Everything Real Was First Imagined
This Program Builds Character(s)
Akemi Inriyama by CAW Intern Brandon Green
A good video game or animated movie can blur the line between fantasy and reality. At the heart of many of these immersive entertainment experiences are unique characters that make us laugh, cry, cheer, and dream. If you’ve ever looked at the credits of your favorite animated feature, you already know that every character is the product of hundreds of hours of work by an army of talented artists. Recently, Creative Art Works joined forces with FunPlus, an international interactive entertainment company, to draw out some of the secrets of this fascinating process.
Sherry the Roller Derby Girl by CAW intern Alexandria Ford
Over 70 teens and young adults from all over the city have scored unpaid internship in our brand new creative workforce development program in digital character design. This diverse group of interns are either currently attending NYC public high schools or are very recent graduates. Most have never had a job or internship before. Some have little or no prior experience, while others are already accomplished artists — either way, it’s a tremendous opportunity. Our 9-week internship includes synchronous and asynchronous instruction from CAW Teaching Artists with career advice and pro tips from FunPlus artists and creatives from across the globe.
It All Starts with a Story
Characters drive a good story, and a good story drives a character. Our young interns are learning fundamentals of drawing, such as the difference between ideal and exaggerated proportions or how facial expressions and body language can covey emotions. They are also developing the confidence and skills to inject personality into their characters in order to make them memorable, whether they are a hero, villain, or comic sidekick. Knowing what’s inside the character’s heart and mind informs the design.
Sketches of robots who steal replacement parts by intern Christian Concepcion
“I had no idea what I was going to draw when I started sketching, but then I had a spontaneous idea about robots stealing pieces from other robots to complete themselves, but then they don’t know how to make these pieces their own. It contradicts the usual perception of robots as calculating or cold-hearted killers.”
Learning from the Pros
Wei Wang, Chief Creative Officer at FunPlus
One of Wei’s character designs for a movie
Interview with a Legend: We were thrilled to host an undisputed rockstar of video game and movie design, Wei Wang, Chief Creative Officer at FunPlus, for an hour-long live chat via Zoom. Wei talked about his background, his inspiration, and the difference between designing characters for movies, where realism is key, versus video games where you let your imagination run wild. Our very enthusiastic interns (and a few lucky adults) got to ask Wei about his work as a "world builder" and storyteller for best-selling video games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Starcraft, and many more.
Wei left us with a final thought — a paraphrase from the children’s book, The Velveteen Rabbit, “Everything that is real was first imagined.”
Interns who hope to study art or animation in college also had tons of questions for Xinyue Nie, a FunPlus User Experience (UE) Designer and recent Pratt Graduate. Xinyue offered tips on developing a portfolio for art school applications and shared some of her experiences as a student. She defines her job with FunPlus this way: “Let’s create a fun experience.”
Both Wei and Xinyue started out drawing fan art as a hobby, until they made a decision to develop their talents into a career; and both stressed that everybody who has job in the industry today was once an absolute beginner.
A Selection of Art from our Interns
This Creative Art Works program was made possible, in part, by generous support from FunPlus.
This Creative Art Works program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.