Developing Digital Short Films (Voices that Matter) [Paperback]

Sherri Sheridan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 073571231X | ISBN-13: 978-0735712317 | Publication Date: April 22, 2004

The film market is shifting toward traditional desktop technology to create productions...digitally. Unlike traditional film production, though, digital films require producers to employ a different pre-production process. Developing Digital Short Films explores how unique character and set designs, bluescreen ideas, special effects, and simple 2D character animation techniques can be used as narrative devices for telling stories. Part One focuses on generating visual ideas that are ideal for digital production and creating a short film script. Part Two focuses on the visual pre-production of a short film and the issues that go through a filmmaker's mind as they struggle with how best to present their stories; this includes topics like 101 camera shots, frame composition, developing a visual look and feel, color maps, and creating storyboards and animatics. Part Three explores the different production environments of DV, 2D and 3D, and how they shape the telling of stories based upon the technological strengths of each style.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sherri Sheridan is the Creative Director at Minds Eye Media (http://www.mindseyemedia.com) in San Francisco, where she spends her time creating all sorts of digital projects. Over the years she has directed, produced, animated, written, and designed projects for a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, major record labels, TV/cable stations, feature-film studios, advertising agencies, and video game companies. She is the co-author of Maya 2 Character Animation (New Riders, 1999).

Currently, Sherri is creating a series of international Developing Digital Short Films Workshops based on the ideas in this book. She is also writing, developing, and directing several original scripts for digitally enhanced shorts and feature films.

Over the years, Sherri has helped inspire thousands of graduate computer animation students from around the world, helping them to tell their own stories using their favorite digital tools, at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. While teaching these students, she started developing the foundation for a unique step-by-step digital visual storytelling process, which has grown into this wonderful book.

Before founding Minds Eye Media in 1995, she helped develop Shockwave Technology at Macromedia, and created the first Shockwave movies on the web. Sherri has a BA in English from U.C. Berkeley and went to San Francisco State to study interactive design and computer animation for her graduate work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press (April 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073571231X
• ISBN-13: 978-0735712317
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sherri is the leading world expert on teaching story to digital filmmakers and animators with her books, classes and workshops. Without a great story you have nothing to shoot or animate. Digital filmmaking and animation tools are getting cheaper and easier to use every day. Knowing how to tell a great visual story, people will want to watch, is one of the most important communication skills one can learn for the 21st century.

She is also the Creative Director at Minds Eye Media in San Francisco (www.MindsEyeMedia.com) and MyFlik.com where she directs, produces, animates, writes and designs projects for a wide range of clients. MyFlik.com is her new online movie studio and free film school.

Sherri is the co-author of the first big Maya book "Maya 2 Character Animation" published by New Riders in 1999. "Developing Digital Short Films" was her next book, and is now being used as a preproduction textbook in schools all over the world, published by New Riders, Peachpit, Pearson released in April of 2004. Recently she finished a new 20+ hour DVD class based on the books called "Writing A Great Script Fast," and returned from a worldwide teaching tour that included the country of China.

Currently she writes for Student Filmmakers Magazine. Over the years she has taught preproduction to 1000's of graduate digital filmmakers and animators at the Academy Of Art University in San Francisco. Before founding Minds Eye Media in 1995, she helped develop Shockwave Technology at Macromedia and created the first Shockwave movies on the web.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete How-To For Beginners, November 3, 2004

By 

V. Maciulski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Developing Digital Short Films (Voices that Matter) (Paperback)

Let me get this out of the way right up front. I love this book!

This book is the most complete book on the topic that I've seen so far. I've read a dozen books on script writing and story development and another half dozen on film making. Sheridan has created a one-stop resource. (I realize my previous study may have prepped me to "get" everything in this book.)

You can use this book to create any kind of film, be it "real action" shot with a dv camera, or animation or any combination of the two.

The book is divided into three parts, and each part has several chapters. As each chapter addresses a topic, there are "exercises" and "projects" to help you learn the topic lessons and develop your first film as you go through the book.

Part I is "Digital Storytelling." She starts out by covering how to come up with ideas for a film story. Her exercises will take you through brainstorming and writing to come up with several story ideas. Then she goes in depth with original characters, themes and metaphors, including all of the elements that make a good character, how to develop a character "arc." She explains what a theme in a film is and how to develop visual metaphors that define characters. Part I ends with a great section on plot points and how to add twists, turns and surprise to your plot to keep it interesting.

In Part II, she shows you how to use the three-act structure, create scenes and write a script. The CD-ROM includes a demo copy of Movie Magic Screenwriter that is fully functional and doesn't expire for producing short (40-pages or less). If you follow her steps, you will end up with a script.

Once you have your script, she tells you how to shoot it, how to make your shot choices, frame shots, and get the eye to go where you want it in a scene. I was really impressed with the section on how to design the color palette for your film to create the mood you want.

The book winds up with editing, making the editing choices, adding in special effects, sound effects, titles, etc. The CD-ROM also includes demo versions of Adobe After Effects (see my review on page 7) and Sonic Fire Pro. You can use the latter to add music to your film. After going through this book, I wanted to be like the kids in the old 40s movies - "Hey, kids, lets make a movie!"

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great teaching text!, August 22, 2004

By 

Davideo (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing Digital Short Films (Voices that Matter) (Paperback)

"Developing Digital Short Films" is filled with ideas, examples, and detailed exercises. I have been teaching students how to make digital films for a number of years, and I think this book is remarkable in its breadth-it is everything that I have always wanted wrapped into one volume. It can be used with young filmmakers in school as well as adults in workshops, and because it has so much material and some flexible options, you can choose from among the vast number of examples and exercises when teaching. The depth and structure of the book allow filmmakers to fully explore an idea, to deepen the examination of character and plot points, to spend extensive time on shot visualization, to ensure enough time in pre-production, and to use 2D and 3D effects to enhance their films. Every filmmaker and teacher knows that anyone can start a film or write a script-but creating one that effectively includes all of the necessary elements is difficult. "Developing Digital Short Films" is an answer to that problem.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just the thing to get you going, July 1, 2004

By 

"djsmeltzer" (Downers Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing Digital Short Films (Voices that Matter) (Paperback)

I felt compelled to add my two bits on the quality of the illustrations in this book. Another reviewer found them to be of poor quality and felt that they detracted from the book. My opinion is quite the opposite. The point made from these illustrations is you don't have to be a superb artist to get your ideas down on paper. These are illustrations that can be accomplished by most people. The book does a great job of encouraging you to use drawings, no matter how unrefined, to get your ideas solidified.

I've not read much of the book yet, but quite enjoy it. I have seen no other book with this type of information combined. It helps with most aspects of pre-production in a thorough manner. I would definitely recommend this book.