Character Lineups

First of all, just think puzzle pieces

The Incredibles:

The Croods:

"While the characters and environments have very stylized shapes, they're unified by the naturalistic textures and realistic animations they share - Whimsical creations treated very seriously." - Kristine Belson, Producer


"To Differentiate one from another, each of the Croods and Guy had been given their own shapes - squares, triangles, circles, ovals, and pears."

"From a graphics standpoint, 'You're trying to create a statement that is readily recognizable,"

"When you're making a group... Its good to have silhouettes that are very distinct from a distance too."

It's one thing to design a good character.  Designing a Great Character Lineup is another thing

While Each individual character might be well designed,  If you line up all your characters side by side you may be surprised to discover that all your characters are the same shapes and are very boring and indistinguishable from one another.

A Great Character designer can design Characters that look good on their own AND in a Lineup.

The Key to a Great Lineup is VARIATION IN SHAPE

They can Literally fit together like puzzle pieces.  If you have a tall character, than you should have a short one to compliment it.  A square? Then a round etc. etc.

This Rule should Apply and Be Foremost in your Mind, Nomatter what style you are going for.  Realistic Live action,  Cartoon, etc.

Try to Find Variation in :

The Kinds of Shapes used

The Size of Shapes Used

Variations in Big Med Small

The Frequency of Shapes used etc.

The More successful your lineup, the more colorful and memorable your characters:

The Lineup TEST - Will Your Character Design Pass?

 - Draw Each of Your Characters In about 5 Lines or Less.

1)  Your Character should have a strong enough shape language that they are recognizable even at this point of simplification - If not - FAIL

2)   Does Your Character Have more than 2 Things Common with any other Character? (A Shape the same size, Proportion, Color etc?)  If It Does - FAIL

Try It Out:  Here are some worksheets - Draw the simple shapes.  

 Did They All Pass?  

There is a huge variation in styles here, but they all consistently pass the test.  Take the Rapunzel Lineup for example - These are more realistic in their proportions, yet they are careful to keep all the shapes different. 

The Pose Doesn't Matter. The Shapes will be consistent whatever the pose. 

The Last Example Does not pass the test.  While each character is a nice design on it's own, the Lineup FAILS.  Yes, they all have different head shapes, and Yes they all have different hats etc... BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH.  They do not have enough variety and do not pass the test.

Aside from just good Design,  A Character Lineup can also help you strengthen your character's Personalities.  Note Postures, Shape Languages etc.  A Person looking at a good Character design should be able to distinguish Heroes from Villains,  Rich from poor, Old from young, Fit from lazy etc.

While Your Characters Should Differ Interestingly one from another,  they should also live in the same world.  Think about how your characters will interact, bot physically and emotionally, and be make sure that your designs can accommodate that.

Presenting Your Line-up:

The Easy answer - Whatever Makes it look good, professional and sells your characters

You can use guidelines

You can have a simple ground plane or show simple shadows - This is essential if you have floating characters (NOTE: Ground Shadows are cast shadows, and are therefore are HARD edged)

Here are some More Examples of Nice Lineups:

Note variations in even boot or coat lengths, waist and neck lines, colors, values etc.

Assignment #12- Character Lineup

In This Assignment You Will be Developing A Character Lineup - Showing your Knowledge of Shape Variation, Silhouette..... And Basically Everything we have done all semester.

You Will Be Developing 3 Characters Plus 2 more Silhouettes That will be a part of this Lineup = 5 Figures. (Silhouettes because we didn't have as much time this semester as planned).  ONE of these finished Characters MAY be based on a character you did in class OR may be completely new.  You will need to Design an ALL NEW Friend/villain/sidekick/Love interest/etc. to go with this character, Plus the two Silhouettes of additional characters that show how they would fit into the Lineup Shape-wise.

The 2 Finished Character Designs will need to be Finished and Clean (not a sketch) and in Color (can be simple)

Include A  Simple "Premis:" and "The Design:" about each of your two finished Designs.  In the Premis: tell us who your character is and what it's design needs to accomplish. in "The Design:" Tell us how you achieved this.  For an example of this, see the Croods Breakdown Post that we went over together in class.

here is an example of what your Final assignment should look like:

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a Premis and Design for the 3

Thursday Dec 4th - No Class, - Visiting Artist

Tuesday Dec 9th - Assignment #13 Due - We will Critique in class

Thursday Dec 11th - Final Day of class - Bring your Portfolio Pieces Printed out - Class Party.  

