Nigel and Mabel
Nigel
Name: Nigel Valentine
Age: 80
Characteristics:
- Affectionate O.A.P
- Old fashioned and scruffy but wears a bow-tie to look smart for Mabel.
- Untidy because he runs a fruit and veg stall selling his own produce, where he's worked his whole life.
- Wears earthy and natural colours. His outfit is an old khaki jumper with a splash of colour from his dickey bow and matching braces.
Nigel has been infatuated with Mabel for many, many years and has constantly tried to show her his true feelings. However his attempts always fail in the most disastrous ways.
The key important areas of Nigel are his eyebrows and moustache as they will be used to convey a lot of emotion.
Age: 80
Characteristics:
- Affectionate O.A.P
- Old fashioned and scruffy but wears a bow-tie to look smart for Mabel.
- Untidy because he runs a fruit and veg stall selling his own produce, where he's worked his whole life.
- Wears earthy and natural colours. His outfit is an old khaki jumper with a splash of colour from his dickey bow and matching braces.
Nigel has been infatuated with Mabel for many, many years and has constantly tried to show her his true feelings. However his attempts always fail in the most disastrous ways.
The key important areas of Nigel are his eyebrows and moustache as they will be used to convey a lot of emotion.
Mabel
Name: Mabel Merryweather
Age: 75
Characteristics:
- Ex-factory worker
- Fiercely independent and won't stand for any nonsense.
- Wears plain, neutral colours and clothing that is simple and conservative to mirror her personality.
- Takes a lot of pride in her appearance, always having her hair done and never going out with her make-up.
Mabel is oblivious to the affections of Nigel, as she is at an age where she is not used to receiving male attention. Therefore she just sees Nigel as an old fool.
Age: 75
Characteristics:
- Ex-factory worker
- Fiercely independent and won't stand for any nonsense.
- Wears plain, neutral colours and clothing that is simple and conservative to mirror her personality.
- Takes a lot of pride in her appearance, always having her hair done and never going out with her make-up.
Mabel is oblivious to the affections of Nigel, as she is at an age where she is not used to receiving male attention. Therefore she just sees Nigel as an old fool.
Mood boards
We created moodboards which show the look and style that we wanted our puppets to have. There was inspiration from Suzie Templeton and the film Fantastic Mr Fox in terms of the texture and natural materials on the puppets, not worrying about the movement from animating.
Also very natural, earthy colours in the fabrics that the puppets may wear. Strong inspiration was taken from Last of the Summer Wine characters Compo and Nora Batty.
Also very natural, earthy colours in the fabrics that the puppets may wear. Strong inspiration was taken from Last of the Summer Wine characters Compo and Nora Batty.
Character Design
So Frank created some more character sketches which really finalised the look that we were working towards for Nigel and Mabel. These sketches also helped towards showing Nigel and Mabel's personalities and characteristics.
Elise and Bec worked on expression sheets for the two characters, trying to show the range of emotion that were applicable for both Nigel and Mabel.
Concept Art
Frank created some concept art which gave a bit more history into the ridiculous situations that Nigel got into trying to show his affections for Mabel, with her being completely oblivious the whole time. We had thought that these sorts of images could be incorporated into the film, in a type of montage, so that the audience got more of the background of the characters.