Character Design: A Guide & History (PDF)

**What is character design?** **Character design** is the process of creating and developing the physical appearance, personality, behaviour and aesthetic overall identity of a character for various media, including animation, comics, video games, films, and more. It involves a combination of artis...

**What is character design?** **Character design** is the process of creating and developing the physical appearance, personality, behaviour and aesthetic overall identity of a character for various media, including animation, comics, video games, films, and more. It involves a combination of artistic skill, creativity, and storytelling to bring a character to life in a way that makes them relatable, memorable, and visually distinctive. It\'s more than just a drawing. Character design can include everything from how a character looks and dresses to how they move and the emotions they exhibit. Characters play an essential role in telling a story or conveying a message, and as a character designer, you will bring characters to life with attributes that align with the story and creative direction of the animation, game or film. Character design is used as a reference point throughout many stages of a project's development. **Who is a Character Designer?** A Character Designer is an artist that creates new, original characters for a purpose. It can be a character based on a definition from a story or script as would be the process in Animation, Feature Films, Video Games, Children's books, Comic books, or even Toy Design. They visualize and create individual characters' appearances starting from descriptions given by personalities and physical traits. Character designers take inspiration from the script and concept art to design the characters, communicating their personalities through facial expression sketches and dynamic poses. The designer carries out research on character anatomy and attire styles relevant to the project's structure and development. Characters are drawn on paper or digitally and represented in a variety of drawings, usually including several designs for each individual's character. Once a design has been approved, "model sheets" are created showing the character from different angles. In 2D Animation, animators use the model sheets directly to ensure that each animated frame is on the model. In 3D Animation, these will be used by modelers to create the characters. Storyboard artists will also incorporate these drawings into their work as the project develops. **What skills should a CD have?** Drawing: High-level technical ability (both digital and analogic), being able to work in a variety of styles, with strong attention to detail. Anatomy skills: A good understanding of human and animal anatomy can help character designers depict various characters in different positions and movements. Observation skills: Character designers can benefit from having sharp observational skills as these can help them add nuances and depth to their characters and make them more distinct and memorable. Creativity: Using imagination to come up with original and innovative ideas and creating designs that can stimulate the team's imagination and support storytelling. Collaboration: Understanding what directors, production designers/Art directors or game designers want, and being able to accept and act on the feedback received to modify designs. Understanding the pipeline: Being aware of the animator's needs and creating designs that are appropriate to the project medium. Time management skills: Most character design projects have strict deadlines for completion, and it is necessary for character designers to create and deliver the final character designs within the specified time. **[Brief history of character design for animation:]** The history of character design for animation is a rich and fascinating journey, reflecting technological advancements, cultural shifts, and artistic innovations. Here\'s a detailed look at the evolution of character design in animation: Early Beginnings (Late 19th to Early 20th Century) **Silent Era and Early Experiments:** Early Pioneers: Winsor McCay\'s \"Gertie the Dinosaur\" (1914) is one of the first instances of character animation. McCay's detailed and fluid animation set a high standard. Simplistic Designs: Early characters, like Felix the Cat created by Otto Messmer in 1919, were designed with simple shapes and bold lines to facilitate easier animation. The Influence of Comic Strips: Many early animated characters were inspired by popular comic strip characters. For instance, Betty Boop, created by Max Fleischer, was inspired by the flapper girls of the 1920s. **The Golden Age of Animation (1930s-1950s)** Walt Disney\'s Innovations: Mickey Mouse: Created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, Mickey Mouse became an iconic character. His design evolved from simple circles to more complex forms over time. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937): Disney's first feature-length animated film introduced more realistic and detailed character designs, blending human anatomy with expressive cartoon qualities. Warner Bros. and the Rise of Cartoons: Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: Characters like Bugs Bunny (Tex Avery), Daffy Duck (Bob Clampett), and Porky Pig featured exaggerated and highly expressive designs, emphasizing humor and personality. The Fleischer Studios: Popeye the Sailor: Created by Elzie Crisler Segar, Popeye's character design was notable for its distinctive and exaggerated features, such as his muscular forearms. **[Mid-20th Century to the Television Era (1950s-1980s)]** Hanna-Barbera and Limited Animation: Economic Constraints: Hanna-Barbera popularized limited animation, which required simpler designs to reduce costs. Characters like Fred Flintstone and Yogi Bear were created with this in mind. Stylized Designs: Shows like \"The Jetsons\" and \"Scooby-Doo\" featured clean lines and bold colors, reflecting contemporary graphic design trends. Japanese Anime: Astro Boy (1963): Osamu Tezuka's \"Astro Boy\" introduced large-eyed characters, a style influenced by Western animation but uniquely adapted to Japanese tastes. Evolution of Styles: Anime diversified, with distinct styles emerging, from the realistic characters in \"Akira\" (1988) to the more fantastical designs in Studio Ghibli films. [The Renaissance and Digital Revolution (1990s-Present)] 1\. Disney Renaissance: Revitalization of Disney Animation: Films like \"The Little Mermaid\" (1989), \"Beauty and the Beast\" (1991), and \"The Lion King\" (1994) featured characters with a balance of realistic and exaggerated traits, designed for emotional engagement. Character Development: The focus shifted to deeper character development, with designs reflecting complex personalities and stories. Pixar and CGI: Toy Story (1995): Pixar's first feature-length CGI film revolutionized character design with 3D models. Characters like Woody and Buzz Lightyear were designed to be both visually appealing and technologically feasible for animation. Evolving Technology: Advances in CGI allowed for more detailed textures, expressions, and movements, as seen in films like \"Finding Nemo\" (2003) and \"Inside Out\" (2015). Diverse and Inclusive Designs: Representation Matters: Recent years have seen a push for more diverse character designs, reflecting a wider range of cultures, body types, and backgrounds. Films like \"Moana\" (2016) and \"Encanto\" (2021) showcase characters with distinct cultural identities. Independent and International Influence: Independent studios and international creators are contributing to a more varied landscape of character designs, bringing unique artistic visions to the forefront. **[The brief history of character design in India ]** The history of character design in Indian animation is a compelling narrative, deeply intertwined with the nation\'s rich cultural tapestry, mythological heritage, and the evolution of its film industry. Here is a detailed look at the development of character design in Indian animation: Early Beginnings (Early 20th Century) Traditional Art Forms and Early Experiments: Influence of Traditional Art: Indian animation initially drew inspiration from traditional art forms like the intricate miniatures, folk art, and temple sculptures, which influenced the character design with their detailed and symbolic aesthetics. Early Pioneers: Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the father of Indian cinema, created some of the earliest animated sequences in his silent films during the 1910s and 1920s. His work laid the groundwork for incorporating mythological and cultural elements into character designs. The 1950s-1970s: Formative Years: First Animated Films: The Banyan Deer (1957): Directed by Clair Weeks at Films Division of India, this film was one of the earliest animations, featuring characters based on Indian folklore with simple, yet expressive designs. Cartoon Films Unit: Government Support: The Indian government established the Cartoon Films Unit in the 1950s to produce educational and entertaining animated shorts. Artists like Bhimsain Khurana and Ram Mohan emerged from this initiative, contributing to the development of character design in India. Doordarshan Era: Television Influence: The introduction of television and the state broadcaster Doordarshan in the 1970s brought animation to a wider audience. Shows like \"Ek Anek Aur Ekta\" (1974) featured characters designed with a focus on simplicity and relatability to convey educational messages effectively. The 1980s-1990s: The Rise of Indian Animation Ram Mohan and the Indian Animation Renaissance: Pioneering Work: Ram Mohan, often referred to as the father of Indian animation, played a pivotal role in this era. His work on films like \"Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama\" (1992) brought a new level of sophistication to character design, blending traditional Indian aesthetics with modern animation techniques. Influence of Mythology: Mythological Characters: The 1980s and 1990s saw a surge in animations based on Indian epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Character designs during this period were heavily influenced by traditional depictions in classical art, emphasizing detailed costumes, jewelry, and distinct facial features. The 2000s: The Advent of CGI and Modernization Technological Advancements: 3D Animation: The 2000s marked the advent of CGI in Indian animation. Films like \"Hanuman\" (2005) and \"Roadside Romeo\" (2008) showcased characters designed with 3D models, offering more dynamic and detailed visuals. Hybrid Techniques: Studios began experimenting with a blend of 2D and 3D techniques, leading to more complex and visually rich character designs. Commercial Success and Global Influence: Chhota Bheem: Launched in 2008, \"Chhota Bheem\" became one of India\'s most successful animated series. The character designs are simplistic yet colorful, appealing to younger audiences while incorporating elements of Indian culture. Emergence of Indian Studios: Domestic Studios: Indian studios like Toonz Animation, Green Gold Animation, and Reliance Animation gained prominence, creating original characters and stories. This period shifted towards more diverse and modern character designs reflecting contemporary Indian society. The 2010s-Present: Diversification and International Collaboration Diverse Narratives and Representation: Cultural Diversity: Recent years have seen a push towards representing India\'s diverse cultures, languages, and traditions in character designs. Shows like \"Mighty Little Bheem\" (2019) are designed to be universally appealing while maintaining cultural authenticity. Female Protagonists: There has been an increasing focus on strong female characters, with shows like \"Kavya: Warrior Princess\" and \"Shiva\" presenting empowered female protagonists. 