ART (0104) 317 - Character Design

Credits: 3.00

Students will learn the fundamentals of character design for animation, comics, and video games, developing skills in visualizing figures with personality, from both existing source material and original conceptions. Students will learn and apply beginning principles of animation, using their original characters to do character turnarounds and walk cycles.

Prerequisite 1: ART 105 or ART 106 or ART 108
Course Learning Goals: Students will employ the tools of the craft of cartooning and demonstrate the purposes of these tools in homework assignments.

1) Character Construction:

Students will:

• identify and analyze the simple shapes used in the construction of various character designs used in comics, cartoons, and video games.

• demonstrate how simple geometric shapes can be used to construct and vary the structure of characters used in various media.

• execute a simple skeletal structure and construct characters of their own design.

2) Defining Character Personality

Students will:

• employ variety in proportion to demonstrate different aspects of character personality and identity.

• employ gravity and posture in character design to convey vital personality traits.

• execute a variety of head constructions and facial expressions to convey states of mind.

• research and employ costuming and props to create believable characters for different fictional worlds and time periods.

3) Making Characters Move

Students will:

• visualize their characters in three-dimensions through the execution of character “turn-arounds.”

• employ traditional drawing tools in two-dimensional hand-drawn animation.

• execute the basic principles of two-dimensional animation through simple animation exercises.

• employ digital applications such as Adobe Photoshop and After Effects to transform their two-dimensional drawings for animation into digital film clips.

• analyze and employ the fundamental structure of an animated character “walk-cycle”

• develop a unique walk-cycle appropriate to a character of their own design and finalize it in digital form.