Webtoon basics Understanding Webtoons
GCC Academy
Study goals Can explain the evolution from cartoon to Webtoon
Can xplain the difference of cartoon and Webtoon in terms of page format and scroll format
Study content Evolution of Webtoon and production process
Characteristics of page format and scroll format
Writer Yong-hoe Gim ∙(Former) Adjunct professor of ChungKang College of Cultural Industries ∙(Former) Dean of Seoul Webtoon Academy
Works ∙Kakao Webtoon 〈Flower that Blooms Again〉 ∙Kakao Webtoon 〈Just Only That〉 ∙Kakao Webtoon 〈A Midsummer Night's Dream〉 ∙Kakao Webtoon 〈Masterpiece〉
Hello this is Webtoonist Yong-hoe Gim
Now is an age where countless media contents are available through a phone
From live news to living information
culture trend, drama series and movies, even novels
Many things are readily available with just a phone
Among all of these, the ones that are most closely related to our everyday lives are
social media like Instagram and TikTok
video platforms like YouTube and Netflix, and Webtoon
Webtoon, that became the representative of 'one source multi use' by becoming possible for many people
to enjoy cartoon on mobile phones and became original works of drama series' or movies
This lecture will teach you the whole process
of creating a Webtoon through an experts lecture
for an understanding of Webtoon
In today's lecture, we'll learn what Webtoon is
We'll first learn how cartoon
the parent of Webtoon evolved into Webtoon in Korea
and learn how previous cartoons and Webtoon is different
through the format of page format and scroll format
Evolution of Webtoon and Production Process
What is Webtoon?
Now, where mobile devices are common
the current generation had Webtoon since they were born
and were available for free
so they grew up enjoying Webtoon as a part of their daily life
Webtoon refers to cartoons in vertical scrolling format
suited for mobile device environments
Cartoon is the original form of Webtoon of now
and this original form will not disappear as long as books exist
In 2024, Korea is in its golden age in cartoon history
with the largest market
after the coinage of the new name 'Webtoon'
Within the word 'Webtoon,' cartoon has
gained the general definition of
vertical scroll colored cartoon optimized for mobile phone screens
from digital cartoons viewed on computer monitors
It expanded the domestic market explosively and is spreading the
new cartoon format named Webtoon to the world
Even just 10 years ago, the black and white story delivering media
made with pen dipped in ink on paper
was the typical cartoon of Asia
While Europe and North America's cartoon market advanced to color in the past
Asian cartoons maintained black and white
developing while focusing more on the plot and production of the story
Japan's cartoon industry leaded the Asian cartoon culture
and experimented with new formats and genre
and simultaneously developed the animation market
In Europe and North America where there was little development in terms of format
found charm in the Asian cartoons
Korea, which maintained a significant market in Asia other than Japan
in the late 1990s when Japan cartoon was taking over the world
[Korean cartoon industry faces challenges in the late 1990s] sadly experiences a time of extinction
In 1990s, Korea also launches cartoon focused magazines inspired by
Japanese cartoon magazines
Following IQ JUMP of Seoul Media Comics, BOY CHAMP of Daewon, CHANCE of Haksan
YOUNG JUMP, YOUNG CHAMP, BIG JUMP, TWENTY SEVEN, NANA and etc.
magazines for boys and girls, teenagers, adult men and women
developed while specializing for each age group
If cartoons from cartoon publishers would be printed out as books
20,000 copies were sold nationwide instantly
thanks to the book rental store, and the industry enjoyed the greatest boom
But within less than 10 years
published cartoon market represented by the magazine cartoon industry
declined due to the Juvenile Protection Act
and because of this, many cartoonists came out to the streets
demanding freedom of expression
Then with the following 1997 currency crisis, magazines and publishers disappeared
leading into a slump that lasts for more than 10 years
It wasn't in fact just a slump, it was almost withering to death
Most of the people who worked in the cartoon industry left the industry
and the people left were barely holding onto it through education cartoon market for children
At that time, with the supply of high speed internet and personal computers
it was the age of venture businesses
A new business model of IT industry was quickening world wide
and portal sites appear in Korea as well with the supply of the internet
Portal sites become an economic index
with the number of visitors on the internet and the time they stay in the site
so they expanded the entertainment area to attract users
As short and light cartoons by amateur cartoonists
started to be consumed for free
Portal sites started free cartoon service with amateurs' short cartoons
Daum Portal makes the 'World in Cartoons' section
and discovers a best seller cartoonist called Kang Full during the beginning of Webtoon
Naver also expanded their cartoon section following Daum
Cho Seok, Joo Ho-min, Lee Mal-nyeon etc.
