Character pics..... Yes or no?

[Frank Aiden Ryan]

Hey guys,

 

Here's something I've been wondering while I was contemplating all the possibilities for my new site.

 

On my old site, I used to have character pictures up. Basically, I chose certain pictures that I deemed looked like, or at least approximated the general look and feel of my characters. I couple of my colleague writers in this genre does it as well. Still do, probably. Comsie here, for instance, never did. I'm not sure if that was out of necessity rather than desire, but it worked fine. Now he has so many characters that finding suitable pics for them would be a nightmare.

 

My dillemma: I HAVE character pics already. They're pics of celebrities that I didn't know when I started writimg, but who have careers now and are pretty household names, like Devon Sawa and Vincent kartheiser.

 

So what do you guys think? Are character pics a plus? Are the characters better left to the imagination? Do you like it if an author uses them, or do they distract you rather? Even if the descriptions given by the author are more or less spot-on?

 

Discuss! I'm curious!

[Myr]

Character pics are okay and give a nice feel, but I get concerned over what the guy in the picture might feel over his picture being used for a gay character (famous or not)...

[gottalme508]

Hmmm... I like character pix, but at the same time, would it take away from the writting?

because each person has his/her own idea of what the characters should look like and/or act like. So if there were to be character pix, would that force a general look of socially imposed standards of beauty onto these characters? If to each person beauty is individual, and these pictures will be chosen by someone whose ideal beauty is different from someone else's, would that in the end only take away from the art? Would it rip away the uniqueness (is that a word?) of each character and the individuality of each reader?

 

My concern is that at some point, a reader will think: "What? No! That is NOT what he looks like!!" Shattering the magic of the writting?

If writting is a form of escapesm (sp) would the picture destroy the purpose of it?

What happened to imagination?

 

I suppose that regardless of what pictures are posted, the images of the characters that I already have in my head are unshakeable. Like Harry Potter, when I'm reading the book, Harry does not look like the actor from the movies. And I even have a friend who is offended by the movies because she feels that it takes away from the books. :wacko:

[Comicality]

You know? Even when some sites use character pics, I kinda tend to ignore them and use my imagination. See, I have had certain people or faces in mind while writing, whether they're people I know, people I've seen around town, or celebrities. And for ME, that particular look and movement and image is perfect. But to other people who may have had a preconceived notion of who the characters are, it can kinda ruin the illusion. You know?

 

The reason I never use pics is because I believe that the characters become more beautiful, more comfortable, when each individual reader gets the opportunity to make them up for themselves. It connects them more to the story, and that can really have a powerful effect on whether or not they care about the characters. I like that added bonus of letting them choose the face of the characters.

 

However, on the German version of the Shack Outback, there are translated versions of the stories, and an artist added some drawn sketches that were amazingly done! Not only did they illustrate certain key scees in the story, but they still left enough mystery where the reader could make the characters their own. I really liked those! Other than that, just words on a page is enough for me.

[Frank Aiden Ryan]

Okay, it looks like the votes so far are against character pics. I sort of suspected they would be. I had certain reservations about using them as well and since I got a new site to play around with, I had a choice. I think I won't go with it. Even when I still *had* the character pics up and I posted all the pics I had collected in my Yahoo group (called frank-aiden-ryan if you're interested) I can detect a growing disliking for them when I wrote this a few months ago:

 

When I was first discussing putting up character photos with my friend and writer buddy Jason Trower, I was totally against it. I felt none of the character photos did any justice to the characters I imagined, simply because these guys were celebs. We know who Devon Sawa is. I only chose his photo because he - somewhat - resembles Robbie Mayflower there. But nothing more than that. In my mind's eye (and probably in yours, too) the characters just look a bit different.

Devon Sawa as Robbbie is perhaps the closest hit. Though as I imagined Robbie, the eyes are certainly bluer. The hair is a bit different. The jawline just doesn't fit. Stuff like that gives me nightmares just looking at that pic. Plus, I don't want Robbie Mayflower growing into that prick we saw in that Eminem video. Good acting on Devon's part, but c'mon - That's not Robbie.

