
Panel Transitions
By Rio

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.
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