and other rookie cartoonists become a part of Naver
Rookie cartoonists used programs developed from photo editing tools
like Photoshop and board tablet by Wacom to draw instead of paper and pen
Rookie cartoonists that generalized the digital working system using Photoshop and board tablets
Even until this time, cartoon was mostly in page format
viewed on desktop monitors
After November 2009, when iPhone was released in Korea
IT industry grows around mobile phones' app markets after November 2009
A few years later, cartoons are optimized for small mobile phone viewer size
instead of computer monitors
And the word Webtoon referring to
digital cartoon viewed on mobile phone screens
is generalized
The period of Daum and Naver's duopoly
was maintained with the cheap basic wages paid to amateur cartoonists by the portal sites
for investment purposes
Only to established cartoonists with popular works or cartoonists of popular serial works
would be paid differential production cost
For your information, during the magazine cartoon ages in 1998, copy money per page was
more than 100,000won for popular cartoonists, about 35,000won for new cartoonists
and others would get about 50,000won
releasing 16 pages weekly of 24 pages every two weeks
In the case of weekly release, taking the general 50,000won copy money
cartoonists were payed copy money of 3,200,000 won monthly
After 10 years, there were price fluctuations
but in 2013, portal sites' Webtoon copy money was still at about 2~300,000 won per episode
Most cartoonists were receiving around or little bit more than 1,000,000won monthly
In 2013, Lezhin Comics attempts charging for Webtoons with a women focused user base
And they offer minimum monthly copy money of 2,000,000 won for new cartoonists
As Lezhin succeeds in paid Webtoon platform on its own
Daum and Naver also adopts a preview system
making profit structure of current cartoonists
The Webtoon trend of this time was lightness
The story, and the drawing style as well
cartoons that can be consumed lightly and relaxed were popular
As the preview system was confirmed to be a huge profit model
the Webtoon section of portal sites become separate, branching as Webtoon corporates
Making Webtoon apps that are independent of the portal sites
older cartoonists from the period of publishing cartoon also joined the Webtoon market, speeding it up qualitatively and quantitatively
Comedy or daily life Webtoons that were
popular creating the new major of Webtoon
could not make profit off the preview system so disappeared
With the supply of cartoon creating program Clip Studio Paint and screen tablet
digital creations' quality starts to increase
Popular cartoonists earn over 100 million wons with preview profits
Agencies that were in small groups
grow with investments thanks to the increase in profitability of the Webtoon market
Daum's 'World in Cartoons' misses the timing for growth
becoming a political variable of Daum portal
and Naver steals the lead
Afterwards, following the corporate merger of Daum and Kakao, its name changed to Kakao Webtoon
A Kakao Page series with a Web novel original work
〈Solo Leveling〉 made a huge hit
speeding up Webtoonization of Web novels
Naver Webtoon and Kakao page
establish local Webtoon platforms in Japan and North America
As agencies and Webtoon creators increased
a golden age of studio made Web novel based Webtoons were brought
Web novel publishers Webtoonize their main IP to a internal studio production format
The largest cartoon market in Korea in history was made
Korean Webtoon settles in the world market
And now, post-COVID
visitors of Webtoon platforms have started to decrease
It does also seem like a temporary incidence
that does not put the market itself in danger
Even after post-COVID the Webtoon industry is kept large in scale
Naver Webtoon and Kakao page are profiting by
opening Webtoon platforms in North America and Europe after Japan
Lezhin and Toptoon, Toomics are also providing platforms abroad
Webtoon platforms other than Naver and Kakao
[Lezhin, Toptoon, Toomics] settled in the market focusing on adult content
and especially platforms targeting female audience is strong
Naver and Kakao Webtoon platforms also
make meaningful results with some female-targeted adult content publishing
seeking diversifying genre based profit system
The two Webtoon platforms seem to be putting focus on
not only Web novel based works but also launching original works by individual cartoonists
Readers have departmentalized even more in terms of age group and genre
Choosing and placing the right pieces based on the demand of the readers
Watching the growth of the Webtoon market
the people that saw the rise and fall of published cartoon market
have felt déjà vus since a few years ago and have worried
Genre biasing for profit only eventually will lead to only have core readers
and the market will get distanced from the public interest
If profit falls, production payment falls
downgrading the production environment, decreasing the quality of the work
They experienced even the core readers turning their backs
during the cartoon magazine and published cartoon period
so they have been warning and worried that it does not happen again in the Webtoon period
But unlike publishing operators the Webtoon market built by IT operators
grew expanding their market to the global market
Now in 2023, as the growth of the Webtoon industry is slowing down
many agencies and producers
are seeking survival as not enough profit is secured
compared to the expanded market
As production cost increased profit cost was increased in studio format works
Before, production was possible with a profit of 30 million won monthly
but now it's been long that at least 60 million won is needed monthly to maintain production
Due to this, producers also try making color team in South East Asia
where labor cost is low in an attempt to decrease production costs
Like this, nobody knows how the turbulent growth of
the Webtoon industry will continue
It is just that the cartoonists have the responsibilty
to create what they want to create and make it fun
Now we'll learn how Webtoons are created
