Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writers, Filmmakers, Video Artist, and Game Developer Should Know [Paperback]

Ellen Besen (Author), Bryce Hallett (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

Make your animation say what you want it to say. Animation's potential as a powerful tool for communication is just beginning to be understood. This book reveals key principles, useful for both professionals and beginners, which will help you harness the full power of this exciting and ever expanding medium.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932907491
• ISBN-13: 978-1932907490
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 11 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! Makes you think about "the big picture" ie your story as a whole., September 26, 2008

By 

Eric Foley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writers, Filmmakers, Video Artist, and Game Developer Should Know (Paperback)

Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writers, Filmmakers, Video Artist, and Game Developer Should KnowThis is an excellent book. There are plenty of "How To" books on the market. Very few if any cover the "What and the Why". This book gets the reader to really think about how they are putting it all together. To analyze your animation, not just worry about creating a convincing walk cycle but how the characters design and movement and the background and camera choice etc etc etc all come together. Basically like the description says it's about how to get the most out of your films.

How often have you watched a cartoon or movie and thought "Why did they do it that way? That makes no sense." This book is designed to help you not do that. It is designed to get you thinking about your story and your characters and the world you are creating and pushing it further.

For example why would you have stairs on a world populated by aliens with wheels instead of feet? If you have to draw an element, a road for example, could it somehow be incorporated to reveal more about your characters or story? Why did you choose one design over another..perhaps there is a better way. Probably there is so why merely place things on the screen when you have the power to manipulate them anyway you want. "Animation Unleashed" forces you to put some thought into it.

In animation you can control everything right down to the frame and with just a little bit of critical thinking you can elevate a mediocre animation (or any storytelling) to something GOOD if not GREAT!

This book should be on every serious storyteller's shelf wether you work in Animation or any visual storytelling medium.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great guide for any writer, screenwriter, or artist, October 23, 2008

By 

Chad Gervich - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writers, Filmmakers, Video Artist, and Game Developer Should Know (Paperback)

I'm not an animator, but for me-- as a writer-- the strength of "Animation Unleashed" wasn't that it explained animation (it actually delves very little into the practical processes of animation or how animated films get made), but how it teaches you to think like an animator. In animation, the book explains, everything is analogy... everything takes place in alternate or heightened reality. As a result, artists and writers approach animation slightly differently... it's more visual, sound and music are used in unique ways, characters are larger, the types of stories that succeed are slightly different, etc. That's where "Animation Unleashed" is invaluable... by detailing how animators and animation writers create cartoons, it helps non-animation writers think about traditional writing and storytelling in new ways. This is a book I'll reach for whenever I'm blocked... or can't break a story... or can't get my ahead around a particular character. It's also a book I'll use just to get my imagination thinking differently. Whether you're an animation writer or not, this is a great addition to your writing-book library!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this book takes off like a rocket, November 19, 2008

By 

Mike E "MPP of the North" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writers, Filmmakers, Video Artist, and Game Developer Should Know (Paperback)

Yes!!! This is the type of book I've been waiting for. I work independently at my animation projects and live in an area that is quite isolated so I often have to rely on reference material. ANIMATION UNLEASHED is of great benefit to me. Ellen Besen has created a wonderful work that deals with a lot of material that isn't covered in the other books that I own. I find it fills in many of the blanks that existed in my other reference material.

This book follows the film process from beginning to end discussing the thinking process and the questions one must consider when developing your ideas. Everything from writing a script, developing characters, film structure, sound, animation techniques and performance right through to backgrounds and special effects are treated in the same exploratory manner. Each chapter is broken up into very informative, concise, and well written sections all accompanied by Bryce Hallett's wonderful illustrations. It doesn't necessarily dig deeply into the nuts and bolts of technique, but explores the decisions one should consider during the creative process to best communicate your story.

It takes off like a rocket with some very important and helpful information. It begins with a discussion of analogy and its relationship with animation. In the first few sentences the author begins to lay a new foundation for thought on how to take advantage of your story idea. The book explores the role caricature plays in animation, twisting and turning the subject in ways that open your mind to aspects of its use that aren't always obvious, but very essential to a successful film. The same process is applied to encourage new thinking about movement in your animation, the use of fantasy and reality, as well as creating your own universe. There is a discussion concerning the uncovering of core ideas by encouraging the use of visual exploration to avoid generic thinking. I have found this book very helpful from beginning to end in helping me avoid just that.

Ellen Besen and Bryce Hallet have done a wonderful job here. This book will be a valuable and essential tool in my library. I would encourage anyone interested learning about film making to add it to their library as well.