I am doing a project for my 4th year honours degree about the design of creatures which sustain the audiences suspension of disbelief. The specific question asks what the relationship between form and function in creature design is, and whether a balance can be found between the two in order to create creatures that are visually exciting and memorable yet also appear that they could actually exist in this world or perhaps an alien world or another dimension.
“It is a creature designer's responsibility to invent imaginary life forms believable enough that the audience is ready to accept that they must have seen it, or could see it, on this planet, in a universe far far away or perhaps in another time or dimension.” (Whitlatch, T. 2010).
I have come up with a set of criteria that could lead the development of a set of guidelines through study of the work of creature designers such as Terryl Whitlatch and Neville Page, and was hoping I could get some professional opinions on the subject. What I have come up with so far is as follows:
Functionality in terms of anatomy; The creatures anatomy makes sense in terms of the muscles and bone structure, and appears as though it would function properly. "The most important thing to have is familiarity and plausibility anatomically." (Page, N. 2004).
Proportional functionality; The proportions of the creature are balanced and appears adhere to the laws of physics. "I firmly believe that to retain the suspension of disbelief, you still need to adhere to the laws of nature and physics." (Page, N. 2009).
Behaviour; The creature has a purpose for it's behaviours, and they are shown through visual cues and body language showing the intent of the creature. “The menacing stares, frowns, and tensed body postures of the creatures … all indicate hostility.” (Ibister, K. 2006)
Colour; The colour scheme of the creature makes sense in the context of it's environment and the type of creature it is (polar bears being white to blend in with the environment to help with hunting, poison arrow frogs being brightly coloured to indicate danger, cows being black and white because of thousands of years of domesticated breeding etc) “As we continue to look at aesthetics, one of the most important features is colour. Colour says a lot about a character and his story.” (Tillman, B. 2011).
Surface detail; the amount of detail is balanced to create visual interest but not draw too much attention from the overall form. Also the details make sense in terms of the environmental context. “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 and one that couldn’t possibly exist.” (Tillman, B. 2011).
Silhouette; most people can identify an animal from its silhouette, so when designing a new creature, creating a silhouette that is easily recognizable but not too similar to existing designs or overly complicated can help to make it more memorable. "One attribute that all good character designs share is that the subject is recognisable even in silhouette. From Godzilla to Homer Simpson, the best characters are identifiable by their mere outline." (unknown)
Suitability to the environment; A creature designed for a desert world would look jarring if it was discovered in an ice world and vice versa, rather than compelling. "The most compelling creatures have a purpose. They're compelling because even though they are not real, they make sense." - Creature Designer Bobby Chiu.
Story context; a creature that can use magical powers such as levitation or other things that arent physically possible in our reality (as far as we are aware) must make sense in the context of the story which they are in. For example, a mutated cow such as those found in Bethesda Softworks Fallout 3 wouldn't make much sense without the context of its story. "Story is the most important aspect of character design." (Tillman, B. 2011)
I would like to know your thoughts regarding these criteria that I believe can help towards creating plausible and compelling creatures for media such as film and games. I am aware that developing a set criteria such as this can stifle creative spirit; "To produce an established formula for character design discourages creative spirit. However, this scientific generalization does provide certain biological guidelines for the character designers." (Su, H. 2011). But I have to do my project on something, and it's hard to take a scientific approach to something as subjective as creature design! Any and all comments are greatly appreciated, whether its to contribute something that I may have overlooked, or just to comment on the criteria I have already put together. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
No comments:
Post a Comment