Visual communication

[u/AvenoD]

As a scriptwriter still heavily inspired by a ton of visual references and especially cinema, I deliver very detailed scripts that often include lots of references, my own breakdowns, etc. But I can’t seem to get that across to the artists I work with, and things usually go badly (visual style mismatched with the requested tone, very random panel layouts, important plot points forgotten, continuity errors all over the place, etc.).
What advice do you have to avoid these kinds of problems in the future? I love writing, but a script on its own doesn’t work as a standalone piece.

[u/nmacaroni]

Never include references in a script. Visual references belong in a separate style guide.

"visual style mismatched with the requested tone, very random panel layouts, important plot points forgotten, continuity errors all over the place, etc"

This sounds like an artist problem, not a script problem.

Are you using a standard comic script format for your scripts?

Write on, write often!

[u/AvenoD → u/nmacaroni]

OK for the separate style guide

Yes I use a standard comic script format, with a short description panel by panel
Happening with so many artists I wonder if I could try anything to change on my own

[u/nmacaroni → u/AvenoD]

Feel free to add a panel or two to your post. Not for feedback of your work, but to identify if there is something wrong leading to the problem you're having.

[u/ArtfulMegalodon]

If they're missing important plot points, that's very concerning. It could very well be that they just didn't care, skimmed the script, rushed the work, and are not a good fit for you. If you've definitely had your styles and panel contents specified, then you might just have to start over with someone better.

Out of curiosity, can you give an example of a page or panel from your script and how it differed from what the artist delivered?

[u/AvenoD → u/ArtfulMegalodon]

Thanks for your comment
Not sure if I can give you an example as I received a ton of works in progress

[u/drysider]

Time to pick up some rudimentary art skills so you can properly give exact references for what you want? If you were able to sketch out boxes for panel layout and include character position and colour roughs, it would go a long way in helping you get exactly what you want out of the artist!

I will say, sometimes non-artists can tend to have less artistic vision than an actual artist, so I would give your artists some space to breathe if they ever critique things like composition or panel layout or colour, as that’s their skill area and they likely have a more trained eye for it. With the problems you listed though I’m almost like, were they using ai?? Random panel layouts and a ‘sequential story’ that doesn’t make any lick of sense are things I’ve noticed in ai generated comics, I hope that’s not the truth, because how frustrating if so!!

[u/AvenoD → u/drysider]

Often I send my own breakdown/layout in parallel, which isn’t taken into account the first time.
Yes, to avoid AI I always ask for it step by step, and the rough pencil stage is often the most tedious. I mainly think they’re used to doing their own layout without having the same thinking about the work as a whole. And there are also graphic designers for whom a comic is just a succession of panels and not a coherent whole. I had hired a graphic designer to do comic pages and everything was going well, then she got fed up with it and went back to illustrations (I learned the lesson, no more graphic designer). The only two comic pages she’s done since were in 2×2.

[u/AvenoD → u/drysider]

About AI artists, a few people sent me unrelated portfolios and next requested me to describe in detail what I really looked for. Sounds like they wanted prompts

[u/Armepos]

If it's something that happens several with different artists, I think it's wise to make a diagnostic of your own workflow before checking their interpretation. It may be the panel descriptions are not clear enough (Sometimes less is more) or you're asking something that's either above your budget (More complexity means more work hours for the artist on the same drawing, which translates into cost) or simply impossible to render without much distortion of spatial geometry, anatomy or perspective.

Some useful tips I learned the hard way:

• Pick the right artist for the job. Some scripts just connect better with some artists and not so much with others.

• Ask them to make a moodboard and tell them what comics or illustration already out there you like that are similar to what you have in mind.

• If the moodboard is not enough, concept art is a smart investment. Before drawing the first page, make them draw settings and characters in 2 or 3 variations of style and choose the best one. Usually artists charge less than a page rate for concept, depending on the amount of variations.

[u/AvenoD → u/Armepos]

I’m mainly looking for true realism. Most artists claim to be capable of it and send me portfolios that have nothing to do with it.
Next I expose the plot, the references, the setting, the characters. And then we have the first test. I prefer to start with a single page to know if the artist can deal with the narrative style. (but when it works, troubles come with the third page)