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Friday, July 24, 2009

Developing A Character Part 1

Developing Your Character
Inspiration:

The first thing that you need to do is get inspired. There are many avenues to explore if you are looking for inspiration for your character.

One of your best sources are movies. Find a character that was in a movie that really scared you or gave you something that made you say, "Oh my gosh, that guy is really freaky. Glad this is just a movie." If you find something like that, go with it, expand it, and make it your own.

Other good sources would be books, magazines and even the internet. Just go with the medium that you are most familiar with.

Another approach would be, What scares your friends? Is it Zombies, vampires, or evil little girls with baby dolls? What ever your friends are scared of, tak advantage of it and work some magic developing that character into something that you would want to portray.

Once you figure out what you want to be, then you can start looking at your strengths to see what you can do to make your character stand out. If you are big, or slightly overweight, how about a freaky Santa. Yeah, that's right, you can use Santa as a character in a Haunt. What is scarier than a Santa who is chopping up someone on his naughty list? Maybe you are tall. Use your height and invade their body space by just looming over them. Very effective and you usually do not have to say to much.

Some people like to draw on their own experiences. Maybe you are a short order cook and you have an idea for a new recipe that involves serving up people as the main course. What about a crazy old lady that does not like it when you are too noisy, so she whips out her chainsaw and begins chasing you around the room. Model her after the crazy old lady that lived next door to you and made sure that you knew that she did not like anyone. Experiences can be just the right ticket to creating a very popular character.

There are hazards in trying to copy a marketable Hollywood horror icon. Number one, it's not very original, so that is not scary in itself. Then you are setting yourself up for the higher standards of make up and effects, that frankly can get very costly and be very time consuming in prepping for your role. Your audiences expectations are also so much more higher when you are trying to step into the shoes of an icon.

One of the most important things to remember is for you to be as original as possible. Not only do you not have any legal problems like copyright infringement, but this character will actually be a lot better if you can make it your own and not be someone who was just copying and al ready.

Just remember to let your creative juices flow, have fun with it, and make the character yours. Not only is it cheaper, but it is more fun, and lets face it, more realistic if you and your character are original.

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