SPECIAL EVENT

Bringing Characters to Life by Craig Caldwell

Notice:

Please note that the installation is unavailable on 12 Jan due to a booking for private event.

Understand how to create compelling character-driven stories in this talk by Film and Media Arts Professor Craig Caldwell, presented by Animation Nation and Screenwriters Association of Singapore.

Whether delving into animation, VFX, or immersive media, crafting compelling characters proves to be a formidable challenge. As a storyteller, coming up with engaging characters that your audiences can connect to, is a seemingly impossible task.

Regardless of your genre preference, characters need to be intricate and relatable. Writers need to breathe life into their characters through their motivations, backstories, psychologic makeup and relationships to distinguish their wants, goals and needs. Yet it is crucial that characters avoid the pitfalls of archetypes and stereotypes.

Bringing Characters to Life by Prof. Craig Caldwell delves into character conflicts, factors influencing their decisions and development. The session contemplates the difficult choices one has to make when creating characters and writing their story – what are we implying and at what stake? Understand how to create character-driven stories and experiences that invests your audience into their journeys.

About the Speaker

Craig Caldwell, USTAR Professor, Film and Media Arts, and co-founder of the Masters in Games Program Entertainment Arts & Engineering, University of Utah.

Honored as a DeTao Master, Institute of Animation and Creative Content, SIVA Campus, Shanghai, China. Industry experience: Head of Creative Training at Electronic Arts, Tiburon Studio and 3D Technology Specialist, Walt Disney Feature Animation (Mulan, Tarzan, Chicken Little, Bolt, Meet the Robinsons), Burbank, CA. Academic background includes Head of the largest Film School in Australia at Griffith University and Chair, Media Arts Department, University of Arizona.

Conference presentations include, FMX '13-23 (Stuttgart), Mundos Digitales '13-16,'18,'22 (A Coruña, Spain) SIGGRAPH-Asia '21, SIGGRAPH '14,'16,'18,'20,'23, View Conference '12,'13,'23(Italy), CinAnima23 (Portugal), GAFX '17 (Bengaluru), Kre8tif! '17 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), CTNX '18, Comic-Con'18 (San Diego), Sundance '15, Anima '19 (Argentina), and IS3 '17 (Seoul, Korea).

His current research is in differences in storytelling around the world, and is the author of Story Structure and Development – A Guide for Animators, VFX Artists, Game Designers, and Virtual Reality, CRC Publishers (on Amazon)