Scott Fremont was initially based on Vincent Kartheiser and I'm still quite happy with that picture of him. I've got a bunch more, but none of them really CAPTURE Scott Fremont. Vincent is just too cutesy in that pic. Too huggable for a Fremonster. Plus, I've recently learned that Vincent Kartheiser will star in the Buffy spin-off Angel as Angel's son. I assume Vincent is about my age nowadays, a bit younger perhaps, so there's always a risk of him becoming decidely less attractive than I imagined him to be. Think what happened to Devon Sawa. There's always the risk that, as a writer, you stop describing what you had imagined, but start describing what you see in the picture. If there are any comic book fans out there, compare the X-men before and after the movie. The difference in looks. See how Wolverine now looks like Hugh Jackman? On a positive note, can anyone imagine Gandalf nowadays without thinking of Sir Ian McKellen?

I've therefore deliberately chosen not to go with character pics for Jamie's Seven Wishes. I've included the map with candidates I had collected for Kevin for you guys to see - by the way, two of those guys are models that pose naked. How cool is that.- and by the time you receive this, I will have uploaded a rough sketch I did of Gaea's Tear to that very folder. Since that thing is as much a character in the story, I thought it deserved a picture. The precise look of it is also a little hard to imagine - it took me close to a dozen sketches - so I think it will help a lot.

 

That said, I only regret not having the wonderful photoshop merge of Jonathan Jackson, a young Devon Sawa and german singer Gil Ofarim posing in a group shot as Jason, Robbie and Scott. It's a wonderful picture and even sort of captures the feel of First Impressions, so I think I'm going to leave that on the front page of my Yahoo group as it is.

 

On the other hand, I would *love* to have Manga/Yaoi esque pics of my characters. That style is pretty nondescript in depicting characters as it is - the only thing you can really do with it is capture hair style, clothing style and eye colors - but it always makes the characters inherently adorable. And being so typical in look, it still allows for the reader to create their own mental picture. Which is a good thing too. I remember reading that Comsie based New Kid's Ryan on a guy that looked like James van der Beek. I happen to share Randy's absolute crush on Ryan, but I can't imagine him looking like James van der Eek! there, because I find him staggeringly unattractive. No offense, James. You're just no Ryan *grinz*

 

Any more opinions?

[Guest Elfguy]

I think you're right that photo's are a bad idea. This manga/whatsit pics though... I'd really like that!

[Frank Aiden Ryan]

I'm all for it too. Comsie, any chance of you putting in a good word for me to that artist that did yours? (I can't FIND any of them though....)

 

Other than that, any talented manga/yaoi artists out there who would like to get their work published online and get credit for it?

[Taima Matsumushi]

Well, if you're looking for manga-type drawings, I can help you out there. I'm the guy who drew the pic of Harry & Draco for Myr's site (I've improved a lot since then, too). I've got some more samples of my work linked below;

 

 

http://www.taima.topcities.com/EzraxOliver1.JPG

A pic of one of my characters in "Talents" (Ezra, the one with the Star of David necklace) and my friend icy_hugs's character Oliver (the one with light-colored hair).

 

http://www.taima.topcities.com/BlakevonDeen3.jpg

Blake von Deen, a character in my previous project, "Orphans".

 

http://www.taima.topcities.com/CyxYamato5.JPG

Cyx Yamato, ditto as above.

 

http://www.taima.topcities.com/Grim1.jpg

Grim, a somewhat recurring character in my work.

 

http://www.taima.topcities.com/JustinvonDeen3.jpg

Blake von Deen's older brother, Justin. A bit of a sadist.

 

http://www.taima.topcities.com/PirusMonroe.jpg

Pretty-boy villain from the same story as above.

 

http://www.taima.topcities.com/Zurrow.JPG

Zurrow, a character from "Orphans" who has been re-created as Ryan Evanwood in "Talents".

[Guest Geoff]

Character pics are ok, I guess....but the ones I've seen are never as I imagine the characters.

[BillM]

Hey Taima Matsumushi, do you reckon you could draw a manga type character for me pls?

