| Brief | Welcome to the Made Collaborative Studio! This Studio Card #2 represents your first step on a creative journey with us. We begin this collaborative virtual studio just as it began in a classroom in the West Side of Chicago years ago - by providing you with an opportunity to create your own original comic character(s). |
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| Scope | As you might expect, creative collaboration is at the heart of the Made Collaborative Studio. We believe in sharing stories, intertwining ideas and giving a voice to participating urban youth and collaborators like you. ALL OF YOUR STORIES MATTER. And that's why we begin this virtual journey with the creation of your own original character, some of which may be including in our Back of the Yards comic series! |
| This & That | The most intriguing submissions to this and all of our Studio Card may highlighted on our website. We'll showcase them on our "This & That" blog. And a few of you may also be invited to take part in one of our regular Zoom workshop sessions to further develop selected characters. |
Welcome to the Made Collaborative Studio! And we begin in the same manner this project began years ago in a classroom in the West Side of Chicago – creating original characters.
Got a great idea for a comic book character? We invite all of you to submit here it to the Made Collaborative Studio and the most eye-catching ideas may be chosen for further development with our team of creative professionals. Some of your crazy characters may even appear in future issues of the Back of the Yards comic!
We will walk you through this process below, but first, for a little creative inspiration to help set the collaborative stage, we present to you five memorable character introductions from the big screen! …
As with all collaborations, we start by urging you to first get an old-fashioned pen (or pencil) and paper in hand. It is with this type of brainstorming that often you will encounter your creative breakthroughs and even more practically, taking notes will help you to organize and summarize your thoughts.
We have also created this PDF Worksheet [INSERT PDF LINK] for your convenience if helpful.
We begin this modest virtual collaboration platform in the same manner this project began years ago in a classroom in the West Side of Chicago – creating original characters. The Made Collaborative project started as a small but ambitious after-school arts program headed by our founder, Jimmy Briseno, with a group of high school students on the West Side of Chicago. Jimmy frequently recalls the pivotal moment when one young person boldly proclaimed: “I have an idea, and it’s going to be great!”
From there, the intrepid student began to develop the character of Andre Davis. His classmates joined in, creating characters of their own, like Tamia Parker and Russell Patterson. These ever-so-humble beginnings are what helped launch the Made Collaborative Studio and our inaugural comic book series–Back of the Yards.
With this Studio Card collaboration, we will help you with the creative development of your own character(s). And we will be using our comic’s first character, Andre Davis, as a frame of reference with each step below. We begin this character development exercise with the basics, or more specifically, your character’s basic characteristics. Within Slide 3, you see that we cover some of those basics for Andre’s character, which may help you as you brainstorm the physical traits of your own new character.
Here are some character physical traits that can enhance storytelling. For example, hair color and style can help distinguish your character. Eye shape and eye color is another example (as the old saying goes, eyes can be a window to the soul). Facial features like high cheekbones, firm jawlines, nose shape or size, skin town, etc. And, of course, body type can capture your character’s build and indicate physical strengths or weaknesses.
These are just a few physical traits for you to consider as you develop your character. And for your convenience, we’ve included a few more in the table below as well a helpful link here for other physical traits you may consider when developing your character at this stage!
And to further help with your character’s basic background description, here’s a quick list of elements to consider age, birthdate, gender, birthplace, race/nationality, marital status, education, current residence and occupation and languages among other basic background elements to consider before we start taking a deeper character dive below.
It may help you to think of this first step (combining personality traits and basic background elements) as if you were making an introduction to your character in a movie screenplay. Within screenplays, a basic character description is the literal introduction of a character, which then translates into the visual introduction in a movie. As such, a good concise description of some of the very basic characteristics within the screenplay is essential.
As an example, look at the following character introduction from the script of the movie Training Day, starring Denzel Washington.
“DETECTIVE SERGEANT ALONZO HARRIS, IN BLACK SHIRT, BLACK LEATHER JACKET. AND JUST ENOUGH PLATINUM AND DIAMONDS TO LOOK LIKE SOMEBODY. HE READS THE PAPER IN A BOOTH. THE GUN-LEATHER-TOUGH L.A.P.D. VET IS A HANDS-ON, BLUE-COLLAR COP WHO CAN KICK YOUR ASS WITH A LOOK."
