A bible character is the heart and soul of a cartoon series. Without a proper Bible character you can not even begin to talk to anyone about your concept. I have seen many bibles characters from producers around the world in recent years asking for joint production cooperation. I have seen that really good and very horrible. After receiving several questions asked about what goes into a character bible, I have written this entry to give some insight on this topic. Here are the various herbs that should be good biblical characters.
It's important to have a synopsis in your character's Bible. This is the foundation you build for the whole story and this should be concise, but not verbose enough so it can not be read or explained in 3 minutes or less. Try to make this one pager if possible. The shorter you can make this and keep it, the better.
Include the most important character designs in your character bible. Be sure to spend a lot of time making them look good and make sure they appreciate your concept. A bible character must be more visual than words, featuring maximum character design - with various poses and phrases of the main character. Props - if any - should also be exhibited. It's very important to show potential characters if they become animated or licensed for various reasons. People who read bible characters should be able to feel the characters for who they are and get ideas from the show through the design of this character.
Ideally the character description of the text should not be verbose, as not many people actually read all the text. The character description should only describe the most important character characteristics to keep it short and fast to read. Visuals must be pre-sales, and text make sales.
It would be better to display the location of a particular key and also provide an illustration or storyboard about how the world of the property is visible.
In essence, it would be better to leave as little allegations as possible-to work with as many perspective partners as possible, so that brand identity and property values are not disturbed.
Lastly - for properties that are primed for animation - you may want to include something called an 'episodic synopsis' - which describes the stories that can happen in an animation sequence. This is usually done by 'doctors' - which can also help to improve the overall background of the story and character description.
It's important to have a synopsis in your character's Bible. This is the foundation you build for the whole story and this should be concise, but not verbose enough so it can not be read or explained in 3 minutes or less. Try to make this one pager if possible. The shorter you can make this and keep it, the better.
Include the most important character designs in your character bible. Be sure to spend a lot of time making them look good and make sure they appreciate your concept. A bible character must be more visual than words, featuring maximum character design - with various poses and phrases of the main character. Props - if any - should also be exhibited. It's very important to show potential characters if they become animated or licensed for various reasons. People who read bible characters should be able to feel the characters for who they are and get ideas from the show through the design of this character.
Ideally the character description of the text should not be verbose, as not many people actually read all the text. The character description should only describe the most important character characteristics to keep it short and fast to read. Visuals must be pre-sales, and text make sales.
It would be better to display the location of a particular key and also provide an illustration or storyboard about how the world of the property is visible.
In essence, it would be better to leave as little allegations as possible-to work with as many perspective partners as possible, so that brand identity and property values are not disturbed.
Lastly - for properties that are primed for animation - you may want to include something called an 'episodic synopsis' - which describes the stories that can happen in an animation sequence. This is usually done by 'doctors' - which can also help to improve the overall background of the story and character description.
