Series Openings - Use of Shot Framing

Shot framing is a very useful technique for telling stories, whether in some form of sequential art or a still illustration. It works as a great way to introduce characters, to draw your view somewhere else and to show what roles characters have in relation to each other.










Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends does this really well to show the characters, having them run past a series of different windows, collecting another character each time. This separates them enough to give each character enough attention, and also tells you a little bit about there character as they pick them up.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles uses shot framing again to separate the character from the others, but also giving them more individual time. It shows the characters' fighting style, giving them some more personality and something to remember them by, and it shows each character in succession so that it can move onto the group shots.

Motorcity uses framing to show a close up of the character, their car and another scene involving them to give you an idea of their role, who they are and what sort of car they drive. This puts a lot of information in just a second or two including their name, giving you enough information that a first time viewer would need for watching the show.

Especially if you do not want to include text and have a large cast, this is a good way that you can introduce all characters and stop them from getting mixed up. You can also show a lot more about the character than might even be apparent in the first few episodes, giving viewers an interest in the characters and want to know more. This could be an interesting way for me to introduce my characters, so I will look at some solutions involving this.