Thursday, September 17, 2009

Directing the Story by Francis Glebas



The subtitle of this book is "Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation" - which almost sums it up. I'd go further and add "Essential" to that subtitle. Click on the image, or on the following link, to read a substantial excerpt from Directing the Story on Google Books.

If you've opened up the book preview (it'll open in a new tab or new window), look at the table of contents. (I really love it when publishers make important excerpts from the books available - I don't have to waste space here and we all get to see the real thing.) He starts by asking "Why do we watch (movies)?" and the theme of asking fundamental questions continues throughout the book.

And he answers the questions, too - using insights from modern neuropsychology and scientific understanding of our senses, brains and minds. I admire him for this, as well - I feel that understanding what makes us tick is important for understanding stories, storytelling, characters in stories, and our audiences.

He focuses on cinematically told stories - in which the sequenced images that make up a movie are a language that the director uses to direct the audience's attention and guide them through the movie's story.

The whole book is constructed using storytelling techniques and includes storyboard examples that illuminate the concepts he's discussing. It's not a textbook on storytelling, but there is enough here to go on. It's also not a textbook on drawing, but there's enough drawing instruction and advice in here to improve any storyboard artist's work.

I love this book and everyone who tells stories in any of the movie media needs it. He provides a complete bibliography, so you can find out more about any of the topics he covers. This book is the keystone of an animator's library.



The best place I found for more about Mr. Glebas is his portfolio website. He tells great stories from his career in the book, too.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Stop Motion Magazine


Stop Motion Animation Magazine August 2009 cover

I've just found out about a new online magazine devoted specifically to stop motion animation in all its many guises. Stop Motion Magazine will be published monthly and is free to view or download. The August 2009 issue is available now!



The 48 pages include interviews with Stephen Chiodo, Ron Cole, Justin and Shel Rasch, and Misha Klein. (I admit that I have to read the interviews to find out who these people are! :-[ ) A Toon Boom 5 product review and two articles, Simple Wire Rig Construction and Wire Rig Removal (that's removing flying rigs, actually, not the wire rigs in your characters) round out the issue. The writing style is clear, and I think every stop motion animator will find something valuable in the magazine. Check it out!