131 According to a study published in Nature, the oldest example of visual storytelling is at least 51,200 years old: a cave painting engraved on the walls of the Leang Karampuang limestone cave, in the Maros Pangkep region, in the south of the Indonesian island of Surawesi. This can be done, for example, by decreasing or increasing the distance of the subject in every panel. ONLINE RESOURCES Great illustrators Marvel comics STORYBOARDS FOR COMIC BOOKS The origins The origins of storyboards in comics are rooted in ancient visual narrative systems, i.e. forms of communication that used images, symbols, and compositions to tell stories or convey knowledge, such as prehistoric cave paintings , historical frescoes, and medieval manuscripts, which illustrated important events through visual language. The ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics and paintings to narrate stories of gods, pharaohs, and historical events. These images were often integrated into architecture and tombs, providing a complete visual narrative, using iconic language, symbols, colours, and shapes to communicate complex meanings in a direct way and a sequential composition. Storyboards and comics The storyboard is the design phase that comes before the creation of the final comic panels. It serves as a guide for artists, helping them to decide on the composition of the panels, the pace of the narrative, and the alternation of shots. At the same time, its flexibility allows for changes to be made to improve the story before it becomes finalised in the comic. The key elements of a comic book storyboard are: panels: each panel represents a moment in the narrative, arranged in chronological order; characters and setting: the panels must indicate who is present and where the action takes place; actions: it is essential to show the main actions performed by the characters; text and speech bubbles: dialogues or thoughts can be indicated, often with simple lines to suggest the space for speech bubbles, or with the final text in more elaborate versions; notes and details: annotations can be added to explain details, proportions, or simply to provide context. A few differences A cinema or pitch storyboard shares many similarities with comic books they are indeed both sequences of drawings narrating a plot and using special techniques to help the readers follow the story but there are a few differences. First of all, the frames of TV storyboards are fixed, but they are mobile for comic books. In other words, while the proportions of the screen on which the frames will be projected have to be respected, authors of comic books can use panels of different sizes and shapes as they see fit to accommodate the story. Also, movement needs implying and suggesting through composition and layout in a comic book, and other techniques must also be used to substitute the movement of the camera, which is absent in comic books, to obtain a long, medium, close up, or a dolly shot and a zoom. fresco: affresco rooted: radicato speech bubble: fumetto 294 PeoPle and inStruMentS