Academic Dissertation in Master Degree in Animation
Abstract
In many animation works, next to the main character, there is a dependent character who is the hero's friend and helper, who is called a sidekick or a supporting character.
The supporting character is widely present in animation cinema works, and it is necessary to use this type of character based on its characteristics in the story and its relationship with other elements and members of the story. should be studied.
An attempt has been made to examine the supporting character in detail because identifying more of these types of characters helps in the creation of animation cinema works and the deeper narration of the story.
While examining the basic principles and types of supporting characters in this collection, an attempt is made to focus on the character of the horse as a supporting character in the stories and works of animation cinema and in them the supporting character who plays a role as a friend or companion to the protagonist
The existential importance of this animal along with humans throughout history is such that it has been mentioned many times and in different forms and in a special place in mythological stories, so it is necessary to examine the presence of the horse throughout the history of Iran, as well as to rewrite an article entitled Horse and the role of this animal in all stories of the Shahnameh.
Key words: supporting character, horse, horse character - animation character
Introduction
In many stories, next to the hero, there is an accompanying character who is introduced as a sidekick (supporting character). Many texts have been written about the hero and his characterisation, but as we will see, even though the effective presence of the supporting character is evident in the better narration of the story, it has been less investigated independently. Especially in the case of supporting characters in the animation media, there is no codified and comprehensive text that deals with this issue independently and widely, due to the importance of the presence and role of the supporting character in the narration of the story and its study in animated films, it seems necessary.
For this reason, in this research, an attempt has been made to investigate the characterization and role of supporting characters in the narrative structure of such films by examining examples of animated films. to be For this purpose, first, films have been selected according to what is described in the research chapter, and at the same time by studying different books, it was tried to select the things that need to be studied in the films to answer the questions and presuppositions, and examine them in each film. The purpose of this research is to investigate the way of characterization as well as the evolution of supporting characters in animated films to find out if there are any characteristics defined for these characters or if they can be defined. And do they have the same personality structure and scope of action as it seems, or can they be classified into a few simple groups? What is the relationship between the supporting character and the hero? What is its role in the narrative structure of the story? What is the importance of being in the story?
Examining examples of the presence of supporting characters in animation works and knowing the answers to these questions can provide us with a more comprehensive view of how to create characters and the dynamic relationships between them, and expand our ability to create characters and appropriate story narratives. The types of supporting characters are named and described in terms of the role they may play in the story. Then, the functions of the presence of the supporting character in the story have been discussed, including the role that this character has in introducing the main character and also the role it has in the better narration of the story. After that, a brief history of the presence of the supporting character in stories and literature is presented.
The character and the narrative structure of the story are interrelated in many ways. Studying the defined principles for characterization helps us in understanding and creating each character, including the supporting character. For this reason, the second chapter deals with the general principles of characterization and its relationship with the structure of the film, and it has been tried to compare the characteristics of the supporting character with these principles. In this chapter, the elements of the story are first mentioned, and the importance of structure and character in the story and the close relationship between the two are mentioned. Then the stages of character creation and its principles are explained.. Then, the stages of character creation and its principles are explained, since the way to understand the insides of each character is their external manifestations, and one of these external manifestations is the relationships of each character with other characters. Some points have been mentioned in this case, and because there are many supporting characters in animated films, the humor dimension is more colorful. There are some points about how to humor the character in the story. The results of the studies of this chapter have specified the points studied in each film (in the section under study).
At the same time as the study was completed, the films were selected and their review began. The way of selecting movies is explained in the third chapter, which is abbreviated to the case study. As it was said before, the research items were obtained from the topics that were discussed in the second chapter. including the investigation of the characterization of the supporting characters in comparison with the main character, the relationship between the hero and his supporter, the effective presence of the supporting character in advancing the goals of the hero, and also studying the humorous role of the supporting characters in the film. Finally, the analysis of the data obtained from the films is given under the title of analysis and review. In this section, a simple division has been made in terms of the effectiveness of the supporting characters in the narrative. Supporters of anti-heroes have been mentioned, as well as the group of heroes and supporting characters have been compared with collective heroes or multiple heroes in the story. At the end, the similarities and differences of the physical body, personality and behavior of the main character and the patron are explained and how the relationship between them is explained. And at the end of the conclusion chapter, the discussions raised in the previous chapters and their results are briefly presented. It is hoped that the information collected and obtained from this research will be used by those interested.
Chapter One:
Research Overview
1-1 Statement of the problem
From the very beginning of animation production until today, in many animation works, there has been a dependent character next to the main character, who is the companion of the protagonist and is usually referred to as a sidekick [1] (supporting character). As its name implies, the supporting character does not have an independent personality or perhaps it is better to say that it does not have an independent desire and goal, and its personality and actions are dependent on the main character and help and support him in reaching his goal, but in fact, the scope of action of the supporting character can be wider than its initial definition and even combine with other types of characters and gain more importance and scope. A legend is used, in the second title, after the anti-hero, the supporting character or the best friend is mentioned, and this indicates the importance of the presence of this type of character in the story, and it is also present in many types of stories. Baldar, the hero, is with Hercules (the main character of the story) from the very beginning of his birth. Animal Farm, which was made in the John Ellas and Bachelor studio, was a good example for innovative discoveries in animation in terms of content and production.
The trend of using animals in animation is increasing day by day, so that many films have been made in this regard, the film Fantasia is one of the rare works of Walt Disney, full of animal and mythological characters. One of the important advantages of Disney is his pioneering in the field of physical and psychological design of animal characters that have assumed human characteristics. Disney says about animals: communication with animals is easier because animals can better show the effect of factors such as happiness or gratitude and other inner feelings with their gestures and expressions.