In this post I will look at awkward characters in order to observe their performance and hopefully figure out some storytelling poses for my film. Apart from the performance I will also be looking at their physic, cloths and voice in order to device the ultimate recipe on how to make a geek. I am concentrating on 3D films since it is the main medium I will be using which will make transferring the desired expressions easier. Finally I will try to predict where and how I can use the found expressions and mannerisms in my film.
Hiccup
Character Profile: Hiccup is the protagonist of the movie “How to train your dragon.” He has a thin frame with slightly enlarged limbs; his head and feet. His face has fairly large characteristics in order to express emotions better. The whole story is based on the fact that he is weak and different than everyone else in his village. He is the smart type and with his intelligence he manages to befriend a dragon and save everyone.
Expressions/ Mannerisms: Hiccup’s face when he first sees his crush, Astrid is priceless! It is a combination of awe and daze, making clear that he obviously likes her. His eyebrows are raised, his eyes are slightly creased and his mouth is open.
Moreover Hiccup talks to himself a lot and that usually happens when he is anxious. For example the time he thought he killed Toothless his performance gave off a lot of stress and uncertainty as well as pride and happiness at a later stage. These are all feelings which I would like to convey through my film.
At first his face conveys fear and stress with his eyes wide open, focused on the object he is holding. His hands are close to his body and his shoulders seem smaller. He then does the exact opposite, in a fleeting moment where he thinks he has succeeded. Breathing deeply he fills his chest with air and appears larger than he is. His head hangs proudly on his shoulders with his chin held high. Smiling widely he is staring at the void, wise frown on his face. Finally his hands are decisively moving in mid air making wild gestures.
Violet Parr
Character Profile: Violet is the awkward teenage daughter of “The Incredibles” family. She has some confidence issues which she overcomes by the end of the movie. She has a small frame and even smaller limbs. Her head is quite big in comparison to the rest of her body. Violet has a crush on a popular guy at school who she stalks from afar at first but then manages to talk to him.
Fig9: When Violet is anxious she plays with her hair
Expressions/ Mannerisms: Basically whenever she sees her crush or is nervous for some reason, she fiddles with her hair pushing it back a bit/ playing with it. Such a similar queue could exist in my film where my character meddles with his glasses or hair when he sees his crush. You can see that she isn’t looking at him directly in the eyes. She instead focus at some imaginary point and looks sideways to the ground. Her pupils flicker from left to right while she is grinning, feeling excited but ultimately shy.
Gru
Character Profile: Gru is the main character of the film Despicable me. He isn’t as much of a geek he just gets awkward when he talks to the girl he likes Lucy as he has no idea how to act around woman. His torso is big but his limbs are very small, so small they almost feel unnatural. This is a good point to declare that I don’t want the limbs of my character to be too small. The head is normal sized compared to his torso with big features for him to be most expressive.
Expressions/ Mannerisms: Gru is quite expressive through his moves for example when he is scared or spooked he assumes the tangled position (fig.12)
Fig12: Gru getting spooked
Moreover Gru as a child trying to approach his crash is very close to the performance I am looking for. His face at the beginning depicts nervousness and anticipation while at the next picture we can see that he is crouching, his legs are pointing inwards towards each other and he is looking down holding on to his flower. It is obvious that he is very shy.
Even thought he doesn’t immediately develop romantic feelings for Lucy, with the help of his daughters things start moving towards that direction. In this scene Gru is embarrassed and smiles awkwardly at Lucy. We can see him smiling widely with his eyes slightly closed and his eyebrows raised. The eyebrows are what brings this whole pose together as if they were for example they were pointing at the opposite direction this would be more of an evil smile.
Fig15: Gru’s awkward smile
Likewise in this scene we have the awkward sitting at the porch moment. We can see that both character don’t look each other in the eyes, instead they focus on the ground. Another very common thing to do when someone is nervous is scratching and as it can be seen Lucy is scratching her leg. Over the years due to overuse, scratching has become an instant recognizable queue for nervousness.
Later in the movie a scene similar to my story is taking place. Gru wants to ask Lucy out on a date via phone call. He is trying to pick up the phone but no matter the struggle he cannot bring himself to do so. There are a lot of great story telling poses, each betrays his nervousness and the internal conflict he undergoes. For example the “Arrg” moment he has when he is standing up his chair (fig.22), raising his fists to the air, or the one where he is hiding under the table looking anxiously over the table (fig.23).
Flynn Rider
Character Profile: Flynn Rider is the thug who ends up escorting Rapunzel outside her tower in the movie “Tangled.” He isn’t your typical geek perhaps far from it as he isn’t that smart but what he lacks in brains he has in muscle and stamina. During the movie he develops a crush on Rapunzel and as a result the interactions he has with her are far from smooth. I know my character is not going to be this kind of nerd but I thought he could perhaps have a confidence sprout and act like Flynn for a few seconds while then retreating back to his shell being super embarrassed about what he just said.
