All images from Inspired 3D Short Film Production by Jeremy Cantor and Pepe Valencia, series edited by Kyle Clark and Michael Ford. Reprinted with permission.

"What is your name?
What is your quest?
What is your favorite color?"
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Many scholars agree that a story's ability to attract and hold an audience is more a result of strong character development than strong plot progression. It can easily be argued that all memorable films contain memorable characters. Where would The Godfather be without Don Corleone? Or The Wizard of Oz without the Scarecrow? A memorable character is believable, relatable, and interesting. And a well-developed character will successfully channel the emotional impact of the events of your story to your audience.

It has been said that there are only a few basic storylines. However, an infinite number of variations exist through the introduction of new characters with unique points of views into this otherwise finite group of plots and scenarios.

Some short films of the fine arts or especially abstract variety, such as Hitoshi Akayamo's Garden of the Metal, don't require any actual characters in order to provide an audience with engaging entertainment value. However, if your intention is to create an animated short that tells a story, you'll likely need at least one living, breathing, thinking protagonist. Audiences expect to identify with or at least be interested in the main characters of the films they enjoy. One or both of these character-audience connections is crucial to an engaging character-based narrative. If the viewer sees recognizable features of your main character and can relate to his attitude and behavior, this connection will be well established. However, relatable character traits are not always absolutely necessary. Your protagonist might look and behave in ways that are entirely misunderstood or completely alien to your viewers, but if he or she is sufficiently interesting, your audience will still feel compelled to watch the story unfold. Concern, curiosity or preferably both is what you ultimately want from your viewers.

Furthermore, it is not necessarily important, or even desirable, for your audience members to actually like all of your characters. When creating a villain, of course, you often want your audience to fear, dislike or distrust him. Such characters that we love to hate include Darth Vader, The Grinch, Vic Vinyl from Phil McNally's Pump Action and Raf Anzovin's puppet master (see Figure 1). Remember that in order to connect your audience to your characters, sympathy is optional but empathy and interest are essential.

[Figure 1] A villain should inspire an appropriate negative reaction from your audience.