Cinematic Storytelling and Compositional Pitfalls

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A good comic always starts with good composition. This lesson continues from the previous one on composition and lays out David’s process for cinematic storytelling and how to avoid some of the common mistakes you might run into when making your comic. You’ll learn about camera angles and how your choices for each panel influence your story. If you enjoy this lesson be sure to check out David’s other lessons in his comic drawing course.
RELATED LINKS:
Basics of Comic Composition - • Basics of Comic Compos...
Basics of Comic Shading - • Basics of Comic Shading
#drawingcomics #composition #storytelling
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ABOUT PROKO:
Instructional How to Draw videos for artists. My drawing lessons are approachable enough for beginners and detailed enough for advanced artists. My philosophy is to teach timeless concepts in an entertaining way. I believe that when you are having fun, you learn better. I take pride in producing high quality videos that you will enjoy watching and re-watching.
CREDITS:
Artist | Instructor - David Finch ( / dfinchdrawingtuts )
Producer - Stan Prokopenko (www.stanprokopenko.com), Sean Ramsey (www.peoplewhodrawstuff.com)
Production Assistance - Patrick Bosworth, Sean Ramsey
Editing - Patrick Bosworth (www.patrickdavidbosworth.com)
Publishing - John Birchall, Alex Otis
Music Used with Permission
Intro - The Freak Fandango Orchestra
Additional music by Epidemic Sound

[@ProkoTV]

Save 20% on David’s course and unlock this full lesson and more using code BLACK20 - proko.com/comicpage

[@alexgibson4782]

I like to think of the 180 rule as looking at a stage in a theater. You can sit anywhere you want in the audience to view the scene but you can't sit on the stage.

[@filiurwish1858]

That's a good way to put it! Unless actors themselves switch places you won't see them in a different arrangement.

[@joedgehill2085]

That's a great way to visualize it.. thank you!

[@TheMockatiel]

This was much more easy to visualize for me, thank you 🙂

[@bobstone8446]

Art education is becoming more and more accessible thanks to guys like Proko

[@eddiejones8540]

Feel like a kid sitting on a heroes lap going wow....thank you! I feel I just got better seeing this.

[@ProkoTV]

Me too! He brought up some great concepts that I think get taken for granted until you break them and can't figure out what's wrong with your page.

[@eddiejones8540]

@@ProkoTV I agree!! Im soon to be 52 been doing this ALL my life. I chased this...have been a graphics designer for 27 years but still do comics for my kids etc....my daughter........is AMAZING I taught her just like Finch, Lee, Jusko said she doesnt realize yet how good she is but I see it....and soon others will too! Thank you again! We are Scribed for life!

[@keremaldemir2579]

good stuff, we really need more storytelling/composition lessons on here and finch is absolutely great at it

[@sunshineyrainbows13]

I've heard of these tips before but he teaches them so much better

[@brycetheoddball]

I’ve taken a few storyboarding classes and he explained the 180 rule better than all of them.

[@shadeop6773]

Can you recommend any videos or channels for storyboarding.

[@brycetheoddball]

@@shadeop6773 Well David Finch’s actual channel has plenty of videos on perspective and composition so that’ll be as good as any. Then Aaron Blaise has some as well. Check out Toniko Pantoja’s too go really in depth. Check out Mewtripled as well.

[@hongquiao]

Concerning the 180 rule, the reason it exists in cinema is because video moves (duh) so you have to be careful not to disorient the viewer by changing camera angles and viewpoints all willy-nilly. Comic book panels, however, are static images. Not only that, but speech bubbles point directly at who is speeking. So I feel comics as a medium can take more liberty with that specific rule. If you want more ideas on how to frame dialogue scenes in comics, look up "Wally Wood's 22 panels that always work".

[@danielshowell9512]

True, and you can actually cross the line, if you punch in close up, and then switch sides. I am not gonna lie, watched a long time ago, but Kingsman is a good example of jumping the 180 line.

[@hongquiao]

@@danielshowell9512 The comic or the film?

[@danielshowell9512]

@@hongquiao I meant the movie.

[@rakeshchoudhary7391]

Great artist sir

[@holyoldman6537]

U got that right haha👌

[@elixershorts]

Tru

[@fatihhh2719]

this is so timely. I'm doing a comic for my thesis rn

[@ProkoTV]

Nice! You posting it anywhere online after you submit it?

