Ideas for the Animated Short with DVD: Finding and Building Stories (Paperback)

by Karen Sullivan (Author), Gary Schumer (Author), Kate Alexander (Author)
Key Phrases: character reaction, feature animation, creating characters, Gopher Broke, Exploring the Human Condition, Building Better Content (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Book Description
Learn how to generate and develop successful story ideas that fulfill the unique storytelling challenges of animation shorts between 2-5 minutes in length.

Product Description
Build your skills in the development of story ideas that will command an audience for your 2-5 minute animated short.

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 DVD includes in-depth interviews with industry insiders, 18 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 Ideas for the Animated Short you'll learn about: Story Background and Theory * Building Better Content * Acting: Exploring the Human Condition * Building Character and Location * Building Story * Dialogue * Storyboarding * Staging

* This unique creative toolkit for idea generation and refinement is short and to the point, focused on the basic principles you need to know
* The companion DVD contains professional and student animations (including preparatory sketches and storyboards) to demonstrate effective techniques and imaginative results
* Packed with inspirational interviews and behind-the-scenes work from top professionals from Sony, Pixar and Disney

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; Pap/DVD edition (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240808606
• ISBN-13: 978-0240808604
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #24 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Home Computing > Internet > Online Searching
  #31 in	Books > Entertainment > Movies > Direction & Production
  #91 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Graphic Design > Web Design > Web Graphics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good book for those interested in creating 3d shorts, April 6, 2008

By	Jason (NC, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is a pretty good book. I would of named the book, The Animated Short - A blueprint for creating your own animated short. As that is what this book is.

I have spent the last few years studying this material on my own. Buying writing books, going to seminars, buying directing / acting / filmmaking books, all to learn the various topics necessary to begin creating a 3d animated short.

This book would of saved me quite some time, before I talk more about what this book is, I think it is important to say what it is not.

This book covers no 3d package. It does not show how to model for animation, the best rigs for different situations, what type of render works best, workflows on setting up a small render farm to render out your animation. Guidelines on what resolution your render should be, ideas for light placement, etc. This book does not cover the 3d aspect of this.

In a way that is a good thing, if it did, the book would be dated, and isolate many people who are interested in this topic. It is unfortunate that the topics are not mentioned, as it would be interesting to hear different approaches, but what it does cover is fantastic, and I will share my insights with you.

The main format of the book is this:
Introduce a topic (acting)
Tell the audience some tips on how it relates to your 3d short, give you some good ideas to impelement on your own current shorts, give a background.
Then recommend (usually 5) books on the subject (and these are really good books that are recommended, I have most of them, and can attest to their usefulness)
Followed by an interview after a summary with a person working in the field (really good material here as well)


What this book covers is the following:

Chapter 1 - Story background and theory. Here they give ideas on creating a story, and some pretty useful advice. As with all chapters in here, the topics covered are only to whet your appetite, you do need more information, and the books chosen here (and the dvd) are quite good.

Chapter 2 - Building better context - tips and ideas to consider while still in the design stage of your project

Chapter 3 - Acting - how you need to learn acting, the basics, and more

Chapter 4 - Building character and Location - ideas for designing your characters

Chapter 5 - Building Story - Tools and tips on making a better story

Chapter 6 - The Purpose of Dialogue - I think you can figure this one out

Chapter 7 - Storyboarding - Thoughts on making storyboards - this is a pretty good chapter, and covers a huge amount of this topic

Chapter 8 - Staging - Really good stuff, but a tad to short.


So, am I glad I got the book? Yes. I wish it would of come out years ago, as it would of saved me from buying some books that did not help at all.

Is this everything you need to know? No. The book does not cover creating scripts, it doesn't introduce simple formats or formulas, It does not cover ideal times for animations (though it does say 3-5 minutes) It would of been great for some kind of generic structure for this kind of time frame. 5 minutes does not allow much story to be told. Most scriptwriting is 1 page per minute. I was really hoping for more information on this, but this book does not cover it in enough detail for me.

This book would of been "MUST HAVE" material, if it had followed the making of a 3d animated short, even leaving off the 3d aspects. From story development, from the concept art phase, all the way to setting up the shots, then showing the final piece (as that is how the book is structured). One sample, all the way, would of made this book 10x better.

This book does not cover voice acting. I really thought this would get mentioned, it did not. You should research this yourself, as it is important.

Sound design is another topic missing from this. It does not discuss this in any length. We need advice on creating ambient music, sound effects, scoring your film, and again changing voices.

The book is a pretty short book. At around 250 pages, it is a very quick read (It will take you around 2-3 days, as the topics are interesting, and the book is well written (save several glaring editing problems). I enjoyed reading the book, I was hoping for more, but I cannot knock the book because of it.

I think this is a book anyone interested in this topic should have. I also think anyone considering buying this book should know, it will only lead to you buying more books. As you need more books. You are making a film, it is supposed to be very difficult, and it is. But with the help you get from this book, it will make your R&D Much quicker.

I really hope more authors will tackle this topic, and hopefully in more depth. I wish they would of mentioned some 3d topics (Ideas on set design, poly counts, rigs, lighting) but you can get this information other places.


I hope this review was helpful for you. I have bought many new books the day they came out, and usually the ones with no reviews scare me (especially the ones with "fake" reviews, which you can always tell). That is why I made this review so long. I want people to really know about this book prior to making a decision. The main thing being, this book is a blueprint, with a small lecture on each topic. It will save you tremendous time, but it is not the only book you need. It is the map to take along your journey.

I also want people to know that the book does not cover your normal 3d topics. This book is more of a project overview, and assumes you know how to model, animate, texture and rig. I think this book has the making of the type of book to build a course off of in college.

The bonus dvd includes "MANY" useful features. An acting video, many shorts, among other things. It is a great all around package, and should help your formulate some great ideas. This is why I give the book 5 out of 5, even though it does not cover all the topics (nor does it claim too), I am glad I own the book, and I think most others will be too.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for anyone into creating animation, December 18, 2008

By	Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, from an animator, September 2, 2008

By	TheThatcher (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

I'm an animation student who found the registration deadline had passed, I got this book so that I could continue learning even though I am not enrolled in classes.
what I got was much more than I had expected and I am learning so much. though the book doesn't cover everything it mentions in great depth, it does give you enough information to get by, as well as references if you want to learn more.
because of this book I have found myself coming up with ideas for short animated films, and beginning the production process. I am eager to use the material taught in the book. the content on the included DVD is very helpful as the book uses the DVD for examples frequently, making learning much easier.

great book for someone who wants to learn about the animated short.