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Beauties and Beasts: Creating Character Contrasts in Design

The most important consideration when designing characters is creating different body language and movement. This consideration is not unique to animation.

The Great Dictator: Charlie Chaplin’s Character Acting

Charlie Chaplin made THE GREAT DICTATOR as a rebuke to Adolf Hitler. In this film, Chaplin plays two parts. His Barber character bears an amazing physical resemblance to the Dictator. They never meet. The lives of the Barber and the Dictator intersect only in the last ten minutes of the picture when the Barber replaces the Dictator after appropriating the latter’s uniform. Yet all through the film the denizens of the Ghetto and the “Tomanian” bullies who oppress them do not notice that the barber resembles the Dictator. The Barber does not see this resemblance himself. Are all the characters, friends and enemies, equally ignorant? The situation, though fantastic, is believable to us and we never notice that the comparison is never made. This is because Chaplin, as the Barber, moves in a completely different fashion from the Dictator. The characters’ stance, silhouette, actions, and facial expressions are as opposed as their politics. The Barber smiles often. His short, graceful movements resemble those of a small mouse or bird. The Dictator tilts his head up and back in an arrogant pose or raises his shoulders in an almost feline fashion. He usually has a scowl on his face. His movements are forceful and reminiscent of a predatory animal.

[Fig. 8-1] Charlie Chaplin as the Dictator.

[Fig. 8-2] Charlie Chaplin and the Chaplin Kick.

Chaplin’s performance is so skilled that it appears that a second actor plays the Dictator. When the Dictator dances with a globe we see the only occurrence of a famous gesture of Chaplin’s ‘Little Tramp’ character—a backward kick. The Tramp uses it to dispose of cigarette butts but the Dictator disposes of the world. The kick is the one gesture that the two characters have in common, but different contexts change its meaning.

At the end of the film when the Barber dresses as the Dictator, his gestures still differ from the aggressive, arrogant movements of the tyrant. We believe that one of Chaplin’s characters has truly replaced the other. THE GREAT DICTATOR is a film that all animators should study.

I Feel Pretty! Changing Standards of Beauty

It is difficult to design attractive human characters. They can easily become dull and flat. Beauty is a variable concept that is affected by time and place. What is beautiful in one era or culture appears grotesque in another.

[Fig. 8-3] A literal interpretation of a 19th-century poem produces monsters. (Nancy Beiman collection)

In the late 19th and early 20th century a woman was considered attractive if she wore a corset.

[Fig. 8-4] A tightly corseted waist was once the gold standard of female beauty. (Nancy Beiman collection)

Men once wore clothing that showed their legs—and much more—to be considered masculine, as the Regency gentleman (circa 1822) demonstrates in figure 8-5.

[Fig. 8-5] A tightly corseted waist was also once considered macho!

Certain design constants may be applied when designing ‘beautiful’ characters.

Beautiful people in Western culture often have asymmetrical faces. Take a full-face picture of a popular actor or actress; duplicate one half of it and flip it using a mirror or computer graphics program. Then try this exercise with a picture of your own face. The two resultant composites will show significant differences and may suggest two different people. Most of us have asymmetrical faces. Perfect faces are rare but not unheard of. T. Hee claimed that a 1930’s actress with flawless features was the most difficult caricature assignment of his career. A small imperfection can enhance the beauty of a face. The great actresses of the 1930s—the Hepburns and Garbos and Crawfords and Dietrichs—all had slightly asymmetrical features that made their faces more interesting to T. Hee (and millions of viewers) and gave him something to caricature. A perfect face inspired a less interesting drawing.

[Fig. 8-6] Caricature of actors and actresses with asymmetrical faces by T. Hee. (Nancy Beiman collection)

Human beings seem to respond to features that are symmetrical but not perfect. Perfect features can sometimes seem ‘plastic’. Figure 8-7 shows a drawing of an attractive girl with asymmetrical features. She illustrates a major design principle—the line of beauty.

[Fig. 8-7] A pretty girl that is constructed along an S-curve, or “Line of Beauty.” Reproduced from Scribblings 2 by permission of Dean Yeagle.

