Animating Your Career is the exciting new book by filmmaker Steve Hickner, director of The Prince of Egypt and Bee Movie, who has had his hands in the development of dozens of major motion pictures. Animating Your Career is Steve's guide to navigating the journey of a career in the creative fields¿from getting your foot in the door to directing a project involving hundreds of artistic professionals. The book is filled with practical advice from Steve and the many top creatives he has worked with over the years. Whether you are still in school and awaiting your first job, or are a seasoned professional, Animating Your Career will help guide you to success.
A Newly Revised Edition of the Go-To Guide for Any Animation Artist! “Your Career in Animation is the most comprehensive and valuable book on animation careers that you’ll ever need.” —Bill Plympton, Animator / Producer Whether you want to break into the animation industry or “toon up” to a better career, this comprehensive guide will show you how. A leading animation professional surveys the field and shares the advice of more than one hundred and fifty top talents in the business of making toons— including Brooke Keesling, head of animation talent development at Bento Box, Mike Hollingsworth, supervising director of BoJack Horseman; Andrea Fernandez, art director on The Cuphead Show! PES, Oscar-nominated stop-motion director of Fresh Guacamole; Linda Simensky, head of content for PBS Kids; Minty Lewis, co-creator of The Great North; Ross Bollinger, YouTube sensation with his Pencilmation channel, and executives from Nickelodeon, Disney TVA, Titmouse, Inc., Frederator, PBS Kids, Netflix, 9 Story Media Group, Cartoon Network; and dozens of others. Learn how to: • Get the most out of your animation education • Build a portfolio, reel, and resume • Keep your skills marketable for years to come • Network effectively • Learn from on-the-job criticism • Cope with unemployment • Start your own studio or build an indie brand online • Pitch and sell a show of your own • And more! Also included are invaluable resources such as animation schools, societies, film festivals, events, Web sites, and publications. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.
Finally! A book just for animators that shares not only how to get a foot in the door but also how to avoid the pitfalls that can send even the best artist back to the drawing board. Veteran animator and teacher Gene Hamm is your guide to the serious business of drawing cartoons, providing stories, insight, and advice for keeping your wits as sharp as your pencil in this highly competitive industry. How to Get a Job in Animation (And Keep It) is divided into two sections. In Part One, artists looking for a job with an animation studio will discover pragmatic information such as: what to study in school and which books and videos to use for self-study how to track down studio jobs and land them what studios are really looking for on your reel how to make yourself indispensable once you have a job how to deal with the union how to survive in Hollywood. In Part Two, animators who like to be their own boss will find out how to freelance, including crucial how-tos on: pricing jobs and maintaining client relations entering and winning a film festival marketing yourself and writing press releases joining professional organizations hiring an accountant and a lawyer getting your work copyrighted understanding the golden rule of freelance animation: never work for free. Filled with amusing stories about working in the animation industry; brushes with silver-screen legends Tex Avery, John Lasseter, Roger Corman, and James Cameron; and plain old common sense, How to Get a Job in Animation (And Keep It) will entertain you as it trains you to make the leap into professional animation. It's the career guide that animators have been waiting for.
Animation is everywhere—from the Internet to the silver screen—and due to the rapid growth of animation in virtually every field and industry, so are animation jobs. Fueled by the worldwide explosion of film and television productions, new and original animated films, and apps and videos for mobile computing devices, the fields of animation and special effects, video games, and e-learning are all expected to grow. This is in addition to the phenomenal widespread growth of industries like mobile gaming, television advertising, digital media, and science and technology. With the high demand for qualified individuals to work in these industries, there has never been a better time to start or advance a career in animation. Career Opportunities in Animation describes 60 careers in many fields of animation, including art, backgrounds and layouts, design, directing, engineering, film and television animation, game and Web design, painting and texturing, performing, producing, technical production, and writing. Appendixes in this comprehensive new resource include Educational Institutions; Major Trade Periodicals, Newsletters, and Other Publications; Professional, Industry, and Trade Associations; Guilds and Unions; Recommended Animation Industry Web Sites; and U.S. Animation Studios and Production Companies. Career profiles include: Art director Character designer Effects animator Flash animator Graphic artist and graphic designer Inbetweener (cel animation) Layout artist/scene planner Motion graphics artist and motion graphics designer Production designer Software engineer Storyboard artist Visual development artist.
"The most comprehensive book on directing animation from one of the best writers in the business."---Bill Plympton, Oscar-nominated indie animation director --
A well designed, well written animated film has warmth, humor and charm. Since Steamboat Mickey, animators have been creating characters and films that are charming, warm and humorous, allowing people to connect with the animated medium. Animaton fans love the characters for a lifetime. This is the legacy of the countless animators and artists who created the classic characters and fun stories and the legacy of Disney Legend, Floyd Norman. Written with wit and verve, Animated Life is a guided tour through an entire lifetime of techniques, practical hands-on advice and insight into an entire industry. A vital tutorial in animation's past, present and future for students who are now poised to be part of another new generation in the art form. Apply artistic magic to your own projects and garner valuable insight and inspiration from a True Disney legend. With valuable advice, critical comment, and inspiration for every student of the arts, Animated Life is a classic in the making with completely relevant techniques and tools for the contemporary animation or fine arts professional.
There’s no class in art school that can teach you this. Believe it or not, there’s a lot more to directing a great animated film than beautiful illustrations and cool characters. You need to bring out your inner creative visionary and take your savvy leadership skills to the front lines - being great with a pencil, brush, or stylus is not enough. Tony Bancroft released his inner creative visionary when creating Mulan. In Directing for Animation he shows you exactly how. Pull the right strings to bring your characters to life and center your story by developing the visual cues that lend to your audiences understanding of the plot, place, and purpose. Tony walks you through the process, bringing you behind the scenes of real, well-known projects - with a little help from some famous friends. Learn from the directors of Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Ice Age, Chicken Run, and Kung Fu Panda, and see how they developed stories and created characters that have endured for generations. Get the inside scoop behind these major features...pitfalls and all.
Rabbitlike aliens from outer space colonize Earth during humankind’s Second World War in a delightfully funny and thought-provoking science fiction adventure The Quozl just need somewhere to call home. A gentle race of extraterrestrial rabbits, they have a propensity for reproduction that has left their home planet, Quozlene, dangerously overpopulated, and in their search for greener and less-crowded pastures, they have discovered the perfect place to start over: the third planet away from a healthy, warming sun. What they don’t realize is that this world they call Shiraz is already inhabited by a species of violent sentient creatures known as humans. But there’s no going back now. In the midst of the brutal and helpfully distracting global conflict the Shirazians call World War II, the colony ship lands undetected, and the space rabbits immediately go into hiding. But a secret like the Quozl can be concealed for only so long, especially when their numbers start to increase and certain rebellious members of the long-eared society decide the time is ripe to claim their place in a world they believe is rightfully theirs. One of the most admired and prolific authors in the science fiction arena, Alan Dean Foster will delight readers who hunger for something different with this funny, thoughtful, and wildly inventive novel of first contact and coexistence. Once you meet the Quozl, you will never forget them.
