Today's blog is all about 'the base' and by that I mean the picture base in which one would give his or her creation to represent what their character looks like. Now the Pic Base to me makes or breaks the character's gimmick nine out of ten times because there are the rare exceptions to the rule much like anything in life when it comes to 'rules'. It's where the character transcends an obvious faulty pic base choice or the character stinks so bad the base choice really didn't matter to begin with. Now that we got that out of the way, shall we begin? I do believe we can.
Okay, let's say you've got this excellent character concept in mind, one you feel is going to be great and that your audience is going to enjoy reading and getting lost in the story you tell with them. You've got the height set at an impressive six feet and ten inches tall, he's a monster of a man weighing in at well over three hundred pounds of pure muscle mass, not an ounch of fat on him. You set his gimmick (personality for those not in the 'know' with wrestling lingo) to that of a man who is both frightening and impossing to all who would dare look at him; that children, men, and women would cower in utter fear of this man. Sounds great right? Oh it's great, you know it is... what could go wrong, right? Well... it can go wrong with a picture base choice such as....
Yeah, not so scary now is he? Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Jim Parsons, I think he's hilarious in Big Bang Theory; but he's not the least bit scary, let alone would he ever make children cower in fear with his pressence. I'd say Jim Parsons would be better suited for a different gimmick all together, it's why I use him to represent the cameraman of April Evans, who happens to be a bit socially awkward and has a fear of cats. It works, trust me on that one. Now this pic base choice could also be used for a different kind of 'fear' where its the fear of the unknown, he's unassuming, you never see him coming... that 'silent fury' styled gimmick, I could see that working for a pic base choice of one Jim Parsons.
Now lets go back to your character here, you know what you've got him set at, you realize before you even send in your app that your original pic base idea is just not going to work... so what do you do? Who do you pick to represent this monster of a man that's going to hopefully in your mind be the top level bad guy in your company? You scower the internet for that perfect base and then it hits you, you find him... you find...
Much better right? He looks like a killer, he looks like he'd cause fear in the hearts of all those who stand in his way. All it takes is one mistake in choosing your pic base and you go from a great character concept to one doomed to fail because of that choice. Bane looks the part, Jim Parsons did not. Now sometimes its not that simple or obvious because of the gimmick you are looking to portray; and again its about preception. If you pick someone like Zack Ryder as a pic base but he's nothing like the 'Jersey Shore' gimmick he is in real life, it can still work in the hands of the skilled writer. Now please the next time you wish to create a character always remember this one simple rule, dear readers.
It's all in the base...
Until next time, this has been another "Random Musing Of Jer". Stay safe, keep reading and as always, feedback is much appreciated.
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