Character Design
Character design involves developing the appearance and features of characters in an animation. Often an actual model (often referred to as a maquette) will be produced using modelling clay in order to get a better idea of the appearance of the character. Model Sheets and Expression Sheets are produced to help animators be consistent with the appearance of characters. Simplicity is the general rule to remember when developing characters. The more complex the character the harder it is to repeat over and over. Character Line-up Sheets are also produced to compare the scale of the characters against one another.
When developing the 'Bed-head' character for 'Minty Cool Minty Cool', Inglis was mainly concerned with conveying the 'just got out of bed' look. This is expressed with the tired eyes, mouth and sticky-up hair.
Model Sheets
The following Model Sheets depict the two characters from 'Minty Cool Minty Cool'. Model Sheets are an essential reference tool to enable the animator to appreciate characters from all angles. On large-scale animation productions model sheets help multiple animators to accurately maintain character detail. Expression Sheets may also be developed as a guide to character facial expressions, such as, smiling, laughing, sad, shocked, startled, sleepy, alert, thoughtful, concerned etc.
