Art of Speech & Sound
Text appearing inside these shapes represents dialogue or internal thoughts.
What are speech balloons or thought bubbles?
This term refers to the border around a panel, which can contain multiple panels.
What is a frame?
A transition that zooms in on small changes between panels to slow down the narrative.
What is moment-to-moment transition?
This boxed text provides extra narrative details outside of speech or thought bubbles.
What are captions?
These empty spaces between panels allow the reader to infer movement or time passing.
What are gutters?
A perspective shot from below, often used to make characters look powerful or intimidating.
What is a worm’s-eye view?
Words like "BANG!" and "SPLASH!" that mimic sounds in the story.
What is onomatopoeia?
This term describes the shapes containing illustrations in a graphic novel.
What are panels?
A transition where we shift between different characters’ experiences in the same scene.
What is subject-to-subject transition?
A balloon with a jagged edge might indicate this.
What is shouting, excitement, or an electronic source?
A panel that shows a scene from a high angle, creating a sense of distance or isolation.
What is a bird’s-eye view?
This close-up framing choice emphasizes details or emotions by filling the panel with a single feature.
What is an extreme close-up?
The way text is written, including its font, size, and color, can change this aspect of a scene.
What is meaning or tone?
A transition that moves the story over large gaps in time or space, often used for flashbacks.
What is a scene-to-scene transition?
A common viewpoint used in action sequences, placing the reader behind a character’s shoulder.
What is an over-the-shoulder perspective?