BDM126 Character Development Research and Inspiration

The character I am interested in pursuing is an old Greek Potter, I have found examples of older characters used in popular animations to help me develop my character profile

Panoramix by Albert Uderzo and Rene Goscinny

Panoramix from the animated French comics Astrix and Obelix is a lovable character by many standards. I chose Panoramix as inspiration as he is of an ancient era much like my character will be. I like how his beard and mustache is used to accentuate his age, along with prominent eyebrows and a larger nose. his build also appeals to me also as my character will be poor and not well fed.

Carl Fredricksen Pixar Animations

Carl Fredricksen is the main character in the major feature film "Up" by Pixar. He is also viewed as a lovable older character which is largely due to the character development and a devastating back story. He is identifiable as an old man by the posture and wrinkles around his eyes. The accessories also play a part in his character identity with the walking stick and big reading glasses.

Iroh Ruffs by Nickelodeon Animation

Iroh is a prominent character in the television show "Avatar the Last Airbender", he plays a wise old uncle that somehow becomes a favorite character because of his warm and charming attitude. He has fuller cheeks and a round stomach but is also shorter then most other characters. It is not the build I have in mind for my character but is one largely associated with older animated characters,

Old Heretic Disney Animations

The Old Heritic in Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is a similar build to what I am imagining for my character, Again, the animators have use an emphasis on the size of his nose and eyebrows to portray the characters age.  The beard is also over-exaggerated in length and his arms and legs and unusually thin.

BDM126 Character Ideas

For our first lesson of Animation Principles we drew basic shapes with a light source and experimented with different shading techniques, 

Practicing shading techniques on basic shapes

Today we experimented further with drawing characters. Animation characters are fundamentally made from different basic shapes. When different shapes are put together they create different faces which are able to tell us subtly about the character and their unique personality.

A Family

These three characters came to mind from a short story that I have written in the past, I particularly like the mother as she portrays the character traits well, her character is Obsessive Compulsive and a very neat individual with a stand-offish personality.

Greek Potter

I have considered using a Greek Potter as my main character and am currently exploring what he should look like. He is poor and elder then most Greek men. I would like the audience to be able to empathize with this character so am looking for a  character appearance that will evoke the right feelings.

Ido

Act One Study- Sintel

Sintel (2010)
Director: Colin Levy
Producer: Ton Roosendaal
Studio: Blender Institute
Awards: Best Short Animation (2011),  Best International Animation (2011), Best Animation (2011)

The Opening scene of Sintel is set in real time as the hunter tells her story, it introduces us to the main protagonist and the harsh unforgiving world she lives in. In Act I we learn the back story of the girl with the inciting incident occurring when she finds the injured dragon Scales. Finding the dragon is a pivotal point of her life which changes the course of the story, Plot point one occurs when Scales is taken from her by the antagonist, a bigger and more ferocious dragon. this incident forces her into action and introduces us as the audience to the main story and her mission to find Scales begins. This animation is clear and well structured with its story line, it blatantly follows the three act structure and keeps the viewers engrossed as the pace is well set and varied throughout the acts. I really enjoyed watching Sintel, with it impressive animation, suitable music and a story line that evokes mixed emotions from its audience.

Opening Scene Study- Road to Eldorado

The Road to El Dorado (2000)
Director: Eric Bergeron, Will Finn
Producer: Brooke Breton, Bonne Radford
Studio: Dreamworks Animation
Awards: Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Composer (2001)

The opening scenefor The Road to El Dorado starts off as many animated features do with a regular day. The movie's two protagonists are portrayed getting up to mischeif and we as the audience get he feeling that being chased by halk the town is a regular occurance for them. we also meet the main antagonist who is always shot from a lower angle to make him seem large and fearful. Techniques used include humour, music and a fast-paced chase scene that keeps the vewers interested and expecting an action filled story. the main plot-line is setup quickly with a map to Elderado being intorduced within the first few minutes of the scene, and as predicted the characters Miguel and Tulio have already got themselves into trouble with Hernan Cortes.

Animation Study- Geri's Game

Geri's Game (1997)
Director: Jan Pinkava
Producer: Karen Dufilho
Studio: Pixar Animation
Awards: 1997 Academy Award Winner for Best Animated Short Film

"Geri's Game' caught my attention with the older main character which is a possibility I am looking at with my own project. There is no dialogue in the animation and only one character who is portrayed with two different personas. This means that the exaggeration of expressions and personality of the character must be strong enough to hold the audiences attention. I like how although the character is the same both the protagonist and antagonist are easily identifiable by the use of emotions and difference in the portrayal of body language and facial expressions. As an audience we are compelled to feel an attachment to Geri as his character has very lovable qualities.

Animation Study - Paperman

Paperman by videobash

Paperman (2012)
Director: John Kahrs
Producer: John Lasseter and Kristina Reed
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Awards: Academy Award for Best Short Film

Paperman, directed by John Kahrs is an inspiring animation for me. It's use of music to enhance the beauty of the animation as opposed to vivid colours sets it apart from other short films. The storyline for 'Paperman' is a simple one, but one that still manages to capture the magical feel of most feature length Disney movies. Kahrs uses light and shadows to strengthen the animation as it is designed in greyscale. The only touch of colour in the short film is from the characters lipstick which is a technique used often to highlight important themes and ideas. I enjoyed this animation as the range of expressions and emotions on the characters makes it easy to connect with the main protagonists.