Customer Reviews

Acting for Animators, Revised Edition: A Complete Guide to Performance Animation

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In case you were wondering why all of four people who reviewed this book gave it five stars, it's because a certain 'friend' of Mr. Hooks has taken to having Amazon remove all reviews who don't directly correspond to her own opinion.

Let me just say that while the book is slightly useful, it's nothing you can't learn on your own by watching the way people move in real life. The book contains useful tidbits, like how characters should always be doing something, and there needs to be a purpose behind every action. The explainations of different acting theories are less helpful, at least to me, but much of the book is helpful in giving your characters convincing personalities. My suggestion is that you should get the book, but definitely never attend one of Mr. Hooks' workshops, since they present nothing new that isn't in the book (and perhaps even less) and cost about ten times more.

And to that certain 'friend' of Mr. Hooks. If you truly 'respect my opinion' then I should have just as much right to review here as anyone else. That is what amazon reviews are for.

Mr. Hooks has succeeded in condensing years of experience teaching his internationally recognized Master Class "Acting for Animators" into a manageably sized and reasonably priced book & CD combination. This is an expanded 2nd Edition of a title first published in 2000 and now in use around the world, as a source manual and text book, by industry leading professional animators as well as animation students in the most highly regarded animation schools.

Traditional 2D, contemporary 3D, and experimental animators devoted to "telling a story" with their characters will relish the wealth of straightforward insight presented on topics critical to character design and animations development such as movement and body language, power centers, using psychological gestures, scene development, knowing the audience, and much more.

Dispersed throughout "Acting for Animators"- entertainingly illustrating the principals discussed in each chapter- are delightful little line drawn characters from the pen of renowned animator and director Paul Naas. And, not only does this unique and timely book contain a remarkable "Acting Analysis" of the groundbreaking and sure to be classic feature length animation "Iron Giant," it opens with a glowing forward by the film's Director, Brad Bird.

Ed Hooks is the original and still leading "Acting for Animators" teacher called upon by animation studios and schools in the United States and overseas. The contents of this book parallel his teaching perfectly.

Speaking as an animator in training and a Producer in action- who has had the good fortune to participate in Ed Hooks' recent Master Class in Denver after first meeting him as an acting student in California at the beginning of his now 20 year career as a highly regarded stage, tv & film acting coach- I say this is a "must have" for any animator who wants their work to stand out from the pack and grab the audience by the funny bone and/or the heart!

Consult "Acting for Animators" right along with Richard Williams' "The Animator's Survival Kit" and your animations will rock!

Anne-Elizabeth
Denver, Colorado
inside@centralvectors.com

I wish I read this book years ago. I've been animating professionaly for years, but there's information in this book that has given me a different mind set into accomplishing what I need to create.
I've always been able to 'see' faults in my work and fix it without knowing consiously how I made the error in the first place. Now, after reading this book I take a new vantage point and can prevent any errors occuring (usually). I think my style of animation has changed a little too.

The book is fun to read and the chapters are straight to the point. Recommended to every animator.

I am an animation student beginning my study of acting. This book has proved invaluable. It takes you through step by step how to act out a scene (showing the difference between live acting and animated acting when possible). It briefly touches on the Laban acting method which I had never heard before and tells you just enough to let you know you don't know anything about it. The CD accompanying the book shows some video samples of Laban which seemed pretty obvious and unnecessary. It didn't take away from the book. Just didn't add anything for me.

I've heard from so many animators that complain they weren't taught acting. This book is as close to an acting workshop as you'll ever get.

To be successful it is not enough for an animation to dazzle the audience visually. More importantly, it must tell a story in terms of the objectives and conflicts of its characters in a way that's new and surprising. And the audience must be able to empathize with its characters. Ed Hook's book is not only about acting for animators but also about the essence of good storytelling. It provides simple, easily employed techniques to create animations that appeal to people, whether they are 20 seconds long or two hours. And this book also gets you results. Sharon Coleman's first short animated film, Badgered, won an Oscar nomination in 2006 in part because she followed the principles in this book.

The book arrived the day the shipment predicted. I bought it used and it was in great condition, the CD was also still included.

Simple writing style, easy to follow techniques. This book has it all and will allow animators to see how vital a good expression of emotions can be to a final animation. It also explains how animators have to be more than actors, they have to be creators. I highly recommend this book for any animation student or hobbyist!

Ed Hooks' books are a must have for anyone serious about Animation and/or any character based type of storytelling. After getting used to his concepts it becomes second nature to look at scenes and put the finger right on the problem, if it has any.

as an animator it is the most valuable book that I have read on Acting.

The book is for all animators who wants learn more about acting process.

It's an essential book.