16

Diamond in the Rough Model Sheet: Refining Character Designs

Your characters’ bodies, typical expressions, actions, and emotions will become easier to draw as storyboarding progresses. Surface details will be eliminated or simplified and body shapes will change as you draw the character in different attitudes. Storyboard drawings are the most practical way to see which design elements help and which ones hinder the character’s ability to act. A character’s appearance may change dramatically from the original rough design after a few sequences are boarded. You should wind up with an appealing design that you are comfortable working with. A character that easily conveys emotions with its face and body is known as a good actor.

This process of simplifying animation design is known as evolution.

[Fig. 16-1] Papa Bear’s design evolves in many of this book’s illustrations. This process also occurs on actual films.

Character designs are developed concurrently with the storyboards and may be pitched at the same session. It is a good idea to have designs for CGI characters roughed out as early as possible since they will need time to be modeled and rigged.

With proper planning you will have the final rigs ready to go just as your story reel or animatic is finalized and production animation begins. Hand-drawn animation may continue ‘evolving’ the characters well after animation has started. It’s not uncommon for hand-drawn characters’ appearance to change between the beginning of the picture and the end, though good cleanup can prevent this from becoming obvious to the viewer.

Model sheets exist to standardize the character’s appearance and suggest typical poses. They provide valuable guidelines but are not set in stone.

Pre-existing characters from another medium, such as toy design or comic books, sometimes appear in animated films. These characters often have ‘approved’ model sheets containing a limited number of official poses. Sometimes the animator is not allowed to distort the design at any time lest the animation be considered off-model. The creators of the character have not necessarily worked with animation before and may not know how it is produced. It can sometimes be difficult to convince them that squashing or stretching the volume of the character gives the animation a feeling of weight and solidity.

[Fig. 16-2] Non-animators will sometimes have trouble understanding how animation is produced. Illustration by John Van Vliet, reproduced from the 1989 AVAILABLE LIGHT calendar by permission of John Van Vliet.

The distortion may be for only a few frames but that will not matter. I have known of clients who viewed an entire film one frame at a time and demanded that ‘off-model’ frames showing squash or stretch on the character be edited out.

It’s easier to standardize poses and facial expressions in computer animation than in hand-drawn cartoons. Computer-generated characters, like hand-drawn ones, indicate weight and volume through distortion. If they do not ever distort there will be a floating, weightless quality to the animation and their movement will be unconvincing. Do not let your characters become too stiff. Be sure that the designs are able to distort enough to indicate weight. A mobile face and body can portray emotions and thoughts without dialogue.

[Fig. 16-3] Animated characters will distort to indicate their weight and volume. Eliminating all distortion causes the action to appear stiff, wooden, and weightless.

We have already seen an example of a flawed design where one character’s arms were too short to fit around another character’s body in Chapter 6, Figure 6-2. While it is possible to temporarily lengthen the arms or vary the body width of a hand-drawn character to enable it to perform an action, CGI designs should be tested for mobility at the very beginning of the design process since it is expensive and inconvenient to redesign a CGI or puppet character when you are far into production. New controls are often added on feature productions when the animators need to have a character do something that the original rig does not allow it to do. A short film may not have the time or budget for this.

The most common mistake made by beginning designers is to assume that their first character design is also the final one. In some instances, the artist goes directly to cleanup without investigating the character’s construction or the actions it must perform in the film. Sometimes a character has only a few poses on its model sheet. Lack of planning in character design will lead to problems down the line as surely as it does in story.

[Fig. 16-4] Two poses are not sufficient for a character model sheet. How does this character move? How does it open its mouth? Does it have one? This model sheet does not say.

Animated characters go through a long process of refinement and revision as a normal part of the design process. Design experimentation is particularly important in the early stages of computer animation. It is essential to eliminate design flaws before they are incorporated into the finished models. Several tools are used to accomplish this, including construction model sheets, test animation, and maquettes, or sculptures of the characters. Maquettes and their construction are discussed in Chapter 21.

Tying It Down: Standardizing Your Design

An animated film may use materials from professional illustrators, cartoonists, or fine artists as inspiration for character designs. The look of the characters in ALADDIN was influenced by the work of theater caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. Gerald Scarfe produced conceptual drawings for all of HERCULES’ characters, and TREASURE PLANET used the work of the Brandywine school of artists, such as Howard Pyle, as the basis for the art direction and character designs.

A storyboard artist does not need to take final character design into consideration when working on rough boards. But the character designer must be sure that the animated actors work with each other and with the backgrounds in a consistent style so that they are all in the same universe, as discussed in Chapter 6.

Storyboard drawings that convey character emotions or motions particularly well will be copied onto ‘model suggestion’ sheets. These are given to the designers along with any reference material that the directors and art directors have assembled as inspiration for the look of the picture. Sometimes a lead designer will go over each rough design and unify the styles, as Gerald Scarfe did for HERCULES’ characters.

