Aimee Major: An Animator I'd Like to Meet

I recently Googled an animator named Aimee Major. Last night, I re-read some .pdfs I created from a few articles she posted several years ago. And, since I've started creating animation in Flash that looks like it was created in Flash I'd like to create animations that look more hand drawn and much less like it was done on a computer. Even when I was a kid, I wanted to create some really kick butt art and animation. Although, when I was growing up we didn't have anything like Flash. With Flash one person can animate a feature length film. It takes a while but, it can be done. And, [has] been done by two artists that I know of. Nina Paley creator of "Sita Sings the Blues" and, Tyler Gibb creator of "Minushi." I've only seen some clips of both of these films. Unfortunately, I didn't attend the Harvard of Art schools; California Institute of the Arts. CAL Arts for short. Fortunately, for me there are a lot of animation resources online for the aspiring animator. After looking at some of the resources created by artists who either attended or, taught at CAL Arts, and, taught or worked for Disney animation studios I've realized I didn't know as much as I thought I did about animation. Since animation has been created on computers for some time now, Flash has brought a childhood dream into being a reality. I can now make short films for film festivals and my movies can be seen all over the world. Back to Aimee Major. I've been looking for her insight on animation because she attended CAL Arts and is a great animator herself. (I'll edit this later to add more to it.)

Some Books On Story Development

I've met a young novice film maker who's looking for some books on film making and my list of books may help her in her quest to becoming the next Spielberg, Tarantino, Rodriquez, or one of my personal favorites Leone... Sergio Leone. I was utterly blown away by his use of sound in "Once Upon A Time In The West." But, that's another post entirely. I'll get back to that later. The following list of books are all personal favorites of mine and well worth studying.

She wants to use Adobe Flash to create a short film. Which is a very nice program to use for this purpose. Although, what I've read about Toon Boom Animate is it's a much better program for animation. It was built from the ground up to be an animation software for animators to create feature length films and commercials. The price tag keeps it out of the hands of most animators who aren't affluent enough to purchase the $2000.00+ software. On the other hand, Adobe Flash will only set you back several hundred dollars and is bundled with the Adobe Creative Suite. Which in my opinion is a much better option if you can't afford the much more robust Toon Boom Animate.

Here's my list of books to study. Starting from what you really need to create a live action movie to a fully animated film. These are all in my personal library. So, I can vouch for each one of them.

Film Directing Shot by Shot
Visualizing from Concept to Screen
Author:
Steven D. Katz
(This is the one I was thinking about last week but, couldn't recall the title of the book or the author's name.)

The 5 Cs of Cinematography
Motion Picture Filming Techniques
Author: Joseph V. Mascelli
ISBN:

The Illusion of Life
Disney Animation
Author: Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston
ISBN:

The Animator's Survival Kit
Author: Richard Williams
ISBN:

Don Bluth's The Art of Storyboad

FLCL Storyboard Book
Gainax Animation Studios
(Not Sure.)

Hollywood 2D Digital Animation
The New Flash Production Revolution

How To Write For Animation
Author: Jeffery Scott
ISBN:

From Word To Image
Author: Marcie Begleiter
ISBN:

Karen J. Loyd's Storyboard Blog
Visual Storytelling Advice for Anyone Who's Interested
http://karenjlloyd.com/blog/

To The Girl I Met Yesturday Who's Going To Japan...

Hi. Please, start your blog and link it to this one. I'll post some art here soon. Currently, I'm working on an animation project I conceptualized for an online friend to help with her school project. So, I may upload concept art, storyboards and, the animation here after I copyright them. Please, don't forget to leave me a link to your blog as well. :)

I Haven't Posted Anything In A While

I've been busy in RL with day to day things. I'll post something soon. :)