Bringing Characters to Life
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Bringing Characters to Life with Craig Caldwell PhD
Whether it is animation, VFX, or immersive media… character development in storytelling is tough to get right. It can seem like an impossible task to come up with engaging characters that your audience/players can emotionally connect to.
Join us for Bringing Characters to Life, a webinar on characters and storytelling with special guest Craig Caldwell PhD, who has worked on popular animated films such as Tarzan, Mulan, Chicken Little, Bolt and Meet the Robinsons at Walt Disney Animation Studios and is currently a professor at University of Utah, teaching Film and Media Arts.
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Tips on how to craft character-driven stories
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About Craig Caldwell
Craig Caldwell, USTAR Professor, Film and Media Arts, and co-founder of the Masters in Games Program Entertainment Arts & Engineering, University of Utah.
His industry experience includes Head of Creative Training and 3D Technology Specialist at Electronic Arts Tiburon Studio, as well as Walt Disney Feature Animation Artist Development for films such as Mulan, Tarzan, Chicken Little, Bolt and Meet the Robinsons. His academic background also includes Griffith University and Chair of the Media Arts Department, University of Arizona.
He's currently undergoing research on the differences in storytelling around the world. Author of Story Structure and Development – A Guide for Animators, VFX Artists, Game Designers, and Virtual Reality, 2nd Edition (Jan 2025) CRC Publishers.
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What to Expect
This session examines character conflict (e.g., internal, external, environmental), causality, and how difficult choices define a character. What is at stake? (i.e., survival, safety, love, esteem, etc.) What drives a character? Fear? Determination?
Learn how to get to know your characters in order to create character-driven stories/experiences so your audience will care about what your characters are going through. This presentation contains many clips and visuals to illustrate the concepts.