Construction models are drawn once the basic design is approved. A construction model shows the primary shapes that are used to create the character and standardizes its proportions. Figure 16-5 shows a simple construction model for Baby Bear.

[Fig. 16-5] Construction models break the character’s design down into foundation shapes.

The figures are usually constructed in profile since it is easiest to set proportions in this view. Give all your characters names, and write the names on all of the model sheets. A name is an important directing and compositional aid whether you have one or more than one character in a film.

Body construction is done by drawing through the design, or showing the trunk and legs through the transparent clothing level. The body may also be constructed first and the clothes added separately. In the next figure, two profile drawings have been done of the same girl, one with and one without the clothing.

[Fig. 16-6] Character construction is easiest in profile. Two drawings are provided in this example. The first shows Diane’s standard appearance; the other indicates the construction of the body underneath her loose dress. Reproduced by permission of Jim Downer.

Draw the body through the clothes even if it never shows in the finished animation. Underlying shapes will influence external surfaces. The body shapes the clothing, unless you are designing a corseted or armored character.

[Fig. 16-7] Stiff outer garments will influence the shape and mobility of an organic character. Otherwise, the form of the body will determine the surface shapes.

It’s a good idea to experiment with the proportions of the character’s body at this time. Try lengthening the legs and shortening the body, or try working with a longer torso and shorter legs. One design can have many variants. Your main concern is to design a character that is able to perform the actions required in the film, but it’s also good to incorporate an interesting variety of proportions and shapes into your creation. Once you are satisfied with the proportions of the face and the body, you will finalize the character model sheets by standardizing these proportions on drawings of the character in static and typical action poses. This is known as tying down the design.

[Fig. 16-8] Experiment with the character’s proportions (A) before tying it down in the final design (B). The original character roughs can inspire many variants. Your final design may combine the legs from one sketch with the head and body from another. Work for proportions and design elements that please you. Reproduced by permission of Jim Downer.

Since the character will usually need to turn in space and work in many different angles, the next stage is to draw turnarounds that will show the character in the same neutral pose from front, back, and three-quarter views as if it was rotating on a turntable. Horizontal guidelines are drawn on the profile sketch to indicate the top of the head and the bottom of the feet. Additional lines are drawn at the chin, shoulder, hip, knee, and wrist line where necessary. It then becomes easier to rotate the figure from profile to front and back views, and then create a three-quarter view that will usually be the most flattering angle to the design. Diane’s height is measured in whole ‘heads’ so it is most important to standardize the distance between the crown of the head and the chin and measure body proportions by drawing ‘head silhouettes’ alongside the figures, as shown in Figure 16-9.

[Fig. 16-9] This turnaround shows Diane’s volume and construction from several different angles. The new drawings are based on the proportions of the original profile drawing in Figure 16-6. Head heights are at the right side of the model sheet. Reproduced by permission of Jim Downer.

Character proportions are usually measured using the entire head and jaw, not just the ball of the cranium. Exceptions can be made if the head is very large or very small.

[Fig. 16-10] Aunt Agatha’s cranium is extremely small so her entire head is used to measure height and body proportions. Reproduced by permission of William Robinson.

One dinosaur in the next figure uses its head and the other uses its body mass to measure the height and the length of their respective necks and tails. Use the simplest elements to measure proportions.

[Fig. 16-11] Steve the raptor’s huge cranium is used to measure his face and body proportions. The Boofasaurus has a head that is too small to be used as a convenient measuring unit. Its body is used instead to measure its height and the length of its neck and tail.

No two size guides will be the same since each one is determined by the character’s design. “Fred” is 4½ heads high. He has a small cranium so his height is measured with the entire head as shown in Figure 16-12. Fred’s hair is a separate shape added after the head is constructed.

[Fig. 16-12] Fred’s entire head and jaw is used to measure proportions for the rest of his body. Written notes and brackets are added to the model sheets. Hair shapes are added after the skull is constructed. Reproduced by permission of Brittney Lee.

Combined muzzle and skull shapes help measure a body, neck, and tail for a horizontal character such as a horse or a dog. The long skull may be measured in craniums. You may measure a horizontally-designed character’s height with the combined cranium and muzzle, as shown in Figure 16-13. Notes are written to indicate the color of the inside of the mouth (which is usually shaded), and whether the character has a tongue or teeth. These features may not be obvious, particularly on a non-human character. Figure 16-13 shows a sheep that has a light-colored mouth. The entire head is shaded so that this feature reads better. The eyes are not indicated since they are not important (or the creature does not have them).

[Fig. 16-13] “Sheep” has a muzzle that is larger than its cranium, so the entire head is used to measure its height and body length. Reproduced by permission of Jim Downer.

