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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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50 Character Archetypes!!

Ever not know how to give your characters depth without going too far or not far enough? I’ve made a list of fifty character tropes, some you hopefully haven’t seen before, to try and help. Adding them to any character would immediately spice up how the reader sees them and is sure to make your characters more interesting. So here we go!

“The Whole Plot Happens to Them by Accident so they Learn on the Way”

“The Predestined Hero”

“The Unwilling but Wanting to Do Good”

“Retired Hero Back in Action”

“The Volunteer for the Big Journey”

“The Average Kid Turned Protagonist”

“The Sarcastic Best Friend”

“The Willful ‘Little Sibling’” (Note: does not actually have to be a little sibling)

“The So-Selfless-They’re-Reckless Type”

“The Wants-Recovery-But-Doesn’t-Know-How-to-Get-It”

“The Learned-From-Bad-Experiences Mentor”

“Stays-Strong-for-Others-Not-Self Type”

“Takes Out Conflicts on Others Type”

“Takes Out Conflicts on Others Type, but they feel guilty later”

“Unsuccessful Artist”

“The Unnatural Leader”

“The ‘It’s Never Enough’ Perfectionist”

“The Calculator”

“Expresses Emotions with Actions Type”

“The Trying-To-Keep-Up Type” (Note: Usually used when a character has self-doubts about abilities while in a talented group of people)

“The (usually not listened to) Voice of Reason”

“The Expositionist”

“The More-Than-Meets-the-Eye Type” (Note: Usually used with a character thought to be superficial)

“The New-to-the-World Type”

“The Philosophical Thinker”

“The Worried Caregiver”

“The Overbearing Guardian Figure”

“The Tyrannical Zealot”

“Connects More with Nature/Machines Type”

“The Connections Maker” (Note: Usually used in large city settings with black market/illegal dealings)

“The Storyteller”

“The Calming Presense”

“The Influencer”

“21st Century Tech-Savvy Mogul”

“The Narcissistic Anti-Villain”

“The Arms Dealer”

“The Traveler” (Note: Usually used with characters who make big impacts in peoples’ lives but only for a brief time before leaving) 36!!!

“The On-Top-of-Everything Assistant”

“The ‘At the Top but is Miserable’ Type”

“The Moralistic Murderer/Assassin/Warrior”

“The Angry Parent” (Note: Usually used in a positive way with parents who would fight to the death for their kids)

“The All-Bark-No-Bite Type”

“The Sassy ‘You need me, I don’t need you’ Type” (Note: Usually used with a character the protagonist comes to for help)

“The Bullied Genius”

“The Questionable Scientist”

“The Doomed-from-the-Start Type”

“The Survivalist”

“The Conspiracy Theorist”

“The International Person-of-Interest”

“The Pop Culture Know-it-All”

“The Smiles-in-the-Face-of-Death Type”

Aaaaand, we’re done! Those were fifty character archetypes you might not have thought of before to liven up your characters! Be sure to mix and match or use some traditionally protagonist types for your villain, as well. Good luck, and happy writing!

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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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websites:

Animation World Network

Animation Backgrounds

Animation Magazine

Animation & CGI

Animator Island

Anime News Network

Cartoon Brew

Character Design References

On Animation

Reference! Reference! (free database for animation)

11 Second Club (monthly character animation competition)

tumblr blogs:

animationart

animationforce

animationtidbits

aspiretoanimate

calartscharacteranimation

disney-moments-sketches (Allen Ostergar’s blog, animator at Walt Disney)

drawingforsuckas

fuckyeahconceptart

storyboardresources

theanimationarchive

theartofanimation

wannabeanimator

resources/tips:

Animation schools: 1 / 2 (Top 50 USA) / 3 (Top 100 international)

Which animation school is right for you? (Ringling vs. CalArts)

Don’t want to/ can’t afford art school? you’ve got other options.

Animation Mentor: The online animation school

Art school exercises!!

51 Great Animation exercises

20 things you can expect as a traditional (2D) animation student that they never tell you

A Survivor’s Guide to Life Inside an Animation Studio

Animation basics: The art of timing and spacing

Animation Notes From Ollie Johnston

Animated chart of the basic principles of animation

10 Second tip: Always Anticipate

book: Animation: Learn How to Draw Animated Cartoons by Preston Blair

book: A System for Planning and Timing Animation by Glen Keane

book: Timing for animation by Harold Whitaker and John Halas

book: Gesture Drawing for animation by Walt Stanchfield

Basic 3D Animation Terminology

Digital pencil test!!

