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Ideas for the Animated Short
Editor's there has been an issue with the book's companion site. Focal Press is fixing the issue. In the meanwhile, please visit for all the material promised in the book. From demo reel creation to festival shorts, students and professionals alike are creating animated shorts that are dynamic and eye catching but the time constraints of these shorts are challenging in their own right. The unique format of the animated short of two to five minutes in length presents a practical and aesthetic challenge that is rarely addressed in the classroom. Ideas for the Animated Short is a comprehensive and practical blueprint for creative and unique animated short creation with a focus on the strength of a compelling story. A comprehensive guide to the animated short, this title is an invaluable asset for aspiring animation professionals, students and independent filmmakers. Explore the process of developing a short from conception to final delivery and adapt the industry's best practices in your own workflow. Written by four leading animators, artists and professors, Ideas for the Animated Short is written from the unique perspective of a professional animator adapting creative stories into incredible animated shorts.
Follow from start to finish the creation of an animated short from the pre-production thought process to story development and character design. Explore the best practices and avoid the common pitfalls of creating two to five minute shorts. Watch a specially created animated short, demonstrating the core techniques and principles at the companion website! Packed with illustrated examples of idea generation, character and story development, acting, dialogue and storyboarding practice this is your conceptual toolkit proven to meet the challenges of this unique art form. The companion website includes in-depth interviews with industry insiders, short animations (many with accompanying animatics, character designs and environment designs) and an acting workshop to get your animated short off to a flying start! With all NEW content on script writing, acting, sound design and visual storytelling that further enhance your animated shorts and apply the industry best practices to your own projects.
Follow from start to finish the creation of an animated short from the pre-production thought process to story development and character design. Explore the best practices and avoid the common pitfalls of creating two to five minute shorts. Watch a specially created animated short, demonstrating the core techniques and principles at the companion website! Packed with illustrated examples of idea generation, character and story development, acting, dialogue and storyboarding practice this is your conceptual toolkit proven to meet the challenges of this unique art form. The companion website includes in-depth interviews with industry insiders, short animations (many with accompanying animatics, character designs and environment designs) and an acting workshop to get your animated short off to a flying start! With all NEW content on script writing, acting, sound design and visual storytelling that further enhance your animated shorts and apply the industry best practices to your own projects.
- GenresNonfictionArtFilm
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
16 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 11, 2009
Story is king.
I've that idea drilled into me after watching the behind-the-scenes documentaries and audio commentary from Pixar movies. I even make mp3 audio files out of the DVDs just to listen to the story!
I'm reading this book just to learn more about story structure, to understand what makes a good story. As the title suggest, it's targeted at making animated short films. Most of the story principles work for feature length film as well, as shown through the multiple examples in the book.
Chapter 1 talks on the core elements that must exist in a story. It also introduces the basic structure of a story.
Chapter 2 is on building content for the story, different ways at looking at the stories, and places to start from when searching for ideas.
Chapter 3 is on exploring human emotions and motivations, and how these can be used to create a believable character people can relate to.
Chapter 4 is on character and set design. There are tips on creating character profiles, designing appealing characters, building functional location sets.
Chapter 5 talks specifically on building a story using the story structure introduced. There are techniques in creating conflict between characters and understanding endings.
Chapter 6 explains the role dialogue plays, and how to use it in the story effectively.
Chapter 7 and 8 are on storyboarding and staging. There are tips on camera moves, pacing, composition and many other production techniques.
Every chapter comes with a lot of examples to emphasis the lesson points. And all these lesson points always go back to building that better story. At the end is always an interview with someone in the animation industry relating back to the chapter's subject.
After reading this book, it made me appreciate animated movies even more. Story is king. Audience can never forgive a lousy story, even if the film is lavished with state of the art visual eye candies. Story is the only thing that separates the good from the great.
The write up isn't too technical. It explains how storytelling works to people not in the industry. This book is more than highly recommended, I'll say it's essential for anyone into creating animation.
This review was first published on parkablogs.com. There are more pictures and videos on my blog.
I've that idea drilled into me after watching the behind-the-scenes documentaries and audio commentary from Pixar movies. I even make mp3 audio files out of the DVDs just to listen to the story!
I'm reading this book just to learn more about story structure, to understand what makes a good story. As the title suggest, it's targeted at making animated short films. Most of the story principles work for feature length film as well, as shown through the multiple examples in the book.
Chapter 1 talks on the core elements that must exist in a story. It also introduces the basic structure of a story.
Chapter 2 is on building content for the story, different ways at looking at the stories, and places to start from when searching for ideas.
Chapter 3 is on exploring human emotions and motivations, and how these can be used to create a believable character people can relate to.
Chapter 4 is on character and set design. There are tips on creating character profiles, designing appealing characters, building functional location sets.
Chapter 5 talks specifically on building a story using the story structure introduced. There are techniques in creating conflict between characters and understanding endings.
Chapter 6 explains the role dialogue plays, and how to use it in the story effectively.
Chapter 7 and 8 are on storyboarding and staging. There are tips on camera moves, pacing, composition and many other production techniques.
Every chapter comes with a lot of examples to emphasis the lesson points. And all these lesson points always go back to building that better story. At the end is always an interview with someone in the animation industry relating back to the chapter's subject.
After reading this book, it made me appreciate animated movies even more. Story is king. Audience can never forgive a lousy story, even if the film is lavished with state of the art visual eye candies. Story is the only thing that separates the good from the great.
The write up isn't too technical. It explains how storytelling works to people not in the industry. This book is more than highly recommended, I'll say it's essential for anyone into creating animation.
This review was first published on parkablogs.com. There are more pictures and videos on my blog.
August 2, 2022
چیزی که از این کتاب تا همیشه باهام میمونه تایم لاینیه که از روال روایت داستان ترسیم کرده. اکثر فیلم ها روی این محور قرار میگیرن.
قسمتی که با کاراکتر ها آشنا میشیم. شادی هاشون یا آسودگی هاشون ترسیم میشه و ...
لزوما نکات کتاب برای داستان کوتاه نیست. به نظرم خیلی از فیلم های هالیوود و ... هم روی همین اصول بنا شدن و البته خیلی از انیمیشن های کوتاه رو این اصول نیستن.
روی هم رفته اگر برگردم عقب باز هم میخونمش.
قسمتی که با کاراکتر ها آشنا میشیم. شادی هاشون یا آسودگی هاشون ترسیم میشه و ...
لزوما نکات کتاب برای داستان کوتاه نیست. به نظرم خیلی از فیلم های هالیوود و ... هم روی همین اصول بنا شدن و البته خیلی از انیمیشن های کوتاه رو این اصول نیستن.
روی هم رفته اگر برگردم عقب باز هم میخونمش.
August 25, 2019
Every film really needs some form of beginning, middle, and end, whether it is a short tone poem or a character-driven narrative.
This book has useful information about storytelling.
This book has useful information about storytelling.
December 30, 2022
All in a nutshell 🦄
August 16, 2013
A practical toolkit that could be useful not only for animators, but for anyone who wants to create a story for a short movie. It unfolds the structure of the story and pays attention to the obstacles in building characters, conflicts, etc.
Also I enjoyed very much the given examples :)
Great book, indeed. I recommend it. And don't forget: Story is a king!
Also I enjoyed very much the given examples :)
Great book, indeed. I recommend it. And don't forget: Story is a king!
May 25, 2014
A survey of different techniques to generate character, plot, visuals. Did not present any one technique extremely memorably. Still was an easy read and helpful as a breadth-first exploration.
November 29, 2012
A useful companion for professionals
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews