I just about wore out
my copy of the original edition of this book years ago; i never got far
into doing animation, but it really helped me to understand
what i was seeing on the screen (as well as serving as a source of
recommendations as to Good Things to look out for...)
While this may not be quite the essential text for aspiring animators
that Will Eisner's Comics and
Sequential Art is for
would-be comics pros, it is a Very Good overview of the field as a
whole, from techniques to materials to the creative aspects.
There is, admittedly, not sufficient detail on any one subject to take
one to a true professional level, but there is sufficient detail and
commentary to let the tyro make a beginning in almost any aspect of
animation (within one's financial limitations, anyway -- while costs
are rather less now than they were in the day when film was the sole
practical medium of choice, some aspects of animation do cost more than
others to do) and work at it enough to get an idea as to whether that's
what she wants to do.
And remember -- you might not intend to make animation your life's
work; but Mike Jittlov [Wizard of Speed and Time] was an accounting
major who took an animation course because he needed an elective and it
fit his schedule. The film he made for that course won him an Oscar
nomination...
Anything can happen, and this book is a good place to check it out if
you think animation might be one of the "anythings" you'd like to
happen to you. |
