Vicky Jeffree ANIM1004: Character and Characterisation

This report aims to look at the learning that was undertaken during the ANIM1004 module Character and Characterisation. I will move through all stages of the creative process, from the conceptual (generating and selecting ideas, research and analysis) through to the productive (designing and making my maquette, costume and accessories).

Firstly, I decided to create an anthropomorphised character that will reside in the pages of a comic book/graphic novel in a post-apocalyptic environment. Many character ideas emerged from original sketches, including a badger character inspired by arty survival videogame Shelter (2013), although it became apparent through later research that another animal would be better suited to the environment I had in mind.

Blacksad (Canales & Guarnido, 2010) is the graphic novel that inspired me to produce an anthropomorphic character. All of the characters are anthropomorphic animals whose species reflects their personality, character type and role in the story. Animal stereotypes are often used: for example, nearly all of the policemen are canidae, such as German Shepherds, Bloodhounds, and Foxes, while underworld characters are often reptiles or amphibians. So what animal would my post-apocalyptic wanderer be? A highly intelligent yet much-maligned animal in Western cultures, the rat is widely used in scientific research due to its brainpower. They are also revered for their cunning and resourceful nature, have very good long term memories and are excellent when it comes to adapting to changing situations. Because of these qualities, I decided that a rat would be the perfect animal to design my character on.

I also took inspiration from Joe the Barbarian (Morrison & Murphy, 2011). The protagonist Joe is a teenage boy with Type 1 diabetes and a rat named Jack for a best friend. When his blood sugar drops and he enters a state of hypoglycaemia, he begins to hallucinate. Jack becomes an anthropomorphic manifestation of Joe’s humble pet, serving as a Sherpa in Joe’s journey to the bottom reaches of a fantasised kingdom, fully armed with sword, combat skills, tenacity and bravery. The character of Jack became the main inspiration for the physical proportions of my character — how it would carry itself and it’s posture. I also think the traits of Jack would apply to my character given the scenarios my character would find himself in.

As one of the last people in his world, I wanted my character to be full of life, very human and emotion-based rather than cold and calculating. Because of this I chose to research the character of Rorschach from the graphic novel Watchmen (Moore & Gibbons, 2005), as he epitomises raw emotion. I studied who he is, the way he holds himself, the way he fights and the clothes he wears to further develop my own character.

Rorschach’s character is extremely complex. He’s a ruthless killer and torturer of those he deems unworthy and sees himself as lone protector of New York. To him, everyone is scum, corrupt and posing; everyone is a walking compromise and only he stands true to his convictions. Yet he isn’t a serial killer or a psychopath, he sees and recognises the pain in others but has no faith in rehabilitation for criminals, leading him to protect those he sees as more innocent by killing the guilty: "...and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘save us!'...and I'll look down and whisper ‘no.'" (Moore & Gibbons. 2005 p. 1). His place in the fiction is to be part of a pair of characters who portray the extremes of human reasoning, and I don’t think he can really be assessed independently. He is diametrically opposed to Dr Manhattan, the naked blue god-man, because of his fiercely emotional viewpoint. Dr Manhattan is representative of the future, of science, of reason and most importantly of the scientists working on nuclear proliferation in the Cold War, which the text is very much about. Dr Manhattan cares for humans only as a beautiful example of complexity and to him everything is maths, each person or action is a calculation to make in order to preserve beauty in the universe. He has no need for medieval notions such as Rorschach posses of justice, loyalty, pride and nationalism. Rorschach represents us as we are and have been, not as we will be, and this is why he must ultimately die at the end of the work. But in an apocalyptic world, where my survivor would be the last remnant of us, I think a man like Rorschach is the sort who’d do us justice.

On a visual note, Rorschach’s appearance was chosen specifically to suit the part in the story he plays. His smart boots, brown duster jacket and 1920s fedora hat make him seem of an older generation than the other characters, and older than he really is, enforcing the notion that he represents humanity’s past. His facial mask was a stroke of genius by artist Dave Gibbons, as the Rorschach Test is a common one administered by psychologists to test a person’s emotional responses, essentially probing their humanity. He also cleverly uses the shifting patterns to give subtle visual clues as to the emotional undertones of certain scenes, at times subtly showing butterfly-, penis- or dog-like shapes for insight.

From Rorschach I forged much of the skeleton of my character. There aren’t very many traces of Rorschach left in the final piece, but this mental model of who Rorschach was, what he would have worn, and how he would have held himself informed my decision on which bits of other characters, who were better suited to the world I was going to put my maquette in, I would choose.

