Those of you out there have been blessed in the past with all sorts of character animation goodness, the latest greatest offering being Eric Goldberg's excellent 'Character Animation Crash Course!'. Effects animation, however, seems to get only a passing nod in books...although books from Richard Williams and the estate of Osamu Tezuka do a great job covering the basics. I think it's because so few people have made a name for theysselves as FX animators...they remain the great unsung of animated film. Michel Gagne comes immediately to mind, and through an e-mail to him asking his opinion on this dearth of FX tutelage comes word of a new book.
'Elemental Magic', the new book by industry vet and Gagne homey Joseph Gilland is a book a long time in coming. Joseph who, you say? Yeah, I said that too, which is exactly the problem when it comes to FX animation. Joseph has the distinction of being FX supervisor on one of my fave Disney flicks of the last 10 years, Lilo and Stitch, as well as Mulan, Brother Bear, and Tarzan...the dude knows his shit, obviously, and the book is getting kudos all over. He did a signing up at Ottawa '09, which I'm kicking myself for missing, but a copy can be yours by hitting up the Amazon.ca. Do it now, it's 37% off as of this posting, freakin' bargoon! And yes, don't y'all worry, we will be getting a copy for the TAIS library. Special thanks again to Michel Gagne for the heads up...he's written the forward to the book. Nuff said, go get you one.