Keys to Emotion in Animation

Lessons from Disney’s Zootopia

Model Sheets central

The importance of Acting in Animation by Segio Pablos

Printable exposure/dope sheet

Phoneme Chart

Recommended reading for animation students and enthusiasts

The 5 Types of Animation

The Know-How of Cartooning

The Unofficial Truth about The Animation Industry

Why Disney Sends Its Animators To Life Drawing Classes

Walk/Run Cycles reference

What is Pixar looking for in Animators? (scroll down)

Portfolio Advice for The Disney Animation Internship

What is Rigging?

3D Rigging Terminology

3D Modeling Terminology

tutorials:

Animation for Beginners: Where do I start

Animation Physics (Video tutorials on physics for animation artists)

Animation tutorial part. 1 AKA “the secret of animation”

Appealing Poses in Animation

Background & Movement in TV

Blinking tips

Breakdown tutorial (middle frame between to keys)

Drawing & Composition for visual storytelling

Drawing for Animation

Drawing a Likeness

Animation fundamentals + tutorials

Filmmaking: Composition and Framing

Getting Shape Change

How to animate using photoshop

How to animate Characters in Perspective

How to Animate Head Turns

How to Draw Gesture

OpeenToonz tutorials masterpost

Overlapping Action and Drag

Portfolio tips / Making A Successful Portfolio

Lyp Sync tutorial

Line of action

Basics of good cartooning 1-12 by Sherm Cohen

Squash & Stretch tutorial

Squash and Stretch 2

Storyboarding tutorials by Sherm Cohen

The Illusion of Life: 12 Principles of Animation

Tilt, Flow & Rhythm

Underlying Structure When Animating Expressions

TVPaint tutorial: Uploading and Coloring Scanned Animation

supplies (traditional animation):

10 Essential Art Supplies for the Traditional Animator

How to Use a Light Table for Animation

Making a Simple Animation Lightbox

Peg bars, Animation Disk & Desk

softwares:

free

Blender (3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline: modeling, rigging, animation,etc)

Emofuri (animate using .psd files)

Google Sketchup (

Live2D ( animation/drawing software

OpenToonz (Studio Ghibli’s open source animation software)

Pencil2D (create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics)

Renderman (Pixar’s free 3D rendering software)

Sculptris (Free digital sculpting tool by the makers of Zbrush

SculptGL (Online modelling program)

Synfig (2d animation using a vector and bitmap artwork)

paid

Zbrush (digital sculpting sw by Pixologic)

Mudbox (digital sculpting sw by Autodesk)

Cinema 4D (digital sculpting sw by Maxon)

TVPaint (2d animation)

animation studios:

Aardman (Bristol, UK)

Blue Sky Studios (Greenwich, USA)

Dreamworks (Glendale, USA)

Fox Animation (USA)

Imagination Studios/CN (Burbank, USA)

Industrial Light & Magic (San Francisco, USA)

Laika (Hillsboro, USA)

Luma Pictures (USA / Melbourne, Australia)

Nickelodeon Animation (Burbank, USA)

Pixar (Emeryville, CA)

Rise FX (Berlin, Germany)

Studio Ghibli (Tokyo, Japan)

Sony Picture Imageworks (Vancouver, Canada)

Sony Pictures Animation (Culver City, CA)

Walt Disney Animation (Burbank, CA)

Weta Digital (Wellington, New Zealand)

inspiration: worth watching short films

Coda by and maps and plans

Contre Temps by the Contre Temps Team

Duet by Glen Keane

DOG ENVY by Olivia Huynh

Fallin Floyd by il Luster

French Roast

Gravity by Ailin Liu

In Between by Gobelins

Jinxy Jenkins and Lucky Lou by Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon

My Big Brother by Jason Rayner

Night Light by Qing Han

Nephtali by Glen Keane

Nocturne by Kari Casady

Historia de un Oso by Gabriel Osorio

Home Sweet Home by home sweet home the film

One Bright Dot by Clément Morin

Stickboy by Giant Ant

SOAR by Alyce Tzue

Tsunami by The Animation Workshop

Thought of You by Ryan Woodward

Vagabond by The Animation Workshop

5 Gobelins Shorts That Pay Tribute To Women Animation Pioneers

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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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April 6, 2016 tip: Some quick thoughts on making balanced poses. This kind of stuff can get confusing but here are some basic principles on balance. #studiomomentsatdisney #quickanimationtip #cganimation #animation #posing #drawing #tips #arttips #learning

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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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Animal Anatomy for Animation

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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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How to get a job as an artist/ animator

Getting a job in which you can draw and animate is as challenging and as time consuming as creating drawing and animation. Whether you are new to animation or extremely well educated, it is a challenge because it is so sought after so studios have the ability to be choosey.