[Webtoon production process] following the production steps
As the basis of Webtoon is cartoons
the production process is not very different from cartoon production process
When you see the production process of cartoon and Webtoon
Discovering and planning the topic
Planning the plot and characters
Total synopsis following the unfolding of events
Planning and relocating the plot from character-focused to event-focused
Writing written storyboard for each episode with the calculation of cuts aimed to image the plot
Then make the image storyboard and sketch
Line it, color it and touch it up
And lastly with final editing, it is done
First, discovering and planning the topic comes from stories of daily life
or a story from a genre that one had fun seeing
or something that seems fun
and turning that into a story
Second, planning the plot and characters is from the planned topic
with primary story planning that is event-focused
narrative based on the protagonists character
along with the character's physical appearance design done simultaneously
so once the simulation is done, a basic relationships of individuals are established
It is good to take the story simulation light
from the main character's point of view, up until the ending
The ending of the story might change
but if you know the direction of where to go
you at least don't get lost
Third, the total synopsis following the unfolding of events
must be organized into a single page of an A4 paper
separating the whole plot into 4 big events with introduction, development, turn, and conclusion
but needs one key sentence that represents the plot
That is a log line
Fourth, planning and relocating the plot that was in linear time
to character- and event-focused story
This is called plot
Like this, the rough total story line organized
In the case of long stories, situations and details are added along the release of episodes
When the prepared narrative is short so it reaches the ending of the story
but one has to keep going with the work due to the popularity of the piece
one can repeat the steps 1 to 4 and prepare a story
Fifth, writing written storyboard for each episode
with the calculation of cuts aimed to image the plot
Usually lines or situation depiction is organized for every 3 episodes considering the actual cut count
Sixth, image storyboard determines based on the written storyboard
the line distribution, placement of speech bubbles
size of cuts and camera angles and shot
Seventh, you start sketching based on the storyboard that is prepared
and that way the sketching process will be less demanding
Eighth, lining is a process related to drawing the characters, backgrounds, sketchup etc.
3D sources like sketchup are put in when doing the sketching in prior
so the sketch and lining process is done easier
Nineth, adding color and final touches
that fit the lined drawings
Especially the final touches are important in Webtoons because of the light effects
This is because Webtoon is viewed on shining phone screens
Lastly the final editing is checking typos, final organization of lines
cut harmony within the scroll format
Webtoons are created usually following these steps
For the black and white published cartoons before Webtoons, color is an option
so the order from the planning to the production of it isn't much different
When preparing the story, no matter how much you prepare for it
there will always be something lacking
It is impossible to have all the plot planned out and then starting the drawing
So it is also important to build the character
Even during events, the characters need to be
the core of the plot with their own personalities to not let the story shake
Characteristics of page format and scroll format
We'll learn about page format of published cartoons
The largest difference of published cartoon and Webtoon is the viewer
Even in the current era of Webtoons, cartoon books are still being printed
and are also provided as electronic books
Out of Korea, still in Japan, North America and Europe
page format cartoon is seen by many readers
as books or electronic books
Also, popular Webtoons are re-edited into books and published
Readers' desire to own the pieces that they like
have gone beyond paying for and buying it on the platform
and has reached to the desire to own the material book
Apart from these commercial reasons
Webtoon is a evolved form of cartoon
so it is helpful to understand cartoon and know the differences
Published cartoons are in page view format that places
various cuts in a page that is standardized to a book format
Like the famous modern painting of Mondrian
with just size, shapes and color distributions of the rectangles
artistic inspiration is delivered
Cuts in page format lets readers feel beauty of composition with just the
size and shape of the cuts
It is like small tiles placed in a large frame
There is something that you can naturally feel as you read cartoons
[Page cartoons' formal characteristic 1] First, there's direction of the gaze when reading the cartoon
Rectangular cuts of cartoons each have
information to deliver the story
The gaze of the reader instinctively
flows from left to right, top to bottom
Of course like in Japan there are exceptions
like when books are read from right to left
But most people's gaze flows from left to right
Flow of gaze is proven in the drawing, photo, video arts fields
The flow from top to bottom can be assumed that it is due to the effect of gravity
but I thought why would the left to right flow would be
Most humans use tools with their right hand
Especially if we say that one holds a wooden stick
to protect oneself from danger
the right side is protected with the weapon held on the right hand
the empty left side is more concerned
making the gaze flow from left to right
I guess that right handed human kind's
left-first gaze is for this reason
[Page cartoons' formal characteristic 2] Secondly, there's cut sizes
There are cartoons with fixed cut sizes that are constant
but most cuts of page cartoons are combinations of various cut sizes
What and how would the cut sized be determined when placing the cuts?
