On March 24, we had another opportunity to visit our academic production partner, Dasein Academy of Art, for a second workshop titled “Characterization and World Building“. This time, we brought not only the knowledge to be shared with the students, but also the experience we had at HK Filmart 2026!
Understanding Characterization and World Building
At its core, the workshop idea was simple: helping students understand what it really takes to bring a character and their world to life across different creative industries.
We broke it down into five essential ideas, beginning with Format. Because where a story lives changes how it’s told. A character designed for a game behaves differently from one in a toy line, a storybook, or a film — and understanding that difference is where smart creation begins.
From there, we dove into Character Coding — not in the programming sense, but in the way creators define a character from the ground up. Who are they, visually and physically? What’s their story in a single sentence? What drives them, what holds them back, and where do they belong? It’s these details from their appearance, personality, to purpose — that transform a concept into someone you can actually believe in.
Then came the bigger picture: World-Building. Because no character exists in isolation. A character is only as compelling as the world they exist in, react to, and are shaped by. The environment is more than just a backdrop for the character, it has its own story to tell.
Exercise and Play!
To bring everything together, students were given scenes from “Kappa” — our upcoming animated feature film, which they had already been contributing concept art to. Their challenge was to reimagine these moments by designing the characters and environments within it, then adapting them into a format of their choice — whether as a series, a game, a toy concept, or even a short story.
Each group then stepped forward to pitch their concepts — complete with story direction, design thinking, and a clear sense of how their chosen format shaped the experience. And just like in a real studio environment, we evaluated their pitches based on one simple question: Would this get picked up?
Workshops like these are a reminder of why we do what we do — creating spaces where ideas can be tested, challenged, and pushed further. Seeing how each group approached the materials given to them so uniquely helps us realize just how much potential is out there waiting to be shaped.
This is just one step in a much bigger journey. Follow XZV Studio and Kappa on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes moments, workshop highlights, and updates on what we’re building next!