Final Exam - No Class but all Latework Is Due By Midnight.

Character Breakdown: The Croods

GRUG

Premis:
Leader
Survivor who emerged as the family's protective patriarch
"giant block of a caveman"

The Design:
"We envisioned this big, square body and football-shaped head, tapered at the hair line and chin.  He has a huge neck that starts right underneath his ears. It's not long, but it's chunky."
"Grug's square shape represents toughness and power both his position within the family and his responsibility for it. "
"The size of his head indicates his brainpower - or lack thereof"
He symbolizes the old version of humanity - humanity 1.0, so he's more apelike in his proportions than the rest of the family"
Gorilla like - when stands upright, hands almost touch the ground


EEP

Premis:
Leading character
love interest
Feminine
Strong and Capable - Caveman heritage
Appealing but "Not a princess with a tiny waist and delicate little features"
Face is a balance between toughness and appeal while avoiding her being too beautiful

The Design:
Glides with the nimbleness of a cat
Parcour videos - "If you're cruising and jumping over things, you're using your whole body. They're constantly putting their hands down. That was the kind of vibe we wanted."
Since Eep is a blend of bother her parents, we gave her a wide, triangle-shaped body on top, which indicates that she's tough and athletic;
 a round face, indicating her softer, more feminine side
Diamond shaped hair
Short forehead and, in a nod to her background, a longer distance between her small nose and upper lip.
To make her more charming, "We gave her bigger eyes and red cheeks."
Long torso and short legs - tricky for animators
Clothing must look dirty and a little worse for wear, but still cute and appealing
Her dress is worn but groomed and soft


UGGA

Premis:
The Mom
Strong - not a physical match to Grug, but a team

The Design:
"We went through a lot of iterations where she was huge, stocky, and strong. She just lacked appeal"
"Although a cavewoman, we had to make her presentable"

Taller than EEp, but shorter than Grug.
Slimmer, Prettier, Athletic, with facial features similar to Eep.
"We Gave her a Spherical shape in her face and a rounded body to reflect her mild personality."

THUNK

Premis:
9 yr old son
"chip off the old block"
A little kid who is HUGE
Awkward

The Design:
As Grug's son, his frame took on a pear shape - body, face and legs
referenced kids for childlike awkwardness and baby chimps that run around on 2 legs and swing arms too much
wrists are floppy when he walks - not quite in control of his young body.

SANDY

Premis:
Youngest Crood
A biting, snarling whirlwind who doesn't speak but still gets her point across unmistakably
Fearless like a baby bear on mother's back

The Design:
Drawn like a cub, with a round face
2 round pony-tails on her head which in silhouette give the suggestion of bear ears
Two Giant teeth on her as fangs


GRAN

Premis:
"Old as Dirt"

The Design:
Inspired by native people of Himalayan Mountains: "They're constantly in the sun, which influences the color and quality of their skin"
"skinny body
Strong wide jaw - Suggesting that she eats alot
bigger hands and feet than the rest of the family
Carries a stick - but not to aid in walking, but for hunting and fighting.
"I gave her an older-generation feel by giving her a dress made out of reptile leather"
Has a tail - Indicating that she's a more primitive human who has survived from an earlier age."



GUY

Premis:
Everything that Grug isn't: Young, Daring, Imaginative, Smart
Charismatic and Appealing
Represents a lot of things in the film - "He's the guy who lives outside, he relishes adventure - but he's a dead end as well. He needs the Croods as much as they need him if he's going ti continue."
Original Script:  "Wacky dude named Wimmet who wore a feather skirt and moved like a monkey"
Needed to be more appealing - would Eep be attracted to a nerd?
Needed to look different from the Croods, since he was a more evolved species.

The Design:
"We ended up making him taller and broadening him out, giving him a more muscular look"
20's ish, - "Visual cues such as a slight sharpening of his facial features, a slight wrinkling around the eyes, and a little stubble on his chin that told us that he is older, wiser and stronger."
X-Shaped Body
Hexagon-Shaped Face
"His thin waist and wide ankles (with his animal shoes) emphasize the difference between Guy and the Croods.
Wider Shoulders indicate toughness
Narrow Chin suggests that he's eating cooked food, not just raw meat




More Picts: Enjoy!