Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
To make a character original, you need to look closely at its character profi le. Who is he
and what makes him unique as a character? Find this trait and exaggerate it in the design.
If your character is a great intellectual, exaggerate the cranium. Give him a big forehead.
If your character is a habitual eavesdropper, give her big ears. If a gopher is highly opti-
mistic but slow, give him big eyes, but a heavy lower body. Defi ne what visual attributes
are necessary to effectively tell your story.
Sometimes these attributes are defi ned by what the characters have to
do
in the story. What
they have to do give cues to their visual design. In
The Incredibles
, Elastigirl is not just an
interesting design for a superhero; she stretches because she is a mother and must always
multitask. Dash is fast because he is a little boy with so much pent-up energy. Violet disap-
pears and has a protective shield because she is in adolescence. Elastigirl is organic and
loose in the joints. Dash is solid and low to the ground with strong legs. Violet is slim and
has hair that perpetually hangs over her large and watchful eyes.
Other ways to fi nd a unique character design is to look at the characters' goals and the
confl icts that they must confront. In
The Triplets of Belleville
, Mme. Souza's goal is to save
her kidnapped grandson, Champion, from the French Mafi a. She is small and old. Many
obstacles are put in her way: an ocean, lack of money, the city of Belleville, and the Mafi a.
You would think that this would be enough. But Sylvain Chomet designed her with one leg
shorter than the other. She wears one elevated shoe. Because of this, she can move only
slowly. There is, in her physical design, an impediment to her goal: to quickly rescue her
grandson. It is not enough that she is small and old. We expect grandmothers to be small
and old. Her foot makes her different and memorable. The fi rst time we see her we see her
foot. It creates intrigue and we want to know more about her.
Similarly, Chris Perry's little girl in
Catch
is made of simple geometric shapes. Her environment
is also made up of shapes. The shapes represent the simplicity and innocence of childhood.
They contrast sharply with the photographic reality of a grown, well-developed woman in a
billboard. The little girl must confront her future and decide what is worthwhile at that time in
her life. The design of the character is in direct contrast with the confl ict she must face.
Catch
,
Chris Perry, University of
Massachusetts at Amherst
