WEBTOON Advanced Dolbae's Directing Secrets
Effective Storytelling Techniques in Webtoons
Hello, this is Dolbae
Today, I’d like to talk about directing in storytelling
What exactly is directing?
In webtoons, directing refers to
visualizing a written story
so that readers can see it
The film involves actors bringing the story to life through performance
lighting directors setting the mood with light
cinematographers capturing it all within the frame
and background designers creating the set
Each of these roles contributes to the visualization of a single shot
In webtoons, however
it’s often the case that a single creator is responsible for everything
While many think of directing
as solely part of the illustrator’s role
it’s the bridge between writing and drawing
For instance, a storywriter might handle the directing by creating storyboards
and then passing them on to the illustrator
Alternatively, the writer could focus solely on the text
leaving the illustrator responsible for directing and visual storytelling
Typically, people assume that story writers
only write scripts and then pass them
to illustrators
I know several writers who enjoy working on storyboards
Conti as well
Sometimes, the story writer takes on the directing responsibilities
So I think it depends on
which writer you work with
When novice writers collaborate
they can easily fight during the directing process
It's that difficult, and each person has a different way of thinking
and there are big individual differences
So, the direction is, in my head
in this episode, there is a scene where someone fights
and the writer thinks about how to direct it
and writes it like this
When I hand this over to the animation artist who directs this story
the artist says, “This fight should be like this and like this”
If I direct it
completely differently than the writer thought
the writer is really
invested in my story
So when I see this direction, I feel a little strange
And I might think, “This isn’t it”
Then, if I say
“This is the direction I thought of”
“This is the direction I think of”
This is how opinions can differ
That's why directing can be a delicate and subjective process
with different people having different approaches and preferences
As for me
I’m a solo creator
I don’t separate the roles of writing and illustrating
instead, I handle both
This means I also care for directing
bridging the gap between writing and drawing
In other words, I’m a creator who manages drawing
As a solo creator, here’s what I think of when it comes to directing
or when I say, “I need to work on the directing for episode 38 starting tomorrow”
I think of directing like this
In vertical scrolling webtoons
there's vertical canvas
I have a story on a long campus in a vertical scroll
but how do I put this story in?
How do I draw cuts, square cuts
and whether to make them long horizontally or vertically?
And where do I put the dialogue?
When do the characters appear
where do they appear
what do they look like when they appear
what angle do they have, what size do they have
and how do I show the background behind the characters
I draw these things while thinking like this in front of the computer
That's why my brain gets very tired when I direct
The most fundamental aspect of directing webtoons is
readability
This means that
the webtoon should be easy for readers
to understand
As a creator and director, your priority should be ensuring that
Avoid over-the-top or overly flashy directing
that might disrupt the reader’s understanding of the narrative
Keep that in mind
When composing a panel
you have to direct it with the intention of
conveying the content well so that the readers can understand it
For example, if a certain character appears
Suppose this character is
someone with a very hidden agenda
In that case, they should appear very gloomy
or only show the side of the character
and intentionally hide
the frontal view
as if they are hiding something
In this way, the content should come first, and if you only close up on them
and think that you should show something else at this point
like showing the person's watch
or a full shot of the person
I think directing with this intention
is the wrong approach
I don't think directing
that doesn't explain the author's intention is good
This cut was composed like this for this reason
This has to be clear
That was the case in the days of published comics
Since many cuts catch the eye on one page simultaneously
on one page of paper
if there are too many close-ups
or left-hand sides
it all catches the eye at once
You might think
Why are these cuts so boring?
So, how published comics are done
differs slightly from how webtoons are
So, at that time, there was a rule to avoid
overly monotonous camera work
So, if you look at it, it has a very different grammar from video directing
When I first studied published comics
I saw that when a character appears like this
they don't appear like this in the next cut but are directed differently
or they put in a full shot
and compose the cuts in a very flashy way
But webtoons are different from published comics
You look at one cut and scroll down
Another cut is below like this
Then, like a video
you look at the previous cut and put it away
You see the next scene
This is why you forget the previous cut
when you turn to another cut
This is because it is in vertical scroll format
That is why I think the directing method of webtoons
is more similar to the formula of a movie
than that of a published comic book
Webtoons are much harder
to concentrate on than paper books
Since you are viewing them on an electronic device such as a cell phone
the light is so bright that it tires your eyes
and since you are constantly scrolling, the cuts keep moving
So your eyes keep going back and forth like this
That is why it is very difficult to concentrate
Unlike books
you can read and follow them with your eyes
However, scrolling requires moving your fingers
back and forth
which can greatly interfere with concentration
That's why webtoon readers
are much less loyal
than comic book readers
Only when the writers provide a good story
can they follow it
That's why, more than in the era of published comics
we writers have to visualize the story
in an easy-to-understand
and readable way
In short, isn't it a bit boring
when we direct?
