Meeting with Ryan

I also had a meeting with Ryan today, which was very insightful and interesting.

When asked about what books he would recommend, Ryan appeared to feel strongly against suggesting books, as well as insisting to stay away from character design books, but rather look outside of that at other designs, for example fashion/ textiles, art in general, films. Generally, I already do this, but I get lost in the vast amount that is out there on the internet and I tend not to move forward with it. 

What came up was to ignore the standard overdone things and to analyse commercial art to see what is successful and what unique qualities they have. There is nothing completely original, what's out there is rehashing, taking something that already exists and presenting it in a new way, introducing a unique quality. Looking at MOBAs due to the detail and focus they have on character designs and animations. Looking at animation and how the need to animate affects the costume design.

Natural vs unnatural in art, juxtaposition. Metal on skin, organic materials, sharp, coarse materials, etc. 

The game APB came up and he was talking about the character controversy that arose there. Also the subject of culture, society and audience and how that affects the designs and clothing styles. Questions about designs, controversies, overly-sexualised characters, how to address the problems. Another subject was criticism of games, Bioshock in particular, where an instance led to a change, I need to research this for more detail. Here is a link that may be useful: http://www.popmatters.com/post/170863-/

Refer to film, game and animation, and also be aware of and understand the different genres. Take note of the character design process concerning films also. How film characters are written/ conceived and designed. The costume department and makeup and their role in forming the character's look.

The Bard's Tale, which is a parody of fantasy RPGs, such as Baldur's Gate. Below is text taken from the Wikipedia page on how it parodies fantasy games:

"There are many references and parodies to the common cliches of the fantasy RPG genre. These include:

• The first quest involves slaying rats in the cellar of a tavern (a cliche of Baldur's Gate fame). However, in this parody, instead of defeating small, harmless rats, the vermin in question turns out to be a gargantuan, fire-breathing rodent.

• When The Bard kills his first wolf, it drops a pile of treasure, parodying a common video game cliché of wild animals inexplicably having money and items. After that, enemies only drop items they may logically, albeit not always trivially, have. For example, a dead wolf may leave its hide, but also a red hood or picnic basket. The dead Druids often drop snow globes depicting Houton or keepsakes from Stonehenge. Zombies often drop self-help books.

• Early in the game, fun is also poked at the common looting of homes in RPG games. When The Bard takes said treasure, the Narrator accuses him of stealing. The Bard's defense is that he's providing a public service and that the chests would be cluttered if he didn't clear them out.

• The player can have The Bard smash a barrel early in the game, which prompts the barrel-maker to come out and chastise him for smashing his barrels. He does offer a deal: smash all other barrels The Bard sees so that the barrel-maker can sell more barrels. This is a parody of the common practice in RPGs of the players breaking containers for their goods, commonly including keys."

It is an interesting way to play on the archetypes and shift focus to a character that doesn't typically take centre stage.

Definitions:

• Stereotypes: Not literary. We avoid using this term to talk about classifying characters, settings, plot points, etc..
• Archetypes: The broad, all-encompassing norms of the stories humanity tells. The same archetypes can be found in all or nearly all cultures.
• Tropes: Culturally-specific norms in storytelling. Tropes are cultural classifications of archetypes. There can be many tropes found under the umbrella of one archetype. Literary devices are not tropes (i.e. narrators, foreshadowing, flashbacks, etc.).
• Clichés: Overused and hackneyed phrases, characters, settings, plot points, etc.. Archetypes do not become clichéd. Tropes can become clichés if they are used too often and readers get bored of them. Clichés are defined by a loss of the meaning or as a distraction from the story.

(Courtesy of http://writeworld.org/post/39905367141/stereotypes-tropes-and-archetypes)

Another important thing about characters is how they fit into their realm. They have to be believable in the realm to make sense and to be believable to the viewer.

Another piece of advice I was given is find problems and ask questions, this way I will find out what interests me on the topic. Also look up interviews and documentaries where the artist's discuss their work and process and what they have to say about their characters. On top of that, to improve my art, I will need a lot of self-reflection and analysis of my own work.

Below are the notes I took from both meetings.