In the beginning, the amount of lines or narrations
or the background information of the image like
huge plains, overwhelming big mountains, or small objects determined the cut sizes
when the story was narrative-focused but now as dramatic situation depiction
like plays or movies are actively expressed in cartoons
cut sizes are determined based on emotions now
There is now a need to boldly enlarge the
size of cuts to deliver strong emotions
Apart from showing scenery with big cuts
when the main character's emotion explodes
the emotional impact is needed
so big cuts are used also in character's close up scenes
It is obvious but placing small cuts before
the big cuts that express strong emotions
create a contrast in size, enhancing the impact of the big cut
Once these basic notions are generalized, irony is possible
Emotions that are quiet but have big impact
can be expressed with dramatically small drawing inside a big cut or a small cut
in a way that is very concentrated and focused
[Page cartoons' formal characteristic 3] Thirdly, there's a connection of cuts
In page cartoons there needs a flow of transition
when it moves on the to next page
The last cut of this page needs to be
connected with the first cut of the next page
so the first and last cut of the page
is more important than any other
Using vanishing cuts that gradually becomes smaller at the end of a page
or the first cut of the next page having a stage or view point change
is used in that context
[Page cartoons' formal characteristic 4] Fourth, the function of spaces
The spaces between cuts naturally become time
It becomes 0.1 seconds and also becomes 100 years
Like this using the space between two cuts
physical time can be expressed
so it can produce a jump cut effect that is very important in production
Jump cut is a production method that
jumps right to the next situation without delay of time or emotion
so it doesn't connect the character's movement or situation naturally
but intentionally cut it off and create speed
I just organized the formal characteristics of cartoons
into first gaze, second cut size, third connection between cuts
and fourth the function of spaces
When you read your favorite cartoons
if you focus on these four characteristics
you will be able to feel another fun in it
Page format cartoon is optimized for book print format viewers
Page view format cartoon can be inconvenient to view on mobile phones
For long, cartoons have been in page formats
This is still true, and still in many places on Earth
page format cartoons are created, published, and spread
After 1997 Korean cartoon industry experienced hardship due to external reasons
After enduring a 10 year slump
a new cartoon market was born
In 2009, since the iPhone was released in Korea
IT industry grew centered around mobile phone app market
and cartoon sections on portal sites quickly moved from computer monitors
to optimized for mobile phone screens
On desktop computer monitors, the existing page view format was
able to stay as is in terms of size
but to view it on mobile phones, the letters and pictures small and inconvenient to view
Cartoonists starting looking for the best format for mobile phone screen size
They enlarge the letters, adjust the cut shapes to fit the vertical phone screen
and seek for the right composition that is convenient to view on small screens
In this period of adaptation and evolution
the new name Webtoon was also born
If the existing cartoon industry was an industry of publishers
the cartoon industry of now has become an industry of IT operators
Webtoon is a vertical scroll format color cartoon
that has mobile phones as the basic viewer
The cartoon viewer has changed from books to phones
The cases of using horizontal screens
are only when watching videos like drama series or movies
or when playing mobile games
Page cartoon reading has a gaze of horizontal to vertical
and horizontal gaze flow was important
But phones have their horizontal blocked
Instead, the vertical has become infinite
The spaces that were time in page cartoons also gained vertical freedom
By expanding the time of emotion with the vertical length
emotion can be also expanded
The time of emotion can also be delayed
Readers can more actively experience the physical time through Webtoons
The wideness that was shown horizontally is now shown vertically
With fancier colors and effects that are optimized to advanced phones
Screens of phones shine light unlike paper
[Mobile phone viewer environment characteristic 1] Strong and effective light expression
Viewer environment for viewing cartoon on phones
[Mobile phone viewer environment characteristic 2] created a cartoon market called Webtoon of all-color, vertical scroll format
and it is developing fiercely
It isn't simply the vertical scroll mobile phone environment
that made this development
It is because operators saw the industrial scale of Webtoons and the potential of it
[Growth of Webtoon 1] Introduction of the preview system
As high profit contents with hundreds of millions of profit were created
production environment with high investment and dense block buster
level products
[Growth of Webtoon 2] Webtoon platforms founding corporates abroad
They start expanding the Webtoon industry to abroad
Naver successfully leads Webtoon industry in Japan
