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Ram
Mohan at the workshop
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TASI's
masterclass by Ram Mohan saw animation professionals and enthusiasts
gather at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai on December
5, 2008. The central focus of the masterclass was better understanding
of character design for animation, concept development and
the production process.
Speaking
at the event, Ram Mohan said, "We are in a situation
where, in spite of the knowledge generated in the animation
industry in India, few people have the time or the interest
to share it with others."
He
began by classifying creation of characters into two categories,
person based and design based. For character creation, one
must ask what kind of person a character is. This can be asked
in three ways: a) physical structure, b) attitude and body
language and c) a specific individual.
a)
Physical Structure: Human physical structure, as explained
by Ram Mohan, can be divided into three categories: ectomorph,
mesomorph and endomorph. An ectomorph, he said, is skinny,
quick in movements and can possess personality traits like
submissiveness due to his thin body structure. A mesomorph
is a beefy and bulky person, typically muscular. This character
is strong and can be self-absorbed. S/he may possess personality
traits of confidence and generosity.
An
endomorph can be described as a fat, short, soft and slow
character. Also be known as blob, the character is drawn mostly
with the use of circles and may be good-natured, lazy and
happy-go-lucky personality. A character might even possess
totally opposite traits that may not even match his physical
profile. "The creation of stereotypes makes it easier
to establish a character the moment the audience sees it,"
he said.
b) Attitude and Body Language: Here, the character's
physique may be designed based on his overall attitude and
body language. Some basic styles like a character walking
with his chest out, portray a sense of pride and confidence.
If a character is to be depicted as lethargic, he is shown
to walk with his belly out. And a snoopy eavesdropping personality
can be shown by drawing a character that walks with his nose
ahead of his body. All the above are theatrical concepts that
help establish a character with ease, and may even be altered
according to specifications.
c)
Specific Individual: A
character may also be designed by keeping a reference point
in mind. Many characters are made by taking famous personalities
as reference points. Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock
were taken as prototypes to explain this concept. Ram Mohan
also added that voicing is used as a reference point for character
designing.
Character Definition:
Further, Ram Mohan shared a few pointers that make it
easier to define a character. Physical features, he said,
help define a character. He, however, added that physical
features are not enough to draw a clear picture of the character.
Along with physical features, a character must possess key
predominant characteristics that make his personality unique.
When
we define a person with an adjective, the adjective becomes
synonymous with his personality. Similarly, the use of one
word adjectives can be applied to animated characters as well.
This phenomenon focuses on the characters personality as a
whole. Economic, educational and family background may also
be used as reference points to establish character's uniqueness.
A character may be rich, poor, well-educated, illiterate,
superior, etc.
Personality
quirks like biting nails, peculiar walking style, repeatedly
cleaning spectacles, etc, add dimensions to the character.
Defining personal likes/dislikes and habits facilitate better
understanding of the character.
Students were then asked to create characters based on the
given descriptions. This exercise was done to make them understand
better the tricks of character design.
A
design based character can be classified in various styles.
A character can be either stylized or realistic. "To
make a character more stylized, one needs to add dimensions
to it and lessen the roughness in the details. The trick is
to reduce the character to a simple flat form to give it a
stylized feel," he said. Besides, due to the reduction
in detailing, time and budget can be saved.
As
far as television is concerned, a good voice and sound track
make a character look good. Here, Ram Mohan quoted the example
of the famous Hanna Barbara who created the Flintstones
and Jetsons series. The head to body ratio also
helps in economizing by cutting down the need to focus on
separate drawings for close ups. TV uses a ratio of 2:1 or
1:1.
A
brief discussion on design consideration took place. A character
must only contain details that are of vital importance for
its formation and the character design must suggest the character's
age and its key poses, he said. Consistency is another crucial
element. "One needs to have consistency while designing
a character or a series of characters belonging to the same
concept. For example, dot eyes for the same family, ping pong
eyes for the other."
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Rapt
audience at the TASI workshop
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Question
and Answer session:
Of the many questions from the audience, one was on designing
characters for gaming. "Essentially, in a game, there
is a heroic character, which is depicted to be muscular with
heavy weapons or unconventionally speaking, brainy. The character
here may be futuristic or mythical. However, the character
must also posses a sense of identification with the player,"
Ram Mohan replied.
Vaibhav
Kumaresh asked, "Does specialization in character design
exist in India?" "We have a serious lack in one
education program, for people wanting to go into pre production.
There is a master's course offered at Graphiti in this field.
One needs a background similar to animation to pursue the
course. There is something of this sort in NID, but specifically,
this kind of specialization does not exist in India yet,"
Ram Mohan answered. He also shared details of some books and
internet sites explaining character design in great detail.
Books on animation and character design by John Canemaker
were advised for reference.
The masterclass saw a satisfied audience leave the auditorium.
Trainee
faculty Rohan Vispute from the Graphiti School of Animation
said, "Such workshops help us come down to the basics
of animation and brush up on them. Mastering character design
would help us to create better animation."
Students
had a lot to learn from the workshop. "The workshop was
very informative; Sir briefed us on how to go about the basic
character form. He made it very simple and easy for us to
understand such a detailed concept. It is essential for every
animator," another student said.
TASI
announced that it would continue its endeavor to organize
similar workshops to bridge the gap between the learned and
amateur.
milan.sharma@animationxpress.com
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