Be it animation, VFX, or immersive media… character development in storytelling is tough to get right. It can seem like an impossible task to come up with engaging characters that your audience/players can emotionally connect (identification). Whether your genre is fantasy, medieval, comedy, or drama, the characters must be knowable and feel real. The characters must be capable of change (i.e., Arc). But where do you start? To flesh out characters, you begin with their motivations, backstories (influences from their history), psychology, and external relationships. Next, it is essential to differentiate their wants, goals, and needs.
One must successfully delineate between archetypes versus stereotypes as well as making sure the characters are different, not generic. This session looks at character conflict (e.g., internal, external characters, environmental), cause & effect, and how choice defines a character. What is at stake? (i.e., survival, safety, love, esteem, etc.) What drives a character? Fear? Determination? Once you know your characters, you can create character-driven stories/experiences so your audience will care about what your characters are going through.
Craig Caldwell, USTAR Professor, Digital Media Cluster, University of Utah, and a founder of the top-ranked Entertainment Arts & Engineering Game Program. DeTao Master and Director of the Institute of Animation and Creative Content, SIVA Campus, Shanghai, China. Industry experience includes Electronic Arts and Walt Disney Feature Animation (Mulan, Tarzan, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, American Dog).
Academic background includes Head of largest Film School in Australia, Griffith University, and Chair, University of Arizona. Author of the book Story Structure and Development – A Guide for Animators, VFX Artists, Game Designers, and Virtual Reality; published 2017, CRC Publishers, available on Amazon.
