this is comic related so camera angles factor into that too i guess,,
I’m going to answer the second half of this question in this post (framing), you can find the first part about posing & acting here!:
As with the previous post, I will be focusing largely on sequential story telling (comics, storyboarding, etc), but it will still apply to a single image!
So when framing your shot, you want to think about what exactly it is you’re trying to say.
As an artist, you’ve got two ways of giving your viewers information: Through what they can read (dialogue), and through what they can see.
Writers are often told “show, don’t tell,” and this is just as relevant for art! Wherever possible, you want to show your viewers what it is you’re trying to say to them. Your audience is smart, you don’t need to spell everything out for them.
Where you place your camera changes what the viewer sees, so what is it that you want to tell them? How do you want them to feel about this situation or character?
Here’s a scribbly example for you:
With the first panel, I wanted to mostly focus on Greta w a lil bit of Edel in the shot… but most importantly the view is a little off kilter! :
Tilting the horizon line like this is called a dutch angle, and using it gives a shot a sense of unease, disorientation, or in this case desperate, frantic action! (I also just happen to like drawing stuff slightly from above LMAO)
So: - What is it that I wanted to tell the viewer? Greta is worried about Edel, and there’s some sense of urgency here. - How did I want the viewer to feel? I want the viewer to feel concerned and a little uneasy.
The next panel isn’t really anything special, Greta is the main focus so she’s the only one in the shot! A mid long shot like this lets you see how Greta is acting.
The next 3 panels are closeups of their hands. What I wanted to tell the viewer is that Greta is scared, and how tightly she’s holding onto Edel. So, the focus shifts from Greta’s face to her hands.
Then we zoom back out to some mid long shots so you can see their faces again & how they’re interacting. The sixth panel is also quite close to them, it gives the shot a sense of intimacy!
Does that make sense? I hope so 💦
As with the previous post, I would recommend studying films - this time to get a better understanding of shot framing, and some ideas of what kinds of shots you can use.
With this in mind, why do i think this shot is framed this way?
Your main aim in doing these studies is to try get into the head of the artist/director.
To give you an idea of what you’re looking for when you’re studying these films, lets have a look at a couple scenes from kung fu panda 3:
So: Po goes off to fight Kai, everything’s been building to this point and Po seem’s to get a strong start!
We’re given a wide shot of the two of them sharing equal portions of the screen, on a level plane. As neither one of them dominates the screen, we’re given the impression that they are equals.
Quickly however we learn that Po’s signature move does nothing to Kai, and shown just how much stronger he is than Po. Immediately, Kai is given more screen presence, the angle changes to look up at him, giving that sense that Po is inferior. Because of how the shot is framed, Po is literally beneath Kai.
We’re shown Kai looking down on Po’s fearful expression,
And pretty much every shot after this has us looking up at Kai, low down from the ground, or looking down on Po from high above. The intent here is to create a sense of fear and anxiety, by putting us and/or the protagonist beneath Kai.
These shots are also tilted a little, remember the dutch angle I mentioned earlier? They’re doing the same thing, creating a sense of unease with the unsteady ground plane.
But then these roles are reversed later when the tides change, and Po becomes stronger than Kai. At this point, Po is the one lifted above Kai, and Kai is left looked down upon, giving the viewer a sense of power over him!
While you’re studying these scenes, I recommend doing some 3-tone thumbnail studies to really get a feel for the composition.
Don’t worry about making it look pretty, just try to understand how the shapes are being arranged in the shot. Why do you think the shot designer made these decisions?
The more you try to understand why something has been done this way, the more you can apply it to your own work!
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