Character and background design

We design all the characters and the universe where they are built so that the story has a clear narrative power and a fictional pact that works, both for the creator and the viewer. It is proposed to animate a scene of the same, to understand the complete visual aesthetics.

Objectives:

1. Understand the importance of the characters in my story.
2. Know how to define and confront my characters correctly.
3. Create a design sheet where the appearance, movements and personality of my character are understood.
4.  Animate a scene or a fragment of it.
5. Design all the backgrounds of the short film with at least one finished.

Through the knowledge we have acquired:

What is the importance of my characters in the story?

Characters are always the engine of my story, a character who feels close to what I am telling, who has a force that makes the story move or a context that makes it move, is the right character. This must be combined with a correct story and a context that makes the viewer identify/reflect with it and feel real. Always remember to create the characters from the physical, experiential and other authors' reference to find a correct essence of them.

Why should the characters in my story confront each other?

A character can tell a good story, but the interactions between characters that have conflicts or that catalyze parts of them that are unknown is what humans understand. So if a story has a good conflict that is supported by the characters, they must be created. Remember that if a character is not necessary for my story, it must come out of it.

What is a design sheet and what should go on it?

A design sheet is a vast and complete description of a character. All characters must have one, but the greater their role in the story is, the more complete it must be. A design sheet must have:

1. Description of my character.

2. Background.

3. Physical, sociological and psychological dimensions

4. Sketches.

5. Key poses.

6. Key expressions.

7. Orthographic views.

8. Relative sizes.

9. Dialog sheet.

10. Colors.

11. Costumes.

12. Voice test.

13. Among other things that may be necessary.

What is the importance of the aesthetic coherence of my characters, the backgrounds and the short film in general with the message to be transmitted?

The characters are a fundamental part of the “universe” of my short film, they must meet a clear aesthetic to be able to be and live in it, in this way, making all the parts of the short film congruent with each other. We can even find in the not so beautiful movements or creations, an understanding in the viewer to make a fictional pact with history. Taking into account that the fundamental rules of the audiovisual and the principles of animation must be met.

Conclusions

The characters are the engine of the story. They must be congruent with it, with the movements and the technique to be used to create a correct universe with which the viewer can be convinced, feel truthful and make a fictional pact with.

Here you have the contents of the lesson in PDF: