hello there Internet this is Ando's art-tips and I am of course Ando before
we kick everything off I have a quick announcement I recently started a Ko-fi
account and I'm currently having a promotion where any donations of two or
more Ko-fi's to me will get you a free five by seven inch art print of your
choice from a list of over 40 options oh I would really appreciate the support
but even if you can't donate please check out my social media where I post
all of my personal art and updates on things and nobody gives a crap about
like whether or not my sandwich was any good anyways onto the show well it has
been a while since I made my by far most popular video which is all about what to
avoid when creating an original character so how about we flip that
concept on its head this is my top 5 things that can save an OC in no
particular order let's go number one shaped language when designing a
character one thing that tends to get overlooked by the general audience is
their structure what parts make up the whole so to speak
to the untrained eye a viewer might look at a character without context and come
up with an opinion about what the character is like but if you press them
farther and asked why they thought that they might say things like they look
nice or tired or angry but not really quite lay their finger on it however
there's a lot to unpack in character design especially if it's done well one
of the best ways to get the audience to associate certain characteristics to a
character is to use shape language in the process of structuring them but what
exactly is shape language well to grossly simplify it it really boils down
to three basic shapes circles squares and triangles
it's normally rare to find a character that is made up of only one of these
shapes but using a majority of one type in a character design can help get
certain reactions from the audience they used mostly circles for example
they can give off a soft and unthreatening vibe characters that
utilize circles are and cute friendly or young protagonists
often exhibit round shapes because the audience is drawn to this shape and in
return will be drawn to the character squares are sturdy they give off strong
large and immovable vibes and often muscular and heavy characters will show
square traits that also gives the impression of a stable level-headed and
reliable character as well finally we have triangles these are sharp and
uninviting they may give threatening active or untouchable vibes from a
character they are often used in antagonists rivals and cunning
characters use shape language to your advantage when designing a character and
you can help give the audience visual cues to help lead them to a good first
impression on what the character is like however there are also plenty of ways
you can use shape language to subvert the audience's expectations for some
really fun effects speaking of which number two subverting expectations
characters that subvert expectation can be really compelling and depending on
how their subversion is built up they can create a strong impression when the
audience has the proverbial rug pulled out from under them Eduardo's appearance
is not at all reflective of his friendly and childlike personality he has large
pointy teeth and horns yet he is also easily scared and a bit of a crybaby
that subversion of expectation makes him a really unique and interesting
character another example is Salim Bradley from Full Metal Alchemist
Brotherhood his character is built up and portrayed is a small excitable child
however when it is revealed that he himself is actually one of the shows of
villains it is a genuinely shocking moment for the audience the subversion
of expectations for Salim is not only an aspect of his character but is also a
huge reveal one that impacts the story greatly this is definitely something to
keep in mind when developing your story and also a great way to create a
memorable twist for your narrative or create interesting characters that do
not fit into a normal archetype the audience has come to expect
you can also point out how a character or character
do not fall into what is expected of their demographic but still have a
character design that reflects their personalities things like a cutesy
villain kind monsters or dogs that can read can all be visually represented but
still subvert certain expectations that the audience may be used to sometimes
all it takes to push a normal character into a truly memorable one is to add
that unexpected twist number three strong silhouettes I
brought this point up in my posing video but it's also a really helpful point to
keep in mind for character design as well if you're looking to give your
character a memorable look one thing that can help is using silhouettes in
your cast of characters it should be easy to differentiate each of them in a
lineup quickly if you have too many characters that look the same or similar
it will result in similar silhouettes as well
this will make picking them out of a crowd harder or may end up hindering the
audience from remembering who is who or confusing characters for each other from
scene to scene or panel to panel having distinct and interesting silhouettes
really help the audience pick out a character in a crowd and tell at a
glance who is doing what ways you can change up the silhouettes from character
to character is to mess with height weight body structure posture clothing
accessories and hairstyles to name a few even if you're going for a more
realistic style of anatomy there's plenty of ways to change up a silhouette
and make a character stand out number 4 keeping the story and their story in
mind so what's your story about is it a high
fantasy adventure a comedic steampunk Western is it slice-of-life all about
little moments and big emotions then let the audience know all about it just from
your design work alone your characters should reflect the story and enhance the
viewers understanding about what kind of experience they're in for if you have a
lot of harsh edges and drastic shadows on your characters chances are it's not
going to be a light-hearted rom-com but rather something like a horror or
psychological drama instead I mean you could definitely try to make it work
the wallflower does just that and uses the contrasting style for really great
comedic effect so keep that in mind when deciding how you want your story to look
and feel it's the story about something that you can apply some aspect of to the
style like the ocean or graffiti another aspect of story to keep in mind is what
your characters personal story is these are all the private notes on your
character that I talked about in the first video
your Wisconsin French frys stories if you will but rather than writing them