[Taima Matsumushi]

Sure, -{BM}-, I can draw something for ya!

 

What do you want? ^^ I can't really do color, I'm sorry to say... I don't have Photoshop or anything.

 

Email me with descriptions/info, or what have you. My addy is belladonna113@hotmail.com

Edited February 16, 2004 by Taima Matsumushi

[Angela Mynah]

A number of stories start off with the disclaimer "Any similarity between the characters portrayed in this story and any real person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental". It seems to me a little odd to follow that up with a photograph of the imaginary character!

 

Further, as it is unlikely that the author has had permission to use the photograph from either the subject or the photographer, there is both a copyright issue and one of privacy.

 

Lastly, imagine how you would feel if you came across a picture of either yourself or your son and found that it was as a Paedophile or a victim of one. Wouldn't you be rather concerned as to who else saw it?

 

My view lies firmly in the 'no' camp, I have to add that I get as much enjoyment writing the descriptions of my characters as I hope my readers do when they reach that part of the story.

[GREEN]

I drew a picture for Dom luka's the log way. I kept it extremely vague it almost looks like a shadow of a person. I think doing it that way keeps the character in peoples mind but gives you something to look at the same time. If you want to see it, it's in the files section of his group.

 

I also drew my avatar it's the picture for my story.

[Crackerwriter]

I totally agree with Comicality. I would NEVER even consider putting a pic to my characters, since like him, I believe the reader forms their own picture in their mind. I know I have for each character I've written about. Of course some of them were real live people, so I'd never put a pic of them in!

 

The more a reader gets into a story, the stronger their imagined picture of the character gets I think, and this adds realism to the story. It's why I'm purposely never over descriptive of the character, prefering the reader with imagination to conjure up their own ideal pic.

[Aleric]

Lastly, imagine how you would feel if you came across a picture of either yourself or your son and found that it was as a Paedophile or a victim of one. Wouldn't you be rather concerned as to who else saw it? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It would be better not to link the word "victim' with 'paedophile' like that.

You may link 'victim' with 'rape' or 'sexual abuse', but not with with

'paedophile' (which refers to someone attracted to kids, not even to

someone actually having sex with kids (read: playing erotic tinted games

with kids).

 

Also, the stories on this site show that we ALL think that 'gay' should

be linked with ROMANCE and true LOVE.

 

Let that count for every relationship, independent of age. Hence, no

'victim' as prejustice here, please. There are no victims in our stories,

even though there might be a paedophile here and there.

 

Aleric

Edited January 28, 2005 by Aleric

[Patrickgay17]

I would have to agree on the negative character pics. I feel that character pics take away from the story. It's like with the Harry Potter books (which I constantly read). I read the books and then watched the movie when they came out and a lot of the things were different than how I invisioned them. It dosen't leave anything up to the imagination.

[reapersharvest]

I'm against character pics, I don't want to tell the reader what to see. Brief descriptions allow the reader to form their own mental picture, an image they relate to. It's easier to keep the character in mind when reading rather than trying to rememebr a specific image.

 

I don't know if anyone will get what I mean by that.

[moonspenders]

I have to say I prefer leaving things up to the imagination myself too...

 

When i write about characters, I prefer to either have a mental image or work from a photograph, but i'd never include it in the work. My idea behind that is using an image to go from to create my descriptions but still leaving it up to the reader to paint their own picture, which usually will be somewhat similar but never exact.

 

We get so used to TV and movies where we don't need to use our imaginations that I think it's healthy to make the gears turn once again. LOL

[reapersharvest]

true, and then there's the situation where the story is good, but you don't like the way the character looks. That's partly why I like some leewway in terms of physical appearance, people have their own tastes.

[Lor83b]

I don't really pay attention to character pictures, I find that it's better for me to imagine the characters rather then rely on a picture of someone, especially of someone who is famous. However, I think unfamous photos of people (i.e. Hot or Not. com) or drawings are better if an author wants to include character pictures for the story.

Edited March 5, 2005 by Lor83b

[reapersharvest]

As I continue Underworld, there are some things for which i would like to add photos or illustrations. But only certain objects or locations.