THE MECHANICS OF VISUAL STORYTELLING™: Mastering the Comic Book and Graphic Novel Script (v2.0)

Description

There is a steep learning curve for the beginning writer of comics and graphic novels. Publishers and artists will rarely read a script if it is laid out poorly and does not provide clear storytelling across the pages and panels appropriate to the format of the book. This masterclass provides beginner practitioners with the skills to write full scripts correctly and to employ the tools of visual storytelling to serve the narrative, character and story structure.

Who Should Participate

This short course is ideal if you are:

• An aspiring comics creator who is starting out and does not know how to lay out or write a FULL comic book or graphic novel script
• An emerging or developing comics creator who needs to go back to visual storytelling basics to become more professional in the craft of writing
• A comics artist who wants to add writing to his or her repertoire to master the craft of visual storytelling from all perspectives
• An author,  illustrator, storyboarder, animator or TV or film scriptwriter who wants to cross over to visual storytelling
• A mainstream publishing editor who has no background in the comics medium, but needs to learn quickly in order to assess the potential of solicited and unsolicited graphic novel scripts.

What You Will Learn

This short course will give you insights into:

• Understanding the comics medium, as well as its genres, styles and publishing categories
• Becoming acquainted with comics jargon
• Understanding the writing process from outline to page / panel breakdown to FULL script… and how to communicate ideas clearly and concisely to your artist and  publisher
• Utilising visual storytelling tools appropriately to serve the narrative and the character journey
• Translating story structure into comics formats
• Controlling pacing through your story
• Establishing panel points of view (AKA shots) effectively
• Understanding the fundamentals of dialogue.
• And other important rules of visual storytelling.

Summary of course content:

• Visual Storytelling Basics
• Foundations of Visual Storytelling
• Visual Storytelling Tools
• Panel Points of View (aka Shots)
• The Comics Script – Part 1.

• The Comics Script – Part 2
• Narrative and Dialogue
• Rules of Visual Storytelling
• Worked Example – from brief to finished art.

If you are interested in enrolling in a comprehensive comics writing course, we recommend you register for this short course, as it serves as a foundation or stepping stone for the Visual Storytelling Success System™: How to Write Comic Books and Graphic Novels 8 week (online) short course, which will be offered in April-May, as well as October-November 2021.

About the Presenter

Jason Franks is a graphic novelist and fiction author based in Melbourne, Australia. He is the writer of the Sixsmiths graphic novels and the Left Hand Path series, which were nominated for Ledger and Aurealis awards. Franks’ first novel, Bloody Waters, was also nominated for an Aurealis award. Jason has written comics for dozens of artists over the course of his career. His work has been published in the USA, Australia, the UK and Canada. He has previously presented workshops on comics writing at the Australian Comic Arts Festival and at Continuum Convention. Franks’ second novel, Faerie Apocalypse, was published in 2018.

Event Information

Date: Comics Mastermind™ runs this short course twice a year. You can enrol in the first or second half of the year on the following dates. The next course dates are in 2021, as Comics Mastermind is on hiatus from June to December 2020.

• COURSE 1: Tuesday 23 March and Tuesday 30 March 2021

• COURSE 2: Tuesday 21 September and Tuesday 28 September 2021

Time: 6:30pm to 8:00pm (AEST – Sydney /Melbourne time)
Duration: 2 x 90 minutes (3 hours total)
Format: Online
Audience: Age: 15+
Comics Category: Comic books and graphic novels
Mastery: Creative mastery
Level: Beginners and emerging comics creators
Materials & Equipment: Computer with a good internet connection plus pen, notebook
Investment: Please find following our fee structure:

• The Comics Voice Ezine Subscribers: $97
• Partner organisations – Australian Cartoonists’ Association (ACA), Australian Society of Authors (ASA), Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) $127
• Full: $147

PLEASE NOTE that the cut off date for bookings is the last Sunday night (11:59 AEST) prior to the commencement of the short course.

If you are unable to attend the live webinar, but would still like to have access to the material then please register for the webinar and the recording and handouts will be sent to you within 24 hours of the webinar going live.

PLEASE NOTE that registration is limited to 100 people so registration cuts off once we reach capacity, so please book early to ensure a place and guarantee of receiving the materials even if you can’t make it to the live sessions.

Further Information: Email admin@comicsmastermind.com or phone (02) 9606 4728 or 0412 445 511.

Registration

Please nominate the appropriate fee category on the the PayPal pull down menu below to register for the webinar. If you are an ezine subscriber you will find your COUPON CODE in your monthly issue of THE COMICS VOICE.

If you have received a special comic book convention discount then just use the COUPON CODE from the flyer and make sure you book by deadline.

If you are a member of a partner organisation, please fill in your MEMBERSHIP NUMBER if you were issued with one. All partner organisation members will be verified prior to the event.

By registering for the event, you will be agreeing to the Comics Mastermind™  Terms and Conditions.

Remember… registration is limited to 100 people!