Stream Scene Ep. 67: Being a Character Streamer
By KindlyAthena There are many reasons you may want to become a Character Streamer. It could be anything from wanting to protect your identity to just having an idea and wanting to find a way to express yourself creatively. In this episode of the Stream Scene, our hosts Lowco and TheHunterWild are joined by special guests BennyFits & BizSnes as they discuss what being a Character streamer is like and give you ideas to get started.
Forging the idea
One of the first steps of building a character for streaming is figuring out what you want it to look and sound like. It’s important to find a look that is personalized for you and if you want to use your voice or an alternate voice for your Character.
Benny Fits mentions how he changed the look to better fit a gamer look and created a new personality for him. In the creation of his character, he used a concept called “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) where the idea is to push a product as quickly as possible and build on it from there.
Whether you take a few days or a couple of years, creating your character is monumental in the process of having a successful Character-driven channel.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpQtT2ebc0M[/embedyt]How does it work?
After the idea is in place, the next step is executing it. How will you make your character come to life? Some users have to recreate their whole stream set up to accommodate for their character streams. One of the biggest hurdles mentioned is playing games AND controlling your character.
To overcome that challenge, BennyFits and BizSnes both talk about configuring their controller to be able to play with just one hand while controlling their puppets with the other.
Another challenge character streamers face is creating the illusion. To be a successful character streamer, it takes a lot of work to keep your physical self out of view while still creating a clean scene for your character.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDERy3055j0[/embedyt]Anonymity
Protecting your anonymity is highly important for the success of a Character streamer. There are always going to be some people who try to invade your anonymity and finding ways to “sell” your character is a huge plus.
One way that BizSnes mentions is creating a backstory to your puppet as a very creative way to redirect their questions. By giving your character its own personality and story, you are able to make them seem just a little more real to the audience.
Another way to maintain the idea of your character is to ignore questions any questions you receive about your identity as if your character doesn’t know they’re a puppet. When going with this approach, it will hopefully silence the questions and everyone can continue being invested in the illusion.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC33mD0Tlmw[/embedyt]Sharing the magic on screen and in person
You could go to a magic show and you could try to figure out the tricks, but would you want to know?
One of the awesome things about becoming a character streamer is sharing the magic with others. Being able to create this character and make up their individual backstory then having it come to life on screen and in person is quite rewarding!
It’s important to decide how much you want to invest into your persona when meeting your fans.
One important fact to remember is the community is built around your character and they’re taking front stage. BizSnes and BennyFits both mention that having a physical character and visiting Cons, fans always want to know where the character is. They love the idea of being able to take pictures with the character and even get some behind the scenes look on how it operates.
Whether it’s a magic show or a character streamer, creating that kind of magic on screen and in-person are some of the most crucial things to do when building your community.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byFjLmQl6xs[/embedyt]Character Community
Our guests in this episode mention that the Character community is a decent size where it currently is, but anticipate that it will keep growing from here. If more people can repeat the processes that they have, it will help build the sub-genre of character streamers across all streaming platforms.
Below are some of the ones mentioned in this episode to check out and maybe even get some ideas for your Character stream!
SayHeyRocco – A Cat pirate known for pooping in closets when mom doesn’t let him do what he wants.
LarryIRL – A whatsit from down under who’s ridiculous antics and smooth talk will draw you in just close enough for him to get your wallet (I think that’s who has it anyway)
RapheePlays – A monster from the United Kingdom (a clearly made-up place) who knows facts about video games and when he doesn’t, makes them up.
Dorak – A red monster on Mixer which, clearly, makes him the first candidate for the antagonist in a BennyFits anime series. Until the two of us realize we’re both the opposing souls of the twin dragons and must unite to fight a greater evil.
PerceptionStudio – A group who play video games and Dungeons and Dragons. The latter of which I call shenanigans on because there’s no way they’ve consulted the rule books. I swear they’re winging it.
We’ve created a highlights playlist for this week’s episode and in it, you can find the best tidbits. We hope to see you next week on the next episode of The Stream Scene titled “The State of Creative on Twitch”
To find the full episode, you can follow the video below or catch Stream Scene live every Monday at 5PM EST. Special thanks to our guests: BennyFits & BizSnes for joining us this week!