ABSTRACT

Animation has a lot to do with acting. That is, character animation, not the standardized, mechanical process of animation. Acting and animation are highly creative processes. This book is divided into two parts: From film history we learn about the importance of actors and the variety of acting that goes into animation; then, we will turn to the actor's point of view to describe the various techniques involved. Through exhaustive research and interviews with people ranging from the late Ray Harryhausen, Jim Danforth, Joe Letteri, and Bruno Bozzetto, this book will be the primary source for animators and animation actors.

 

Key Features

  • Interviews with industry legends are found throughout this exhaustive work on animation
  • From film history we learn about the importance of actors and the variety of acting that goes into animation, then turn to the actor's point of view to describe the various techniques involved
  • Coverage of acting from Vaudeville to Rotoscoping to Performance Capture
  • Case studies throughout bring the content to life while providing actionable tools and techniques that can be used immediately
  • part I|126 pages

    The Story of Actors & Acting in Animation

    chapter 1|2 pages

    Time for Creation

    Homunculi

    chapter 2|4 pages

    Chalk-Talking on a Vaudeville Stage

    chapter 3|2 pages

    Magicians and Masquerades

    chapter 4|2 pages

    An Actor's Vision of Optical Poetry

    chapter 5|4 pages

    Shadow Plays and Silhouette Films

    The Adventures of Prince Achmed

    chapter 6|4 pages

    Rotoscoping

    Dave Fleischer as Ko-Ko the Clown

    chapter 7|4 pages

    The Peak of Character Animation

    Walt Disney

    chapter 8|4 pages

    Shamanism and Totemism

    chapter 9|6 pages

    Famous Cartoon Animals

    chapter 11|4 pages

    The Flintstones and the Age of Television

    chapter 12|4 pages

    Reason & Emotion

    chapter 13|4 pages

    Theories of Acting

    chapter 14|6 pages

    Voice Actors

    chapter 15|6 pages

    Pixilation

    Animating Actors or Becoming Animation

    chapter 16|4 pages

    Dancing with Animation

    chapter 17|6 pages

    Acting with Animated Characters

    chapter 18|16 pages

    The Puppet Masters

    chapter 19|8 pages

    Animated Characters around the World

    chapter 20|4 pages

    Of Heroes, Antiheroes, Villains, and Men

    chapter 21|6 pages

    Comedy and Comedians

    chapter 23|10 pages

    Avatar and Beyond

    The Idiosyncrasies of 3D Animation and the Art of Performance Capture

    chapter 24|4 pages

    A Nod to Computer Games

    part II|106 pages

    Creativity Training for Writers, Producers, and Animators—A Practical Guide

    chapter 25|4 pages

    Surprise Me!

    chapter 26|8 pages

    Writing Animation

    Role Profiles

    chapter 27|4 pages

    Contradictions

    The Key to Great Characters and Stories

    chapter 29|6 pages

    Preconceived Characters

    chapter 30|4 pages

    Animals and Anthropomorphism

    chapter 31|4 pages

    Animation, Toys, and Merchandising

    chapter 32|6 pages

    Design, Posing, and Facial Expression

    chapter 33|8 pages

    Understanding Body Language

    chapter 34|4 pages

    The Eyes Have It!

    chapter 35|4 pages

    It's Personality That Wins

    chapter 36|4 pages

    The Score

    chapter 37|8 pages

    Psychological Projection

    chapter 38|2 pages

    The Role of Producer and Director

    chapter 39|4 pages

    Feel at Ease While Animating

    chapter 41|2 pages

    Perceptions Exercises

    chapter 42|2 pages

    Game of Imagination

    chapter 43|12 pages

    Visualization Techniques

    Creatures of the Mind

    part III|130 pages

    Q & A

    chapter 44|2 pages

    The Animation Film Historian

    Giannalberto Bendazzi

    chapter 45|4 pages

    The VFX Artist

    Robert Blalack

    chapter 46|4 pages

    The Creator from Italy

    Bruno Bozzetto

    chapter 47|8 pages

    The Replacement Animators from Argentina

    Alberto Couceiro and Alejandra Tomei

    chapter 48|6 pages

    The Spanish Animation Producer

    Manuel Cristóbal

    chapter 49|4 pages

    The Stop-Motion Animator and VFX Director

    Jim Danforth

    chapter 50|6 pages

    The Belgian Animation Director

    Piet De Rycker

    chapter 51|4 pages

    The Game Expert

    Thomas Dlugaiczyk

    chapter 52|6 pages

    The Artist from the Zagreb School of Animation

    Borivoj Dovniković-Bordo

    chapter 53|6 pages

    The Animation Scholar from Hong Kong

    Daisy Yan Du

    chapter 54|4 pages

    The Disney Expert

    Didier Ghez

    chapter 55|6 pages

    The 3D Animator from Germany

    Felix Goennert

    chapter 56|6 pages

    The European Producer

    Gerhard Hahn

    chapter 57|4 pages

    The Stop-Motion Historian

    Mike Hankin

    chapter 58|12 pages

    The Late Stop-Motion Legend Himself

    Ray Harryhausen

    chapter 59|4 pages

    The World's Leading Performance Capture Expert

    Joe Letteri

    chapter 60|4 pages

    The German Animation Producer

    Tony Loeser

    chapter 61|2 pages

    The American Expert in 3D Scans

    Karl Meyer

    chapter 62|4 pages

    The Managing Director from Hungary

    Ferenc Mikulás

    chapter 63|8 pages

    The German Puppet Animator

    Heinrich Sabl

    chapter 64|4 pages

    The Animation Student from Romania

    Veronica Solomon

    chapter 65|4 pages

    The Czech 3D Producer

    Jan Tománek

    chapter 66|6 pages

    The Experimental Stop-Frame Animator

    Grigori Zurkan

    chapter |10 pages

    Selected Filmography