2\. International Collaborations: Global Influence: Collaborations with international studios have brought new styles and techniques to Indian character design. Co-productions have led to a fusion of Western and Indian design philosophies, expanding the visual language of Indian animation. Streaming Platforms: The rise of platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime has provided a global stage for Indian animated content, encouraging more innovative and high-quality character designs. Key Elements in Indian Character Design Cultural Symbolism: Traditional Motifs: Indian character designs often incorporate traditional motifs and symbols, such as specific clothing styles, accessories, and colors that reflect cultural and regional identities. Mythological Inspirations: Epic Narratives: Characters inspired by mythological stories are designed to embody larger-than-life qualities, with intricate details that pay homage to their divine or heroic nature. Modern Aesthetics: Contemporary Styles: Modern Indian character design blends traditional aesthetics with contemporary styles, creating characters that are relatable to today\'s audiences while retaining cultural roots. Emotional Expressiveness: Expressive Designs: Characters are often designed to be highly expressive, with exaggerated facial features and gestures to convey emotions effectively, catering to both dramatic and comedic narratives. **[The brief history of character design in Japan]** The history of character design in Japan is a rich tapestry that intertwines cultural heritage, artistic innovation, and technological advancements. Here\'s a comprehensive look at the evolution of character design in Japanese animation: Early Beginnings (Early 20th Century) Influence of Traditional Art: Ukiyo-e and Emakimono: Traditional Japanese art forms like ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) and emakimono (picture scrolls) laid the foundation for early character design, with their emphasis on stylized and expressive figures. Kamishibai: A form of street theater and storytelling that used illustrated boards influenced early visual storytelling and character design. Early Animated Films: Namakura Gatana (1917): One of Japan's earliest surviving animated films by Jun\'ichi Kōuchi featured simple yet expressive characters, influenced by both Western animation and traditional Japanese art. Pre-War and Wartime Animation (1920s-1940s) Early Pioneers: Seitaro Kitayama and Sanae Yamamoto: These animators were instrumental in developing Japan's early animation industry, creating short films with characters designed for simplicity and narrative clarity. Wartime Propaganda: Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors (1945): Japan's first feature-length animated film was created for wartime propaganda, featuring characters designed to embody heroic and patriotic ideals. Post-War Era and the Birth of Modern Anime (1950s-1960s) Osamu Tezuka's Influence: Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom, 1963): Osamu Tezuka, often called the \"God of Manga,\" revolutionized character design with large, expressive eyes and simplified, yet emotionally resonant features. Astro Boy's design set the template for future anime characters. Innovative Techniques: Tezuka's use of limited animation techniques to save costs while maintaining narrative depth influenced character design to be more iconographic and stylized. Toei Animation: Hakujaden (1958): Toei Animation's first feature film, inspired by Chinese legends, featured characters with detailed designs influenced by traditional Asian art, setting a high standard for future productions. The Golden Age of Anime (1970s-1980s) Genre Diversification: Mecha and Space Operas: Shows like \"Mobile Suit Gundam\" (1979) and \"Space Battleship Yamato\" (1974) introduced complex mechanical designs and more realistic, militaristic character aesthetics. Shojo (Girls' Manga) Influence: Series like \"Candy Candy\" (1976) and \"The Rose of Versailles\" (1979) featured delicate, beautifully detailed characters with an emphasis on fashion and emotional expression. Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984): Miyazaki's characters are known for their realistic proportions, detailed expressions, and strong personalities, blending fantasy with relatable human traits. Innovative Character Design: Studio Ghibli's films, like \"My Neighbor Totoro\" (1988), featured memorable and iconic characters that combined simplicity with profound emotional depth. The Digital Revolution and Modern Era (1990s-Present) Advances in Technology: Digital Animation: The transition to digital techniques in the 1990s for more intricate and varied character designs, as seen in series like \"Neon Genesis Evangelion\" (1995) and \"Cowboy Bebop\" (1998). CGI Integration: Films like \"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within\" (2001) and series like \"Land of the Lustrous\" (2017) showcased the integration of CGI with traditional animation, creating unique character aesthetics. Genre and Style Expansion: Shonen and Seinen: Series like \"Naruto\" (2002) and \"Attack on Titan\" (2013) featured dynamic, highly detailed characters designed for action and drama. Moe and Kawaii Culture: The late 1990s and early 2000s saw a rise in the \"moe\" aesthetic, emphasizing cute, youthful characters with large eyes and exaggerated expressions, as popularized by series like \"Sailor Moon\" (1992) and \"Clannad\" (2007). Global Influence and Cross-Cultural Collaboration: International Appeal: Japanese character design has influenced and been influenced by global trends, leading to collaborations and adaptations, such as \"The Animatrix\" (2003) and \"Batman: Gotham Knight\" (2008). Streaming Platforms: The rise of streaming services like Netflix and Crunchyroll has increased the international visibility of anime, encouraging more diverse and experimental character designs. Key Elements in Japanese Character Design Expressive Eyes: Large and Detailed: One of the most distinctive features of anime characters is their large, detailed eyes, which convey a wide range of emotions and are often highlighted to reflect the character's inner world. Symbolic Hairstyles and Colors: Unique Styles: Hairstyles and hair colors are used symbolically to differentiate characters and suggest personality traits, with vibrant colors often indicating special abilities or roles. Iconic Costumes and Accessories: Distinctive Outfits: Character designs frequently feature unique, memorable costumes and accessories that reflect their roles, backgrounds, and the series' themes. Simplified Yet Versatile: Design Efficiency: Characters are often designed with simplified shapes and lines to facilitate animation while retaining versatility for a range of expressions and movements. **Character design for the GAME** The history of character design in video game development is a fascinating journey that mirrors the technological advancements, cultural shifts, and artistic innovations of the gaming industry. Here\'s a comprehensive look at the evolution of character design in video games globally, along with key examples: Early Beginnings (1970s-1980s) Simple Graphics and Iconic Characters: Pong (1972): One of the earliest video games, \"Pong,\" had no real characters, just paddles and a ball. However, it set the stage for interactive entertainment. Space Invaders (1978): Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, \"Space Invaders\" featured simple, yet iconic alien characters, emphasizing the importance of recognizable shapes even in low-resolution graphics. The Rise of Iconic Characters: Pac-Man (1980): Created by Toru Iwatani, Pac-Man became one of the most recognizable characters in video game history. The character\'s simple, circular design was both distinctive and easily rendered with the limited graphics of the time. Donkey Kong (1981): Shigeru Miyamoto's introduction of Mario (originally \"Jumpman\") in \"Donkey Kong\" showcased a character with a distinct mustache, hat, and overalls, designed for easy recognition and animation. The 8-bit and 16-bit Eras (1980s-1990s) Increased Detail and Personality: Super Mario Bros. (1985): Mario\'s design evolved, becoming more detailed with the limitations of 8-bit graphics. The bright colors and clear shapes made him stand out on screen. The Legend of Zelda (1986): Link's design, with his green tunic and hat, became iconic. The character's design emphasized adventure and exploration, fitting the game\'s theme. Diverse Character Designs: Mega Man (1987): Designed by Keiji Inafune, Mega Man's blue armor and arm cannon became iconic. The character\'s design allowed for various upgrades and weapon changes, integrating gameplay mechanics with visual design. Sonic the Hedgehog (1991): Created by Naoto Ohshima, Sonic was designed to be visually striking and to reflect speed. His spiky blue hair and red shoes were distinct and memorable. The 3D Revolution (Mid-1990s to Early 2000s) Transition to 3D: Super Mario 64 (1996): Mario's transition to 3D in \"Super Mario 64\" involved redesigning him with smoother curves and more detail to fit the new three-dimensional gameplay environment. Tomb Raider (1996): Lara Croft, designed by Toby Gard, became one of the most iconic characters of the 3D era. Her design balanced realism with the technical limitations of the time, creating a strong and memorable character. Realism and Detail: Final Fantasy VII (1997): Characters like Cloud Strife, with his spiky hair and oversized Buster Sword, became iconic. The use of CGI cutscenes allowed for more detailed character designs and expressions. Half-Life (1998): Gordon Freeman's realistic design, complete with his HEV suit and glasses, emphasized the game\'s serious tone and immersive narrative. The Modern Era (2000s-Present) High Definition and Realism: Halo (2001): Master Chief, designed with a futuristic armor suit, became an icon of modern gaming. His design balanced practicality with a distinct, recognizable silhouette. The Last of Us (2013): Joel and Ellie's designs emphasized realism and emotional depth, reflecting the game\'s narrative-driven approach. The detailed facial expressions and body language were crucial for storytelling. Diverse and Inclusive Designs: Overwatch (2016): Blizzard's \"Overwatch\" featured a diverse cast of characters from various ethnic backgrounds, each with unique designs reflecting their personalities and abilities. Characters like Tracer and Mercy became fan favorites. Horizon Zero Dawn (2017): Aloy's design, with her practical outfit and distinctive red hair, emphasized her role as a hunter and survivor in a post-apocalyptic world. Stylized and Artistic Approaches: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017): Link's design in this game combined traditional elements with a more detailed and expressive style, fitting the open-world environment. Cuphead (2017): The game's characters were designed in the style of 1930s cartoons, with fluid animations and distinctive, nostalgic designs that stood out in the modern gaming landscape. Key Elements in Character Design for Games Silhouette and Recognizability: Distinct Silhouettes: Characters are designed with unique silhouettes to ensure they are easily recognizable, even from a distance or in fast-paced action. Color and Contrast: Color Palettes: Vibrant and contrasting colors are used to make characters stand out against various backgrounds and to convey their personalities and roles. Expression and Emotion: Facial Expressions: Characters are designed to convey a wide range of emotions through facial expressions and body language, enhancing player engagement and storytelling. Functionality and Integration: Design for Gameplay: Characters are often designed with their gameplay mechanics in mind, such as movement styles, special abilities, and how they interact with the game world. **popular characters for the game design for ten years** Over the past decade, video game character design has continued to evolve, producing numerous iconic characters that have become beloved by gamers worldwide. Here are some notable examples from the last ten years: 1\. Geralt of Rivia - The Witcher Series Game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) Designer: CD Projekt Red Features: Geralt is a rugged, silver-haired monster hunter with a scarred face. He carries two swords and wears distinct, medieval-style armor. His design reflects his tough, no-nonsense personality and his life as a witcher. 