So where do you begin?

1. Do your homework

I’m not just talking about your literal homework…that was all practice for the real world. Your assignment…find as much out as you can about the industry you are going into. Know the difference between a work for hire, salary, temp to hire, freelance, and hourly work. There are several outlets for animating/design/ and art besides the entertainment industry, two of the most expanding being in education, interactive gaming, social media, and medical fields.

Do not limit yourself to just working at Pixar or Dream works, because you will find it difficult to break into any of those fortune five hundred companies without some serious experience and everyone has to start somewhere.

2. Get constructive criticism

Everyone is so afraid to show their work now a days, especially if the person has a reputation for being a master at there craft. However, no matter positive or negative, you need to take every word into consideration that they say, because they are experts and know what they are talking about. I once showed storyboard artist at blue sky who had over 25 years experience at Disney prior my portfolio, which I had spent most of my college life building…he flipped through all ten images fairly quickly…replied I had talent but he would rather see 100 sketches than 10 fully rendered paintings because the only thing he could learn from ten paintings is that I could paint, but to be a storyboard artist you must be able to draw anything, and quickly, vs. a painting which could take several hours and the viewer has no way of knowing how much effort went into it. So, go seek these people out. They are almost always more than likely to respond to message or email. If at all possible, find them in person. Always better to make a real personable connection.

3. Get to know companies and their culture

If your heart is set on animating, really do your research about not only what is thriving currently but which companies within that field are doing the best, which are making a comeback, and which are falling behind. It is important for your progress to note this as well. Also talking to people within the industry will give you fast insight as to how you might fare in similar shoes. I was told by a woman who worked at blue sky that it became difficult during there weeks of overtime during the summer where sometimes the workload was 80 hour weeks in which she would arrive at work around 4 am and leave at 6 pm and would only get a few hours a day with her kids and husband before having to do it all over again the next day. If your not a hard-core fast paced environment person, that doesn’t mean you can’t be an animator or an artist, it just means there is a different job for you. Other design projects take months or years to produce…maybe you rather do something that requires long term developing as opposed to fast turn around times. But you won’t know that until you get to know people and see what they say, and than ask yourself “could I do that?” “do I want to do that” “how good would I be with that”

4. Think outside the box when applying to jobs

Everyone that knows me knows I am creative, but they also know my creative ways of getting jobs. How do you ask? Call it being open-minded and unafraid of rejection, but I choose to look on craigslist and linked in every day. Why? Word of mouth often travels faster than ads; because ads usually cost companies money and the second they go up they are bombarded with hundreds of emails. Look not only in the creative classifieds, but in other ones that are related such as television/ entertainment, or art/design…you will be surprised sometimes you will hit gold.

Linked in also is huge! If you are impatient with waiting to be discovered as I was, you will start recruiting recruiters and headhunters yourself. If not just them, you will also recruit people within the industry you want to be a part of. It is really important because in entertainment especially, it’s all about who you know so name recognition may help you, either by being associated with people or by being a big deal all by yourself. You will be surprised sometimes when an art director or a big shot producer sees your stuff and likes it. It is possible; you just got to get out of your shell and show them your serious!

5. Sell yourself

Sounds like this is a negative thing right? Not really…because lets be honest, if you can’t tell someone with full confidence why you are going to make them money, why would they invest in you and your talent? Put yourself in there shoes…if you were hiring an artist or animator…what would you need to hear in order to consider them? What would you need to see? What is of value to you in your employees…? Once you answer that, become those things…present yourself like you fell out of the sky as the answer to all there artistic needs. #1 out of everything though, let the work speak for yourself…and than when asked speak about the work. Don’t mess up the order because these guys can quibble about how great your art is with you all they want but they are there to find the most profit with the least amount of risk. And nothing refutes risk quite like a badass portfolio and a great track record of completing assignments.

