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This is just a hypotethical question, that I feel is very important in comics. I have no comic I wish to have critic, but this isn't about me or my work, but rather how you as artists feel about the subject of convery a sence of action in a comic.

I just like to know what you people consider the best way to convey an action. whether it be running from something, or an explosion, or a car crash or anything that involves movement or effects. what is your experience in making action 'work'?

what do you consider the best format of a comic to best convey action. does art style matter when making motion? Do you use lines differently to express an oncoming train as opposed to a still flower? I'd like to know. on a personal standpoint, I already know my answers, but in a never ending quest to heighten's one talent, is to learn from others. so please, what do you think?

http://morningstar.keenspace.com/

This comic has some excellent action sequences.

http://www.unitedmedia.com/creators/liberty/index.html

On the other hand, Liberty Meadows has a lot of action but it's in strip format.

You just need to define how you want your strips to look. and do some research and experiment with a style that works best for you in that format.

Well, I'm not much of an authority on this subject, seeing as I have not even done an action sequence yet, but...

Before even starting your drawing, it is a good idea to sit down and decide what kind of action scene you want to create. An incident like, say, running from something can be portrayed in a multitude of ways, some of which are more dramatic or comedic or others. Let's say a character is running from a monster. In a 'gag' comic, this could easily be portrayed with a long frame and a couple of speed lines. In a serious comic, you'd have to take a completely different approach depending on what aspect of the running away you want to focus on. If the fear of the chased is most important, close-ups of the character's eyes, mouth, or feet can be used to great effect (of course you need to make sure that the reader can still clearly tell what is going on in your panel), but if the motion of the character is more important, you might be better off with some well-used speed lines and foreshortening. It really depends on the mood and meaning of the scene. There are some tricks to make action works better, though, including but not limited to:

Foreshortening: This is the bane of most comic creators, including myself, because it is pretty hard, but if you're able to pull it off, it can really improve your action sequences, especially during fights.

Perspective: Similiar to foreshortening, this is hard, but useful. If you're drawing, for example, someone running down a hallway, drawing them from the front, in perspective, generally adds much more action to the scene than a simple profile view. This is not always the case, though.

Panel size: Especially when drawing explosions, a large panel can make the effect of your scene much more impressive. A large panel signalizes 'important', especially if most of your panels are normally the same size. Likewise, long panels can be used for chase scenes in profile, of tall ones for falling.

Timing: Essential for action sequences. I must admit I have no clue as to how to do timing right; your best try would be to look up some comics that have good action, then compare them to some with bad action, and spot the difference. How long should a punh holler in the air? Which moment of an explosion is the most dramatic? etc.

Or you could check up on HNTRC's current theme to at least find out how NOT to do action. ^^;[/url]

I dunno.

Action lines. As many as you want, but don't let them take over! At some point the image becomes a tangled mass of action lines.

For crashes, punches, ect, draw the moment a fraction of second after it happened. Remember some details... bending metal, splattering blood, and stuff.

Last resort: if you really have no idea you can always draw
panel 1: A FIST!+ actionlines
panel 2: A FOOT!+ action lines
panel 3: a guy, stunned
But that's the easy way, and it leads to the dark side.

Explosions... I don't really know, but I'd say a large panel, with lots of details, sharp shading and some radial action lines would work.

Running: what Ida said. Long panel+ side view+ some action lines are good for comedic effect.
Close ups, and funny camera angle (ie. from under the monster's feet, looking at hero's back, or from right next to hero's face, looking back at the monster) give a dramatic effect.

I'm sure faub just forgot about us ...

We're in the middle of an action scene. We don't use speed lines though... I spend a lot of time working on the page layouts before the final pages are drawn in. A good page layout and paneling can add a lot to an action scene. I don't over power the reader with crazy frames and junk popping in your face, but I do try to give the page frames a sense of movement.

Here are a few things I think are important for storyboarding out a good action scene.

1. Pull your "camera" back far enough that the action is clearly visible. This doesn't have to apply to every frame, but don't assume that your readers will just "get" what's going on. Show the action.

2. Experiment with different types of frame shapes. Angles frames can give a page more movement We try to use more square type frames during calm scenes and more angled frames during action scenes. The doesn't mean they have to be "totally Wacky" A subtle angling can give you a nice flowing page. You can see below that we use several different panel types, almost every page is different.

3. You can have characters over lap or break the frame. We don't use this too often, but when we do, it works out pretty well.

4. Take your time to do the scene right. Rushing or saying "this it too hard" isn't going to make a great action scene. Take the time to storyboard it out first. Rough out the frames and character movements. Don't be afraid to go back and rework parts or all of a scene if it isn't working right.

5. Have someone you can bounce you're storyboards and page layouts off of. Having another opinion can really help you get a fresh look at what you're trying to do. It can be annoying, but sometimes it helps you see your work through someone else's eyes.

6. Challenge yourself. Use different camera angles and zooms to give each on of your pages a unique look. Nothing is more boring that page after page of talking head from either head on or the side. The only way you'll get better at drawing is to challenge yourself with what's hard to draw, not what's easy.

Here are some samples of our current scene...



Page 57-explosions, Shockwave, tracer and gunfire, character and object movement.

http://www.alpha-shade.com/www/ASpages/AS057.jpg


Page 58 - Flak bursts, Tracer fire, Shrapnel damage, character interaction and heavy impact with dust effects. Using Sound effects to enhance action.

http://www.alpha-shade.com/www/ASpages/AS058.jpg


Page 59 - Fast paced paneling. Character motion flowing for one panel to the next. Characters breaking the frames, Large explosion with debris.

http://www.alpha-shade.com/www/ASpages/AS059.jpg


Page 60. Dust effects, smoke and falling debris effects, using shadows to foreshadow events.

http://www.alpha-shade.com/www/ASpages/AS060.jpg


Page 61 - Mussel flash effects, hand to hand combat, pulling the camera back far enough to clearly see the action. Using two styles of paneling, the angled at first to emphasizes quick action and square frames and the end to slow things down,

http://www.alpha-shade.com/www/ASpages/AS061.jpg


Page 62 - Using a 3 panel to try and being all three elements into the next few pages. Using and over head shot to give context to the Flyers diving. Use of gradients behind objects to being them to the foreground (the flyer on the right)

http://www.alpha-shade.com/www/ASpages/AS062.jpg

CB
Alpha Shade
http://www.alpha-shade.com

I guess I killed this topic

Snoozer wrote:I guess I killed this topic

No.
People were just too awed by your greatness.

Snoozer covered all I had thought of.

People were just too awed by your greatness.

Ha! I wouldn't say that ... But page layouts and paneling is something we work hard on. The Newest page I restory-boarded out the last frame about 8 times and still had to rework it when the page was half way finished. Sometimes just the storyboards take 4-8 hours, including revisions. We spent about 33 hours (not including storyboarding) on page 61 to get the action right, the next page took only 17 hours to finish...

CB
Alpha Shade

Snoozer wrote:I guess I killed this topic

It's difficult to argue with a psyhic cat, that owns a kic-ass action comic and speaks of itself in plural...