… I’m writing here as a spontaneous response to a topic I’m supposed to work on in my animation class a few weeks ago. But then again, I wonder why I am very poorly informed till today which is suppoised to be the presentation day over what I and my group have found (seriously, only until today I knew that I haven’t had any presentation groups yet). And so today we sit here in the lab working our asses off trying to create what we are supposed to present in a flash. So that’s the LOLWUT here.
Anyhow here I go starting to rant nonsense (or maybe there’s a LOT of sense in it).
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND PERSONALITY
Character development is the process in which we try to incorporate esthetical values in the character we created for a story, and in this case we are in (doing animation), we are going to make the character we animate have a personality. Personality makes the character seem more alive, as an animation character without one makes the animation boring and very, very unappealing.
When developing a character’s personality there are several factors we must put into consideration:
- Role of character
- Character’s background/history
- Character interaction
- Emotions
Role of Character
The first and foremost things before anything else. What are we going to make the character into? A protagonist? An antagonist? Or a supporting character? After considering these then only can we apply a personality to a character.
Basically, character development based on their roles vary differently depending on the storyline. For example, a protagonist might have the ‘righteous’ kind of attitude, or the ‘easy-going’ or ‘laidback’ type, etc. While an antagonist might have the ‘I-want-to-conquer-the-world’ kind of attitude, ‘I hate the protagonist that I want to kill him/her’, etc.
So look into the role of the character before deciding on developing his/her personality.
Character’s background/history
While developing our characters in animation, we might want to create some background information to our characters, so that viewers understand what kind of events that lead to the development of a certain personality in our characters.
For example, a gruesome memory can bring the character to be a gloomy or a cold person, while a heartwarming memory might turn our character to be a very gentle and hopeful person (hopeful? I wish I have a better word to describe this) who yearns for good things to come in life.
Character interaction
Refers to how the character responds to everything that surrounds him, be it objects or people, or the environment. A character created under the environment of a place which is dark, cold etc might turn him to be a bitter and cold person, while a character in the environment of a place which is filled with beautiful greeneries might be a peaceful person, while a character whose environments be a castle can be one with a high sense of nobility.
Other than that, characters can also react to other characters and other factors which determine their personality. For example, a shy character blushes when he/she is embarassed by a certain action be it from a character or an activity (like the thought of something). A cowardly character might be afraid if he/she faces something that she can perceive as dangerous, etc.
Emotions
Probably the most important essence in determining a character’s development in terms of personality, and it is what makes a character, a CHARACTER. However, not every single character can have this applied every single time at them, as some successful animation characters don’t have them – at first. Yes, at first. However, it might be that, as the series progress he/she might start to develop emotions.
Emotions can vary depending on what kind of character we make, for example a character with a fiery temper will get angry over whatever ticks him/her off even a bit, while a cheerful character reacts happily with anything that seems good to him/her even a bit, etc.
… I think I’m getting brain-drained (LOLWUT again) because I’m trying to work an article out of the blue and within a short time (although I do have my references, you know). I guess I’ll stop here and let this be brief, plus I’ll post here links to my reference sources.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictional_character
http://www.animeacademy.com/aora-2.php
… these two are my primary sources, but there ARE several others that I forgot… >_>