I also looked at other survivalists and post-apocalyptic survivors in film, games, and comics for influences in physical figure, personality and clothing. In film, The Road (2009) was a huge inspiration as it’s a heartbreaking but brilliantly understated take on the post-apocalyptic genre, as beautiful and tender as it is brutal. I used the world that the Man and the Boy live in as the kind of world that my character inhabits, and decisions about exactly what he’d wear were made in light of these living conditions, like for example the goggles, which would help him keep his eyes clear of ash and dust. In turn, the actual design of the goggles came from the slightly steampunk game Fallout 3’s (2008) concept art. The most influential game however, was The Last of Us (2013). The stories’ main character, Joel, wears a backpack that’s slim to his body for movement and sneaking, relatively spacious for storage, and easy to take off for quick access. This was almost entirely the blueprint for the final bag worn by my maquette. Lastly, regarding comics I took the most inspiration from The Walking Dead (Kirkman, Adlard & Moore, 2010) whose lead character Rick Grimes influenced the Rorschach-based personality of the project, as well as being the primary source for the design of my maquette’s jacket. The thick sheep’s wool interior is great for the kind of cold he’d need to ward off, and the strong leather exterior would keep away both the weather and attackers.

When, it came to actually making the maquette, I was faced with challenges as with anything. Firstly, it was difficult to calculate where to drill the holes for the wires, and looking back on this I would’ve drilled them further apart to give my maquette a wider base and much stronger support. I also wish I had kept the wire longer in his one arm so that his weapon had a stronger support. I originally intended for it to be held upright, but the plasticine alone couldn’t hold this position for long periods of time. Secondly, it was difficult to add detail to smaller features such as the hands and the face, so perhaps if doing it again I’d use a wider range of tools. Finally, I’d intended to give my character feathery ears such as that of the Abert squirrel, but I couldn’t get the right texture with plasticine and real feathers wouldn’t hold to the plasticine. If I had time I also would have looked to invest in eyes for my character to give him a more life-like look, but in the end painted plasticine sufficed.

Overall, this module has been a real eye-opener into the rigorous development behind characters, and I’ve learnt a lot about the process of designing a character. It’s been really useful to see how when developing an idea, looking at other characters/people across different media who are similar to what I’m trying to create can be incredibly useful in developing a unique believable character. Although I generally like the character that I’ve created, as I think the elements work well together, if I had the oppurtunity to I would have like to have added more detail as well as elements that weren’t so directly inspired by other media.

References:

BETHESDA GAME STUDIOS (2008) Fallout 3. [Disc] Xbox 360. Bethesda Softworks.

Canales, J. C. & Guarnido, J. (2010) Blacksad. Milwaukie: Dark Horse.

Kirkman, R., Adlard, C. & Moore, T. (2010) The Walking Dead Compendium One. Berkeley: Image Comics, Inc.

MIGHT AND DELIGHT. (2013) Shelter. [Digital Download] Mac OS. Stockholm: Might and Delight

Moore, A. & Gibbons, D. (2005) Watchmen. New York: DC Comics.

Morrison, G. & Murphy, S. (2011) Joe the Barbarian. New York: Vertigo.

NAUGHTY DOG. (2013) The Last of Us. [Disc] Playstation 3. Sony Computer Entertainment.

The Road. (2009) Film. Directed by John Hillcoat. [DVD]. UK: Icon Productions.

Bibliography:

Bancroft, T. (2006) Creating Characters with Personality. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications Inc.

Burgerman, J. (2013) 20 Character Design Tips. [Online] 19th December 2013. Available from:

http://www.creativebloq.com/character-design/tips-5132643 [Accessed: 11th May 2014]

Creative Bloq (2013) Top 40 character design tips - Part 1: Animal based characters. [Online] 9th May 2013. Available from: http://www.creativebloq.com/animation/top-40-character-design-tips-part-1-animal-based-characters-5132659 [Accessed: 11th May 2014]

Creative Bloq (2013) Top 40 character design tips - Part 2: Human based characters. [Online] 18th January 2013. Available from: http://www.creativebloq.com/animation/top-40-character-design-tips-part-2-human-based-characters-1132742 [Accessed: 11th May 2014]

Danner, A. & Withrow, S. (2007) Character Design for Graphic Novels. Waltham: Focal Press

Hedgpeth, K. & Missal, S. (2005) Exploring Character Design. Boston: Cengage Learning

Mattesi, M. (2008) Character Design From Life Drawing. Waltham: Focal Press