To celebrate, here's a big ol' post on books n' DVD's you need to have. First off, Richard William's big book o' knowledge, 'The Animators Survival Kit' is now out in paperback. This is an in-depth book cramming the collected knowledge of some of the greatest animators the world has known into one tome. Along with the techniques and the technical advice, Williams shares his experiences working with industry vets like Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas. Go get it! Below, witness the cover of the book brought to life by the author.
For those of you upstarts what wants the goods without the history lessons or the anectdotes (damn kids) Eric Goldberg's 'Character Animation Crash Course' mebbe just up yer alley.
Goldberg, a Disney vet with animation creds including Alladin and Pocahontas (hell, he's worked WITH Richard Williams, yet!) breaks down the basics and includes great tips on posing, extremes, overlapping actions, animating to music, timing, you know, all that good stuff. Where Williams' book is both a historical and technical document, Goldberg's book is arranged more like a text book, with character examples using two recurring characters, reading and viewing lists, recommended excercises and even a DVD of animated examples. Ya need to get this one, folks. I'll be buying a copy for the TAIS bookshelves, don't you worry.
Finally, Shaun the Sheep, everyone's fave secondary character from Aardman's 'A Close Shave', has had his own series for a while now, but it's only been available across the pond. Now, finally, we have 'Shaun the Sheep: Off the Baa!' This has 8 shorts and interstitials, plus a cute lil' mini-doc with some British kidlings introducing all the characters. Here's one of the eps., 'Timmy in a Tizzy' courtesy of, for some reason, Game Trailers. Apologies to Aardman for using a non-approved embed...I just people to buy lots of Shaun DVD's so I can get the next one soon, and fer some odd reason the GT embed is super-sharp!
Just a note...Timmy, the baby sheepy, is so damn cute that the doods from Aardman buckled and gave him his own series. No word on when or if it'll air in North America, I'll dig up some info. All these are availble at Amazon.ca, but if ya can, drop by yer mom n' pop vid/book store for 'em. If yer in Toronto, I recommend The Beguiling and The Labyrinth for all yer animation shoppin' needs. More to Come!