[@manma6170]

thats sick man, good luck

[@fatihhh2719]

@@ProkoTV depends on how well it turns out 😳 hahahaha

[@fatihhh2719]

@@manma6170 thank you very much!!!

[@rhysbennett1767]

Good luck dude

[@be_me]

I'm here because im currently taking a class at my school (I'm studying media design), that should be teaching me exactly this but has taught me nothing, so far. Like, it's weird, it's supposed to be a drawing class, specifically for comics, storybords and such but somehow were mostly talking about storytelling. Sure, that's an important part of the process but I already have a storytelling class. Anyhow, so now I have to collect bits and pieces off of KZbin to even be able to do my assignments. It's exhausting but at least I am learning something. If I had the money, I'd pay for more Proko classes.

[@artsybiblenerd7416]

I am always learning something new with David Finch.

[@OrangeDragonofDusk]

These tips are very useful! Thanks for sharing

[@galLuzian]

thank for all david

[@gargi.g6598]

Just what I needed and this popped up!!Truly a blessing✨✨

[@everaced]

Snagged the course as soon as I finished watching this. Exactly what I've been looking for!

[@carriebarnes118]

This was so helpful and concise!! Great video

[@lambs5258]

great video, really nice tips- also love the sound effects, that "aww" caught me off guard LOL

[@samankucher5117]

awesome seeing David on proko :)

[@samtonnude941]

Beautiful art, Geez. Comics remain dear to my heart

[@codycloete169]

So happy to know I automatically did this the other day when trying illustrations the first time lol background to establish, expanding shot and then a close up to finish the first 3 panels before moving onto the next part of the page

[@RomuloBarvaArt]

Thank you so much for share these so valuable tips. Finch is a Master.

[@Buddhabellie]

so awesome. i mean just so awesome. thank you for the peak. so gotta do this class..

[@alfredolopezgimeno7503]

Muchas gras a David finch y a proko esto si es un regalazo de navidad

[@swaroopgowdaartdrawing]

Love the approach of teaching..

[@fandeandreaarruti]

I remember seeing a similar video in Mister Finch's channel. So good.

[@habibasaad3107]

really smart and helpful thank you!!

[@Sky_TEC_Illustraition_Systems]

Thank you, Master Finch.

[@Leviathan1000]

you make it look real easy.

[@ineedmorenaruto]

exactly the help i needed!

[@gracevaldez640]

Thank you David

[@christofthedead]

I wonder how much great art the world has missed out on due to art education being held behind such prohibitive paywalls

[@SpaceCowboy1218]

unfortunately those paywalls are generally what allow people to do this work full time, otherwise they'd have to be doing other things to pay their rent/grocery bills.

[@isaaclorrain9269]

@@SpaceCowboy1218 To be fair to Meshuggahner, those paywalls DO become prohibitively expensive in some parts of the world. Like, MONTHS of rent + living expenses worth of income.

[@dawnkravagna3200]

Artists gotta make a living too, somehow, or their talent will be hidden behind widget making jobs to survive.

[@wingsofmae]

Always exception to breaking the rules. The 180 rule is great to break IF you want to illustrate a jarring change in the storyline.

[@danranquist502]

Thanks for the tips..I will put forth an effort into contributing..good luck in the future!

[@MJWolverine21]

I was almost in a Glitch in the Matrix panic after clicking a David Finch video thumbnail, watching David's introduction and then suddenly Proko's intro started rolling.

[@LucasSweden]

David is amazing

[@jerryye1060]

I don't necessarily agree with the example he gave at 5:11 . Sure the left example is more boring, but it is much more clear what is going on; the silhouette of the character and their body language instantly communicates the story to the reader. On the right example, it looks more dynamic for sure, but it's not immediately obvious what is going on. On the 3rd panel the silhouette is so small that you can barely see the characters' arms. And on the 4th panel you can't see the body language of either characters, which makes it hard to deduce what they're feeling. I think a middle ground between these 2 extremes would be better; where you keep it visually interesting but still making it very clear to the reader what is going on at a glance. Right now it feels like you're trying to make things look cool and not trying to tell a story.

[@cinthiagoch]

I guess it depends on what you're trying to tell with each specific scene. If the characters are talking about something relatively mundane, or if you want to transmit the feeling of things being stagnant, I think it's ok to have a more "boring" composition. But if the scene is supposed to transmit tension and high-stakes, than the more dynamic composition works better.

