Essential Industry Terms

Establishing Shot: wide-angle panel that sets the scene’s location and mood.

Beat Panel: a panel that slows the pacing, often showing emotion or internal thought.

Visual Hierarchy: The arrangement of visual elements to show their importance.

Insert Shot: A close-up of an object that holds significance to the narrative.

Mise-en-Scène: The arrangement of everything in the frame, setting, lighting, and objects, to convey mood or symbolism.

Negative Space: Empty space around a subject that helps define its shape and draw focus.

Page Turn Hook: A visual or story beat that compels the reader to turn the page.

Environmental Storytelling: Using setting details (props, background, architecture) to tell part of the story.

Gesture Language: Body language and pose that expresses a character’s intent or emotion.

Power Framing compositional method where a figure dominates the panel through position, scale, or posture.

Triangular CompositionUsing three focal points to create balance, direction, and narrative movement.

Rim Lighting light source from behind or above that highlights the edges of a figure to improve silhouette clarity.

Splash Panel full-width or full-page panel used for visual impact or major reveals.

Morphology transformation of anatomical structure, used here to describe the werewolf’s evolution.

Expression Study close-up that focuses on a character’s facial emotion, often exaggerated in comics for clarity.

FX: The use of environmental or special effects (smoke, debris, sparks) to add depth and dynamism to the panel.