Expressions/ Mannerisms: One of the first awkward moments is when he meets Rapunzel where he is mesmerized by her beauty but then, when tries to talk to her gets all silly. He assumes his daring n’ flirty expression which consists of a wide grin and a raised eyebrow, truly captivating. As a final resolve to “seduce” Rapunzel he brings out his puppy face which really just looks as a duck face. It had no particular effect on Rapunzel who remains clueless about the matters of the heart.
Lets take a look at Flynn’s body posture in contrary to the character we have seen up to now his shoulders are big and wide as he carries himself with confidence. His frame isn’t as thin and all of his limbs are equally proportioned. The hands are hanging on either side of the torso lightly, they usually make exaggerated gestures. His movements are more lose and not as mechanic/ calculated he isn’t shy its just that his manly man approach doesn’t really work which he doesn’t seem to understand.
Fig29: Life advice from Flynn
The following bit has Flynn freaking out when Rapunzel healed his injured hand with her hair. He first looks at his hand with his eyes and mouth wide open gasping, the angle of the camera makes the gesture even more dramatic. He then curves and bends over slightly while nervously holding his face with his right hand. Afterwards he “hugs” himself by tugging his hands under his armpits. His motions are accompanied by a hurried slightly pitched voice and a nervous smile.
I believe this is the first sincere smile Flynn gives Rapunzel probably after starting to realize his own feelings for her. It is much more natural than his previous grin and not as exaggerated which is exactly what makes it feel real. Notice that Maximos has now Flynn’s original grin on his face, probably as a sign of mockery or even to provide a comparison for where he was and who he has become.
Fig33: Flynn looks at Rapunzel lovingly
Finally, it is important to note something that happens to all of the mentioned couples. Having matured in their relationship or just gotten used to being around each without getting as nervous anymore, their expressions and mannerisms change slightly by becoming less exaggerated. It as if they themselves don’t put as much effort to appear smart or cool, which is something that I believe everyone can relate to through their own relationships. Being comfortable with each other their motions seem more natural and not as overpowering as before. This leads me to believe that in order to convey sincere emotion the performance doesn’t need to be over the top. This can be seen at this last picture of Flynn and Rapunzel, notice that their faces except from happy, also look serine and satisfied.
Fig34: Flynn and Rapunzel Happy Ending
Alfredo Linguini
Character Profile: Linguini is Gusto’s son who in the movie pairs up with Ratatouille in order to keep his job at his faster restaurant and later save the business. I have left the best for last as Linguini is the most awkward you can get. With a small frame, ginger hair and frikles he has limited confidence, cannot speak up, mumbles, stutters on top of that he is super clumsy and prone to accidents. In the movie he develops a crush on Colette who has the exact opposite personality meaning decisive, confident, blunt, firm etc.
Expressions/ Mannerisms: The first ever shot of Linguini we get reads “oh crap.” That expression is what I like to call “the default Linguni expression” featuring both mouth and eyes slightly open. Notice how he carries himself; his arms are tensed and stuck on both of his sides, his movements are rigid and his smile is forced. He moves forward like a penguin/ robot. Linguini needs to always be doing something with his hands; if he isn’t nervously folding them on his chest then he is scratching the back his neck. I don’t even know what to say about the twirl he does in an attempt to get his mother’s letter, it just proves that he cannot function properly when he is nervous. When he finally manages to get the letter he hands it out while biting his lower lip a gesture that shows his uneasiness.
Here is some more spooked/ concerned Linguini after Chef Skinner has discovered he changed the soup. As it can be seen in both pictures Linguini wears his default expression accompanied by different hand gestures. Initially the first pose he assumes is crouched with his head lowering on his shoulders showing anticipation for the chef’s verdict. In the second pose he is a bit more stretched out, his eyebrows are not so dramatic but his eyes are wide open. He then stumbles and falls down, typical.
The time we get to see a different expression from him is when he manages to momentarily pump himself up and courageously step into the kitchen. His face briefly becomes threatening with his eyebrows pointing downwards, his eyes creased and his teeth showing. This doesn’t last long as seconds later he giggles nervously and goes back at his crouched position.
Next I want to talk about Linguinis performance when he is improvising in order to make the “new” dish. His movements are very exaggerated and follow big arcs, in fact this bit reminds me of the bowler hat villain in “Meet the Robinsons” and the way he moved. I quite like it and would like my character to move in that cartoony manner as well. It is also important to note that during this scene there is internal conflict between Ratatouille and Linguini in a manner that fits the project set by the brief. Linguini gets mad at the rat which to the rest of the staff looks like he is mad at himself. Even though he says he wants to stop improvising he doesn’t do so as the little chef is controlling him. He ends up slapping and pocking himself in a fight of who will control his body. Of course the whole ordial looks super weird to the people that don’t know what is going on. I would like to use this element in my film by having my character freak out and “attack himself” for not being able to gather the courage to ask the girl he likes out.