Within this character introduction, you can get a feel for the physical appearance of Alonzo Harris, as well as some basic insights into his background and current occupation (gun-leather-tough LAPD vet, blue-collar cop).
Now, see how that short basic description translates to the big screen by clicking below!
What are some of the physical characteristics of your new character? Feel free to use some of the examples from the table or link provided above. And you can also refer to Slide 3 of Andre’s Character Dossier if helpful.
What are some of your character’s basic background elements? Occupation? Age? Birthplace? Family members? Any other basic information that you can think of that may be helpful to describe your character in one or two sentences? And feel free to also us Slide 3 of Andre’s Character Dossier if helpful.
Now let’s bring it all together and using the Training Day example above along some of the physical characteristics and basic background elements you listed above, try to describe your character in two to three sentences as if you were first introducing that character in a screenplay.
Now that you have a basic idea of what your character may look like and its basic characteristics as described above, you may now be in a better position to develop your new character’s personality characteristics. And perhaps no other character in cinema today has as complicated of a personality than the comic villain that goes by the name of The Joker …
How would you describe the Joker’s personality? What words come to mind? Impulsive? Disagreeable? Humorous? Creative? Daring? Unpredictable? Would any of the traits listed below apply to the Joker’s personality?
In stark contrast to The Joker's fictional comic personality, we have chosen to feature the real-life legacy of one of the most iconic artists of our time, Frida Kahlo.
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter known for her deeply personal and symbolic self-portraits that explored identity, pain, and the female experience. Her work blended elements of Mexican folk art with surrealist influences, often reflecting her physical suffering and tumultuous relationship with fellow artist Diego Rivera. Despite lifelong health challenges, she became an icon of resilience, feminism, and Mexican cultural pride.
If you watched the short video above, how would you describe Frida’s personality from the traits listed above? Creative? Daring? Inventive? Thoughtful?
These are just some personality traits that may come to mind when describing Frida, and as you can see, apart from perhaps a shared creativity and daringness in their approach to life, Frida is otherwise quite the contrast in personality to Joker’s fictional character.
And this contrast in personality traits between the fictional character of the Joker and the real-life legacy of Frida Kahlo could also be captured by something even more fundamental to each of their characters – something referred to as their respective “Character Archetypes,” which will turn our attention to in Step Three below. But first! …
What five personality traits do you think best describes the Joker’s personality if you were describing his character to a friend or family member who knew nothing about the Joker? You can use Slide #4 of Andre’s Character Dossier if helpful.
What five personality traits do you think best describes Frida’s personality if you were describing her to a friend or family member who knew nothing about her or her legacy? Again, you can use Slide #4 of Andre’s Character Dossier if helpful.
Now using Slide 4 of Andre’s character dossier as example, let’s bring it together and write down five or more personality traits that you would use to describe your new character to a friend or family member.
Building upon some of your character’s basic background and physical characteristics developed in Step One, along with their personality traits as described in Part Two, we are now ready to start taking a deeper dive into your character’s core set of values. And that deeper dive begins with your character’s primary Archetype.
Returning briefly to the Joker and Frida Kahlo personalities from Step Two above, in addition to highlighting these two very different personalities, we also can see a contrast of two very different life paths. The fictional character of Joker dedicated to mayhem and chaos in response to his early life adversity. Frida Kahlo, on the other hand, who experienced very serious near-fatal medical injuries as a youth, somehow heroically channelling that adversity towards creative expression, art and a unique celebration of life.
To help better understand these two divergent life paths, we present you with an overview of Character Archetypes.
Our quick overview of character archetypes begins with an individual named Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist who is recognized as one of the most influential figures in modern psychology.
Among his many intellectual pursuits, Jung explored the hidden and mysterious aspects of the mind and as part of that exploration, he theorized that some dreams may actually hold intriguing insights into life and the world because they come from the “collective unconscious.”
Jung believed the collective unconscious is bigger and more fundamental than the mind of any single individual; it is the profound and timeless wisdom that all humans share. And it is from this collective unconscious that certain distinct and common character archetypes also emerge.
