Storytelling Self-Sabotage: Aspect Shot Overkill

Aspect-To-Aspect. In my 20s that was all I wanted to draw. Until it took over my entire panel transitioning style.

That was the mistake I made. I used aspect shots too much, to the point where it's been interfering with my comic book storytelling ability. Even One Piece uses fewer aspect shots than I do.

The transitions I need to make happen are:

• Moment-to-Moment
• Action-to-Action
• Subject-to-Subject
• Scene-to-Scene

Too many aspect shots interferes with the storytelling. It looks cool, but should be used sparingly in my storytelling arsenal. I've gotten so good with avant-garde aspect shots, I just assume that's the kind of shot I'm going to draw, when it shouldn't be automatically or necessarily, just every so often.

To be honest, in my early minicomic days, I could easily tell a story. I didn't use any aspect shots. But I was so obsessed with aspect shots, those types of camera shots made the style of storytelling I was using too abstract, to the point where I had abandoned moment shots and action shots entirely. Even Hiroaki Samura uses SOME moment and action shots.