The Line of Beauty was described by William Hogarth but it appears in the art of many cultures. The Line, a modified S-curve, is used to construct living objects. Straight lines are used for ‘dead’ or inorganic ones. The girl in Figure 8-7 and the cats in Figure 8-8 illustrate the line of beauty very well. Their bodies are a pleasing combination of contrasting curves and straight shapes constructed along an S-curve.

A good design will use both straight lines and curved shapes to create “fast” and “slow” areas as shown in Figure 8-9. The eye travels at slower speed and lingers longest in the more detailed areas. Faces, and particularly eyes, are viewed first.

[Fig. 8-8] Cat and kitten constructed along the Line of Beauty. Reproduced by permission of Nina L. Haley.

[Fig. 8-9] The eye travels at different speeds when viewing different sections of a design, lingering longest on detailed areas. Our attention should remain longest on the important parts of the design. “Fast” and “Slow” areas are indicated in red.

It is possible to create movement in a still drawing since different areas are viewed at (fractionally) different times. A busy design that contains complex patterns and textures in all areas such as the one in Figure 8-10 can be difficult to animate and watch.

[Fig. 8-10] A busy design can be distracting to watch. (Nancy Beiman collection)

A Face That Only a Mother Could Love?

CUTE AND NON-CUTE: Other species attract us if their body and facial proportions resemble those of human infants. Puppies and kittens are “cute” because of their rounded, regular features—a design that appeals to mammalian mothers. Babyish features typically are small and delicate, occupying a smaller area of the skull than an adult’s. The human baby’s head and torso are huge when compared to the hands, feet, and limbs. The puppy or kitten’s body is small and the paws and head are very large. In Figure 8-11, the baby, cat, and puppy’s eye levels are approximately one-third from the bottom of the skull. (An adult’s would be situated at the halfway mark.) The eyes are large while other facial features are very small.

The Roswell Alien in Figure 8-11 shares the babyish proportions of the kitten, puppy, and human but the scale is now dramatic to the point of caricature: its eyes are huge, with no whites showing; the nose is eliminated and the mouth is a lipless slit. We see this as creepy instead of cute. Human beings are also unlikely to find a young insect ‘cute’ since their proportions are completely unlike the mammalian pattern. The caterpillar’s eyes take up nearly all of its head shape and there is no clear differentiation between the head and the body. So, insect babies will seem cute only to insect mothers. Animated insect characters have all been humanized to a greater or lesser degree so that we will find them appealing rather than alien.

[Fig. 8-11] Small features in a rounded face with big eyes appeal to us. We perceive most creatures whose facial and body proportions resemble those of human infants as “cute.”

Gods And Monsters: Contrasting Appearance and Personality

The features of a human face are centered in an inverted triangle. Eyes are always on either side of the nose and the mouth appears underneath (unless you are Pablo Picasso). We are conditioned to find this design beautiful. Breaking this triangle can break our sense of connection to the humanity and beauty of a face’s design. Some of Picasso’s deconstructions of the human face are disturbing to view. People with deformed faces (for example, the Elephant Man or Quasimodo the Hunchback) can cause a great feeling of discomfort in the viewer. Designs that do not relate the facial features to each other will usually be considered ‘unappealing’.

[Fig. 8-12] Breaking the pattern of a human face makes us feel very uncomfortable.

Characters with highly deformed or asymmetrical facial proportions are called MONSTERS. Humans are attracted or repelled by facial proportions and expressions. Highly irregular faces can excite fear in the viewer. Some famous monsters have partly destroyed faces or faces that lack an eye or an ear, or have too many eyes and ears. Leonardo da Vinci wrote that the “eye is the window of the soul.” Shakespeare was more accurate when he had King Duncan in Macbeth state, “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”

A handsome man may ‘smile, and smile, and be a villain’ and an ugly duckling may have a heart of gold. The Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame are examples of two misunderstood monsters. Erik’s facial burns mirror his damaged soul; Quasimodo’s spirit is noble despite his deformed face and body, since his actions are kind, brave, loving, and generous. Not that he fares any better than Erik in the end.