Rather than boring directing
focus more on directing that is easy to understand
The readers won't understand anyway
Even if I give them flashy directing
or refreshing directing
it's really hard to make them understand anyway
So, make them understand first
and then I can do directing
that stands out a bit
So, I think it's good to convey the essence of the story
with simple directing but also add a little more to it
with flashy directing to provide something to see
But sometimes
There are times when you need to show
not only simple directing
but also very flashy and extravagant directing
Those times are when a story is needed
So, the story is this kind of story
but this story has a very strong impact
and a lot to show
and at that time, flashy directing is needed
That's why, as I said earlier
you need to approach it with the idea that readable and understandable directing
when the story is needed
helps this directing
and the story shouldn't help the directing
It would be good to think of directing as something
that complements the story well
But how can we improve readability?
It's good for people who are good at speaking
but when you're good at speaking and conveying something well
it's good for them to think from the listener's perspective
It's good to think, 'If I do this from the listener's perspective, it will be easier to understand'
If I introduce this from the viewer's perspective
it will be easier to understand
There are some rules in the vide
Rules that increase readability and understanding
First, there is the 180-degree rule among the movie rules
It is good to follow this rule as much as possible
The 180-degree rule may seem difficult
Simply put, it means that if there is one cut
or if it is a movie, one scene
the direction of the characters in that scene
should be unified as much as possible
I said as much as possible, right?
But the reason I said as much as possible is
because of this rule, this 180-degree rule
It is good for the character always to maintain
the same direction in the scene
This rule can often be broken depending on the writer's intention
I recently watched a movie
and I think the director wanted to portray
the character's evil nature
or extremely evil, in the movie
So, in that scene, the character
kept changing directions in a very uncomfortable way
That's why the viewer feels puzzled
They feel puzzled and wonder why he suddenly changed directions
It's very awkward in the scene but not in the manuscript
That's what the viewer can feel
So when we draw
if we want to express awkwardness in the manuscript
or show the character's unstable psychological state
when you want to show something unstable
we can break this 180-degree rule
However, if there is no special reason
it's better to stick to it
Let's look at an example
Here, Cucumber and Dolbae are having a conversation
Cucumber is standing on the left and looking to the right
and Dolbae is looking from the right to the left
Looking at the second cut, you can see that the direction has changed
and Dolbae is looking from the left to the right
If you turn the camera
Is Dolbae turning around and looking at someone else?
the readers will think like this
The direction has suddenly changed
So naturally, between these cuts
is a scene where Dolbae turns around
Unlike videos, in webtoons, there are cuts
It’s called a gutter
and the readers’ imagination is left to decide
what’s happening inside
So, there’s a scene where someone is talking
Two people are talking like this
and then the next cut appears
If something else appears in the next cut
the readers will think that
there is something between these cuts
so they think that Dolbae is turning around
and looking at someone else
But in terms of the story, there’s no such content
Then, something feels strange
So, to make it seem like the conversation is continuing naturally
you can reverse this direction in this second cut
You can just go back to
the original direction of the Dolbae
Then, the readers will naturally think
Oh, they’re just talking here
It's how they think
This may seem very trivial
but if these minor issues
and incomprehensible situations are repeated
readers tend to get tired of reading
That’s why it’s better to avoid
making minor production mistakes
that interfere with the reader’s understanding
because they tend to
leave the work
And there are
overlapping parts in the cuts
That’s the space where the readers’ eyes are most focused
So, if there’s a cut like this, if you place important elements
in the overlapping part
the readers’ eyes will be comfortably focused
This can also be placed
uncomfortably on the edge to show
the character’s anxious and nervous psychological state
However, when there is no reason
it is better to place important elements
in the overlapping thirds that are most easily visible to readers
For example, if you are talking about a person
you can place the pupils
or if you want to emphasize the person
looking at a watch in an insert shot
you can place the watch like this, where numbers go
That part is the important part
the overlapping thirds
It is good to place
important elements in the most visible places
Also, when drawing a person in a cut
there is the person’s gaze
So when readers look at the cut
and see the person, they look at the eyes
We also always look at the eyes when we talk
The eyes are very important
so we tell you to place the eyes
in the overlapping two-thirds part
Also, when you look at the eyes, there is the place where the person’s gaze is
If you look like this or like this
it is better to give more space
in the direction where the gaze is directed
When we look at people, we unconsciously look
in the direction they are looking
So when we look at webtoons, if the main character or characters
are looking somewhere, whether they are blankly staring
or looking intently like this
it is good to give them a little more space
in terms of visual space in the cut
The same goes for taking pictures
When I talk about directing webtoons
I say it is similar to taking pictures
There are rules
that we have to follow when taking pictures
If the character is looking to the left
we give them more space to the left to explain something
and if they are looking to the right, we focus more on the explanation to the right
Readers are curious, just like us
about what the character is looking at
so we give them more information
about the direction the character is looking
This is something I have felt
while watching a lot of webtoons recently
We have a new format called vertical scrolling
In the past, published comics
had very limited space
and there was a limit to the small space
When we came to the format of vertical scrolling webtoons
the proportion of full shots increased significantly
What is a full shot?