out in a bio you're going to apply them straight to the character what makes
them who they are what were they doing before the main story
what will they be doing during it and where we leave them at the end know them
inside and out take all that you learn and apply it to their design maybe they
have a scar from some incident before the story that helps show off a part of
their past trauma or dangerous lifestyle or maybe they get it during the story by
being injured for someone else's sake is it in line with their character or is it
something that came about because of some important change within them what's
their backgrounds were they royalty and now they're on the streets would they
still have some memento from their past or still retain their regal demeanour
you should also consider their story arcs as well do they start out as a brat
and become more mature and reliable do they start out cocky and lose their
nerve how would any of these changes affect the characters design does the
change shift their style of clothing did they lose a limb just time pass and they
grow up finally how do they tres are they a member of a specific
culture or practice a specific religion that they would showcase in their dress
or mannerisms are they modest or do they like showing some skin do they dress
their age do they have a uniform and how do they change it up from everyone
else's how does the world they live in affect how the people dress is whether a
factor are they tied to a specific time period understanding costuming is very
important in character design and visual storytelling so important that it's
getting its own video for now just consider it an honorary number six and
number five interaction so you have a character unless they live in an
absolute void or get cast away status stranded they will need to interact with
other characters throughout the story at some point these interactions can really
make or break a character and even influence the audience's reaction to the
story as a whole there are some characters that are a tonic together
some that are best when they share the screen and some that just don't work
without the other some character interactions are the driving force of
the story and some create unforgettable moments that stick with the audience
character interaction is integral to the story understanding how a character can
change and grow throughout interaction can not only improve the writing of the
story but also make your character is much more compelling and interesting
overall so really think about what makes a character interaction important and
interesting to the progression of the story as well as what will help mold
them into who they will be at the end of the story take Finding Nemo for example
throughout the movie Marlin meets many characters and undergoes a lot of
changes in the beginning of the film it's clear that he is an overly
protective father he is overbearing and constantly worrying his interactions
with Nemo and the other parents on the reef show this it is only after being
separated from his son Marlin is forced to interact with many other fish and
animals ones that end up changing his disposition over time he meets the
forgetful but lovable dory he faces a support group of sharks a
laid-back sea turtle and well Pelican to just name a few
throughout his journey he learns patience how to trust the judgment of
others how'd it go with the flow and ultimately how to understand how to let
go of his old ways Marlin has changed due to these
interactions and by the end of the movie although he ends up in the same place he
has clearly evolved past who he was at the beginning in part this was due to
being pushed into extraordinary circumstances but it was mostly due to
who he met what he learned from them and how they interacted with him keep in
mind that not all characters will interact in the same way either
relationships and power dynamics will often influence the way characters react
to each other and it is your job to effectively show this off to your
audience as naturally as you can it isn't enough for you to have the
character's state that they are best friends but to show them acting that way
as naturally as you can through their screen time together also note that a
character interaction doesn't need to include any dialogue at all simple
visual cues and framing can really drive the point home and in many situations
they can even be more effective than speaking even something as simple as
moving the angle of a composition can add more context to an interaction
changing the camera shot or tilting the angle could help portray the mood of
whatever interaction is taking place or even manipulating lighting and
reflections these are all tools to help you deliver the most impact when showing
off an interaction between characters it's all just a matter of discovering
how to use them effectively and finally I'll leave you all off with some
supplementary materials first I have designing the Secret of Kells this book
is absolutely breathtaking and if you really want an in-depth look
into fantastic examples of shape language and designing the visuals
around the story's overall concept this is the book for you the designers at
cartoon saloon really run with the visual style of illuminated manuscripts
and medieval tapestries but adapt them into a really appealing animation style
I would really recommend watching the movie if you haven't already as well it
is an absolute vision treat next I have an exercise you can
use to find interesting ways to subvert expectation for your characters if you
have a hard time thinking outside the box
and want to shake up your OC designs more simply fill out a list of at least
10 traits that would be obvious choices for the characters archetype next across
from those traits fill in the exact opposite trait now try swapping out some
of your original traits with the opposites he can actively choose them or
pick it random for more of a challenge in the end you'll have some unexpected
twists to the character and create an interesting foundation to work off of
when developing your character and their story lastly I recommend the book framed
ink if you want a bit more information on how to portray interactions through
visual cues this book is such a great source for creating compelling and
interesting compositions that really help tell us strong stories I also
recommend checking it out if you have any interesting creating story boards
and comics you'll learn all about how to frame a scene the most effectively
making your shots clear and easy to understand and how to really manipulate
your compositions to help get your point across to the audience that's all for
today's episode everyone I hope this video helped you think about new ways to
improve your o'seas and I'll see you all in the next one bye