CSC 111

Comments

 

Storytelling Through Computer Animation

Assignment A13: on Characterization

Objectives

• Practice the techniques from chapter readings
• Apply elements of character development.

---

More on effective Storytelling:

In today's assignment, we will gain more practice with the concepts from chapter 4 and 5, while we also focus attention on an important concepts from storytelling.

Clearly, stories need plot, setting, and characters.

There are a couple of important types of characters:

• The protagonist is the main character in a story. The protagonist experiences the conflict in the story, but does not have to be “good.”
• The antagonist is the cause of the conflict in the story. Note that the antagonist doesn't need to be a "bad guy" and doesn't even have to be a person or animal.

Sometimes characters are created as very predictable stereotypes:

• The hero/heroine
• The class clown
• The bully

For most of these, you can think of specific features that they're likely to have and actions they are likely to take, but in a good animation, the characters go beyond the obvious stereotypes.

Characteristics of your characters:

• Physical appearance: What does the character look like?
• Actions, speech, and behavior: What actions does the character take? How does the character behave? What does the character think?  What does the character say?
• Interactions with others: How do other characters in the story react to this character?
• Dialog: The words a character uses in conversations.  How they are used gives insight into the character.
  

A good artist must develop each character, which means to illustrate not just the physical features of the character, but the character's mental features, his or her personality, appearance, and so on.

Watch the following animation:
Then answer the following questions:

• What is the conflict depicted in the above story?  
• Who is the protagonist?  
• List characteristics which describe the protagonist.  How are these characteristics depicted?
• Who or what is the antagonist?  
• List characteristics which describe the antagonist.  How are these characteristics depicted?

---

Your task: (which is to be completed individually, though consultations are encouraged...)

In this assignment, you will be working on character development as well as practicing animation techniques.

Today's animation must tell the story about a conflict between a protagonist and antagonist(s).  

• Choose a conflict for your story.  This may be a physical conflict, but it need not be physical.  Please think broadly about conflict.
• Decide who your protagonist will be.  Go to character development and choose at least 3 characteristic words which will describe your protagonist.
• Decide who your antagonist(s) will be.  Go to character development and choose at least 3 characteristic words which describe your antagonist(s).

Remember that the animation must tell the story about a conflict between a protagonist and antagonist(s).  The technical animation requirements are that you:

• Develop your protagonist in an intentional way, trying to illustrate the characteristics you selected.
• Develop your antagonist(s) in an intentional way, trying  to illustrate the characteristics you selected.
• Create at least 2 NEW object-level methods. These should be specific to the behaviors you wish to create for that object.
• Create at least 2 NEW world-level methods. These typically involve multiple characters, and are frequently used to organize scenes.
• Add at least 1 parameter to at least one of these new methods.  Then make use of this parameter in useful ways.
• Add a comment line for each of the above, indicating what you did and why.
  

Please save your Alice scene as yourusername-A13.

Create an artist's statement as follows:

• What is the conflict you have decided to portray?
• Who is your protagonist and what are the characteristic words which you selected for your protagonist?
• How did you choose to convey these characteristics in your animation?
• Who is your antagonist(s) and what are the characteristic words which you selected for your antagonist(s)?
• How did you choose to convey these characteristics in your animation?
• How successful do you feel that you were in conveying these characteristics?  Explain.

Please save this Artist's statement as yourusername-A13.

Submit two files: the Alice scene yourusername-A13 and the artist's statement yourusername-A13 to Moodle before class.  It is not necessary to export to youtube.
 

---

Back to CSC 111 Storytelling Through Computer Animation