May have varied degree of blend Developing Strong Characters for Animation Jaydeep Mukherjee|...

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May have varied degree of blend Developing Strong Characters for Animation Jaydeep Mukherjee| Hemanth Ramesh Cognizant Technology Solutions

Transcript of May have varied degree of blend Developing Strong Characters for Animation Jaydeep Mukherjee|...

Page 1: May have varied degree of blend Developing Strong Characters for Animation Jaydeep Mukherjee| Hemanth Ramesh Cognizant Technology Solutions.

May have varied degree of blendDeveloping Strong Characters for Animation

Jaydeep Mukherjee| Hemanth RameshCognizant Technology Solutions

Page 2: May have varied degree of blend Developing Strong Characters for Animation Jaydeep Mukherjee| Hemanth Ramesh Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Contents

1.What is ANIMATION and what is not?

2. Are characters made especially for animation any different?a. They are more Exaggerated b. They are easier to recognize c. Center of all aspects of story-telling d. They can make or break a story e. May have varied degree of blend

3.Influence of a successful character on animated narratives:a. Feature filmb. Animated feature filmc. Short filmd. Channel promo & TV commerciale. Gamef. Persona in User Experience Design

4. Character development /design thumb rulesa. Define the stageb. Visualizec. Choose medium d. Set Behavior and style e. Set Accessories and atmosphere f. Animate

5. Character development /design Checklist

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What is ANIMATION and what is not?

We are at an interesting crossroad!!

As CGI technology is now blurring the lines between animation and live-action, it's not clear if a single term can encompass movies as different as the five Oscar nominees for best animated feature in Oscars 2010 !!

For this presentation, we would consider traditional animation character design [2-D/3D]

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" put singing computer-generated rodents into a live-action film and was considered animation; "District 9," which used the same techniques to create the alien "prawns," wasn't.

Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture version of "A Christmas Carol" was submitted in the category, but "Avatar," which used similar, if more advanced, technology wasn't !

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Are characters made especially for animation any different?

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Traditionally animated characters are physically and behaviorally more representative / metaphorical.

Animated characters enjoy the benefit of being imaginary : They can perform actions that are otherwise impossible for the live-action characters in the real world. [human/animals/objects]

But what sets animated characters really apart is their capacity to be exaggerated.

In animation the defining features of a character often use Exaggeration. It emphasize certain personality traits in animated characters appear to make it larger than life with more retention value. Exaggerated features will also help viewers to identify the character's key qualities.

Proportionately, Animated Mr. Bean’s head is nearly 5 times bigger than his live-action counterpart Rowan Atkinson.

Are characters made especially for animation any different? : They are more Exaggerated

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What are the characteristics of a Strong Animated character? : They are easier to recognize

Strong characters are the ones we recognize rather than recall.

From Mickey Mouse's famous three-fingered hands - drawn to save production time in the 1920s - to the 90”s elegant simplicity of Homer Simpson, the traditional approach for character design has always been about keeping it simple.

But the rapid development of CGI technology now puts as much importance in adding details.

Strong characters are a perfect balance between simplicity and required details. They share various emotion with audience more effortlessly but unfold incrementally.

Empire magazines top 50 memorable animated characters Include Gromit, Woody and Baloo in top 3. Mickey Mouse finishes 50th.

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What are the characteristics of a Strong Animated character? Center of all aspects of story-telling

In a story-telling process, a strong character stands at the center of Plot, Setting, Theme, Structure, Point of view, Conflict, Diction and Foreshadowing elements.

This is common with most formats of drama [ cinema, play etc]

Apart from Toy Story , Woody also made a cameo in the A Bug's Life , Cars, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and in the theatrical short, Hawaiian Vacation, used for the release of Cars 2.

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What are the characteristics of a Strong Animated character? They can make or break a story

Animated actors are only as good as the story permits him/her to be.

But their exaggerated actions leave more scope to perform than their real-life counterparts.

And many a times it is not the plot but the character which can make or break a story.

The first Pixar production to have a human main character, Geri's Game was produced with the goal to "take human and cloth animation to new heights.

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What are the characteristics of a Strong Animated character? May have varied degree of blend

How the characters interact with each other is pivotal to a story line.

Depending one the story, characters need to blend or stand out with the supporting elements.