2\. Aloy - Horizon Zero Dawn Game: Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) Designer: Guerrilla Games Features: Aloy is characterized by her practical, post-apocalyptic attire, with a focus on natural materials and armor pieces. Her distinctive red hair and determined expression highlight her role as a hunter and survivor. 3\. Ellie - The Last of Us Part II Game: The Last of Us Part II (2020) Designer: Naughty Dog Features: Ellie is designed with a high level of realism, featuring detailed facial expressions and a range of emotions. Her appearance evolves throughout the game, reflecting her journey and the harsh world she inhabits. 4\. Kratos and Atreus - God of War Game: God of War (2018) Designer: Santa Monica Studio Features: Kratos is redesigned with a more mature, rugged look, featuring a thick beard and Nordic-inspired armor. His son Atreus has a youthful, inquisitive design that contrasts with Kratos\'s gruff demeanor, highlighting their relationship dynamics. 5\. Joker - Persona 5 Game: Persona 5 (2016) Designer: Atlus Features: Joker\'s design is sleek and stylish, featuring a dark, form-fitting outfit with a mask that gives him a mysterious and rebellious air. His design reflects the game\'s themes of duality and hidden identities. 6\. Tracer - Overwatch Game: Overwatch (2016) Designer: Blizzard Entertainment Features: Tracer is known for her bright orange jumpsuit, goggles, and energetic personality. Her design emphasizes speed and agility, with a futuristic and slightly cartoonish aesthetic that fits the game\'s vibrant art style. 7\. Arthur Morgan - Red Dead Redemption 2 Game: Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) Designer: Rockstar Games Features: Arthur Morgan\'s design is highly detailed, reflecting the game\'s focus on realism. His rugged appearance, complete with period-accurate clothing and accessories, underscores his life as an outlaw in the late 1800s. 8\. 2B - NieR: Automata Game: NieR: Automata (2017) Designer: PlatinumGames Features: 2B is an android with a striking design, featuring a black dress, thigh-high boots, and a blindfold. Her design is both elegant and functional, reflecting the game\'s blend of action and philosophical themes. 9\. Bayek - Assassin\'s Creed Origins Game: Assassin\'s Creed Origins (2017) Designer: Ubisoft Features: Bayek\'s design includes traditional Egyptian elements mixed with the iconic Assassin\'s garb. His detailed armor, weapons, and tattoos highlight his role as a Medjay and a protector of his people. 10\. V - Cyberpunk 2077 Game: Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) Designer: CD Projekt Red Features: V\'s design is highly customizable, reflecting the game\'s RPG elements. The character\'s cybernetic enhancements, futuristic clothing, and diverse style options highlight the game\'s dystopian, tech-driven world. **[Character design in India.]** Character design in India has evolved significantly, influenced by its rich cultural heritage and modern creative industries. Here are some notable Indian character designers and examples of their work: Ram Mohan Notable Works: \"Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama\" Details: Known as the father of Indian animation, Ram Mohan played a crucial role in shaping the industry. His work on the Indo-Japanese film \"Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama\" is a notable example, where he designed characters based on traditional Indian art and mythology. Gitanjali Rao Notable Works: \"Printed Rainbow,\" \"TrueLoveStory\" Details: Gitanjali Rao is an acclaimed animator and filmmaker. Her short film \"Printed Rainbow\" features beautifully designed characters that reflect Indian culture and urban life. \"TrueLoveStory\" continues her trend of culturally rich and visually unique character designs. Rajiv Chilaka Notable Works: \"Chhota Bheem\" Details: Rajiv Chilaka is the creator of the immensely popular animated series \"Chhota Bheem.\" The titular character, Bheem, is designed as a brave and strong young boy inspired by Indian folklore, making him a beloved figure among children in India. Vaibhav Kumaresh Notable Works: \"Simpoo,\" \"Lamput\" Details: Vaibhav Kumaresh is known for his quirky and humorous character designs. \"Simpoo\" from Channel V and the character \"Lamput\" from the series of the same name are examples of his innovative and entertaining designs. Suresh Eriyat Notable Works: \"Tokri,\" \"Fisherwoman and TukTuk\" Details: Founder of Studio Eeksaurus, Suresh Eriyat has created several award-winning animated shorts. \"Tokri\" features intricately designed characters that depict everyday life in India, showcasing his attention to detail and cultural authenticity. Chetan Sharma Notable Works: \"Little Krishna\" Details: Chetan Sharma co-founded Animagic and worked on the animated series \"Little Krishna.\" The series features beautifully crafted characters inspired by the life and legends of Lord Krishna, blending traditional Indian art with modern animation techniques. Rini George Notable Works: \"Mighty Raju,\" \"Chhota Bheem\" Details: Rini George is a character designer at Green Gold Animation, contributing to popular series like \"Chhota Bheem\" and its spin-off \"Mighty Raju.\" Her designs are characterized by their appeal to children and their vibrant, dynamic style. Sanjay Patel Notable Works: \"Sanjay\'s Super Team,\" \"The Little Book of Hindu Deities\" Details: Although primarily based in the U.S., Sanjay Patel has created works deeply rooted in Indian culture. His short film \"Sanjay\'s Super Team,\" produced by Pixar, and his book \"The Little Book of Hindu Deities\" feature characters that bring Indian mythology to life in a modern, stylized form. Anuja Jaitly Notable Works: Character designs for mobile games and apps Details: Anuja Jaitly has worked extensively in the gaming industry, creating characters for various mobile games and apps. Her designs often blend traditional Indian aesthetics with contemporary styles, making them unique and engaging. Rajiv Vaishnav Notable Works: \"Arjun: The Warrior Prince\" Details: Rajiv Vaishnav worked on the character designs for \"Arjun: The Warrior Prince,\" a film based on the Mahabharata. The characters in this film are designed to reflect their epic origins, combining heroic proportions with expressive animation. **[Anime Animation Style Differences]** Human character design in animations is slightly different from that of cartoons or a comic book. The same is applicable for animes too. Characters have particularly large eyes with underlining shadows, detailed coloring, smaller noses, and mouths represented by a single line (or two). If the mouth is made broader, then also fewer lines are used for depicting it. Characters are shown from different angles. Lines are slender and flowing. More details are added to hair, clothes, eyelashes, etc. Variations of colors and shades are used. For adding depth, reflections and shadows are used. More attention is focused on non-outlined highlighted areas. In animation, the characters are comical or exaggerated in nature. Details are lesser. Attention is paid to showcasing style in an understated or subtle mode. Shading is used more in dramatic scenes. Solid block colors are preferred. Animated motion is more. Frame by frame is done. In anime, shortcuts are employed instead of extensive animation. In long scenes, the character's mouth and hair movement is shown while key info is delivered. For showcasing rapid motion, the character is transfixed in an action pose, and the background moves or changes in style. Backgrounds are patterned and dramatic still shots are used. The monologue is accompanied by some moving symbols revealing emotions. Sequences and shots are reused. The difference between anime and traditional animation is that better attention is paid to character, settings, and background in anime as compared to animation. Western-style animations and Japanese manga animes are distinct from each other in several aspects. The unique features of anime make it so singular to the viewers and revolutionize this art genre. Artistic Style & Proportions: Anime: Exaggerated Features: Anime characters often have exaggerated facial features, particularly the eyes, which are typically large, expressive, and highly detailed. The size of the eyes is often used to convey emotion, innocence, or intensity. Simplified Bodies: The bodies of anime characters can range from highly stylized and simplified to detailed and realistic. The proportions are often idealized, with long limbs, slender bodies, and small mouths and noses. Hair: Anime often features highly stylized hair with unnatural colors (like blue, pink, or green) and intricate styles that defy gravity, adding to the fantastical and diverse nature of the characters. Western Animation: Varied Styles: Western character design encompasses a wide range of styles, from the exaggerated and cartoony (e.g., \"The Simpsons,\" \"Looney Tunes\") to more realistic and detailed (e.g., \"Batman: The Animated Series\"). Proportions: Western characters often have more varied body types and proportions, reflecting a range of character archetypes. The focus can be on caricatured proportions for comedic effect or more realistic bodies for serious storytelling. Hair: Hair in Western animation tends to be less stylized than in anime, often following more natural colors and styles, though exceptions exist in more fantastical or stylized shows. Facial Expressions & Emotional Conveyance: Anime: Expressive Faces: Anime often uses exaggerated facial expressions to convey emotion, such as large sweat drops to indicate embarrassment or confusion, and large teardrops for sadness. Characters\' faces can also shift between highly detailed and more simplified or chibi-like expressions for comedic effect. Subtle Nuances: Despite the exaggeration, anime can also use very subtle facial movements to convey deep emotions, such as a slight smile, a downcast gaze, or a single tear. Western Animation: Caricatured Expressions: Western cartoons often use exaggerated facial expressions, especially in comedic series, where characters may have highly elastic and exaggerated facial movements (e.g., \"Tom and Jerry,\" \"SpongeBob SquarePants\"). Realistic Expressions: In more serious or dramatic Western animation, facial expressions are often more realistic and less exaggerated, relying on nuanced acting to convey emotions (e.g., \"Avatar: The Last Airbender\"). Color Palette & Symbolism: Anime: Vivid and Symbolic Colors: Anime often uses bright, vivid colors and symbolic color schemes. Hair and eye colors can be particularly bold, often used to signify a character's personality or role in the story (e.g., red hair for fiery, energetic characters). Atmospheric Colors: Anime frequently uses color palettes that match the tone and mood of a scene, with softer pastels for emotional or romantic moments, and darker, more intense colors for action or suspense. Western Animation:Naturalistic Colors: Western characters often have more naturalistic color schemes, with hair and eye colors that more closely resemble real-world diversity. Bold and Bright: Especially in cartoons, colors can be bold and primary, designed to appeal to younger audiences and to be easily recognizable (e.g., Superman's red, blue, and yellow costume). Theme-driven Colors: Colors in Western animation can be thematic, like the muted, gothic tones of \"Batman: The Animated Series\" or the bright, cheerful hues of \"My Little Pony.