Fine Tuning Ideas
Inglis Thorburn. While developing my ideas for 'Minty Cool, Minty Cool' I was conscious of the need for simplicity. I draw comic characters for a living and normally add a reasonable amount of subtle detail but knowing I would have to draw hundreds of animation cells I decided to keep things as simple as possible. I simplified the main character's hair to save drawing time but also to provide a vehicle for the sleepy-head hair joke. I also tried simplifying his pyjamas by using wider stripes but the result looked more like a football strip so I had to revert to thin stripes.
With the story and visual concept sorted, it's time to develop some of the detail. Characters need to be thought through. If the story takes place in a setting, the environment also needs to be designed. Most importantly the animator should never lose sight of the available resources such as budget, time and man power.
While developing ideas for 'Minty Cool, Minty Cool' Inglis Thorburn aimed to bring some clarity to his characters and to begin roughly sketching the key stages of the animation in a sequence. By now he had decided to make his story approximately 1 minute long. From now on his challenge was to make his animation appear to run smoothly and naturally within that timeframe. He knew he would have to do most of the work himself so planned to keep his idea as simple as possible.
Inglis has a particular drawing style that he has developed as an illustrator but his choice of colour and tone for 'Minty Cool, Minty Cool', was also key to the mood of the final piece. Dark subdued colours may have given the story an unintended menacing or nightmare twist.
The drawing below illustrates how Inglis simplified his main character.
