Many things have changed since we wrote the first edition of this book. Brick and mortar video stores have disappeared. Vimeo, YouTube and film festivals are the dominant distribution points for animated shorts. And the quality and quantity of animated shorts have proliferated and improved.
And as much as things change, they also remain the same. Many of the basics for planning and preproduction are the same. Images may be created traditionally or digitally, but the thought process behind them hasn’t changed much. In fact, as we polled readers in preparation for the second edition, many implored us to keep much of the information from the first edition. So we did. We reviewed it and tweaked it to clarify the information and make it more specific to the short format. But there were also some things that were clearly missing.
Readers gave us great feedback. To round out the book, we needed more information on sound design. To this end, Perry La Marca provides an interview on creating music to support narrative; Ginny Kopf provides tips on voice and dialects for animators; and student director George Fleming and student composer Stavros Hoplaros describe their collaboration in creating sound for the in-progress short, The Hoard, in our web collection on Working in Collaboration.
In addition, more case studies were requested. Aubry Mintz discusses the preproduction of his in-progress short, Countin’ on Sheep; Karen Sullivan discusses the preproduction process of A Good Deed, Indeed; and Brandon Oldenburg and Adam Volker of Moonbot Studios generously discuss the making of the Academy Award winning short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
To supplement this, Steve Hickner and Nilah Magruder provide detailed analysis of staging choices.
And finally, more emphasis is placed both on linear and nonlinear structure. The chapter on Building Story is completely revised and additional discussion on nonlinear narrative and nonlinear narrative structure has been provided by Ellen Besen.
The most useful change has been the addition of an accompanying website (www.ideasfortheanimatedshort.com). On the website we have been able to expand our Case Studies. New films have been added. These are featured in a section called Designing for a Skill Set, where examples are given to focus your planning to result in productions that emphasize different jobs in animation and the need to work collaboratively. Here you will find examples and interviews from new graduates who are now working in their desired fields, as well as an interview with Terry Moews from the Disney Associates Program and Bert Poole from DreamWorks on lighting. Kate Alexander has provided a new series of Acting Workshops. And finally, we also were able to archive all of the films and interviews from the first edition.
The goal of the book remains the same: To provide a guide to help you make good stories for the animated short. It is not a “how to book” that will provide a step-by-step process for a successful story. There is no magic formula for story. This book covers the things you need to think about and consider so you will be able to recognize a good idea, make a good story, produce good designs, make functional storyboards, and productively plan your animated short.
The animated short is one of the most enjoyable forms of entertainment. It doesn’t take too long, but it can be as poignant, humorous, and moving as any other form of storytelling. Doing it well constructs meaning and creates memories.