\" Character Archetypes: Anime: Trope-driven: Anime often leans on established character archetypes or \"tropes,\" such as the \"tsundere\" (a character who is initially cold but warms up over time), \"shonen hero\" (a young, determined male protagonist), or the \"moe\" character (cute, often vulnerable, and designed to evoke affection). Cultural Influence: Many anime characters are influenced by Japanese culture, mythology, and societal roles, which can lead to characters embodying roles like the samurai, ninja, or shrine maiden. Western Animation: Varied Archetypes: Western animation features a wide range of character archetypes, from the superhero and the sidekick to the everyman and the comedic relief. Pop Culture & Mythology: Western characters are often influenced by Western myths, fairy tales, and pop culture. For example, superheroes like Superman and Batman are modern reinterpretations of mythic heroes. Animation Techniques: Anime: Limited Animation: Anime often uses limited animation techniques, where fewer frames are used to create movement, relying on detailed stills and dialogue to convey action. This can lead to a focus on dramatic close-ups and stills with expressive backgrounds. Visual Effects: Special visual effects, such as speed lines, intense lighting, and unique transitions, are commonly used to enhance action and emotion. Western Animation: Full Animation: Western animation, especially in high-budget productions, tends to use full animation techniques with more fluid and detailed movements. Classic Disney movies are prime examples, where every movement is richly animated. Gag Animation: Many Western cartoons utilize gag-based animation, where characters may break the fourth wall, change shapes, or defy physics for comedic effect. Cultural Context: Anime: Japanese Culture: Anime is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, and this is reflected in the settings, character behaviors, and story themes. Honor, tradition, and societal roles often play significant roles in character development. Global Influence: Despite its Japanese origins, anime has become a global phenomenon and has influenced other cultures, leading to a blend of styles in some modern works. Western Animation: American and European Influence: Western animation is heavily influenced by American and European cultural norms, often reflecting themes of individualism, heroism, and satire. Cultural Export: Western animation has a long history of being exported globally, with characters like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and The Simpsons becoming international icons. Character design stretches from realism to idealization and the abstract, and the silhouette of a human character will vary depending on how stylized a game is. A stylized game will generally allow for more creativity, exaggerated shapes and proportions when it comes to defining a character through a distinguished silhouette. Proportions can be altered in infinite ways and they are especially useful to create many various human-based characters. **Rules of Character Design:** 1. Archetypes 2. The character is always in service to the story 3. Ethnicity 4. Originality 5. Shapes 6. Reference 7. Aesthetic A. **[Archetypes] --** i. The Hero -- When dealing with Character Design, always remember that the character exists as a result of the story. The story will dictate that you need a hero. The hero is defined as someone who is brave, selfless, and willing to help others no matter what the cost. ii. The Shadow -- The Shadow character is the one who is connected the most with our instinctual animal past. He or she is perceived as ruthless, mysterious, disagreeable and evil. iii. The Fool -- The fool character is the one who goes through the story in a confused state and inevitably gets everyone into undesirable situations. The fool is in the story to test the main character. How that character deals with the actions of the fool tells us a lot about that person. iv. The Anima/Animus -- The anima is the female counterpart to the male, and the animus is the male counterpart to the female. This character embodies the male and female urges. The anima/ animus characters exist to draw you into the story. If you or the main character is attracted to the anima or animus character and something happens to that character, it will evoke a wide range of emotions from within. v. The Mentor -- the mentor plays a key role in making the protagonist realize his or her full potential and is often portrayed as an old man or woman, this is because most cultures associate age with having wisdom. The mentor takes on many of the characteristics of a parent. vi. The Trickster -- The trickster character is the one that is constantly pushing for change. The trickster can either be on the side of good or the side of evil. In both situations, the trickster is trying to move the story toward his or her favor or benefit. Generally, in the end, it is the trickster's actions that make the main character the type of person he or she is at the end of the story. The trickster is vital to any story because he or she is generally the toughest mental test to the main character has to overcome before the main character can physically or mentally overcome his or her antagonist. B. **[Story]** -- A character is always in service to the story i. Who? - Who is the character in question? Who are we talking about in this character summary? ii. What? - What does this character do in the story? iii. When? - When does this story take place? iv. Where? - Where does the story take place? v. Why? - Why is the character motivated to do what he does in the story? vi. How? - How does your character do what he does? Sometimes this question can be answered in the why question. The personality of a character is composed of many aspects but a large part of comes from the character's physical traits and features since those are the first things you notice when coming into contact with it. Depending on what you want your character to be like you can choose to exaggerate certain features. For example rounded, plump shapes always seem to imply cuteness because of the way they are generally associated with babies in our visual consciousness. Big eyes set very closely together towards the center of the face also enhance this effect. Sharp, hard angles seem harsher, combined with narrow heads or faces. Whatever character you want to design, always think of its personality in relation to its features. Another defining thing that some designers may forget when creating a character are **verbs**. Have your character do something - move, dance, have a certain facial expression or a certain posture to add to its personality. In the example above, you can tell that the young apache is a very confident little man from his stance. Below are examples of round shapes and harsher angles to show how they impact the overall aesthetic of the characters in question. Frequently asked questions: **[BASIC STATISTICS ]** **Name**: What is your character's name? **Alias**: Does your character go by a different name in your story? **Age**: What is the character's current age? **Height**: How tall is your character? **Weight**: How much does your character weigh? **Sex**: Is your character a male or a female? **Race**: Is your character Caucasian, African-American, Elvin, Dwarven, etc? **Eye Color**: What is the color of your character's eyes? **Hair Color**: What is the color of your character's hair? **Glasses or Contact Lenses**: Does your character wear glasses, contact lenses, or neither? **Nationality**: What is your character's nationality? **Skin Color**: What is the color of your character's skin? **Shape of Face**: Is your character's face round, square, triangle, oval, etc? **[DISTINGUISHING FEATURES ]** **Clothing**: How does your character dress? High fashion, sloppy, professional, or casual? **Mannerisms**: What unique gestures and movements set your character apart from other characters? **Habits**: What habits, good or bad, does your character have? Smoking, drinking, pencil tapping, cleanliness, etc? **Health**: What is your character's current health? **Hobbies**: Does your character have any favorite hobbies? Basketball, video games, sniffing glue, etc? **Favorite Sayings**: Does your character have a favorite saying? **Voice**: What does your character's voice sound like? Raspy, sexy, soft, etc? **Walking Style**: How does your character walk? Heroic, sneaky, nervous, etc? **Disabilities:** Does your character have any disabilities, physical or mental? **Character's Greatest Flaw**: What is the one negative thing that stands out above all the rest? **Character's Best Quality**: What is the biggest thing that makes your character great? **[SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS ]** **Hometown**: Where is your character originally from? **Current Residence**: Where does your character currently live? **Occupation**: What does your character do for a living? **Income**: How much money does your character make? **Talents/Skills**: Does your character have any talents or skills that might be useful in the story? **Family Status**: Does your character have any siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc, and what is his relationship with them like? **Character as a Child**: What was your character's status as a child? Child prodigy, school dropout, petty thief, etc? Why did your character have that status? **Character as an Adult**: What was your character's status as an adult? King, beggar, genius, ninja master, etc? Why did your character have that status? **[ATTRIBUTES AND ATTITUDES ]** **Educational Background**: What is your character's highest level of education? **Intelligence Level**: What is your character's IQ? **Character's Goals**: What is one short-term goal and one long-term goal that your character wants to accomplish in his/her lifetime? **Self-esteem**: When your character looks in the mirror, how does he/she see himself/ herself, physically and mentally? **Confidence:** Is your character overconfident, not confident at all, or of average confidence? **Emotional State**: Is your character ruled by emotion or logic or both? **[EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS]** **Introvert or Extrovert**: Is your character an introvert or an extrovert? How does your character deal with sadness? anger? conflict? change? loss? What would your character like to change about his or her life? Is there anything your character would change about his/her life if he/she could? **Motivation**: What makes your character get out of bed in the morning? **Fear**: Is your character afraid of anything? **Happiness**: What makes your character happy? **Relationships**: How is your character with relationships---social, emotional, physical, etc? **[SPIRITUAL CHARACTERISTICS ]** **Does your character believe in God?