A character’s design may announce its personality or work in contrast to it.

[Fig. 8-13] Monsters can frighten us even if they do nice things. There is a contrast between the horrifying exterior and the noble interior.

Both the Phantom and Quasimodo reveal human depths under the deformed face. Their actions reveal their spiritual beauty but these characters are never considered physically beautiful. The contrast between interior and exterior makes them more appealing than the ‘beautiful’ characters in their stories. Ugliness is easier to portray than beauty since we are more able to agree on what is ugly than on what is beautiful. While beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, the artist is able to create it.

So what makes a Princess beautiful? Her appearance will ultimately depend on the time and setting of the story. A noblewoman in Renaissance Italy will not look like a noblewoman in medieval Japan.

Though your audience is not going to be composed of historians, period character designs should contain elements that suggest the era with a touch of the modern to enable audiences to appreciate them. They should be individuals, not mannequins with period costumes. Here are some suggestions on how to get started. Look at basic clothing shapes and use the ones that best set the period and the character. Don’t be literal. You can use silhouette for the look of the period without reproducing every flounce and ribbon on a dress.

1. Research styles. Learn something about the fashion silhouette of the period. For example, the silhouette of a man in 1860 differed radically from that of a woman. The man’s and woman’s silhouette are nearly the same in 1926. Use clothing and props of the period to develop the character. (Figure 8-14)

[Fig. 8-14] Male and female silhouettes have changed over time. The silhouette of 1860 shows the greatest contrast between male and female shapes in costume history. The silhouette of 1926 shows very little difference between the two genders.

2. Use more than one source for reference. Source materials do not have to be from the period in which the film was set. You may use an object’s silhouette to suggest a character type. For example, an inflexible character might be based on a rock. A flighty human character might have some birdlike qualities. Illustrators’ work is a useful source for period reference. Avoid recycling designs from other animated films since audiences are more likely to have seen them before.

3. Draw a variety of character designs and then combine the best features of each in the final design. Some inexperienced designers tend to draw one character and stay with it. Experiment with different proportions and character types and see what appeals to you. Never stick with the very first sketch unless, of course, it is the best one (as occasionally happens).

4. Use the features of an actual person for inspiration. This need not be a caricature and it does not apply merely to human characters. Combining the features or body type of a human with those of an animal will make the animal (or human) unique. The facial expressions of a living person can bring an historical character to life.

[Fig. 8-15] These caricatures of famous authors by James Montgomery Flagg were drawn from life. Incorporating the features of actual people into character designs gives them a touch of life and sparkle. What animal characteristics do some of these drawings suggest? (Nancy Beiman collection)

5. Draw from memory as well as from life. Since no two people have precisely the same life experience, this technique will make a design yours. This is why it is vitally important to keep a sketchbook and a clip file; the clip file will give you ideas for color and designs, the sketchbook will show you people who make an impression on you by their appearance or actions. Keep your old sketchbooks for future reference.

6. Avoid literalism in design. We do not see dragons, whales, giant monsters, or lions every day or even view dogs and cats in the same way we do other humans. An animator or designer may take artistic liberties with an animal’s appearance and movements—all may be forgiven if the story is working! Only when you strive for the super-realistic human design does the stiff, lifeless appearance known as the ‘cryogenic effect’ set in. If you design ‘realistic’ humans, the character must move like one—hiccups, blinks, and all—so as not to appear doll-like and lifeless. Stylized design and animation of human characters will make them appear more alive than will slavish copying of real life.

[Fig. 8-16] These character designs for a video game set during World War I caught the martial flavor of the era without being absolutely authentic. The facial features were based on antique photographs. Reproduced by permission of John McCartney.

Animation design changes over time. Some design styles become clichés because of the tributes paid to them in other films. If you work some of your own experience into the design and get inspirational material from a variety of sources, the resulting characters will become your original creations instead of a retread of someone else’s work.

Remember: Animation is not Reality. It’s much better!