6. Portfolio evaluations

Every two years, you should be creating a new portfolio. You are not the same person you were when you were in college, and the only way your work will evolve is if you push yourself further. But this is a little bit different than that. So make a new portfolio, and keep in mind what others are submitting. There is a blueprint as to what these companies look for and they are all different. Find out what it is and get to work. If you wouldn’t frame it on your wall it probably shouldn’t go in. It’s okay to be picky and if you are unsure ask a stranger.

7. Wear more hats

Companies want multi-talented employees because it saves them money and it makes it easier to have in house people solve problems than to further recruit assistance because they know you are capable. So be sure to advertise that you are not only a master artist but you also learn programs quickly and you are good at writing. You will make waves and spark more interest and admiration from your coworkers if you take on multiple tasks outside of your job description. The extra brownie points won’t hurt you.

8. Social media

People can’t hire you if they don’t see you. Social media is becoming a new inexpensive way to market your self as an artist. USE IT! There is a huge following of animators and artists in the entertainment business on tumblr AND blogger so go friend them, see what they are up to, what they post about, how they describe there work flow and daily lives, and get yourself hooked into a new community. I will never forget the day that the head of Disney Storyboard department Paul Briggs started following and commenting. Sure enough we linked up via linked in and he invited me out to Disney studios for a tour anytime I am in the area and gave me some expert advice I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Seriously…get blogger if nothing else. Facebook pages also a plus.

9. Practice

Some people complain that you can’t afford class or have a lack of supplies. And yes, you know it can get expensive but honestly the only one keeping you from moving forward is you. Go to the park, the store, a café…there are free models everywhere. Any scrap paper napkin and pen will do. Just practice. Doesn’t need to be final rendered works. People back in the day before computers had such fewer resources and they pioneered ways to create depth and motion that nobody else has. If they can do it without the internet and fancy supplies so can you. But if you have or need the internet, LYNDA.com has great tutorials. If your aim is more for 3D animating, you will need Maya…but student versions are often available for reduced prices and are just as good. There are lots of free tutorials out there so paying 50 grand for a year of school is often not necessary.

10. Don’t give up

This is the biggy! True story I’m going to tell you, my first year out of school was HARD! I had a dream of going to grad school in Cali for animation and landing my dream job within just a few years out of school. But I learned that the world had another plan for me.

I was doing animation mentor and balancing a fulltime design job. It was a lot of new programs to learn and I was getting burnt out…so I quit my job, thinking that was the reason that I wasn’t exceling in 3D animation. I learned that wasn’t the issue either. I didn’t pass my class so they placed me in the same fundamentals class again. I was starting to get frustrated. I dropped out after three weeks and with little advancement in my skills…and I realized I didn’t feel like an artist anymore. I felt very lost and in place of my passion was anxiety from not only quitting my job to advance, but also by not advancing. Did that make me a loser, a quitter…was everyone right that I was destined to be a starving artist?

Something snapped and I said…”NO” this is not going to be it for me. I did not work my whole life for this to stop here. So

I applied for hundreds of jobs, everyday searching, redid my resume, created new work comps for every interview or inquiry. I was hunting…and than I started hunting in NYC…and landed four interviews in one week. To which I received two offers, and to one which I accepted.

-Courtney Elyse

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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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I CANT STRESS HOW MUCH THIS LINK CAN ENHANCE YOUR THOUGHT-PROCESS TO ANIMATION

READ IT, ABSORB IT, BOOKMARK IT.

This is the most well written, in depth ways to study animation that I have ever seen. It is an amazing read. This is what I try to do when I analyze a scene but hes taken it a million steps further. Hes not only gone in-depth about the timing and poses but how the animation has communicated such a distinct thought process through acting.

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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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Deena's Animation Tutorial!

MY SECRETS ARE YOURS NOW!

Keep reading

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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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Hey Ross, I'm currently 15, a Junior in high school, and love to animate. I don't think going to an art institute/university is the right move though when I get out of HS - financially or for many other reasons. Community College is a huge possibility though, as it's less expensive and would still teach me more things about animation all together. For the most part, I believe animation can be a self-taught experience, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

That’s great dude. Don’t feel like you HAVE to go get an education in animation to succeed. I tried it, but it wasn’t for me. I found I wasn’t really learning enough compared to what I learnt just fiddling and making mistakes by myself. I mean look at Arin, he didn’t even finish high school yet he taught himself to be an animator. Some people learn better being pushed by an education system, some are better left to figure things out for themselves. If think you’re better going it alone then GREAT! You’re an autodidact!

Here’s some stuff I’d recommend you focus on while getting started:

Learn Flash or Toon Boom.