** **Does your character have a strong connection to his/her faith?** **Does your character live his/her life according to the laws of his/her faith?** **Archetype**: Is your character the hero, the mentor, the shadow, or one of the other archetypes? **Environment**: Does the environment affect your character physically or mentally? Does it affect the way he/she dresses? **Timeline**: Describe five important events that led up to your character's storyline. C. **[Ethnicity ]** If you want to create a character of color, should you start with their ethnicity first or should you start with the character? Consider we have two people approaching character design in these two separate ways. The first person comes up with the personality first, then given them an appearance and the ethnicity, then set the world around them. This is a valid way of creating the world, but it's not the only way. Sometimes you decide the character's ethnicity first. Consider the second person had stories about a Middle Eastern character. Now he didn't know much about her (or Middle Eastern cultures for that matter), but he wanted to know more about the culture and doing research about the ethnicity to let him know more about her character. If he had written the story before doing his research, he would have come to understand that his character behaved in a way that was counter to her culture. If you are going to use a culture that already exists, it may make more sense to research the culture first, then create the characters within the confines of their culture. If you are writing a fantasy story, you have to be aware of where you are drawing your source materials. It's been discussed before about the problems with creating a Pan-Asian and/or Pan-African culture that you might run into some problems if you are creating an ethnicity for a fantasy world that draws inspiration from a real place.  For example, taking the story with the Middle Eastern character, if the second person had written this story as a fantasy and set the story in a fantasy Pan Middle East and drew inspiration from many different cultures, he would still run into the same problem. The character clashes with her culture, not even on a personal level, but on a global letter. There are cultural taboos that people don't engage in that can come in conflict with your source material, especially if they clash in real life. These methods of character creation may depend on your setting, the time period, and genre. If you are writing a dystopian, it might make some sense to have a mish-mash of cultures whereas if you are writing a historical fiction, it wouldn't make sense. As long as your characters are well rounded, whether their ethnicity came first or their personality, there is no right or wrong to create a character and their world. D. **[Originality]** To be original, you have to come up with something no one has ever done before. The reason it is so hard to be original is because humanity has been on this planet for quite some time, and during that time a huge number of ideas have been thought of and brought to fruition. Those creations are what inspired generations of people such as artists, architects, actors, writers, musicians, and many others to create the great things they did. So if you look throughout history, you will see that most, if not all, ideas have already seen the light of day. Now I am not saying that there will never be an original idea ever again (I just hope I am around to witness it), but I'm just saying it is going to be extremely difficult. So you shouldn't be obsessed with creating anything, let alone a character, with the assumption that it absolutely has to be an original concept. It is hard to be original. So my advice is to make sure you have some form of originality in everything you create. It is a lot easier to obtain originality than to be original. All "originality" means is that you have taken something that already exists and added your own super-awesome twist to it. E. **[Shapes and Silhouettes ]** i. Square -- ii. Circles -- iii. Triangles -- You are probably going to want to augment some of those shapes to make them cooler looking. The best way to do that is to use a silhouette. A silhouette is an outline of a character that is filled in with black. It kind of looks like a shadow. Silhouettes are important in character design for one reason: recognizability. If you can create a character with a combination of shapes that is completely recognizable when it is in complete shadow, then you are doing something right. That will always hold true as long as you don't break the "form follows function" rule. (Don't worry, we are going to talk about that a little later in this chapter.) Try to think of some characters that have good silhouettes Once you figure out who the character with the best silhouette is you should be able to see how much a strong silhouette can help with recognition. Using a silhouette is also a very good starting point for character design. With a silhouette you can make multiple designs in a very short amount of time because you aren't really focusing on the finer details of the character. F. **[Reference]** Reference is defined as "an act or instance of referring." I don't know about you, but when the definition of a word uses the word to explain its meaning, I don't think that's much help. Reference for character designers can be defined as "the ability to observe from life or from a photograph to ensure that what is being portrayed is visually correct." A large majority of character designs involve some form of the human body. The best ways you can ensure that your designs are correct is with reference and practice--- and then probably more reference. The best source of practice and references will always be life drawing. When you draw from life, you are referencing the real world around you. You have to look at what you are drawing to make sure that what you are drawing is correct. Another great skill you will learn by drawing people on the bus or walking around in the mall is gesture drawing. Gesture drawing is a form of quick drawing that allows you to focus on the motion, the energy, and the mood of what you are drawing. These drawings will make you draw faster so you can capture the energy and mood of the people in motion. If you can become proficient in gesture drawing, your character designs have less of a chance of becoming stiff and lifeless. The best way to draw your entire body is to use a full-length mirror. Drawing yourself can also teach you how to remember what you see because, believe me, as great a model as you might be, you are still going to move. It's fine to use a photo as a reference, but you still have to use what you have seen in the real world. The best way to combat being a slave to your reference is to do a large number of life drawing. When it comes to reference, the best one will always be life drawing. By doing a lot of life drawing, you will be able to build your visual library, which will allow you to fill in the gaps that the camera might miss or distort. G. **[Aesthetics / Style]** What can make or break a character is the style or general aesthetic used in its creation. Adding to what we've established before about simple shapes as a starting point for character design, the style of a character comes from the way in which the shapes that compose it blend together in a visually stimulating manner. **Contrast of shape, form or proportion** is a great way to balance shapes and make your character interesting. For example, Wile E. Coyote has a large, long snout, narrow shoulders, thin legs and big feet and hands. Not to mention the large, expressive eyes. Just as how in humans they say the eyes are the window into the soul, characters' eyes can be essential in defining their personality. What can make or break a character is the style or general aesthetic used in its creation. Adding to what we've established before about simple shapes as a starting point for character design, the style of a character comes from the way in which the shapes that compose it blend together in a visually stimulating manner.  Aesthetics is defined as "the philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste." Hopefully, you can understand why all of these are important to character design. The aesthetic is the first thing the viewer will notice about your character design. No matter what anyone wants to tell you, human beings are attracted to things that look visually appealing. People's tastes vary widely, and there is something out there for everyone. You just have to find it. So how can you get the most bang for your buck when it comes to the aesthetics of your characters? The first thing you have to think about is your audience. If you are creating the character only for yourself, then all you have to worry about is what you like. But if you are trying to reach other people, you have to consider the preferences of the other people who will see your character design. You have to answer two important questions: 1\. What is the age group that you are aiming for with your character design? 2\. What genre is your character going to be in? Let's talk about the age factor first. You will have to do some research to see what the target age group is watching, playing, and reading. This is called "knowing your target audience." Do you know what 0- to 4-year-olds are watching on TV? Do you know why they aren't watching the same programs as 5- to 8-year-olds or 14- to 18-year-olds? You might think you know, but do you really know? Before you answer that question, I'll tell you what I think about the different age groups, and we'll see if you had the same ideas. I am going to break down the age groups as follows. (This may vary from person to person, but this is generally what I go by.) **Ages 0--4** Characters have really big heads and eyes, short bodies, bright colors, and simple shapes. **Ages 5--8** Characters still have big heads but less so than characters for the 0--4 age group. Their eyes are smaller, the colors are a bit more muted, and the shapes are more intricate. **Ages 9--13** Characters are pulling away from the simplistic. They resemble more believable proportions. The colors are more realistic and have a lot more details. **Ages14--18** Characters resemble the real world. They are properly proportioned. The colors are more complicated, and they have the most amount of detail. Why is this important and why should you care? It's important because it directly influences the design. You don't want to give the viewers too much information if they can't process it. Another reason you really want to know your target audience is because you don't want to market a character to the wrong age group. So the most important piece of information to obtain from this discussion is that every age group wants to be able to relate to what they are looking at, and as designers one of the big things to relate to is the way a character looks. That is why the younger ages are modeled with childlike proportions and the older age groups want something more adult. Let's talk briefly about genre. The thing you have to remember is that each genre has very specific qualities that fans of that specific genre want to see every time. So if you are going to be doing a fantasy story, your characters must have some mystical qualities about them. They probably also have to fight dragons, orcs, and goblins. If you are doing a western story, your characters have to be willing to get on a horse and wear a cowboy hat. Once again, there are always going to be exceptions, but genres are based off generalizations. So make sure you know the