Hair, hats, or long ears are indicated by a separate shape above the head after the skull is constructed underneath. Loose or flyaway hair is contained within a discrete shape so that it may be constructed in the round. Extensions from the skull or body are measured in whole or partial head heights added to the basic body and head construction after full turnarounds and head sizes of the basic body shapes have been completed, as shown with Diane in Figure 16-9 and Fred in Figure 16-12. Model sheets will also contain written notations that help the artist properly measure the limbs and identify small design details. Separate construction models are drawn for the head. The following figure shows identical head construction for two characters. Action poses show the range of Amma and Yuri’s acting. Notes indicate the number of teeth, the appearance of eyes and eyelids, and other construction details. Amma sometimes uses extreme expressions, and this is indicated on the model sheet. Her twin brother Yuri is a more limited actor with heavier features. New drawings and new model sheets will supplement the originals once Amma and Yuri have been animated in a few scenes.

[Fig. 16-14] Separate model sheets for head construction and typical expressions are drawn for each character. The same construction may be used for two different characters but their body attitudes and dialogue mouth shapes may dramatically differ. Notes describe important details.

A model sheet for a CGI character will include typical facial expressions and more exaggerated ones that will be used to create blend shapes. Do not allow the restrictions of CGI to hobble your imagination. Exaggerate expressions if they are needed. They may become even more extreme than the drawing when transferred into the computer program, as shown in Figure 16-15.

[Fig. 16-15] Expressions for CGI characters should be designed on paper before they are constructed on the computer. Blend shapes may be more extreme than the sketches. Reproduced by permission of William Robinson.

Hand-drawn animation is not as standardized as CGI and different animators may draw slight variants on the basic mouth and eye shapes. Teeth may pop on and off as needed for dialogue synch or strong expressions. (This can also be done in CGI by turning “false teeth” on or off as necessary.) If the teeth or tongue only show in certain expressions, write a short note on the model sheet and add an explanatory sketch if necessary. It is a good idea to always label tongues and the inside of mouths to prevent confusion. Leave nothing to chance.

[Fig. 16-16] Model sheets for facial expressions serve as guides for dialogue animation. Teeth and tongues are labeled along with other features. Reproduced by permission of Brittney Lee.

I do not recommend making model sheets of ‘standard’ dialogue mouth shapes for animated characters. Mouth charts are mechanical aids developed to standardize the animation of dialogue. There are no standard mouth shapes in life or in good animation since no two people speak in precisely the same fashion. Mouth shapes may be underplayed or cheated and the body attitudes carry the action. There is no need for absolute fidelity to individual mouth shapes. Human actors do not enunciate every word equally, as you can see if you compare the acting of Humphrey Bogart with that of Woody Allen [Fig. 16-17]. Even in a still drawing the two men appear to be speaking different languages. Bogart’s lines are slurred and cheated; Allen’s mouth shapes are broader. Dialogue mouth shapes for the same character will vary depending on its mood and emotion. There’s no standard way to animate dialogue, just as there’s no one way to animate acting. Dialogue animation is conveyed by body language as well—indeed, the body attitudes are more important than the mouth shapes!

Dialogue ‘action suggestion’ model sheets are created after a test scene has been animated on a character, but they will always be suggestions, not absolutes. Each character will have its own particular way of moving and talking even when two designs are nearly identical, as demonstrated in Figure 16-14.

[Fig. 16-17] No two people will say a line the same way. Dialogue is cheated in live action just as it is in animation.

Blend shapes for CGI mouths should be extreme enough to allow you to modulate the forms in animation. You may need to break or distort the rig for extreme poses. The acting should determine the mouth shapes. Just be sure that your designs are able to act well. Dialogue is best conveyed by body attitudes and actions, with mouth shapes added afterward as secondary action.

Your Cheatin’ Part: Nonliteral Design

Animated characters may be cheated when in motion. Many hand-drawn characters are not really three dimensional at all. Mickey Mouse’s ears are always seen from the same angle. Ariel from THE LITTLE MERMAID has a part in her hair that shows on one side of her head at a time. The part always faces the camera and her hair always frames her face. If Ariel was modeled in true 3D her hair would obscure most of her face in some angles. When these characters turn their heads, the ears and hair are “cheated.” Our eyes concentrate on Mickey’s face while his ears shift slightly from one side of his head to the other without ever turning in space. Ariel’s hair part pops from one side of her head to the other while she is moving rapidly. A slow movement would destroy the illusion.

Cheats will be indicated on the model sheets since they are an important part of the character’s design. CGI designs may be more consistent than that of hand-drawn characters but animators may ‘cheat’ by breaking and distorting the rigs to exaggerate a pose or minimize a bad camera angle.