[@brodeyleembruggen9910]

David Finch is a Comic Book Legend📜📓

[@onlyhoasibuiart448]

wow, that's amazing 👍👍

[@renatablindoso]

Awesome 🩷

[@tk36864]

Yuri did an amazing job with the editing on this one Dave! Flashback to the 90s with Wayne's world 😄

[@bawrbxokurdistan8486]

i didn't know yuri edited this one ... this looks like prokos team editing style :) and yes editing is a art too .

[@ProkoTV]

This was edited by a particularly great Proko editor named Patrick. Credits for the videos can all be found in the description, in case anyone is ever curious.

[@onimanga5197]

Good video!

[@cedricadougba324]

Thanks, GOD bless you.

[@alextelzrow7136]

I don't get the 180 degree rule, I've heard it talked about a few times from other youtube videos and from a friend who was into filmmaking, but I don't understand why it is such a big deal. The example you used, of the two characters looking lile they switched places, I agree that would be a bad composition. However, there are more things to consider. What if the background looking at the one side is distinctly different from the other? Or what if you had those two panels in the same scene, but not directly next to each other? You could have the "camera" sort of pan around the scene before you get there. The main idea of the rule, as I understand it, is to not confuse the audience. But let's say, for example, there is an over-the-shoulder shot of a person about to open a door, followed by a medium or long shot with the "camera" inside the room on the opposite side as the door, viewing the door being open and the person standing at the doorway. This would break the 180 degree rule, but it should still make sense. Sorry for the long-winded rambling, I'm just trying to explain why I don't understand the 180 degree rule.

[@koolkat123]

These kinds of rules can be broken when you fully understand the purpose of the rule. As long as you're not randomly flipping the characters around during dialogue and confusing the audience unnecessarily, you can break the rule. Sounds like you know when to stick to the rule and when it's ok to break it.

[@rengav23]

David Finch is a master. I am very grateful to him. I confess that I avoid looking at your work, because I feel like giving up

[@bawrbxokurdistan8486]

giving up is easy... that's why it should be avoided because it makes people lose willpower. i hope you understand my English .

[@efrainjesusuntiverospizzar4955]

Awesome , 💪

[@bawrbxokurdistan8486]

3:54 i love proko man and Marshall Marshall 🙂

[@antonioblanco3086]

Cool!

[@lulboiking5806]

wooww greate vidiosss!!!

[@lukmanjfr0355]

Awesome

[@thatperson1679]

David finch ❤

[@arkadiuszpiatek438]

Yea yea yea that's what i need 😁✌️

[@elboyarchive]

nice

[@0nc0l40]

Is interviev with Steven gonna release on wednesday?

[@carlollavan4980]

I am making a comic rn so I watched this

[@NothingHereForYou]

Mental bookmark for me doing storyboards

[@ProkoTV]

A perfect use for what he's teaching!

[@jrss9748]

What type of pencil is he using?

[@samankucher5117]

1:25 wow

[@k.h.8506]

👍🏼

[@jaysonfontela5761]

👍

[@RayfieldA]

1:24 😱🤯💀

[@viewHunter25]

I am beginner😊

[@robertadam5042]

Make sure to have the same pen this guy uses othervise you can't become this good :))

[@bawrbxokurdistan8486]

indeed 💀

[@ProkoTV]

His hands and brain also help a lot but it IS mostly the pen.

[@Sprite-od4xl]

@@ProkoTV Which pen?

[@dobremarian1234]

It doesn't matter

[@DIVINE_WEAP0N]

Brother that is not how it works

[@donnieburnett4622]

Didn't know you like shenmue

[@paulessenson7920]

Paid for this when it came out and they still haven't released all of the videos...

[@meemnun_ALiF-lost]

wOwww

[@noncircadianrhythm]

5:21 loss

[@ProkoTV]

Yep lol

[@hosolock]

Why does he look like Dan Vogt but bald

[@Fushiguromegumi178]

In spanish, please Please

[@user-ns2bg8wi7w]

Paid for this when it came out and they still haven't released all of the videos...

[@ProkoTV]

David's been very busy but it's back in full swing, with us just releasing his newest critique. We've adjusted our policy on releasing courses with lessons that aren't yet recorded.