subject matter of the genre in which you are going to place your characters. Color: As we continue to look at aesthetics, one of the most important features is color. Color says a lot about a character and his story. It also affects whether a person will have a connection to a certain character. People tend to gravitate toward other people who like the same things they do. Color is one of the things that people tend to gravitate to, it is a mnemonic device that easily works, which you will see later. So it is very important to know the meanings of the colors you use. First things first; we have to look at the basic color wheel, and then I will convince you that color tells a story about your character. Yellow (primary color) Orange (secondary color) Green (secondary color) Blue (primary color) Red (primary color) Purple (secondary color) C:\\Users\\vivek\\Documents\\color-wheel-300.gif The color wheel shows the primary, secondary, and complementary colors. Complementary colors are directly across from each other, so red is the complementary color of green, and blue is the complementary color of orange, and so on. I'm telling you this because, well, it isn't labeled on the color wheel and I didn't want you to be confused about what complementary colors are. Now here are the colors that we are going to be looking at in depth: Red Yellow Blue Purple Green Orange Black White Basically we are going to talk about the color wheel plus black and white. I know there are many more colors in our world, but these are the main colors that we as character designers use. The first thing we have to do is find out what each color says to people. The color red generally evokes feelings of action, confidence, courage, vitality, energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination, passion, desire, anger, and love. The color yellow generally evokes feelings of wisdom, joy, happiness, intellect, caution, decay, sickness, jealousy, cowardliness, comfort, liveliness, optimism, and feeling overwhelmed. The color blue generally evokes feelings of trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, health, healing, tranquility, understanding, softness, knowledge, power, integrity, seriousness, honor, coldness, and sadness The color purple generally evokes feelings of power, nobility, elegance, sophistication, artificial luxury, mystery, royalty, magic, ambition, wealth, extravagance, wisdom, dignity, independence, and creativity. The color green generally evokes feelings of nature, growth, harmony, freshness, fertility, safety, money, durability, luxury, optimism, well-being, relaxation, optimism, honesty, envy, youth, and sickness. The color orange generally evokes feelings of cheerfulness, enthusiasm, creativity, fascination, happiness, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, prestige, illumination, and wisdom. The color black generally evokes the feeling of power, elegance, formality, death, evil, mystery, fear, grief, sophistication, strength, depression, and mourning. The color white generally evokes the feeling of cleanliness, purity, newness, virginity, peace, innocence, simplicity, sterility, light, goodness, and perfection. With Spider-man, the predominant colors are red and blue. If you look at the colors and the feelings they evoke, you should be able to place some of them on Spider-man's character. If not I am going to break it down for you. Remember we said that blue means loyalty, intelligence, sadness, and power; among other things Spider-man is very loyal to his family and friends, and most of all to New York City. Spider-man is intelligent because Peter Parker is proclaimed to be a scientific genius. He has power because of his spider strength, but the big one is sadness. If I were to pick a primary reason as to why they picked blue I would say it is to represent sadness. Spiderman's life is constantly overshadowed by the death of his Uncle Ben. He became a crime fighter because he believes his uncle's death was his fault. Let's talk about red. Red means passion, love, courage, confidence, and energy. Spider-man is very passionate about what he does. He believes he can clean up the streets of New York, and let's face it, you have to be pretty passionate to put yourself into the situations he puts himself in. He loves his family and will do anything to keep them safe. Spider-man has confidence in what he can and can't do. It actually borders on being extremely cocky, but it fits with who he is. Finally, if any character has loads of energy, it would be Spider-man. He jumps, flips, swings, and fights---everywhere and anywhere. When it comes to aesthetics, another important thing to keep in mind is detail. Detail can make or break a character design. Knowing how much detail to put in your character designs will make the difference between a believable character or one that couldn't possibly exist. There is a saying in the artistic world: The devil is in the details. What that means is there is a fine line between having too much detail and not having enough. You must always remember that your personal style and the age group of your audience will influence how much detail you need. Even if the age group is in the lowest category, that shouldn't be an excuse to draw unrecognizable and lazy characters or props. **[Putting it all together]** It isn't enough to be able to create fantastic character designs. You will also have to be able to turn them in space. This is known as a turnaround. Many media arts companies use turnarounds to ensure that when you draw the character you know what it looks like from the front, the side and the back. There are three types of turnarounds: three-point, "T," and five-point. I would say that the three-point turnaround is the industry standard for video games, animation, and comics. Having a three-point turnaround at your disposal is very helpful. You don't have to try to guess what the back of your character looks like because there it is. The final type of turnaround is the five-point turnaround, and it is the most informative. The five-point turnaround is more difficult to draw because of the ¾ front and the ¾ back pose. They are hard to get correct, but once you do, you will have a better idea of how your character turns in space. The five-point turnaround is primarily used in animation studios, where it is important to know exactly what the character will look like in all positions. In animation, characters are often seen from several angles. The five-point turnaround is important with asymmetrical characters. **[Model Sheets/ Expression Sheets/ Attitude/ Key Poses]** In animation, a **model sheet**, also known as a **character board**, **character sheet**, **character study** or simply a **study**, is a document used to help standardize the appearance, poses, and gestures of an [animated character](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animated_character). Model sheets are required when large numbers of artists are involved in the production of an animated film to help maintain continuity in characters from scene to scene, as one animator may only do one shot out of the several hundred that are required to complete an animated [feature film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_film). A character not drawn according to the production\'s standardized model is referred to as off-model Model sheets have also been used in the past to maintain graphic continuity over the years for long lasting cartoon productions of short or short features such as the [Looney Tunes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looney_Tunes) or [Merrie Melodies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrie_Melodies) series. Model sheets are drawings of posed cartoon or comic strip characters that are created to provide a reference template for several artists who collaborate in the production of a lengthy or multiple-edition work of art such as a comic book, animated film or television series. Model sheets usually depict the character's head and body as they appear at various angles (a process known as \"model rotation\"), includes sketches of the character's hands and feet, and shows several basic facial expressions. Model sheets ensure that, despite the efforts of several or many artists, their work exhibits unity, as if one artist created the drawings (that is, they are \"on model\"). They show the character\'s structure, proportions, attire, and body language. Often, several sheets are required to depict a character's subtler emotional and physical attitudes. Depending on the whim of [animation direction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation_director), deviations from the model may be permitted in the course of final animation; this \"tightness\" of model is a major distinguishing factor in overall animation style, as it constitutes a tradeoff between expressiveness and smoothness/consistency. As such, the usage of models varies widely between studios and projects. Model sheets can also be used in the construction of costumes or sculpted figurines. Once the character and model sheets are made, we move to putting life into that character and bifurcating features of the character. This is done by creating an expression chart and an attitude sheet. An expression chart allows an animator to list down and draw the different expressions a character can make. For example, a character, as per the story, might be able to look happy, sad, excited, irritated, shocked, so on and so forth. All of these emotions experienced by the character are represented visually as drawings and this forms the expression chart. An attitude sheet is the same thing as an expression chart, just that now the emotion of a character is conveyed in the form of body language. A characters attitude is represented in the way he is postured and positioned. For example, we can consider which part of the characters body does he/she lead by and we can instantly create an impression of their attitude in their our minds. For example -- Thinkers lead with their heads, Heroes lead with their chests, Lazy types lead with their pelvis Cowards lead with their knees **[American Character Design]** **(Disney & Pixar)** **History and Contributions of Chuck Jones:** Under any aspect of American Animation, an explanation would be incomplete without the mention of Chuck Jones. In a career spanning over 60 years, Jones made more than 300 animated films, winning three Oscars as director and in 1996 an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. Among the many awards and recognitions, one of those most valued was the honorary life membership from the Directors Guild of America. During the Golden Age of animation Jones helped bring to life many of Warner Bros. most famous characters---Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Porky Pig. The list of characters he created himself includes Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin Martian, Pepe le Pew, Michigan J. Frog, and many others. He also produced, directed, and wrote the screenplays for \"Dr. Seuss\' How the Grinch Stole Christmas,\" a television classic, as well as the feature-length film \"The Phantom Tollbooth.\" In addition, Jones was a prolific artist whose work has been exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide. Born on September 21, 1912 in Spokane, Washington, Jones grew up in Hollywood where he observed the talents of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (now California Institute of the Arts in Valencia) Jones drew pencil portraits for a dollar-a-piece on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. Then, in 1932, he got his first job in the fledgling animation industry as a cel washer for former Disney animator, Ubbe Iwerks. It was at Iwerks Productions that he met Dorothy Webster, to whom he was married in 1932. In 1936 Jones was hired by Friz Freleng as an animator for the Leon Schlesinger Studio (later sold to Warner Bros.). Jones admired and revered Freleng for the rest of his life, saying, \"No one except Tex Avery had as perfect a sense of timing as did Friz Freleng.