Narrative Character Design
Creating Heroes with Ryan Meinerding
Description
In this workshop, Ryan Meinerding shares his workflow for designing characters that effectively illustrate a story's narrative. Ryan begins by discussing how to create iconic and memorable characters, creating a legitimate reality, framing characters by values the audience should judge them by, empathy and story. He illustrates these topics by evaluating some popular examples from film and animation to explains the importance of thinking about Character vs Character, Character vs Environment, Visual Design vs True Character and Range of Change. For the demonstration of this workshop, he begins by breaking down the Story that will inspire design; an old man, Arnold, who develops superhuman strength and the surrounding story points. Ryan then uses Adobe Photoshop to design the Range of Change for Arnold's character from a frail old man, to his new disguised strengths, to his empowerment as a super hero. While sharing timelapses of design and development, Ryan's workflow is revealed as he explains how decisions are made, exploration, reference and thought process. For those looking to further their understanding of how to approach Narrative Character Design, this workshop offers invaluable insights from one of the industry's leading artists.
Duration: 2h 23m
Format: HD 1920x1080
Ryan Meinerding
Head of Visual Development at Marvel Studios
Ryan Meinerding is the Head of Visual Development at Marvel Studios, where he has been instrumental in shaping the visual identity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) since its inception. His work encompasses character design, costume development, and keyframe illustration, contributing to the cohesive and iconic look of the MCU.
Ryan's notable contributions include designing the Iron Man armor, developing costumes for Captain America, Thor, and Spider-Man, and overseeing visual development for films such as The Avengers, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. He has also played a significant role in Marvel's animated projects, including What If...?.
In addition to his film work, Ryan's art has been showcased in exhibitions and publications, such as Marvel Studios: The Art of Ryan Meinerding, which offers an in-depth look at his creative process and contributions to the MCU.
