So I got me a new book today – Flash Cartoon Animation
A few days ago I ordered myself a copy of the book over there on the left entitled Flash Cartoon Animation: Learn From The Pros. Today it finally showed up in the mail. The title of the book should tell you all you need to know about what my intentions and eventual goals are. So far I have to say this thing is pretty frikkin’ excellent and I’m very happy I ordered it.
I’ve made my way through several chapters already today, which is quite an accomplishment for me. I have a tough time sitting still, so a book has to be really good to keep my lumpy butt planted in one spot for very long. Flash Cartoon Animation is written by two guys, Kevin Peaty and Glenn Kirkpatrick who have worked with Disney and they do a really excellent job of describing things in a way that just makes sense for someone like me, a complete noob.
One interesting thing the book covers is the steps Kevin and Glenn believe all aspiring flash artists should follow when creating their flash movies. The process they describe actually basically mirrors the same kind of concept you’d find in making a big budget Hollywood flick, minus the whiny overpaid actors of course.
- Write your story first – This should make sense, right?
- Create an outline – Once you have your story it’s a good idea to outline things which you think can be communicated visually and which parts you can assume your audience will understand without needing to be actually told.
- The Pitch – Also known as the moral of your story. Can you condense your story into a sentence or two which sells your idea?
- Writing the script – If you’ve ever seen what a screenplay looks like, Kevin and Glenn talk about the importance of putting together a script for your animation in much the same way. Not only is it important to script the setting and mood of your story as well as the lines your characters will speak, but it’s also important to script your camera angles, titles, fade ins and outs and so on.
- Story Board – With your script complete it’s now a good idea to sketch out a story board working out roughly how you want things to look. This will give a nice reference to work with when you actually begin the actual Flash animation.
Provided in the book is a link to the publisher’s website where you can download project files which allow you to follow along with Kevin and Glenn as they teach you new techniques. They do an excellent job of teaching basic flash concepts to get you started and describe everything to you in a way that just makes sense. The best part is there’s plenty of pictures and diagrams to assist folks like me that learn better visually.
If you’ve ever considered learning flash cartooning and possibly becoming the next Joe Cartoon, I certainly like to think this book is a great stepping stone in helping you achieve that goal. My hope is that by the time I’ve completely absorbed the book, I’ll be able to produce something of my own design and showcase it here for everyone to check out.
By the way I purchased the book for about twenty bucks, which seems like a pretty good deal considering how much I’ve already learned from it.
Oooh! The Gummy Cartoon! What a great idea that everyone will look forward to. I made a cartoon once in high school. But we used cells and this weird old machine. It was fun though: I did a flower emerging from seed and growing. My bf in high school was in this “art high school” and I would go there and participate in classes (animation and pottery).
Hopefully a Gummy cartoon. We’ll see :) We already have a great idea what the first one would be about. I cannot divulge that information though..hehe.
Back when I was in high school I did some animation as well. We were using the old Apple IIc style computers. Ancient stuff :P
Ooh – Do you think if I am annoying enough you will tell me?!? No… I would rather be surprised. :)
Hey Mike – If you need any help let me know. I deal with Flash on a daily basis. And actually, I took a special Flash animation course in school. It was pretty cool and really emphasized some of the basics of animation through Looney Tunes and earlier cartoons. It was awesome.
@Danielle: You can try all you’d like but I’m not tellin’ :P
@Bush: That’s pretty cool and thanks for the offer! I may just consider it if I get stuck on anything :)
I bet the first cartoon has Gummy in a bath tub :D
You would be incorrect, sir :D
I thought it would be a gummy and a gummy and a gummy and a gummy… and, of course, Mike. :D
I think that it will be Gummy getting his first earth-job and the hijinks that ensue! :)
Nope, nope. Not even close :D
Heh, I used to do a couple of these things a couple of years ago. It was very time consuming! I think I actually used Paintshop Pro, I guess you would you be using Flash?
I think it’s gonna be Gummy on his first ever donkey ride
@Tech Rant: That’s the plan :) I can do animated with cartoon with stuff like photoshop and such but I think that’s probably even more tedious than Flash ;P
@Jos: Still wrong…lol.
Wait, I know! It’s gonna have Gummy writing in his blog haha
You’ve been tagged. :)