\" He worked his way up from cel washer to assistant animator, then animator, and finally in 1938, he directed his first short animated film, \"The Night Watchman,\" stopping only briefly in July of 1937 to welcome his only child, daughter Linda, to the world. After Avery and Clampett left the studio in the early 1940s, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Chuck Jones, working with their own formidable team of writers, layout artists, background painters, and animators, created cartoons until the studio was closed in 1962. This period is often noted as the \"Golden Age of Animation.\"  Arguably some of the most enduring cartoons ever made were produced in this period; most of them still enjoy worldwide recognition to this day. When Warner Bros. closed their animation studio Jones moved to MGM where he created new episodes of the Tom and Jerry cartoon series. While there, in addition to \"The Phantom Tollbooth\" and \"Dr. Seuss\' How the Grinch Stole Christmas\", Jones directed the Academy Award-winning film, \"The Dot and the Line.\" Jones established his own production company, Chuck Jones Enterprises, in 1962 and produced nine half-hour animated films for television including \"Rikki Tikki Tavi\" and \"The White Seal\", both of which were based on stories in Rudyard Kipling\'s \"The Jungle Book\". In the late 70s Jones and his daughter, Linda, pioneered a continuing art business featuring limited edition images created by Jones depicting scenes from many of his most cherished cartoons. He continued to support his daughter\'s business, generously making appearances, drawings, and paintings, in addition to signing countless editions of images, which continue to delight collectors and fans worldwide. One of his films, the Wagnerian mini epic, \"What\'s Opera, Doc?\" was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1992 for being \"among the most culturally, historically and aesthetically significant films of our time.\" Since then, the Smithsonian\'s National Film Registry has also added his \"Duck Amuck\" and \"One Froggy Evening\" to its roster of the most important films of the 20th century. In recent years, Jones\' work has been honored at film festivals and museums throughout the world, including a one-man retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His autobiography, \"Chuck Amuck\", was published in 1989, now in its fifth printing. \"Chuck Reducks, Drawing on the Fun Side of Life\", his follow-up to the first book, was published in 1996. In 1999, Jones established the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, designed to recognize, support, and inspire continued excellence in art and the art of classic character animation. The Center, a 501(c)3 organization is dedicated to re-invigorating the creative spirit through art classes, exhibitions, lectures, and film festivals, all of which spring from the material in the Chuck Jones archive.  His writings, art, and other ephemera from a nine-decade life, along with his philosophy of guiding and nurturing instruction, form the basis of the programs. Director Peter Bogdanovich once explained the enduring appeal of Jones\' work: \"It remains, like all good fables and only the best art, both timeless and universal.\"   Chuck Jones died at the age of 89 in February 2002, but he leaves a legacy of brilliance, comedy, joy, color, and laughter that will live on forever. American Animation today employs many different methods of character design, some inspired from much older traditions while some are influenced from modern thoughts and ideas. We will be discussing about two such aspects, namely, Anthromorphology or the art of putting life and human characteristics into animals, birds or even inanimate objects; and the personification of characters in accordance to the actors who provide voice to them. **Anthropomorphology** Anthropomorphism is defined as the attribution of human characteristics to animals or non-living things, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts. Examples include animals and plants and forces of nature such as winds, rain or the sun depicted as creatures with human motivations, and/or the abilities to reason and converse. The term derives from the combination of the Greek ἄνθρωπος (*ánthrōpos*), \"human\" and μορφή (*morphē*), \"shape\" or \"form\". With such a broad definition one realizes that anthropomorphism covers characters as diverse as Osmosis Jones, Mickey Mouse, Hamm, Bagheeraa, Draco the dragon, and the Pixar luxo lamps. All are anthropomorphic characters, but in animation when one mentions an \"anthropomorphic character\", they usually mean a very specific type of animal character design. And more often than not the first one that pops into most animator\'s minds is Disney\'s Robin Hood.  While one can\'t state definitively why Robin Hood in particular is seen by so many as the quintessential anthropomorphic character, one can say that he is a classic case of form following function in animated character-design.\ \ The studio chose to tell the \"Robin Hood\" story with animals. A fox, known for being a clever, attractive, and thieving animal, was the natural choice for the title role. But there\'s one obvious problem with animating a more natural fox (such as Bagheera, who was a very natural panther); he has to draw a bow. This becomes quite a trick for a natural fox. His shoulder blades rest on his sides, not across his back, which won\'t allow him to comfortably rotate his elbow up to eye level while keeping his \"forearm\" (front leg) straight and horizontal. Comparative anatomy between dog and human skeletons shows us that this is just the beginning of a natural fox\'s troubles with the role: His humerus is too short to allow him to draw the bowstring all the way back to the level of his ear, he has no opposable thumbs to allow him to grasp the bow in the first place, and his toes are likely too short to hold an arrow to the string. Plus, standing on what amounts to his tiptoes to do all of this becomes rather awkward. \ \ Chuck Jones had a simple formula for turning the hind legs of animals into easily animated human-like feet for anthropomorphic animals: Anything covered by the shoe became the foot, while the sock covers the ankle and calf. This is exactly how Robin Hood\'s hind feet were redesigned. The rest followed in much the same way; the humerus and toes made it halfway to human proportions, and his shoulder blades now rest across his back. In fact, the earlier Robin Hood designs left even more of the natural fox behind in favor of a cartoony look. Disney\'s Robin Hood is clearly meant to be bipedal. Most [quadrupeds ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrupedalism)turned into bipedal anthropomorphic designs either employ the Chuck Jones design method when rendering the hind legs or, as in the case of many rodents and ungulates, they end up keeping their natural legs and often walking on their \"tip-toes\". When human legs are substituted it can end up looking either like a person wearing a costume or just something that\'s a bit freaky, as is shown by Rune Bennicke\'s delightfully odd \"weird wolves\": In the end Disney\'s Robin Hood in a mix of mostly traditional animated fox with enough human anatomy to get through many of the same challenges that Erroll Flynn had to, including drawing that bow. As always; allow your character\'s design to follow the functions they must perform in the story. Doing so makes an animator\'s job much, much easier! **Voice actors as characters.** Animators look for inspiration to create unforgettable moments and characters in everyday life. Their studios are lined with photo books, travel magazines and even clippings classified by subjects, all as reference guides. Disney animators are known to travel all over the world to capture realistic characters in their natural habitats. But sometimes when creating a character all they had to do was walk to the recording studio and look at the actor performing. 1. Christian Bale in Pocahontas (John Smith's young friend) -- In 1995's Pocahontas, Christian Bale did the voice acting for Thomas. The chisel chin, the nose, the eyes, all look like Bale. 2. Dwayne Johnson in Moana (Maui) -- The World Wrestling Entertainment star plays the legendary Demi-god Maui. The similarities being the big eye brow raise, the Samoan chest and arm tattoos and many features and mannerisms as well. 3. Adirana Caselotti in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Snow White) -- Disney's Full length animated feature, the once chorus girl Adriana Caselotti made her debut as Disney's first leading lady of animation. The both dark hair, fair skin and eyebrows are in complete sync with that of Snow White. 4. Ed Answer in Up (Carl) -- There are multiple facial and behavioral similarities between the both the aging actor as well as the aging character. What is duly noted though, is that initially Carl was supposed to be a reflection of Spencer Tracey in 'Guess who is coming to Dinner.' 5. Jeremy Irons in The Lion King (Scar) -- Jeremy Irons perfectly voice acts Simba's uncle and nemesis, Scar. But to bring the character to life, the animators studied Irons' performance in 'Reversal of Fortune' and 'Damaged' and incorporated his facial features onto scar. 6. Rowan Atkinson in The Lion King (Zazu) -- Rowan Atkinson voice acts the King's major domo, a hornbill called Zazu. Atkinson was called in for the role after the director watched an episode of 'Mr. Bean'. The pointy eyebrows, half closed eye-lids and the snooty smirk given to Zazu are all trademarks of Mr. Atkinson. 7. Angela Lansbury in Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Potts) -- In 1991's 'Beauty and the Beast' the warm eyes and rosy cheeks of Mrs. Potts are synonyms to the features of the sweet Angela Lansbury. Even when she is brought back to human form there are many similarities between the character and the voice actor. 8. Danny Devito in Hercules (Philoctetes) -- The pudgy, short and talented Devito plays his role as Philoctetes perfectly and there is little doubt that the animators took inspiration from Devito's physical traits for the character. 