Okay, so I write in a specific way that I didn’t think was particularly strange, but I’ve gotten enough comments about “how weird it is” that I thought I’d share with my patrons exactly how it is I go about scripting a comic book.
(This would be easier if I had ever thought to save a
step-by-step process from one of the scripts I’d already written, but hey.)
When I originally wrote this, I’d been in Spider-Man revision mode
(for IDW’s Marvel Action Spider-Man #6), that’s where my head is at. Let’s
write a (short) Spidey story!
Bear in mind that this is a sample only; it was never submitted to, approved, or published by Marvel.
“A CUP OF NO”
--or--
One Writer’s Scripting Method
Method From Start to Finish
By Erik Burnham
PART I: Wherein I
plot.
This is straightforward. If I was pitching a miniseries, I’d
go through exactly what happens over the course of several paragraphs, including
some dialogue and issue breaks. For
this, as an ultra-short piece, we won’t need that.
So here’s the plot. Let’s say I have 8 pages.
Peter Parker is cramming for classes at a coffee shop. He’s
been there all morning. He’s been slamming a lot of coffee. He’s gotta GO.
He gets to the bathroom and has to wait. Just as he’s about
to get to relieve himself, his Spider Sense goes off. He can’t just take a
minute – lives could be at stake. Tingle beats tinkle.
He changes to Spidey and finds that the coffee shop is being
robbed by… oh no… by Hydro Man.
That’s the ol’ Parker Luck.
There are two ways to resolve this – end the story on the
punchline reveal of Hydro Man and leave the horrors of the battle up to the
audience, or have Spidey beat HM in an unconventional way. (By “peeing in the
pool” when the bad guy tries to drown him, and freaking HM right out into
fleeing.)
This would never fly in a real comic book. Okay, maybe
Deadpool. Heck, I don’t read much Deadpool. Maybe this has happened there. I’m
not going to go look it up.
I would also add notes as I think of them, sometimes after
the fact. The above? I wrote it an hour ago. I came back in to add “maybe a
Whizzer joke?” Sure it’s obvious, but I might also forget when scripting and
then wonder why I never considered it. Options! I give myself options!
PART II: Break It
Down Again.
Next, I write out the page count to try and make sure I have
everything paced right.
PAGE 01
Establishing the coffee shop, that Peter is studying, and
has been at it all day. Some coffee promo he’s taking advantage of has caused
him to down way too many cups. Maybe he’s on the phone with someone. Could be
MJ. This isn’t in continuity. No one can tell me no.
PAGES 02-03
Peter’s gotta go to the bathroom. All of the stalls are in
use – more students taking advantage of the coffee promo. Finally a stall opens
… and Peter’s spider-sense goes off. Sigh. With great power...
PAGES 04-05
Spidey bursts in the front door to face the source of his spider
sense... and hey, it’s Hydro man. (Oh no.)
Spidey tries to wrap it up quick, webbing the still-solid
villain. Hydroman seeps out through the not-airtight webbing. Uncomfortable
sight for Spidey.
PAGES 06-07
Hydro-Man isn’t about to waste time with Spidey. He wants a
getaway. So he envelops Spidey in water – to drown or pass out, he doesn’t care
which. Spidey can’t hold it.
This freaks Hydro Man out. He panics and goes down a drain.
(To the sewer? Real thinking there.)
PAGE 08
The manager cusses Spidey out for his way of handling Hydro
Man. He’s gonna have to shut down the shop for the rest of the day!
Part III: The Generation Pass.
This first pass is for…well, like it says, it’s for pure generation; I
write mostly dialogue (along with any stage direction I don’t want to forget,
or to give the dialogue context.) I sometimes attribute names to who is
speaking, and sometimes rely on memory. I just blurt it out, basically,
separating panel breaks with a backslash and moving on quickly. This allows me
to get a lot out quickly.
PAGE 01
Title up top: A CUP OF NO Ext of streetside coffee shop.
Smaller neighborhood. Big windows. From inside: I’ve been so productive, you
don’t even know-- / Peter at table. Books and notebook (paper, not electronic.)
Long line behind him. I’ve written thirty pages of notes! I don’t know what’s
in this coffee, but I hope it’s not illegal. I’ve had six or seven cups now. /
Split screen. On one side is MJ; the other is Peter. Slow down, big spender. That’s
just it – I was going to just buy a small and I won a bottomless cup! The ol’
Parker luck’s worm has turned, MJ! If you say so. Just remember you’re mine
come 7pm, so make sure you finish your work.
PAGE 02
Cap. Oh, I’ll finish all right. I’m in a groove. Even the
morning rush can’t distract me! This paper is getting done! / gurgle / Peter is
rushing off to the bathroom. Okay, this paper is getting done after I empty the
ol’ bladder. / GASP / There’s a line at the bathroom. Facepalm. Chin up, Parker.
