Character Profile: Charles Burp

So, here he is, the "main" character of Burp's Christmas, Mr. Charles Burp.


Right now the Burp's Christmas team is "putting our face on" - getting into a weekly blogging schedule, getting our website revamped, getting some legal stuff in order, setting up bank accounts, make pre-visual stuff, etc. All so that we have something to present to potential investors when we begin going door to door to raise the $200,000 we'll need to pull this thing off.

Part of this process includes doing some rough character designs, or digital "puppets" (articulated images that can be animated in After Effects like paper dolls) to 1) Help me break down the designs of these characters and experiment with the visual style of the film and 2) Allow financial partners to see what the character look like.


Charles is a warm hearted-yet-stubborn grandpa, who, by a cruel shake of the universe, has been called back into parenthood to raise his grandchildren. Sometimes he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.



Charles has a pretty big emotional range. His design needed to be pretty versatile. At times he is strong willed and powerful... other times, he's weak, humiliated, subject to his boss' control and an ingrained desire to make money to support his family... even if it means gulping down his pride. He can be very adorable at times... well spirited, funny. Unfortunately for poor Charles, most of his good spirits are crushed under the weight he carries. He's often cold and short tempered towards his family. Burp's Christmas is the story of Charles' decent into despair. It's also the story of his eventual restoration and healing.


So that's all I got for now. Oh, and if you were wondering where the last named "Burp" came from... here's a part of the mystery, dated 2002:



... I've come a long way in character design since.

peace,
MPH

Character Profile: Odds Bodkins

Sorry for not posting last week, I've been super busy making some rough character puppets for two of my favorite stars of Burp's Christmas: Charles Burp and Odds Bodkins.

Today we're gonna look at good ol' Odds Bodkins. Name sound familiar? Of course it does! This blog is named after his magic store - a prominent location in the film. It might also sound familiar if you're the kind of person who attends renaissance fairs or plays a fair amount of D&D.

"Odd's bodkins is a mild profane oath, which literally means 'God's dear body!' It's now archaic, but was used as an exclamation like God damn! or a host of others."

Read more about Odds Bodkins as a phrase here.

Odds is a charming, friendly fellow with a wise heart, a positive disposition, and a penchant for the esoteric. Odds Bodkins Occult Bookstore and Magical Five & Dime is a treasure trove of traditional magic novelties and tricks, occult pariphinaliea, religious bric-a-brac, and used sci-fi/conspiracy theory paperbacks. If you're from Philadelphia - think of it as a cross between Hocus Pocus Magic Shop(RIP) and GERM Bookstore.

In the movie, the magic shop serves as a refuge for it's two young main characters, Walter (a budding magician) and his brother Elijah.



Odds doesn't get much screen time, but he's still one of my favorite characters.



The character's appearance (and personality to a certain extent) is based off of the British comic artist Alan Moore. I was listening to a lot of his spoken word performances while I was writing the script and envisioning Odds - now I can't imagine anyone else playing his character but the great magus himself. Not sure how we'll go about approaching him (though I'm willing to fly to Northampton and haunt the pubs/coffee shops there if I need to), but I'm hoping he'll oblige us and lend his voice to the project. Weirder things have happened.



In case you were confused when I said "rough character puppets", wait until this weekend when I'll go a bit more into the process of making Mr. Bodkins.

Peace!