Aims/Objs

WIP

"Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph."(R. Ebert, 1982)

"When we're teaching children morality, we tell them tales of virtue and self-sacrifice where -- virtually always -- the person who was virtuous and self-sacrificing ends up better off materially in the end the person who is greedy and grasping. Whatever sacrifice the protagonist makes, whatever goal is not pursued due to moral qualms, is more than compensated in the end. The good guy refuses to cheat but wins the fight. Cinderella gets the prince. Virtue pays -- in golden coin!

"Now maybe it's true that virtue pays better than vice in the long run -- that there's something paradoxically self-defeating about greed and something paradoxically profitable in self-sacrifice"

"Why is it so rare (except in the most subtle adult literature and film) to portray a virtuous protagonist as losing out because of her virtue, while still conveying the message that it's a good thing to be virtuous? (Minor characters are allowed to suffer for their virtue.)"


Ever since the human race concieved the art of story telling, we forever immortalised the concept of an Antagonist; a villain, a hurdle, a plot device that the hero or central character of a story must confront. Their existance could represent something as simple as this, or something as symbolic as the personification of a human emotion, concept or fear, or the moral struggle between good and evil.

However, our storytelling techniques have no doubt developed and evolved since we told mythic tales and folklore, and in todays contemporary story telling mediums an antagonist can no longer be as two dimensional as a dragon simply guarding a spire, vanquish anyone who would try to save the princess.

Is a villain merely just a lesson of Morality, something to ward us against doing ill, or can we deviate from this path?

Antagonists can reveal themselves in many forms; personifications, contrasting and complementing character archetypes, and can easily be just as human and full of life and emotion as the central character, if not more so. There is SO much scope for an antagonist to be more than just an obstacle for a protagonist, and I hope to reveal the methodologies and factors behind creating a strong antagonist through this honours project.




Aim

"What factors must be considered to create a successful antagonist, and to what end is their design and performance paramount within contemporary story telling methods?"





Objectives

1-Research and discuss the importance and use of a strong antagonist within storytelling

1.1 - Discuss [Reflective mythology] (Archetypal origins)
1.2 Uninterrupted use throughout history; GOOD always defeats EVIL (A lesson in morality)
1.2.1 Fairytales, Myth, Religion, Fable, Folklore
1.2 examples of strong antagonists (Vader, Joker, Light, Moriarty)



2- Research and discuss fundamental story telling and characterisation techniques that can be used to forge a strong antagonist.

2.1 Archetypes and Jungian/Freudian psychoanalysis
2.2 Why do people like Bad Guys/Villains (PERSPECTIVE)
2.2 character relationship between protagonist
2.3 Self Projection/viewer relationship with antagonist
2.3 knowledge of market/audience(age, culture)


IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND UNDERLYING PSYCHOLOGY AND CHARACTER BEFORE DESIGN
3- Research and discuss character design and development techniques.
3.1 research character artists and their creative process

4 - Create a short animation/motion comic/high quality array of character illustrations, paying particularly close attention toward character design and story telling techniques in order to develop a successful antagonist.