Old man and the sea is a 1999 paint-on-glass-animated short film directed by Aleksandr Petrov, based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film won many awards, including the Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

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Influence of a successful character on animated narratives

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Influence of a successful character on animated narratives: Feature film

A lot of feature films use animated characters when it is humanly impossible to portray them. The personality of these character are developed in a way to make the audience believe in them.

The name of the character Woody in Toy Story was coined as homage after the western actor Woody Strode. Around 200 characters design was developed by Budy luckey for Woody which were all rejected. Finally the most simplest of the Woody character which Budy Luckey did not show in the first instance was selected.

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Influence of a successful character on animated narratives: Animated Feature film

In an animated feature film a strong protagonist is just not enough. The supporting characters should be well defined with intelligence of their own. Rafiki, Scrat, Tow Mater and Elliot are good examples.

Fred Moore was well-known around the Walt Disney studio for his drawings of innocently sexy, often nude, women, referred to as "Freddie Moore Girls." Some of his girl designs found their way into Disney films: for example, the centaurettes in Fantasia and the teenage girls in the "All the Cats Join In" segment of Make Mine Music.

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Influence of a successful character on animated narratives: Short Animation film

In short films, traits of any character has to come out very soon as there is little time for building a personality unlike the full length movies. Here the character design helps to establish persona very soon.

Peter and the Wolf is a short Polish-British-Norwegian model animation film released in 2006. It was written and directed by Suzie Templeton, made in Se-ma-for Studios in Lodz, and has been shown both in cinemas and with live musical accompaniment.

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Influence of a successful character on animated narratives: Channel promo & TV commercial

In channel promos and TV commercials the character should be very appealing, minimalistic and at the same time it should have the aura to hold the interest of the audience.

Fido Dido is a cartoon character created by Joanna Ferrone and Sue Rose. Rose first developed the character in 1985 on a napkin in a restaurant. They later stenciled Fido on T-shirts with the credo: "Fido is for Fido, Fido is against no one". These T-shirts became very popular in New York.

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Influence of a successful character on animated narratives: Game

Character design in quite challenging. A character in a game should be customizable, with strong personality with which the user can relate to for keeping him engaged for a long time.

The first known examples of massively multi-player real time games based around real time networking were developed on the PLATO system starting around 1973. Important multi-user games developed on this system included Empire from 1973 and Spasim from 1974. The latter was a pioneering first-person shooter.

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Influence of a successful character on animated narratives: Persona in User Experience Design

This is an area where make believe, realistic character has to be developed from the business point of view. This is very crucial to understand the needs of an user archetype for a particular project to make the product a success.

Persona is description of a specific person who is a target user of a system being designed, providing demographic information, needs, preferences, biographical information, and a photo or illustration. Typically, multiple personas are developed in the early stages of design that represent the spectrum of the target audience. Personas are one piece of a “scenario”, the other piece being a description of how this person would typically interact with the system being designed.The point of developing personas is to avoid the trap of designing for the “average” user that doesn’t actually exist, and instead to make sure that the system will work for somebody specific rather than no one in particular.

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Character development /design thumb rules

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Character development /design thumb rule 1 : Define the stage: Scope and boundaries of the character

Ideation for a character concept always startswith understanding the story and its emphasisPoints and characters, followed by lots ofthumbnail sketches overlapping with writtenideas, scratches and sketches over sketches

But as the first step, it’s important to define thescope and boundaries of the character. In doingso, Having good clarity over the followingalways help.

1. Who are the primary Audience?2. What metaphors does the characters stand for?3. How important is he/she to the storyline?4. Who is the character and what does he/she do?5. What interesting information do we have about

his past?6. What are his aspirations?7. What would the character not do at all?

Eric Goldberg designed Genie for 1992 Disney blockbuster Aladdin. In 2011 he was named the 21st most influential animator in Disney history on the blog the 50 Most Influential Disney Animators.

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Character development /design thumb rule 2 : Visualize: Make the character unique but interesting

Any character [man, machine, object, animal..] is Guaranteed to have been explored extensively Many times before in various mediums.

Your character needs to be strong and interesting

in a visual sense to get people's attention. It should have its own world.

1. What are the general perceptions around that character?

2. Are there any famous characters in the same genre?

3. How much similar should my character be?4. How much different should my character be?5. Is there a shift/change of the character’s

personality some point within the story?

When devising The Simpsons, Matt Groening realized that there is a good chance that viewers, while browsing through channels suddenly would came across characters' unusually bright yellow skin color, they might just spend some more time there to see what’s going on.

