Customer Reviews

Ideas for the Animated Short: Finding and Building Stories

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

 

 

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.

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.

(Check out my Amazon profile for other books I've reviewed.)

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.

I'm not an artist but I found this book "Ideas for the Animated Short" by Karen Sullivan, Gary Schumer and Kate Alexander, a fascinating read. I am involved with theatre and so really loved chapter 3, entitled "Acting: Exploring the Human Condition". I never would have believed how vitally important this process is for a good animated film. Having the tools of good acting at your finger tips, being given examples of how to transform these tools in a very real fashion and then applying them to the drawing board. Realizing that "images create emotion" is a powerful starting point in which to reflect truth. Naming and describing the essential elements for a scene; incorporating the psycho/physical technique and being able to portray "iconic moments" all contribute to a film that although animated is real. This book is amazing!

Even if you aren't specifically working with animation it is very informative. I am an illustrator and I am using it for the information on how to create stories.

Very helpful book. It helped me create my short film which has been nominated for several festivals.

For a number of years now I've been searching through books for information about the art of storytelling. It is an art that is as important, or maybe more important, as the art of animation. Ultimately what is the use of great animation if it is not in the service of telling, at the very least, a story that will hold the viewer's interest? This is the subject of the book. In the words of John Tarnoff, the head of show development at Dreamworks "....without a compelling visual or dramatic narrative the graphical elements ore static, the 3D elements are distracting, and the timeline is boring or frenetic. Every film really needs some form of beginning, middle and end, whether it's a short tone poem or a character-driven narrative."

This book is about developing the story for a short film project. You may find yourself armed with all the technical skills to convincingly animate your super-hero, gopher, princess, a couple of tomatoes, or whatever, but might not know where to begin when it comes to putting them in an interesting narrative. This book does not spell out the formula for a successful story, instead one of it's intended purposes is to point out all the things one should consider when writing a story that an audience will want to sit through. One of the things I came away with after reading the book is that each element we see and hear and are made to feel in a short film are all interconnected in some way. The characters should be designed, their world should be fabricated, and their dialogue (or in the absence of the spoken word - their actions) should work together to form some kind of 'truth'. It is through this truth that the viewer is able to connect with and be affected by what is happening in the story. I find that the ideas and examples found within the text and the DVD go a long way in filling in the blanks and questions you may have when it comes to accomplish this level of 'on the mark' storytelling. This book is a fine place to start to get your creativity flowing when it comes to developing story lines.

This wonderfully illustrated book covers a lot of topics related to the art of storytelling as well as some topics that will help you fine tune your story. You'll learn things like the important roll of the storyboard to the process as well as a very good introduction to various acting techniques. These acting examples were literally brought to life on the DVD and were a good way to illustrate the acting topics covered in the text.

The above mentioned illustrations are presented graphically in clear B&W drawings and in narratives by `guest' writers who tell us about their professional experiences. Both of these add to the understanding of the topics covered the same way the many short film examples and the interviews on the DVD enhance the reader's comprehension of what the book is trying to convey. Character design, the design of the story's environment and a number of other considerations are all brought together in a way that get's you thinking about the whole project and how each contributes to the whole. It was nice to see all the different character designs that Sean McNally went through before coming up with the final design for the gopher in `Gopher Broke' From staging to dialogue it's all covered. I liked the way the topics were explained using examples from animations that we all have probably seen at one time or another.

The DVD interface is navigated using four tabs - `Industry Animations', `Student Animations', `Beginning Acting', and `Industry Interviews'. The first one contains three animations `Gopher Broke', `The ChubbChubbs', and `Early Bloomer' as well as a great 2D animatic of `Gopher Broke'. There are sixteen inspiring `Student Animations' - many with short `making of' videos, character/environment design or 2D animatics. They cover the entire map of emotions from happy (Eureka) to sad (Our Special Day), from slightly macabre (Respire, Mon Ami) to the whimsical (Noggin) to the hilarious ( A Great Big Robot From Outer Space Ate My Homework). I thought the `Beginning Acting' section help drive home some points made in the text. The `Industry Interviews' are printable text base interviews that provide some great insight into the `real world' aspect of the topics covered - definitely worth reading.

The three authors seem to have pretty impressive backgrounds. Karen Sullivan and Gary Schumer are both on the animation faculty at the Ringling College of Art and Design. Kate Alexander who we see on the DVD, is Associate Director at Florida Studio Theatre and has received a number of awards in acting, directing and public service awards. Together they have put together what I consider a good text and DVD on the topic of story telling that should give you a firm foundation in the development of your animation story ideas. Even if you never plan on writing your own stories this book will help you be a better animator because you will be introduced to the process of storytelling. I know this can only help you get the best acting performance from your character.

It's not a "how to" book, but really helps you understand alot of things to make you come with a new idea

FANTASTIC book! With a great overview of all the various aspects of animation production, 'Ideas' provides in-depth information in the areas most critical to crafting a compelling short film. Definitely not the only book you're going to need if you're new to the area of story and visual development for entertainment but if there was only one book that I could recommend to you (to start with), this would be it!

Also worth noting is the DVD that comes with the book -- a GREAT resource and chock-full of short films and other reference which you will find as a great help to getting the ball rolling!

This is a terrific animation book, enhanced by a DVD full of 3D shorts (both studio- and student-made) with the bonus inclusion of live-action acting classes. It's good to see a work that focuses specifically on the 2-5 minute animations that are the realistic goal of most independent animators. But what makes this book an outstanding choice is the concise and thoughtful manner in which it presents all the fundamental principles of filmmaking, storytelling, character creation, and acting. Highly recommended, and an incredible bargain. This is an entire shelf of good books rolled up into one, and should be in the library of anyone interested in making short films, whether animated or live action. Kudos to the writers!