Animating Short Stories: Narrative Techniques and Visual Design

(Paperback)

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Description

Whether you're a novice making your first film or a more advanced animator looking to strengthen an existing concept, Animating Short Stories provides practical techniques to bring your story to life. Each technique is clearly and beautifully illustrated covering different animation mediums; including 2D, 3D and stop-motion. It takes readers step by step through: - how to develop story ideas - to prepare for creative obstacles - scriptwriting and storyboarding - each chapter provides clear examples and full colour images from award-winning student films as well as commercial examples from big studios In addition, a companion website includes a specially created short film demonstrating key visual storytelling and narrative techniques alongside the student movies featured throughout. Also included are documents pertaining to sample production schedule and shotlists, screenplay templates, style guides and cheat sheets.

Reviews

Richly illustrated with examples throughout, Briggs explores the process of animating short stories from the conception of the initial idea, through the challenges of story development, before ending with insights galore drawn from her own experiences of short-form animation production. Offering a delightful mix of practical examples and useful theory, Animating Short Stories will surely become a valuable reference for aspiring storytellers the world over. * Chris Pallant, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK *
Excellent book that highlights all the production process for animation. Very relevant. * Kelvin Wong, Lecturer in Animation, Birmingham City University, UK *
The book will provide a useful resource for students wanting to understand the basics of effective storytelling through the medium of animation at an introductory level. The book features some lovely illustrations and the writing is very accessible in its structure and style. * Mandy Langton, Lecturer in Film Production, University of Central Lancashire, UK *

Author Bio

Cheryl Briggs, Associate Professor of Animation in the School of Visual Arts and Design at the University of Central Florida, USA. She also taught as Professor of Animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design from 2001 to 2009. She is an award-winning animated short film director, is currently on the Board of Directors for the Animation Hall of Fame and is an Autodesk Certified Instructor in Maya.