Panel Transitions: The Basics

More likely than not, as readers of comics, we generally do not register the transitions that occur from one panel to another. Rather subconsciously we know we’ve encountered them but have never really looked and examined them closely. As creators of comics, though, knowing the transitions is a mandatory knowledge in order to create a seamless story.


The first type of transition is Moment-to-Moment which shows very little passage of time as shown in the example above left. Second is Action-to-Action, clearly showing some type of movement of a subject as shown to the right.





Next is Subject-to-Subject which is a little more reader involved in that the viewer must put the two images together and form an understanding of what is occuring. Generally, the subject in both images are related in scene or idea. In this case, we have an example of a chess match being played out.




Scene-to-Scene is a common transition which requires reader involvement as well. It usually involves a passage of time and space. Examples include changes from one location to another and a huge leap of time such as fast forwarding to a future moment or doing flashbacks. More likely, transitions like this are accompanied by text which joins the two panels together by an idea.



On the other hand, Aspect-to-Aspect goes a different route and sets a wandering eye perspective that creates a sense of mood. This transition type can even act as a guide to what readers see in the environment as opposed to one big panoramic-like panel.




Last, are the panel transitions that have no logical relation to each other at all – the Non-Sequiter. These are like random images thrown to the reader with no bearing to each other or even overall. The only possible use for this is like watching the cursed video in “The Ring” movie. They seem rather non-related at first but is explained, mostly, as the movie progresses.



Article source : www.mangatutorials.com/2006/panel-transitions-the-basics