What follows is perhaps the most awkward but helpful performance of them all. I am of course talking about the scene where Linguini confesses his feeling to Colette or sort of… The whole interaction starts with him wanting to tell her about Ratatouille but they end up kissing. This just shows how all over the place Linguini is. As it can be seen from the pictures there is a lot of gesturing going on, his hands are always doing something. Poses vary from him biting his lip, covering his face with his hands, shaking his fists into the air etc. I feel that this is one of the few scenes where he doesn’t feel as rigid, his need to explain things to Colette make him far more mobile than he usually is. We can see all sorts of emotions raging in his face such as disappointment, nervousness and frustration. This is very useful reference material as basically my story is a prolonged version of this scene.
Having gathered all those references and after observing a fair amount of animated performances, I now have a solid idea of who I want my character to be. I will be presenting him in my next blog post as well as the script of the story. It has taken a while but I believe it was worth the effort as now if I feel lost I can look back at this post and find the type of performance and aesthetic I am going for. Finally, since this chapter is closed I will be working more on drawings/ sketching and actually do some animation. An animatic is also in close proximity and something I will be developing from now on.
References:
Fig1: https://38.media.tumblr.com/7c4d010196cc479fbb307e0e7ab49f69/tumblr_inline_n7eqfzDyb11syd4j4.jpg (Accessed 16 Octomber 2016)
Fig2: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e8/e9/d8/e8e9d8ac8b1409ece34974ce7e9fac7e.jpg (Accessed 16 Octomber 2016)
Fig3-6: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/How-to-Train-Your-Dragon-2010/Movie?id=1872 (Accessed 16 Octomber 2016)
RokujyuuyonShou (2014) How to train your dragon: Downed dragon scene 4K HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIcOPaJIwWM (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Fig7: http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/0/0a/Violet_Parr.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150215212030 (Accessed 16 Octomber 2016)
Fig8: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/The-Incredibles-2004/Movie?id=1982 (Accessed 16 Octomber 2016)
Fig9: https://66.media.tumblr.com/648743912a98bb76f346e9e7542ca9c5/tumblr_mn9m31gwFR1rtizi9o3_500.gif (Accessed 16 Octomber 2016)
kirjr315 (2012) The difference in Giftedness in boys and girls as seen in the Incredibles. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFlfHvqI_po (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Fig10: http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/geosworld/images/5/50/Characters-of-Despicable-Me-2-Gru-Wallpaper-HD.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/245?cb=20140625000624 (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Fig11: http://www.pianetahobby.it/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/cattivissimo-me-lucy-personaggi.jpg (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Fig12-14: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Despicable-Me-2/Movie?id=2137 (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Movieclips (2015) Despicable me 2 (2/10) movie CLIP – goodnight girls (2013) HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uRGjnG3G3o (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Fig15-17: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Despicable-Me-2/Movie?id=2137 (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Movieclips (2015) Despicable me 2 (8/10) movie CLIP – worst date ever (2013) HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tzvi3Xp6sw (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Fig18-23: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Despicable-Me-2/Movie?id=2137 (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Movieclips Coming Soon (2013) Despicable me 2 movie CLIP – phone practice (2013) – Steve Carell sequel HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ylClsCut4k (Accessed: 16 October 2016).
Fig24: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/8/88/Flynn_Rider_transparent.png/revision/latest?cb=20151204153637 (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Fig25: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/8/82/Rapunzel_pose.png/revision/latest?cb=20160209032533 (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Fig26-28: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Tangled/Movie?id=2154 (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Nicole Rey (2015) Tangled – Rapunzel meets Flynn HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06KmzF0_1Ic (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Fig29-32: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Tangled/Movie?id=2154 (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Nicole Rey (2015) Tangled – Rapunzel heals Eugene’s hand HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sst1GK_wDCo (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Fig33-34: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Tangled/Movie?id=2154 (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Fig35: http://www.freeonlinephotos.net/wp-content/reFOP4/Pixar/Alfredo%20Linguini%20Ratatouille/Alfredo%20Linguini%20Ratatouille_3.jpg (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Fig36: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/1/1e/Colette1transparent.png/revision/latest?cb=20150914045109 (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Fig37-50: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Ratatouille-2007/Movie?id=1975
BVHERatatouille (2008) RATATOUILLE – FILM CLIP: ‘IT’S VERY HARD TO EXPLAIN’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlfomfB2BNs (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
Fig51-58: Screenshot http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/Ratatouille-2007/Movie?id=1975
Kelly Jones (2016) Colette yells at Linguini. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdDdNfRKuaY (Accessed: 17 October 2016).
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