#characterdesignresearch

* A single gesture can undermine a thousand words. * Facial expressions, body movement/posture, space, gestures, tone of voice, eye contact and touch are all things to look out for in animation as they can show instead of telling. * Body language can say a lot about how someone may actually feel. * We notice and pick up on how a character is really feeling through all of these gestures, they are very important when animating characters. * Movement is crucial to our understanding that something is alive.

* Semiotics: Study of meaning-making, the philosophical theory of signs and symbols. * Representation is an essential part of the process by which meaning is produced. * Signifier: The thing we see (shape, colour, posture, clothing etc.) * Shape has a way of communicating universally, because the concept of circular versus triangular shapes originate very much from nature. * Circles often represent friendliness and innocence. * Squares often represent strength and confidence, but can also represent clumsiness. * Triangles often represent danger and villains. * Colour can determine a character's meaning or feel. * The style and way you draw a character can represent different impressions and meanings.

* The archetypes are patterns of instinctual behavior. * Heroes can be willing or unwilling. * Willing: Butch, tough, gung-ho, brave,can't wait to get into the action. Answers the call to adventure at once. * Unwilling: Timid, uncertain, doubtful at beginning, but hero comes out of them during story. * Heroes need convincing reasons to propel them into the action of the story. * Empathetic means 'like me.' * Sympathetic means 'likable.' * Anti-heroes = Protagonists who may be deeply flawed but for reasons are still essentially likable. * Tragic Heroes = They are admirable and have a fatal flaw which leads to their downfall. Giving into the dark side could end badly. * Where does the anti-hero end and a shadow begin? The answer is... It's a gray area. * Shadows need to be totally evil or wicked. * Motivation is what a hero must have, it works for so called baddies too.

* 'Find a character like yourself, who will want something, with all his heart.' Ray Bradbury * Put real emotion and strong desires into a character. * Is the character's desire a big enough 'want' to be able to drive a story plot? * You cannot just describe a character as 'cool.' Write about what actually makes them that way. What would you be like in that position? * 'Pity and dear' is good to feel when watching a character in a story. * 'Adversity brings out the true personality of a character.' * It isn't the size of the want that matters, but the difficulty you have achieving it. * Characterization = Everything you could know if you stalked someone for a month, i.e. observable qualities. * Character = Closer to the meaning of 'moral character' or 'true character.' The way a person behaves under pressure, the way we are 'deep down.' * True character can only be revealed by action. * Back-story = Character development = Convincing character. * Ice burg theory for characters * What do you want right now? Use that to inspire a character's desire.