Lynn Johnston

Nancy Beiman

Animated Performance guides you through the process of bringing animated characters to life. Nancy Beiman demonstrates how animated characters need not be constrained by the limitations that restrict human actors and shows how species, weight and design affect character actions.

Bringing Imaginary Animal, Human and Fantasy Characters to Life

Animated Performance

Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animation Features and Shorts

Animated Performance shows how a character can seemingly 'come to life' when their movements reflect the emotional or narrative context of their situation: when they start to 'perform'. The many tips, examples and exercises from a veteran of the animation industry will help readers harness the flexibility of animation to portray a limitless variety of characters and ensure that no two performances are ever alike. More than 300 color illustrations demonstrate how animal and fantasy characters can live and move without losing their non-human qualities and interviews with Disney animators Art Babbitt, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Ellen Woodbury make this a unique insight into bringing a whole world of characters to life. New to the second edition: A new chapter with introductory exercises to introduce beginner animators to the the world of animated acting; dozens of new assignments and examples focusing on designing and animating fantasy and animal characters.

Packed with illustrations that illuminate and a text that entertains and informs, this book explains the methods and techniques of animation preproduction with a focus on story development and character design. Story is the most important part of an animated film-and this book delivers clear direction on how animators can create characters and stories that have originality and appeal. Learn how the animation storyboard differs from live action boards and how characters must be developed simultaneously with the story. Positive and negative examples of storyboard and character design are presente.

Nancy Beiman

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