Analysis of the characters building in animated films.(In case of the Joker and Two-Face Harvey Dent in Batman）

Introduction

Character building is a very important technical method in film and television production, and a well-defined character could often leave a lasting impression on the audience. Of course, there are many ways to build a character as Stanislavski mentions that building a character delves into the external techniques of acting, such as body movement, diction, singing, expression, and control. But apart from the protagonists, many villains have also attracted many viewers because of their unique personalities or tragic encounters. This is represented by a part of the famous anti- heroes, who do not share the traditional building concept. So this article will focus on the analysis of two of the most famous villains in Batman, The Joker and Harvey Dent, and analyze how they have followed and used traditional character building methods and made them popular and influential.

Key words: Building Character, Anti-Hero

Background significance

Under the existing film language system, creators have summarized and developed a complete set of rules or methods based on their work and practice over a long period of time. This has basically dominated the way animation and film content has been produced for a long time, which naturally includes character building. But for a long time, people’s perception of protagonist and antagonists such characters become solidified. Protagonist often represents justice, the good side of human nature, the creators rarely show their psychological dark side in the work, they are often perfect in a sense. On the other hand, antagonists often represent the dark or violent in characterization, and people do not understand the complexity of these two types of characters. 

However there are more and more works are trying to break this barrier of thinking, and they will reveal more fully the characteristics of antagonists in their works, and what exactly makes them synonymous with darkness and violence. So now the audience’s perception is also changing, some famous antagonists of the story instead more attractive to the audience chase and in people’s talk become popular, such as the famous anti-hero films.

Literature review

As Patrick mentions that the child hero, in his opinion, is too institutionalised. These characters are never compelled to think on their relationship to the world for which they commit themselves. In Patrick’s depiction of both Eastern and Western works such as One Punchman (2015) and Invincible (2021) and Spiderman into the Spiderverse (2018), they all recognize their own weaknesses and dark sides with the help of social relationships such as parents and schools, thus bringing them back to their own uncertain superhero motivations. His essay has a great deal of relevant reflections on Protagonist in the context of normative shaping, which may provide more arguments for this analysis on the diversity of villainous characters. Besides according to Stanislavski, ‘without an external form neither your inner characterization nor the spirit of your image will reach the public. The external characterization explains and illustrates and thereby conveys to your spectators the inner pattern of your part.’ It is thus clear that shaping the character will not just be a drill in the art of performance but could also be done from multiple perspectives, such as from the character’s dress code.

Research design, methods, and schedule

In order to analyze the two classical antagonists mentioned in this paper, it is necessary to establish an adequate knowledge of both characters. Therefore, I will first study the images from the very first comics, exploring their original backstories and settings. And understand how these two characters are portrayed and positioned in the DC comics, then analyse how they are portrayed in the film based on their backgrounds, and then read some professional critics’ analysis of the two to reach a conclusions or method. Then this analysis will compare and contrast the theories of film language and Stanislavski’s theory of characterization, which were mentioned earlier, to explain the theoretical support behind their characterization. Finally, I will also try to analyze the latest widely acclaimed superhero works related to these two antagonists, such as Christopher Nolan’s three Batman films particularly the second The Dark Knight, will be as the main object of analysis, analysing the character building of the films.

Suppositions and implications

This analysis will bring more enlightening thoughts to the anti-genre films, especially the works focus on superheroism. Through the analysis of the deep psychological level of the characters, all characters are presented from multiple perspectives, whether protagonist or antagonists their experiences have built them into different people. Beyond the first time, based on Stanislavski’s theory, it will also provide a more reliable basis for many animators to analyze characters for character animation, based on the character’s performance perspective. Finally for many artists like animation directors, they are able to understand that character building could sometimes be the key to the success of a project. The previous cases are often due to the presence of one or more vivid roles in the work, which eventually make the audience always unforgettable about their works.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a pleasant 3D animation work could be evaluated from many angles, and so could a good character building. Character building would start from the inner psychological characteristics of the character, combined with the background setting of the story to create a personality trait with complexity, which may be the first step to build a distinctive character. Then make these characters be expressed in a more artistic form, such as making physical movements in footage that fit the character’s characteristics, or line design. These small details are the key elements that could make the character rich.

Bibliography

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Stanislavski, C. and Hapgood, E.R., 2013. Building a character.