A graphically designed character might not actually turn in 3D space. In this instance the model sheets will indicate typical poses and suggest cheats that enable the animator to move it from one pose to the other. Mickey Mouse’s ears are a famous example of a cheat. If a section of the design pops or morphs instead of turning in a conventional manner, this must be noted on the model sheet. The boy’s face in Figure 16-18 will turn normally, but his hair part will pop from one side of his head to the other.

[Fig. 16-18] A hand-drawn “in the round” character may cheat certain views and not have all parts of the design move in three-dimensional spaces.

Animated characters have ‘good sides’ and ‘bad sides’ much as human actors do. Not all characters look good from every angle. There is a famous story about animator Fred Moore, who redesigned Mickey Mouse in the 1930s so that he was more organic and expressive than the original design (which, according to legend, was sometimes drawn with the aid of a traced quarter for the head and body shapes, and a dime for the ears). Moore was considered the Mouse Expert, and so a couple of younger animators once asked him, “How would you animate a scene of Mickey Mouse in a down shot of the top of the back of his head?” Moore’s answer was, “Why would you want to stage Mickey in that angle?” Your character should be staged in the best possible angle, not the worst. Model sheets will contain a straight-on front and rear view but these angles will often be more ‘flattening’ than ‘flattering’ to most characters.

[Fig. 16-19] A straight-on frontal view of a character will often flatten out the design. Important features may not show to best advantage.

Please refer to Chapter 10 for suggestions on how to stage your character effectively in a scene. A head may be turned into a three-quarter view while the body is shown from the front. Avoid staging characters directly from the rear, as shown in Figure 16-20. If you are working on a scene where layout has given you an unflattering angle on your character (as occasionally happens), cheat its pose into one that shows it to better advantage.

[Fig. 16-20] Not all characters work well in all angles. It is customary to write “Avoid” on model sheet drawings that are used to determine construction or proportion but that do not read well in an actual scene. Straight rear or front views are usually cheated into three-quarter profiles since this is the best way to create depth of field on the character and avoid unflattering views.

Action sketches such as the ones in Figure 16-21 and 16-22 will indicate weak areas of the construction model.

[Fig. 16-21] Action model sheets will show poses that may not be used in the final film. They are useful as indications of the character’s range of motion and emotion. None of the original poses on this model sheet were used in my junior-year film, THE CAT’S PAW, but they helped me construct the character and showed her range of motion. The cat’s evolution is apparent in some copies of actual animation drawings (shaded in pink) that were added after I’d completed a few scenes.

Action model sheets are used throughout the production to show typical character movement and attitudes. Label the sheets “Action Model Only” if the model varies from your final design. Sometimes a character’s proportions and design don’t change much at all.

[Fig. 16-22] These action model sheets were drawn before Mozart was animated. When he was animated, the dog’s head and feet grew larger than planned on the original model sheets, but since the evolution was not obvious, the original models were not changed. Reproduced by permission of Brittney Lee.

Draw final size comparison and construction models for the entire cast lineup after you have completed construction and action models for each character. Be sure to include important props. Figure 16-23 shows the rough character lineup that originally appeared in Chapter 7. One character, “C. Otter,” is used as a standard of measurement. The taller characters are two ‘otter heights’ and the smallest character is one-half the height of C. Otter. Use simple fractions when making size comparisons; round off ths to a whole head for simplicity’s sake. Whole heads and quarters, halves, and thirds of heads are commonly used when measuring scale. 15 16

[Fig. 16-23] Here is the original rough lineup and revisions for “When Nature Calls.” The characters vary in size but can all fit on one model sheet. C. Otter is used as a unit of measure for the other characters. The tallest character is twice the size of the otter. Use simple measurements (one head height, or one-half or one-third of a head) rather than smaller increments when making size comparisons.

What happens if the size differences are so dramatic that a standard lineup is not possible (say, an elephant and a flea)? Compare the small character to a portion of the larger one on a ‘close-up’ model sheet. Here is an example of a small character, and smaller props, working with Diane from Figure 16-9. The doll and its props are too small to read well when placed next to Diane in a standard lineup, so the new model sheet scales the doll and the sewing materials to Diane’s knee and foot. The girl’s head and hand should also be drawn on the doll’s model sheet as a size guide. A small character in a big picture will have most of its action staged in close-up or medium close-up because of the scale differences between it and the other characters.

[Fig. 16-24] A small character can be measured against a portion of a larger character’s design on a close-up model sheet. The doll is as tall as Diane’s knee. The props are scaled to the doll and Diane. Reproduced by permission of Jim Downer.

[Fig. 16-25] I designed Billy Bones to work with John Ripa’s design of Jim Hawkins in TREASURE PLANET. This size comparison was reworked several times after consultation with the directors. Used by permission of Disney Enterprises, Inc.