Character and Narrative: Character and Short Story Design

In Monday's session Sara came in to talk to us about character and story design and gave us an insight into how important it is to make sure that you get these elements right, as they are what make the animation.
Character design is a process and the character design should always serve the story, rather than the other way around, which is why it is important to write and study your story before you begin to focus on the characters. When writing a short story, there a few key elements that should be considered for a successful short story. The story should be character driven and that character should be flawed to make the character more appealing and relate-able. The goal should be urgent and introduced immediately to fit into the short time frame and there should be interaction between characters or props. Alongside these key elements there are a few 'tools' that can be used within short storytelling. Playing on conventions is something that a lot of animators do, as it often gets a positive reaction from the audience. Other tools also include sound design, simplicity and using a story loop, twist or gag. Good examples of this are Oktapodi and Bird Box Studios' A Christmas Wish.

Oktapodi

A Christmas Wish

Although story development is important, it is also really important to get the character design right, as it needs to match the tone, mood and style of your story, whilst also being suitable for your target audience. Similarly to story design, character design also has some key elements that are useful if you want to design a particular style of character. 

Within character design there are three core shapes that are used - circle, square and triangle. Characters that use the circle shape are often seen as friendly, approachable, kind characters, whereas triangle characters are often seen as mean characters due to their sharp angled features and body shapes. Square body shapes reflect strength and stability and can be used as either 'bad guys' or 'good guys'. More often than not, the body shapes of characters are a combination of these core shapes and the characters often contrast each other to help distinguish between personalities (e.g Pinky and The Brain from The Animaniacs). 

Overall, it is important to focus on the small details within both character design and story design, as they have a huge impact on the way your story is perceived by an audience.