It means that the character appears
in the cut from head to toe
The character becomes very large
Since the character is large
the full shot automatically becomes
very long vertically
However, when we look at books
and published comics, as I said earlier
they have space limitations
so full shots are not used at all unless necessary
In particular, even if we include large full shots
they are only used in very important scenes
If we include full shots, the remaining space
unimportant space, goes to full shots
so there was something very inconvenient
when we divided that narrow space
However, when we came to webtoons
we were given the freedom of vertical scrolling
which was difficult to handle
Because of this freedom of vertical scrolling
there are times when space is overused
That’s why cuts are made very long
People are shown from head to toe
and even the shoe brand
However, long vertical full shots
should only be used in important cuts
This is because scrolling
and looking at unnecessary information while looking at the screen
is very tiring on the eyes
and I don’t think it’s necessary to see
the main character’s buttocks and calves while scrolling
So, except for important cuts
it’s good to cut appropriately
from the character’s calf, thigh, or waist
Also, when using a camera
it’s good to think of a medium shot
with an eye-level camera as the basic shot
And unless necessary
don’t raise or lower the angle from the eye level
If you don’t know much about directing
always use an eye-level medium shot as the basic shot
It may seem monotonous
but it’s okay
First, use a medium shot as the basic shot
and if you want to show the character’s movements better
pull the camera back
and if you want to show the character’s expression, bring it in closer
Imagine a camera director is out on the scene
holding a real camera and filming
Imagine the eye level of that camera director
the distance from the character of that camera director
and try directing
The camera director is the reader
Using the camera
as if the reader is at that scene is good
How to Direct a Two-Person Conversation Scene
And this time, let's talk about
how to direct a two-person conversation scene
that people find difficult
There are many situations
but two-person conversation scenes appear very often
When a scene or sequence begins
the content that the writer needs to convey to the reader is usually like this
When the conversation is taking place
the time the conversation is taking place
the two people are in what positions and at what intervals
what the conversation is about
the content of the conversation
and what emotional changes occur
between the two people
during the conversation
So, the two people exchange content
Traditionally, the farthest camera is used
when this conversation sequence begins
This is because the reader is bringing the audience to this place
What's happening here is
using the farthest camera as if it's approaching from afar
Then, the camera gradually narrows down
to the subject of the conversation
When directed like this
the situation can be explained to the reader from afar most smoothly
Let's take a look at the table I made
Depending on the function, there will be shots like this
You don't have to memorize this
There's an establishing shot, a master shot, a coverage shot
a master shot, and another establishing shot
Also, depending on the distance, an extremely long shot
The farthest and a long shot, a full shot from head to toe
a medium shot here, a close-up shot here
and an extreme close-up shot like this
As I mentioned earlier
I'll show you the place where they're talking from far away
and I'll call it an establishing shot
The readers are talking in this place
The room is like this, the color of the walls is like this
and the floor is like this, and you can see what kind of table there is
and things like that
And when it comes to the master shot
I'll show you the master shot in a full shot
showing how these two people are standing
what kind of distance between them
what they're doing
whether they're sitting or standing
From then on, direct
and full-fledged conversations begin
It’s good to talk about the main topic from this point
In the establishing shot, the master shot
it’s good just to do
small talk or something like that
From the coverage shot
But did you do your homework yesterday? You didn’t?
