Lesson 9.2: Character Development and Voice Acting
Welcome, character creators and voice actors! A great story needs great characters. Today, you’ll learn how to design your own unique characters, give them personalities, and then bring them to life by recording your own voice to create dialogue.
What You’ll Learn
By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:
- Design a unique character with its own personality traits.
- Use your own voice to record dialogue for your character.
- Program a conversation between two or more characters.
- Bring a character to life with both personality and voice!
Your Character Creation Plan
The Secret to a Great Character (15 minutes)
- Let’s think about our favorite characters from movies or books. What makes them so memorable? (Are they brave? Funny? Grumpy?)
- You’ll become a character designer! Using our worksheet, you’ll invent a brand-new character. Think about:
- What do they look like?
- What is their personality like?
- What do they want?
Becoming a Voice Actor (20 minutes)
- Now, let’s give your character a voice! How would they talk? (Is their voice high or low? Do they talk fast or slow?)
- We’ll practice saying a line of dialogue in different ways to show different emotions.
- It’s time to record! You’ll use the microphone in Scratch Jr. to record the dialogue for your character.
Programming a Conversation (12 minutes)
- Let’s make our characters talk to each other!
- We’ll learn how to program a back-and-forth conversation.
- Your challenge is to make the timing feel natural, so the characters aren’t talking over each other.
Character Showcase! (3 minutes)
- Let’s see (and hear!) the amazing characters you’ve created.
- You can introduce your character and let us hear their voice.
- Let’s celebrate all the unique personalities that came to life today!
Your Creator’s Toolkit
- Character design worksheets to invent your character
- Your device with Scratch Jr. and a working microphone
- Headphones to help you focus while recording
- Cards with different personality traits (like “brave,” “silly,” “shy”) for inspiration
How to Be a Master Character Creator
- We’ll look at your character design sheet. How much detail did you put into their personality?
- The Voice Test: Did you successfully record a voice for your character and make them speak in your program?
- The creativity you show in both the design and the voice of your character will be your ticket to success!
New Tech Words to Master
- Character Development: The process of creating a believable character with its own personality.
- Voice Acting: Using your voice to bring a character to life.
- Dialogue: A conversation between two or more characters.
- Personality Traits: The special qualities that make a character unique (e.g., brave, kind, funny).