using the messenger 'Line' that is settle abroad and providing 'Line Manga'
Kakao also sits in the place of competition with Piccoma
Naver Webtoon and Kakao Piccoma is expanding the fields of the Webtoon industry to
North America and Europe as well, based on their success in Japan
With the Webtoon industry thriving, agencies and production studios increased
[Growth of Webtoon 3] Changed the production scale as well with the studio format team production
With novel comics based on Web novels gaining popularity
[Trends of Webtoons 1] Genres with the main character returning in time, being possessed, or reincarnating
has also become a typical trend
Trends that were in minor markets
[Trends of Webtoons 2] like BL, hetero, and age-restricted female-reader base genres
also became a new trend and an important content of the Webtoon market
The Webtoon industry has grown quickly for more than the last 10 years
drawing a upward sloping graph
Studio team format production of Webtoon producers specialized the production parts
each parts have become more expertized
and that much more labor is put in
To maintain what is put in
that much profit must be made and maintained
Due to this, a genre bias is created where producers lean towards genres that do well
Genre bias makes readers that want to see quality content of various fields
quickly lose interest
Genre bias is not a good news to
neither readers nor producers
Post-COVID, visitors of domestic Webtoon platforms are decreasing
There will be complex reasons
but it might be a choice of readers that stem from the mass production of the genre biased
Webtoons that are familiar to them
It might be that the readers' trend is
moving to a personal and intimate stories
that were lacking before
Genre bias is a early stage process that every genre goes through when it becomes a trend
After that process, it settles as a genre group and makes a new area
Eventually, there will be more genres in the market
and become a part in the genre diversity
Trend always changes
Returning, possession, reincarnation has become a typical novel comics and was mass produced
turning into a stereotype
but readers are again waiting for something new
Typicalness is a pattern of popularity
It needs to be studied before it is thrown out
It can only be avoided or modified when studied
[Trend comes back in certain cycles] The fact that trend comes back
is that there is a generational rotating cycle of typicalness
and won't that mean that there aren't much typicalness then?
We need to renew the typical to fit the generation
In people, the horizontal instinct exists
Cartoons on Instagram or advertisement cartoon in card formats
swipe the cuts horizontally
Cut toons also exist in similar format
But they still aren't in page format
Japan and North America where page format cartoon market is largely present
Readers who feel fatigue with fancy colors
also seek black and white cartoons
Indie cartoon pieces independent from capital
also are still created and published as small but lovely
media to cartoon kids
The cartoonist Keykney
who has lead his own cartoon world communicating with the readers through Instagram
has made a succeed that is different from Webtoon
The speed of AI technology developing is scary
Full-color high quality cartoon, Webtoon production is already possible with AI
We need to predict and prepare for what flow the AI will bring to the Webtoon industry
No matter what choice is made, cartoonists must find
something of their own that will lead the readers' compassion and develop it
The fact that active choices of readers
lengthens the lives of the pieces that they like
and create new ones does not change
Cartoonists are readers before being a cartoonist
They need to be active readers
It is because all cartoons, Webtoons eventually head to the readers
and it is a public art media that shines
with the choice of the readers, thank you
□ What is Webtoon? - Cartoons in vertical scrolling format suited for mobile phone environments
□ What is cartoon? - The original form of Webtoon is now
□ Evolution of Webtoon - The Korean cartoon industry faces challenges in the late 1990s
- November 2009, cartoons started to optimize for mobile phone viewer size when mobile phone-centered app market grows
- 2024 now, with the adoption of the preview system, hundred millions profit content appeared
- With the Webtoon industry thriving, agencies and production studios increased, changing the production scale with the studio format team production
□ Webtoon production process 1. Discovering and planning the topic 2. Planning the plot and characters
3. Total synopsis following the unfolding of events 4. Planning and relocating the plot from character-focused to event-focused
5. Writing a written storyboard for each episode with the calculation of cuts aimed to image the plot 6. Making the image storyboard
7. Sketching 8. Lining 9. Coloring and final touches 10. Final editing
□ Formal characteristics of page cartoons - The direction of the gaze - Sizes of cuts - Connection of cuts - Function of spaces
□ Formal characteristics of scroll cartoons - Enlarged letters - Cut shapes that fit the vertical length of phone screens
- Composition that is easy to view on small screens - Strong and effective light expression