What if you don’t? You can show the main conversation like this
by repeating the coverage shot
When you have that kind of conversation
use medium shot
but the other say he didn't
then this person feels unstable
Then, you can show a close-up shot to show the expression
What if you don’t do it now? What time is it?
you can show a clock and insert a shot
You can use an extreme close-up shot for the insert shot
or show “What time is it?”
and then move the camera away and use a medium shot
to show a scene like “What should I do? I’m going to do it now”
You can show this scene
or you can repeat this
according to the dialogue and content
And when this dialogue, this conversation is over
as if it's wrapping up
the camera moves away again before the conversation ends
It moves away and repeats the full shot and master shot
Then, you show the full shot while saying, "Contact me tomorrow"
The camera moves away again and takes an establishing shot
But when you go back, you say
"Oh, but I don't know if I should do it,"
and you show this room again with the camera moving away
So, suppose you want to move away from the story
or emphasize its completeness completely
In that case, you can end the conversation like this
by moving further away and showing the background farther away
with an extreme close-up shot to make it more complete
If the conversation is long
these coverage shots or these shots will be repeated
So, these shots are repeated
according to the length of the conversation
So there is no rule like
how many shots are placed
It varies a lot depending on the content of the conversation
But in principle, it is natural to do it this way
I'm not saying this is the right answer
but that the readers will naturally accept it
You can freely move the angle at this time
However, for the readability I mentioned earlier
don't swing the camera too aggressively
as we say, "We swing it," don't
You should move it with intention
The camera needs to be very careful
and if possible, the 180-degree rule
it would be good to follow
In each cut, that means keeping the 180-degree rule
it is good to make sure that the character's direction
does not move in each cut
But these orders
I think this is the traditional way
but sometimes, depending on the director's intention
the writer's tendency
or the content you want to emphasize
there are more cases than you think
where this order is changed
I often change this rule
and proceed with directing
Among the coverage shots, I often use a close-up shot
or an extreme close-up shot first
then a medium shot
and then an establishing shot
Why did I do that?
It was to change the traditional and comfortable directing order
so that people would focus on the content I wanted to emphasize
So, if there is a conversation you want to emphasize
try changing the order
For example, is there a shocking subject?
If there is a shocking line like
The person you were dating
was someone you broke up with a long time ago
to emphasize it
use a close-up shot with the line first
then use a medium shot like "What?"
and then show the background and put in an establishing shot
This way, you can change the directing in a sophisticated way
I think being good at visual directing
is similar to being good at speaking
People who are good at speaking
convey enough details to the listener
so that they can immerse themselves in the story along with
the spatial and temporal background of what happened
If you talk without context
go here and there, and talk nonsense
the listener will get bored and lose focus
Just like speaking
when we direct webtoons
we need to guide the viewer
so they can understand kindly
That's why we explained
various supplementary information sufficiently
to lead the reader into the conversation comfortably
That's why you can add a setting shot and a master shot
and approach it that way
The camera looks at the clock
Then it shows the clock
or if you express an emotion like this, it shows the face
It is a good idea to compose it
to make it easy to understand the direction
It may be difficult to hear this just by talking about it
In that case, it is best to draw it yourself
If you draw a lot of manuscripts
things that seemed difficult in theory
will probably become easy to understand
This is how I talked about some of the secrets
of the writer and director
that I felt while working on the manuscript
This may be something that some people already know
and it may be somewhat unfamiliar to others
When working on a manuscript, there are times
when you feel like you’ve hit a wall and are at a loss
At those times, you feel dizzy
can’t see ahead
and wonder how to overcome this difficulty
At times like that, I ask other writers
how they do it
and ask them about their secrets
If you ever get stuck while working on a manuscript
I hope you try the methods I’ve mentioned
This was Dolbae
Thank you
Good directing methods in webtoons Webtoon directing The work of visualizing a story written in words so that it can be seen with the eyes Characteristics of webtoon directing Directing exists between the words
Directing is a tricky and highly individual area Directing should not interfere with the understanding of the story Directing that enhances readability Keep the 180-degree rule as much as possible Consider the rule of thirds
Give more room to the character's gaze Use full shots only for important cuts Set eye-level medium shots as the default
How to direct a two-person dialogue scene Elements of delivery in a two-person dialogue scene Location and time of dialogue Distance and posture of the two people Conversation content Changes in emotions of the two people
Traditional directing style Traditional directing style of gradually getting closer to the subject of the conversation Repeated coverage shots using various shots according to the dialogue and situation
There is no need to stick to the traditional method depending on the director's intention or the writer's tendency