Maya/3DS Max/Zbrush if you’re interested in 3D (I have a minor background with it)

Study life drawing and human anatomy. Try this if you’re at a loss for material: http://www.posemaniacs.com/

Keep an organized folder of art reference (find it by following art tutorial blogs or your favorite artists). I have gigabytes of reference in my folders.

Get your head around cinematography. Watch legendary films and figure out what makes the shots great. One exercise is to take your favorite shots and make silhouette thumbnails of how things are placed, helps you break it down in your head.

Composition! It’s crazy and even those who get it sometimes don’t get it.. but just look it up online to get your head around it. It’s all about placement and arrangement of shit.

MAKE FRIENDS! Talk to other artists like yourself who are starting out. I met Arin online through Newgrounds when I was 16/17 and we’ve been friends ever since. It’s important to have like minded friends!

Keep a sketchbook, draw all the time. If you prefer doing it digitally then that’s fine, but keeping a sketchbook is a magical thing. Also helps with your line confidence, at least I think so.

If you want to develop your own stories to go along with your animations, consider the following books: Screenwriting 101 (I LOVE this book, really great read AND it’s written by someone pretending to be The Hulk), On Writing: A memoir of the Craft (Stephen King! Haven’t read this one yet but friends recommend it) and also Save the Cat! (this one is more so about selling scripts and writing to a formula, don’t take it as gospel.. But it’s interesting).

Voice act! Shit man, just get a decent microphone when you can. Make goofy voices, do imitations. Get silly! Lots of animators have at least some experience doing voice acting!

WATCH STUFF. Seriously, I can not stress this enough. Everything is derivative from other works and that’s okay. Inspiration comes from everywhere and anything. My late friend Monty also preached this, he even proudly told me some of his early influence for RWBY such as Black Rock Shooter. Finding influence breeds passion. You’re not slacking off watching cartoons, you’re researching.

ANIMATE! Do it however you can! Stop motion lego, flipping paper.. I don’t care. Just do it. Whatever you learn, It all translates across any version of the medium.

ANIMATORS SURVIVAL KIT. This book is a must and most animation schools highly recommend it. It was written by Richard Williams the director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (among other things). If you’re not big on reading, then you’re in luck because it’s MOSTLY pretty pictures. http://www.amazon.com/The-Animators-Survival-Richard-Williams/dp/0571202284

Lastly but not least.. Just don’t stop. The people you see online and on TV right now, they’re not kicking ass because of some god given talent. They’re there because they didn’t stop. They persevered through it all and kept going, no matter what anyone else told them.

Good luck!

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zumo-senpai · 5 years

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A little advice for aspiring animation folks. I wrote this response to an email, but I thought I’d share here. Hopefully someone finds this helpful!

Absolutely focus on a specific area. Choose a MAIN skill, whether that’s storyboarding, animation, BG design, Vis Dev, etc. Having secondary and tertiary skills is a plus, but you should have a primary skill that is your most honed weapon. Being versed in other areas should inform your primary skill.

Make consistently good work, and post it everywhere online. Get visible. It’s hard because we live in a world saturated with creators of one kind or another, but you have to put your stuff out there. Also, when you’re ready, reach out to studios as well. Many of them have open submission periods now and again when they’re looking for new talent. Go to events and conventions to meet people in person if you can. Meeting someone in person always has greater impact than an email.

Personal projects are KEY. Working on something you’re invested in makes all the difference, because it will push you in the direction YOU want to go. Also, it will have your thumbprints all over it–personal projects are special because they show potential employers the unique perspective that you have to bring to the table. Lots of portfolios are full of school assignments, but a personal assignment will always stand out.

Keep an eye on your peers. Look at work that is aspirational to you–and measure your own work against it. Are you competing legitimately? Look at the work of others and get ideas about how you’d like to improve your own work. Be specific rather than general. Think “I’d like to make work with fantastic movement like (PICK AN ARTIST)” rather than “my work isn’t as good as (PICK AN ARTIST).” The more specific you are, the easier it is for you to blaze a path forward. The less specific you are, the easier it is to feel stuck and depressed.

Remember that you are not the work you create. You are a person with intrinsic value as a human. So often we get caught up in our work, and it becomes so preeminent in our minds that we begin to associate our own personal worth with what others think of the drawings we make. Being an artist is fun and rewarding, but don’t get so caught up in the pursuit of your goals that you forget everything else that’s wonderful about life.

Good luck as you move forward!!

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