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Character development /design thumb rule 3 : Choose medium: Set expectations on finished look

Medium also plays a big role in the character definition because every animation medium has their unique ways to further detail out the character.

1.How do you justify the final medium?2.Does the chosen medium enhances the character?3.Does the chosen medium cost exorbitant?4.How time consuming it is to use that medium?

In cell-animation, soft and round lines may suggest an approachable, cute character, whereas sharp, scratchy and uneven lines might point to an uneasy and erratic character.

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Character development /design thumb rule 4 : Set Behavior and style: Create the person in him/her

The style of a character is most easily reflected through the character’s body language, varied level of Exaggeration and choice of dress & accessories. Colors can help communicate his/her personality.

1.What style elements need to be accentuated through the body language of the character?

2.How the most important personal traits would be communicated through the choice of dress and accessories?

3.Would the character have any special habit?4.Would he/she talk in a specific accent?5.What socio-cultural contexts would the character represent?

Typically, dark colors such as black, purples and grays depict baddies with malevolent intentions. Light colors such as white, blues, pinks And yellows express innocence, good and purity.

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Character development /design thumb rule 5 : Set Accessories and atmosphere: Create the context

Any character should blend in with the background, but at the same time stand out and be distinct. Accessories and atmosphere helps creates this uniqueness to uphold the main character.

1.What are the accessories that makes the character unique?2.How often does the character interact with accessories and also the surrounding?3.Are there any props which will enhance the character’s attitude?4.What does the surrounding look like for a particular sceen?

Studio Ghibli was originally established in 1985, as a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten. In 2005, Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata established a new Studio Ghibli in Koganei, Japan and acquired all the copyrights of Miyazaki's works and business rights from Tokuma Shoten.

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Character development /design thumb rule 6 : Animate : make character walk and talk.

All the aspect of a character design fails if it can’t walk or talk. Animation should support and bring the attitude of a character to create the distinctness. This aspect evolves from the body language and antic through animation.

1.Will there be an additional action or habit be accentuated while the character walk and talk?2.What are the most common/regular tasks that the character perform?3.During the course of the story, what is the most extreme action that character would perform?4.What is his/her general the attitude conveyed through body language 5.Which are the areas of comfort for the character?6.Which are the areas of discomfort for the character?

Particular firefly symbolism in the movie Grave of the Fire flies:Actual fireflies (which die and are buried by Setsuko) .The children themselves, especially Setsuko, who dies young .Kamikaze planes and pilots: Setsuko observes that a passing kamikaze plane looks like a firefly .Incendiary bomblets (as in the title kanji) .

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Character development /design Checklist

Define the stage: Scope and boundaries of the character 1. Who are the primary Audience?2. What metaphors does the characters stand for?3. How important is he/she to the storyline?4. Who is the character and what does he/she do?5. What interesting information do we have about his past

life ?6. What are his aspirations?7. What would the character not do at all?

Choose medium: Set expectations on finished look 1. How do you justify the final medium?2. Does the chosen medium enhances the character?3. Does the chosen medium cost exorbitant?4. How time consuming it is to use that medium?

Visualize: Make the character unique but interesting 1. What are the general perceptions around that

character? 2. Are there any famous characters in the same genre?3. How much similar should my character be?4. How much different should my character be?5. Is there a shift/change of the character’s personality

some point within the story?

Set Behavior and style: Create the person in him/her1. What style elements need to be accentuated through the

body language of the character?

2. How the most important personal traits would be communicated through the choice of dress and accessories?

3. Would he/she talk in a specific accent?4. Would the character have any special habit?5. What socio-cultural contexts would the character

represent?

Animate: see the character in action 1. Will there be an additional action or habit be accentuated

while the character walk and talk?2. What are the most common/regular tasks that the character

perform?3. During the course of the story, what is the most extreme

action that character would perform?4. What is his/her general the attitude conveyed through body

language 5. Which are the areas of comfort for the character?6. Which are the areas of discomfort for the character?

Set Accessories and atmosphere: Create the context1. Who are the primary Audience?2. What metaphors does the characters stand for?3. How important is he/she to the storyline?4. Who is the character and what does he/she do?5. What interesting information do we have about his past ?6. What are his aspirations?7. What would the character not do at all?

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Page 25: May have varied degree of blend Developing Strong Characters for Animation Jaydeep Mukherjee| Hemanth Ramesh Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Thank you!