First Major Project: Research for Ideas in relation to characterization of aliens

 (BBC)Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy ep01

The title screen to The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

I watched the hitchikers guide to the galaxy during my idea accumulation phase, I examined ford prefect especially, his character is fairly interesting, his slightly alien outlook on life and the way he's characterized by  David Dixon. 

I focused on his demeanor, how he talks and thinks, slightly out of phase with the rest of the scene, a quiet intensity, and consistent good cheer. He does however have a darker side, his alien-ness means that while the earth is about to be demolished he doesn't tell anyone, waits until the last day and tells Arthur just before the end of the earth, he seems comes across as self centered however looking deeper this is simply his character seeping through, the demolition of earth is like the demolition of a small house in a village a hundred miles away, he's just on earth, a visitor, and he doesn't really seem to care.- this exemplifies how inconsequential earth is to the rest of the galaxy.

David Dixon as Ford Prefect

technically speaking ford prefect is a vehicle for exposition, for world building,, a character to explain to the audience and  Arthur whats going on. as a character he's an archetypal monster, cares little for the benefit of others outside life and death situations. he's the sort of character you'd enjoy during the good times,a character that would save your life, but only yours, otherwise hes self centered and seems to be a little bit millennial. 

(BBC)Dr Who ep1 (2015)

Dr Who Logo

I also examined the current incarnation of The Doctor(played by Peter Capaldi) from Dr who. to see the other end of the spectrum, both the doctor and ford are similar, and yet almost polar opposites, they're both self centered, the doctor is intelligent, good, sarcastic, witty and angry, has a deep self loathing, and will help. he's not the most archetypal person, but yet a monster all the same.

Peter Capaldi as The Doctor

from a technical perspective, the doctor is the main character, he's a hero and a monster at the same time, its interesting how well this works, since the 50th anniversary special his motivation to continue living has been to try and find Galifrey, he no-longer feels remorse and sadness for destroying Galifrey, he now knows that  the planet's lost and he knows he cant possibly search for it, space is too big. so he feels a white hot self hatred, its a really interesting take on a classic character.

I looked at these two characters and TV shows primarily to help in the creation of Mia Madeline, I had a vague idea before hand of how I wanted her character. I used these two characters to decide how i wanted her to express her alien origins, how she speaks and walks, how she's presented as a character.