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Pixar in a Box
Course: Pixar in a Box > Unit 2
Lesson 2: Character | 2- Introduction to character
- Warm up activity
- Internal vs. external features
- Activity 1: Internal & external features
- Wants vs. needs
- Activity 2: Wants vs. needs
- Obstacles
- Activity 3: Obstacles
- Character arc
- Activity 4: Character arc
- Stakes
- Activity 5: Stakes
- Advice on characters
- Glossary: Character
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Internal vs. external features
Whats on the inside vs. outside of a character?
Want to join the conversation?
- Mort from Madagascar is cute and fluffy on the outside.
On the inside, he is actually planning how to put you in his
oven, turn you into a cake and eat you. Wouldn't you agree?(30 votes) - I almost cried while he was talking about his dad and how he looked behind at the memories. :((17 votes)
- Me tooo!! in fact I am!😥😢😭😭(3 votes)
- any tips for character visuals?(8 votes)
- I think it really depends on the character's personality and, also, if that's something they show proudly or something they hide. For example: you can have a character that is afraid of relationships and they'll be true to that, so they'll be introverts, maybe shy, using clothes that hide them and so on. But you can also have a character that is afraid of the same thing but hides it, so they'll be extroverts, maybe even exaggerated, or maybe dress and act sober not to show any emotions.(14 votes)
- How to know if your character is infused with way too many details?? One more ques, if you don't mind, how much time one must take to actually develop a compelling and fully developed character?(3 votes)
- The more details the better I say! In stories (or films too.) having a detailed character is important cause it gives the reader a way to really understand who that character is. Keep in mind though that it's not only physical details that are important, such as; what their hair color is, what their nose shape might be, or their eyes. It's also important to have details as to what they are like as a person and details such as, their hobbies, theirs passions, there desires, etc. Small details might even be important to such as their favorite soda or movie. I think these personal details are really important when it comes to creating a character because it really brings them to life and we can even relate to these characters in more ways than one. Sometimes these personal details can influence their physical features too. Whatever details you find easier to do first though is what I recommend.
Hmmmm, your second question is a bit of a tricky one. It depends, character development can take as long as you want it to really. Take for example: Say I'm writing about a boy who discovers a portal that take you to other dimensions. Now say we know what his worlds like, maybe he lives in a small town and he's always wanted to travel and go places but his family is low income and always busy with work, and can't really go anywhere at this moment in time. Now we assume from hearing this that the boy will probably go through this portal in a heartbeat. But do we really know that? What if he's scared? What if he doesn't want to leave his family or wants to bring them with him? What if he's not in the greatest physical health to leave? It can sometimes be easier to create worlds first than characters sometimes since characters can be more complicated and detailed than worlds.
Hope this helps.
Edit 2/22/21: I think I should have mentioned this last time. The details of your character shouldn't be laid out all at once, they should unfold over time throughout the story/or film. Maybe some of you already knew that, but hope that bit of advice helps as well.(14 votes)
- your hilarious Funky chicken. yes. I feel your vibe there. throw a stick of dynamite in the elevator(3 votes)
- Like Flynn from Tangled is a criminal, but on the inside he's really nice.(3 votes)
- the one that the girls were stuk they got crazy but who did they do aft that because one of the girls got so crazy(3 votes)
- My kids loved that one, they were laughing hysterically at it!(1 vote)
- Movies like UP and Ratatouille are really, really good. Whatever you get paid, it is not enough.(3 votes)
- wouldn't the elevator thing just drive the people to call 911 or help because the elevator is stuck. the people would be scared and wouldn't really think back to other times or other people that may have been in this situation. and if they do, won't they just think of how they solved this problem of being stuck in an elevator? also, what if nobody you know had this problem or this kind of problem? This is very confusing. I would like a response to this, please!(3 votes)
- i think this is more of an example of the situation you could put a character in. it is really just to find how they react under pressure(0 votes)
- On average, how long does it take to create a full developed character?(3 votes)
- This is a good question! I will use one of my own as an example. I created Rinagi (Rin-ogg-ee) about 4 years ago, I have redesigned him and been continually changing aspects about him as I develop my story. It really is up to you as a writer or artist.(1 vote)
Video transcript
- Hi, I'm Christian Roman and
I'm a story artist at Pixar. (bell dings) I'm your host for this second
lesson on storytelling, which is on character development and I have a few friends joining me. - I'm Austin Madison, I am a story artist. - My name is Aphton Corbin,
and I'm a storyboard artist. - My name is Louise Smythe,
and I am a storyboard artist. - My name Ronnie del
Carmen, I am a story person, director, designer, and
all around troublemaker around here at Pixar. - The goal of this lesson is to explore our character development
process by which we go from simple character
concepts such as a robot or a fish or a girl to complex characters people can actually care about. Take Wall-E, he's not just
a robot, he's a lonely, curious robot who fears,
thinks, and ultimately loves. Or Nemo, he's not just a
fish, he's a young fish who craves independence from his father, but endangers himself
in trying to achieve it. Or Merida, she's a young
princess who wishes to pursue her own hopes and dreams
rather than conform to her parents' expectations. We can call these
characters fully developed. This means we've gotten
to know them so well that we can imagine them
in almost any situation. Creating a fully developed
character isn't easy. You're basically creating
a new life from scratch, but it's really special
when you get there. So, how do we begin character
development at Pixar? - We can talk about
characters in two ways. They have their external
features, which is their design, their clothes, what they look like. Then much more interesting
is the internal features. Are they insecure, are they
brave, are they jealous? - I will pretend like
I'm having a conversation and getting to know a
friend and think okay, well what do they like to do? What are their beliefs,
what do they enjoy? What do they not enjoy? - I think actually I work
more externally first now that I think about it. You know, what they're wearing,
how they style their hair, and that kind of informs internally what's going on. - One of my favorite Pixar
characters is Syndrome. You look on the outside and
he actually kind of looks like a superhero. He's got the superhero
costume on, he's got a cape. He's got this dazzling hair. But inside he's totally a
villain and he wants to actually do away with all the supers. So you kind of have that
great little contrast there with that character that
makes him feel really rich and really real. - Characters have to come from authentic human emotions and experiences. - And it doesn't necessarily have to mean make every character you, it could also be draw
from people you know, things from real life. - Listen to that little voice
saying. "Oh, that's just like "what my mom used to do." Or, "Oh that's just like this
friend I had in high school." Or, "My little brother was like that "when we were growing up." - Because it's much easier to
go from your family members or a friend when you're trying
to search for a character. The specificity that people
bring that you can't make up on your own is something
that I look forward to and I enjoy when I'm trying
to pinpoint down a character. - I was working on Up. I was the story supervisor. Now I'm a little invested
in Carl's journey because back then my father was not well. He also had a full head of white hair. When he gets to the tepui, Carl actually has to be alone in his house essentially looking back at the life that he had lead with Ellie. He does this silently. At that point when I was
storyboarding that sequence my father was already in the hospital and he was unable to speak. And when I actually talked
to my father he can only communicate to me through
his eyes, and with smiles and facial movements. That actually helped me accurately
storyboard those moments when Carl silently thinks
about his life with Ellie. And without dialog we
understand the emotions that he's going through. Without my experience
with my father I wouldn't have been able to actually
tackle that moment in the movie and storyboards credibly. And I told him that Dad,
I'm drawing you as Carl. - Understanding a character,
both inside and out will help you figure out
what the character really desires, which is what drives
them through their journey. In this first exercise
you'll have a chance to think about the difference between internal and external character traits. Remember, the more you
know about your character, the more real that character will feel.