Animated Performance: Bringing Imaginary Animal, Human and Fantasy Characters to Life(Required Reading Range)

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Lynn Johnston Preface: Driving the Jet Plane Chapter 1: Animation's Basic Movements: The Bouncing Ball and the Pendulum Outer Space: Defining and Distorting Volumes Inner Space: Defining and Distorting Time A Brief History of Time Acting: The Beginning The Line of Action and the Arc Chapter 2: Designs That Animate 'Look Ma, No Hands!' Animating Snakes, Worms, and Other Crawlers An Introduction to Thumbnails Good Actors: Designs That Animate Chapter 3: Setting the Stage: Character and Story Context Don't Just Do Something... Every Move You Make: Analyzing the Character Character Volume, Size and Movement Chapter 4: Is Sex Necessary? Masculine and Feminine Character Acting The Ages of Man (And Woman) An Introduction to Dialogue Animation Chapter 5: Animal Actors Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better? Creating Animal Characters Flights of Information: Animating Winged Characters Portraying Animal Qualities in Human Characters Chapter 6: Fantastic Performance! Natural Inspirations for the Supernatural Floating Worlds: The Weightless Actor Chapter 7: The Performer as Object Moving the Furniture: Bringing Inanimate Objects to Life Material Girl: Fabric and Cloth Characters Chapter 8: Double Timing: Animating Character Interactions Staging and Composition Changing Leads in Multiple-Character Scenes Jazz Hands: Acting Out Your Scenes without Using Your Body Potemkin Villages: Crowd Scenes and How to Fake Them Chapter 9: Character Development Over Time Character and Story Arcs Inspiration and Reference Index Acknowledgements

About the Author :
Nancy Beiman, Professor, Bachelor of Animation, Sheridan College, Oakville, Canada.

Review :
Animated Performance by Nancy Beiman is an instant classic... Beiman's new book concentrates solely on character animation and she knocks it out of the park. It is a thorough, step-by-step examination of the art, aimed at the advanced student or professional animator who already knows the basics. It's 232 oversized pages, loaded with solid information based on a lifetime of professional experience. I highly recommend this book to anyone doing, or attempting to do, character animation on any level. -- Jerry Beck, www.cartoonbrew.com [Nancy Beiman's] imagination-based exercises are where this book really shines. They're great. Every five or 10 pages, Nancy adds a clear, concise, well-planned and thoughtful exercise that directly relates to the preceding text. They are the kind of exercises that appear to have been developed by an excellent teacher after years of hands-on knowledge in the classroom. I'd love to try them all. -- Fran Krause, Animation World Network A beautiful 234-page instructional text that should inspire both beginners and long-term experts in animation. Packed with amusing illustrations, inspiring anecdotes and lively examples, Beiman's book acts as the kind of teacher we all wish we had in school. -- Ramin Zahed, Animation Magazine Nancy Beiman's Animated Performance is a personal, professional and historical introduction to the animation process. It's a top notch primer. In fact, I would recommend first time animation students begin with this text (and Miyazaki's Starting Point) before proceeding to Tony White or Halas & Whittaker and then Williams. Right there you'd have a solid three year course of study. -- Asterisk Animation Animated Performance demonstrates once again that Nancy Beiman is not only a tremendously talented artist, but also an immensely gifted teacher. The Disney artists of the Golden Age would have loved this book. The New Generation will be thankful to have it. -- Didier Ghez, Editor of the Walt's People book series Once again Nancy Beiman has come through for aspiring animators with an inspirational text on what it takes to really be an 'actor with a pencil'! -- Bill Matthews, Training & Recruiting Manager, Walt Disney Feature Animation (Retired) Veteran animator Nancy Beiman has harvested a lifetime of lessons from her Hollywood mentors, added inspiration from her favorite entertainers, a pinch of her own illustration, and distilled it all down into a wonderfully whimsical yet concise how-to of the animator's art. A must-have for the serious student of animation. -- Tom Sito, animator, author of 'Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson' Nancy Beiman's new book Animated Performance should find a place on the bookshelf of anyone who creates character based work, whether it's animation, illustration, comic art, writing or portraiture. -- Elliot Cowan, www.elliotelliotelliot.com If I had to select one book, today, that I would recommend people read to learn about the art of animation, I'd probably pick Nancy Beiman's latest tome. It's a bona fide gem. This book does as its title suggests, it shows you how to get a *performance* out of your characters. -- Michael Sporn, www.michaelspornanimation.com