9. John C Reily in Wreck in Ralph (Raplh) -- The animators of this movie were asked to make it as realistic as possible, travelling around the world to visit candy factories, bakeries, truck manufacturers and many more. So it made sense that the animators modeled the character after the man who voiced him. 10. Robbin Williams in Aladdin (Genie) -- 1992's Aladdin brought about the importance of the voice actors and put them at an equal foot hold to the characters themselves. Not only did the Genie look like a blue Robin Williams, but when, at the end of the movie when the Genie was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a Goofy hat, the animators were paying homage to a William's shot in 'Back to Neverland'. Body proportions of human anime characters tend to accurately reflect the proportions of the human body in reality. The height of the head is considered by the artist as the base unit of proportion. Head heights can vary, but most anime characters are about seven to eight heads tall. Anime artists occasionally make deliberate modifications to body proportions to produce [super deformed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_deformed) characters that feature a disproportionately small body compared to the head; many super deformed characters are two to four heads tall. Some anime works like [*Crayon Shin-chan*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayon_Shin-chan) completely disregard these proportions, such that they resemble Western cartoons. A common anime character design convention is exaggerated eye size. The animation of characters with large eyes in anime can be traced back to Osamu Tezuka, who was deeply influenced by such early animation characters as [Betty Boop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Boop), who was drawn with disproportionately large eyes. Tezuka is a central figure in anime and manga history, whose iconic art style and character designs allowed for the entire range of human emotions to be depicted solely through the eyes. The artist adds variable color shading to the eyes and particularly to the cornea to give them greater depth. Generally, a mixture of a light shade, the tone color, and a dark shade is used. Cultural anthropologist [Matt Thorn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Thorn) argues that Japanese animators and audiences do not perceive such stylized eyes as inherently more or less foreign. However, not all anime have large eyes. For example, the works of [Hayao Miyazaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki) are known for having realistically proportioned eyes, as well as realistic hair colors on their characters. Hair in anime is often unnaturally lively and colorful or uniquely styled. The movement of hair in anime is exaggerated and \"hair action\" is used to emphasize the action and emotions of characters for added visual effect. Poitras traces hairstyle color to cover illustrations on manga, where eye-catching artwork and colorful tones are attractive for children\'s manga. Despite being produced for a domestic market, anime features characters whose race or nationality is not always defined, and this is often a deliberate decision, such as in the [*Pokémon*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_(anime)) animated series. Anime and manga artists often draw from a common canon of iconic facial expression illustrations to denote particular moods and thoughts. These techniques are often different in form than their counterparts in Western animation, and they include a fixed [iconography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_iconography) that is used as shorthand for certain emotions and moods. For example, a male character may develop a [nosebleed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosebleed) when aroused. A variety of visual symbols are employed, including sweat drops to depict nervousness, visible blushing for embarrassment, or glowing eyes for an intense glare. **History and Contributions of Osamu Tezuka:** Starting in the 1950s, Tezuka created and wrote more than 700 manga series containing over 170,000 pages and he also penned over 200,000 pages of anime storyboards and scripts. His impact on anime and manga is impossible to overstate. His influence on the industry was nothing less than miraculous. He made Japanese anime what it is today and popularized it internationally with his great success. He inspired many others and continues to do so today even after his death. Osamu Tezuka truly is the godfather of anime. Tezuka started to draw his own manga around his second year of elementary school. Even though his parents were strict disciplinarians, they were supportive of Tezuka\'s artistic interests. As a result, they kept him well supplied with sketchbooks and art materials. After nearly losing both arms to infection as a teenager, Tezuka decided he wanted to study medicine in order to help others as his doctor helped him. All through med school he kept up his hobby of manga though. Shortly after entering, he sold his first comic to an Osaka children\'s newspaper. The comic was a four-panel series called Diary of Ma-chan. This was Tezuka\'s first step into the limelight. Tezuka created a very large number of manga series. But some of his works definitely stand out more than others. His most iconic work is without a doubt, Astro Boy. Along with this, Black Jack, Kimba the White Lion, and Phoenix are probably his top four. [Astro Boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_Boy) follows the adventures of a robot by the same name and a handful of other characters. The Astro Boy manga was first published in 1952 and the anime started in 1963. There was also an anime re-boot of the series in 2003. It kept the same classic art style as the original manga and anime, but was modernized with smoother animation and visuals. It combined the lightheartedness of the original anime with the darker and more serious themes of the manga and 1980 TV series. Watching the original 1963 anime is a little surreal. It\'s like watching Japanese. This makes sense as Tezuka was heavily influenced by Disney works in the beginning From 1950 until his death, Tezuka worked non-stop. He produced nearly 500 anime episodes all while continuing to conceive, write, and draw volumes of some 700 different manga titles. He introduced big eyed characters to anime and manga (drawing influence from Betty Boop and Bambi) and he also introduced cinematic action to manga and popularized the art in post war Japan. He basically created anime as we know it. And he also singlehandedly made being a mangaka or animator a highly respected and financially rewarding profession to aspire to. Artists such as Hayao Miyazaki and Akira Toriyama, have cited Tezuka as an inspiration for their works. Who knows how many other young artists were touched and inspired by Tezuka? I don\'t think anyone will ever have as large of an impact on the industry as Tezuka did. Even Miyazaki, the \"current\" powerhouse of anime doesn\'t even come close to Tezuka in my opinion. He\'s still awesome though. And besides, Miyazaki is retiring for the fiftieth time. With Miyazaki gone, who will be the next \"king\" of anime? Your guess is as good as mine. The city of Takarazuka opened a museum in his memory. Stamps were issued in his honor in 1997. Beginning in 2003, the Japanese toy company Kaiyodo began manufacturing a series of figurines depicting Tezuka\'s creations. There\'s no doubt that Tezuka\'s influence on manga artists and animators remains strong to this day. He\'s certainly left his mark on the industry. The world of anime and manga just wouldn\'t be the same without the guy. He worked crazy hard and put out a ton of great work. Certainly Tezuka deserves all the love and admiration he\'s received over the years. **Studio Ghibli** Founded on June 15, 1985, the studio is headed by the directors [Hayao Miyazaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki) and [Isao Takahata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isao_Takahata) and the producer [Toshio Suzuki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshio_Suzuki_(producer)). Prior to the formation of the studio, Miyazaki and Takahata had already had long careers in Japanese film and television animation and had worked together on [*Hols: Prince of the Sun*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hols:_Prince_of_the_Sun) and [*Panda! Go, Panda!*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda!_Go,_Panda!); and Suzuki was an editor at [Tokuma Shoten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokuma_Shoten)\'s [*Animage*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animage) [manga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga) magazine. The studio was founded after the success of the 1984 film [*Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausica%C3%A4_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind_(film)), written and directed by Miyazaki for [Topcraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topcraft) and distributed by [Toei Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toei_Company). The origins of the film lie in the first two volumes of a [serialized manga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausica%C3%A4_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind_(manga)) written by Miyazaki for publication in *Animage* as a way of generating interest in an anime version. Suzuki was part of the production team on the film and founded Studio Ghibli with Miyazaki, who also invited Takahata to join the new studio. The studio has mainly produced films by Miyazaki, with the second most prolific director being Takahata (most notably with [*Grave of the Fireflies*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies)). Other directors who have worked with Studio Ghibli include [Yoshifumi Kondo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshifumi_Kondo), [Hiroyuki Morita](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroyuki_Morita), [Gorō Miyazaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gor%C5%8D_Miyazaki), and [Hiromasa Yonebayashi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiromasa_Yonebayashi). Composer [Joe Hisaishi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hisaishi) has provided the soundtracks for most of Miyazaki\'s Studio Ghibli films. In their book *Anime Classics Zettai!*, Brian Camp and Julie Davis made note of [Michiyo Yasuda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michiyo_Yasuda) as \"a mainstay of Studio Ghibli's extraordinary design and production team\". At one time the studio was based in [Kichijōji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kichij%C5%8Dji), [Musashino](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashino,_Tokyo), Tokyo. - The characterizations are based on the Japanese culture, which is more or less a collective culture. This feature is portrayed in the anime facial features, face, nose and mouth. - The shape of the face tends to conform to an ideal round face shape, small buttoned nose and a small mouth for ideal main characters. Supporting characters or comic relief characters tend to shy away from these ideals by having comparatively large nose or mouth or having different face shapes from the heroes. Therefore even if there is some form of variety in their characters, the varieties tends to be attributed to less ideal characters, or possibly characters that are less accepted to the society. - The mouth moves independently of the jaw. Anime mouths are often smaller than Disney mouths. They tend to have more rigid mouth shapes and certain mouth shapes are repeated. Open, half-closed and closed. This repetition of mouth shapes could be an economical strategy for saving expenditure. - There are not much variation in the shape of the nose in case of anime characters. Ideal or heroic characters tend to have small noses instead of large ones. And, supporting characters tend to have comparatively bigger noses. - Anime eyes tend to be bigger, complex and with more highlights. Different characters tend to have different eye signatures or the pattern of highlights in the eye. The lines around the eyes tend to be open around the sides and it usually has a lot of detail and texture. The eye ball tends to sit flat on the face instead of being defined as round form. The distance between the eyes are less varied compared to characters of their western counterparts. Eyes shapes are more rigid and less likely to change in form. The eyebrows are generally thin. - In Anime, animators would animate the characters first and then the voice artists would create the voice-overs. This difference in production process reflects the collective culture and also highlights, that in anime, the characters are more important than the actors.