Character Design Lab

Develop the design of characters within the context of a story

12. - 23. 8. 2024
10 participants
English
10 days
intermediate drawing skills
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

800 EUR

per artist


3 300 EUR

per project

Open Registration

The lab is focused on mastering the creative digital process of the development of the design of characters within the context of a story for digital film production.

You are a unique individual. You see things in a way different than anyone else. As an artist and designer, you are responsible for documenting your experience in the world and finding the best way to communicate why you find certain things interesting and appealing.

All that has been done traditionally can be done with digital tools. Future use of AI will change the game. Being able to communicate ideas quickly and efficiently is the key to competitiveness.

On Completion of This Lab, You Will Progress in:

  • The principles of character design
  • Digital Draftsmanship
  • Heightened sensibilities to the subtleties and nuances of the stuff you care about
  • Using the tools as your digital assistant.
  • Stronger work ethic and digital organisation
  • Exposure to a broader array of design possibilities, tools, processes, and materials

How it works

In this residential lab, you will start with characters based on your own project, and explore and develop their personalities, refining how they look individually and as an ensemble. The entire process will be demonstrated digitally.

You will help you explore, refine and ultimately enhance the unique flavors of your characters and how they will best support and reinforce the stories they are telling. You will be exposed to live demos of drawing digitally.

Topics Covered

  • Character Design: A Method and Philosophy
  • Inspiration from Life, And what digital tools can be used in development.
  • Live digital demos in Photoshop
  • Caricature
  • Finding Appealing Shapes
  • Shape Language
  • Striking a Pose
  • The Power of Gesture
  • Experimental Design
  • Sculptural Drawing
  • Fluency in the Language of Design
  • How digital film production works, what tools are used and what are the future best practices in the upcoming AI world

Who is it for

We invite both individual artists as well as producers with a project to the lab. Choose your role:

Artists

Ideal for aspiring visual artists – illustrators and designers to fine tune their skills and portfolio, experience focused project base team work. Whether you’re a beginner or seeking to enhance your skills, this lab offers valuable insights into the art and craft of designing characters. You will be part a team of artists, led by the mentor,  working on a project.

 

Producer with a Project

Bring your creative vision to life during the lab! The aim of the lab is to flesh out first ideas on characters, or help to fine tune existing designs and art direction.

Producers with a project can participate, bringing either their own creative team  or we help to form a team from participating artists. The capacity is up to 5 projects.

Producer has a art-director to actively take part in the lab and lead team of artists. Art-directors can represent the producer during the lab, ensuring focused and productive collaboration. Ideally, he is present on-site, nevertheless it can take form of on/line as well.

Priority for participation will be given to projects that actively engage in other labs, particularly the Character Design and World-building Art Lab. This exclusive opportunity allows participants to integrate their storyboarding endeavours with comprehensive character development and world-building experiences, fostering a cohesive and enriched creative process.

Prerequisite

In order to be eligible for the lab, along with your registration you need to submit:

Artists

  • Portfolio to demonstrate expertise and experience in the field of visual art
  • Motivational letter
    Emphasis on career motivation and vision for a project


Producers with projects

  • Project synopsis
  • Motivation letter emphasising career motivation and vision for a project

Fees and funding, Cancelation Policy

Fee

Artist
800 EUR per artist

Price includes: training fee

Producers
3 300 EUR per project

Price includes training fee for max 2 artists in the team (your own, or we help to form a team from individual participating artists), mentor fee overseeing development on your project, and participation of (art)-director and producer for free.

 

General conditions

  • Possibility to pay in instalments.
  • We advise participants to apply for scholarships for participation fees and/or travel costs in their countries, as many public film funding bodies are usually supporting such training costs.
  • The fee covers the fee of the course. The fee does NOT include accommodation, board and tuition during workshops and travel.
  • Approximate living costs during your stay in the Czech Republic:
    • Accommodation at the venue: 25 EUR / night
    • Breakfast at the hotel – 5 EUR
    • Restaurant meal between 5 – 10 EUR
    • Grocery in general – 50 EUR per person a week

Funding for Czech employees and freelancers

Czech Labour Office (Úřad práce) offers to cover up to 85% of the course fee within the so-called POVEZ II project (Support of Vocational Training for Employees II). See the details and conditions here.

Cancellation Policy

The fee of 30% off the course price applies when canceling 45 days before the start of the course into which one gets accepted.

Direct interaction
with seasoned
industry
professionals

Our mentors
Pixar

Our incubator
boosted dozens
of projects

Show all projects

800 EUR

per artist


3 300 EUR

per project

Open Registration
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