Acting for Animators

Ed Hooks' indispensable acting guidebook for animators returns. Ed uses basic acting theory to explain everything from character movement and facial expressions to interaction and scene construction. Just as acting on film and on stage are very different disciplines, so is the use of acting theory in creating an animated character, scene or story. New to this Routledge edition: - illustrated, scene-by-scene analyses of six films, including Up, Coralineand Kung Fu Panda - an expanded chapter on video game animation - all-new illustrations - a history of acting in 500 words

Ed Hooks has a thirty-year acting career on stage and screen and teaches professional level acting classes for actors as well as Acting for Animators master classes internationally. He has taught for most major animation companies and game studios, including Walt Disney Animation Studios, Valve Software, EA and Ubisoft. For over ten years, he has been an Associate at Germany's FMX Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Interactive Media, and he is a lecturer at DePaul University School of Cinema and Interactive Media.

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Foreword	p. x
Introduction	p. 1
A 500-word history of acting	p. 4
Stage actor versus animator - vive la difference!	p. 6
The illusion of life versus "moving illustrations"	p. 8
Seven essential acting principles	p. 9
Thinking tends to lead to conclusions, and emotion tends to lead to action	p. 12
We humans empathize only with emotion	p. 14
Theatrical reality is not the same thing as regular reality	p. 18
Acting is doing; acting is also reacting	p. 22
Your character should play an action until something happens to make him play a different action	p. 23
Scenes begin in the middle, not at the beginning	p. 24
A scene is a negotiation	p. 26
Insights, perspectives and suggestions	p. 28
Animating dialogue	p. 28
Power centers	p. 29
Status transactions	p. 30
The psychological gesture and atmosphere	p. 32
The adrenaline moment	p. 36
"Ma"	p. 38
Animating force versus animating form	p. 39
Character performance fits the audience	p. 41
Heroes and villains	p. 44
Movement and body language	p. 46
Acting is a process of exposing, not hiding	p. 49
Active listening	p. 50
Live-action reference and mirrors	p. 52
Character tempo/rhythm	p. 55
Character analysis	p. 56
Pantomime	p. 59
The expression of emotion in the human face	p. 62
Suspension of disbelief and animation	p. 64
Photo real and the uncanny valley	p. 66
Videogames	p. 67
Laban Movement theory	p. 74
Comedy	p. 77
Farce	p. 81
Caricature	p. 82
Television commercials	p. 83
Short animation guidelines	p. 86
Introduction to film analysis	p. 88
Film analysis	p. 90
Coraline	p. 90
The Princess and the Frog	p. 104
Kung Fu Panda	p. 120
Ponyo	p. 129
Up	p. 141
The Iron Giant	p. 156
A few classroom exercises	p. 166
"What is my profession? What is my age?"	p. 166
Given circumstances game	p. 166
Gibberish exercise	p. 168
Boss and workers game	p. 168
"What kind of animal am I?	p. 168
Reading lists and additional study	p. 170
Index	p. 172
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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