Just click below to learn more about these Character Archetypes, including which Archetypes might describe The Joker, Frida Kahlo and other well known characters and other historical figures!
As you consider Character Archetypes, a closely related set of traits are your character’s “core values.” Core values are fundamental beliefs and principles that guide a person’s actions and decisions. In short, core values can be described as a character’s personal compass as they navigate through life.
We have provided a sample list of such core value traits below. It is your Character’s Archetype combined with their core values that will ultimately drive your character’s actions in any given story.
Which of the selected character archetypes below do you feel that you most personally identify with? Feel free to select more than one if you’re so inclined. Both people and fictional characters go through various phases of personal development that can include elements of 2, 3 or more archetypes throughout the course of their lives.
Andre Davis is “The Hero” of the first several 3 issues of Back of the Yards, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stay that way!
But heroes can change. They may grow to become the mentor in another hero’s story. They may be tempted by the dark side of some of their other character traits and become an outlaw rebel, or a tyrannical ruler.
Based on what you know from Andre’s character, either from the dossier summary above, or from the comic itself, which way do you think Andre’s character might develop in future issues of Back of the Yards? Be creative on this one. There’s no wrong answer!
In the spirit of the Creator archetype, here’s an opportunity to jot down some ideas for a character of your own based on any of the 12 archetypes above. Just give it a try. You don’t have to go into too much detail on this one. Just see where the spark of inspiration takes you. But save your idea for later. The Made Collaborative Studio’s Action Cards will provide more in-depth opportunities to develop your ideas further.
So now that you have all the basic building blocks of your character in place, including their basic characteristics, core personality traits and archetype core values, we are ready for a lightening round of sorts! It is here that we will begin to sprinkle in some of the details of your character’s back story and other interesting facts that make your new character unique! And to help you do this, we will present to you 100 quick and easy questions for you to consider within the Google Slide presentation below.
And for a little creative inspiration, we bring you a few words from Stan Lee, creator of Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Black Panther and many more from the Marvel universe.
(Original art to the right by participating artist, Eric Nyamor.)
Of course, you don’t have to answer all these questions for your character – in fact, you don’t have to answer ANY! But we do encourage you to just have fun with it and try to answer at least 10 or so. Even if you don’t have a clear idea of your character’s back story just yet, some of your answers to these questions may nonetheless help you with the next stage of your character’s development if you so choose – developing their Hero’s Journey storyline with Studio Card #2!
In many ways, this final round is optional and intended to just be creative icing on your character development cake. From the questions provided within the google slide presentation pick as many questions as you’d like to answer to help further define your character’s biographical history. And you can use Slide #6 of Andre’s character dossier as an example if helpful.
With this collaboration, you will have an opportunity to develop your own original comic character.
Especially creative submissions could be chosen for further development with the Made Collaborative team. We'll feature your character on our website. They might appear in the Back of the Yards comics!
We'll also invite some collaborators to take part in our livestream sessions over Zoom.
Although by no means, required, but to the extent you have developed any concept sketches or illustrations of your new character, we encourage you to submit those illustrations to us. Just do us a favor and let us know which character you are submitting illustrations for, and we will absolutely make sure our artists receive them when they are reviewing your character submissions!
And we may feature your artwork in the future either on the project website or directly in our comic issues, all subject to your approval!
Some special pieces may be selected to appear in the Back of the Yards comic book. iPad/iPhone users, submit images from FILES (NOT from Photo Library).
Some special pieces may be selected to appear in the Back of the Yards comic book.
UPLOAD YOUR IMAGES BELOW
Some special pieces may be selected to appear in the Back of the Yards comic book.
UPLOAD YOUR IMAGES BELOW
Some special pieces may be selected to appear in the Back of the Yards comic book.
UPLOAD YOUR IMAGES BELOW
Some special pieces may be selected to appear in the Back of the Yards comic book.
UPLOAD YOUR IMAGES BELOW
Collaborate with professional artists by contributing some artwork of your own! Some special pieces may be selected to appear in the Back of the Yards comic book.
UPLOAD YOUR IMAGES BELOW