You’ve faced worse odds than this. Get your mind on something else.
PAGE 03
Like that time Doc Ock trapped you in the... Never mind. /
Or when Boomerang... Ugh. I need drier enemies. / Oh... thank goodness.
Finally. I thought I was going to explo-- / SPIDER-SENSE. / Facepalm.
PAGE 04
Spidey crawling out of the bathroom window. Okay. Robbery in
the coffee shop. I suppose I should’ve figured this would happen eventually;
Phil refuses credit cards. Lotta cash on hand. / But if there’s one thing I
know, it’s that I can handle a thief. / ALL RIGHT, BUDDY! YOU PICKED THE COFFEE
SHOP TO ACCOST! Is that so? Yeah, that’s-- / Oh dear God, no
PAGE 05
REVEAL HYDRO MAN. He’s using a water arm to hold a barista
up and a bag for the money to go into. Tip jar being emptied. Ain’t that just
my crummy luck. I figure ignore the banks, ignore the hassle, just hit up a few
coffee joints for some easy small money. But you always gotta be there, don’t
ya? / Yes Morrie. It was all right there under the terms of service when you
signed on to the supervillain contract. Thwip. Gotta try and take care of this
fast. I’m about to burst! / I didn’t sign no—hey! Maybe if I cover him in
enough webbing, it will-- / Morrie seeping out the pores. Nuts. You kidding me,
Spider-Man? Ain’t nothing can hold me! If air can get in, I can get out! And we
both know you’re not the type to suffocate somebody!
PAGE 06
But I am! You can go to sleep or you can drown, for all I
care – but I’m getting’ outta here, wall-crawler! / C’mon, you’ve beat this guy
before. You can hold your breath for a lot longer than he’s willing to wait,
and you can fight your way out of this! And then you can get back to your
paper, get that done, go see MJ, and the day will be salvaged! / You just gotta
hold out! You just gotta… / I can’t hold it anymore… / !!!!
PAGE 07
Did you just – you – I can feel it! You—that water is ME,
Spider-Man! You can’t just! / Down a drain. I’m gonna be sick. / Spider-Man,
I’m the manager here – how can I ever thank you? Maybe... look into taking
credit cards. / Are you kidding? Have you seen the merchant fees? I’ll be
robbed, Spider-Man! Robbed! Yeah… well… / OH NO!
PAGE 08
Soggy coffee shop. / Peter’s table was doused, papers wet,
ink runny. All that work… all lost because I didn’t want to deal with another
wifi failure. / It’s gonna take me all night to re-do the research and type it
up. So much for that date. Hey, Mister Spider-Man? I don’t want to seem
ungrateful. / So here. A free large latte. You strike me as a soy milk guy.
Honestly? Why don’t you take that coffee and shove it… / Into my hand. I’ve got
a long night ahead of me.
Part IV: Now Comes The Part on Sprockets When We Script
As you can see, the generation pass already added a few ideas that
weren’t entirely there in the initial plotting. Now we get to the part where I
script.
I use Microsoft Word, and I number all text placements for
both easy editing (change page 12, panel 3, line 7) and ease in placement. My
goal is to have as few changes as possible for the letterer before they do
their work. Sometimes you don’t spot something until the script is lettered,
and you can’t help that, but the goal should be for them to do their thing just
one time, if possible.
Also, I do my best to make sure that one page of comic = one
page of script. If there’s a lot of dialogue, the panel direction should be
minimal. If there’s a ton that needs to be seen on the page, then dialogue
shouldn’t be covering it up. I find, if you keep pages 1:1, it helps with that
immensely.
And the aesthetics of the format helps keep things clear,
too.
(Generally speaking, I often limit myself to five panels or
less per page. That’s just a zone I’ve found as comfortable for artists who
aren’t fond of grid layout, which I otherwise love.)
Anyway, let’s see where the formatting takes us. I've presented this as a series of images, so as better to preserve my format.
As you can see, things changed from generation notes to final script. That
makes the final script closer to a second draft than a first. If I were able to
sit on it for a few days and come back, I’d make more changes in dialogue
(usually cutting, when possible.)
This method makes for faster scripting nine times out of ten, and usually, unless there are major structural notes or nitpicks (so and so would never use this word, etc) then the format draft is often accepted as done.
(Again, that’s happened for me nine times out of ten and I’m knocking wood pretty furiously to keep things that way!)
Not to say I wouldn't STILL make changes; I noticed after I posted this draft how the word "service" was used twice in close proximity and that drives me up a tree. It's why we always do one more pass before the letterers do their thing!
Once more, keeping one page of script = one page of comic will always keep you from asking "Where's panel seven?" and hearing back "Sorry, that page of the script fell off my desk. Can you write around it so I don't have to redraw the page?"
But that’s my method. I’ve heard it called strange – from the
steps to the formatting – but it always makes sense to me.
Thanks for checking this out!