Christmas is fast approaching so if you are looking for that perfect gift for the independent animator in your life or you feel like you deserve a treat, than look no further than Ben Mitchell’s new book INDEPENDENT ANIMATION Developing, Producing, and Distributing Your Animated Films.
CHRISTMAS WISH LIST
INDEPENDENT ANIMATION Developing, Producing, and Distributing Your Animated Films
By Ben Mitchell
Christmas is fast approaching so if you are looking for that perfect gift for the independent animator in your life or you feel like you deserve a treat, than look no further than Ben Mitchell’s new book INDEPENDENT ANIMATION Developing, Producing, and Distributing Your Animated Films.
There are plenty of books on animation but Ben’s 444 page book is unique in that it thoroughly covers the entire process of creating an independent animation from development and storyboard to finally sending out your film to festivals, the pros and cons of putting your film on UTube or Vimeo and finally the all-important distribution maze. Along the way you meet some of the biggest names in independent animation today. Adam Elliot talks at length about his approach to the writing process and likens it to baking a cake, but you will have to buy the book to find out why he says that.
Bill Plympton talks about his passion for animation and what keeps him going on as an independent animator.
A chapter is devoted to funding your film with tips on how they did it from such pros as Academy Award winning animator Thomas Stellmach, the prolific Dutch animator Rosto, and New York animator Signe Baumane. The book goes into crowd funding and even discusses the etiquette of crowd funding with a reality check on how much time and effort it takes to send premiums back to funders not to mention how much the postage costs.
A few of the other important topics the book covers are animated documentaries, designing a series specifically for the web, and choosing your music and voice over talent.The ultimate objective is to finish your film and begin submitting it to festivals. Ben gives you tips on how to do that and then how to deal with rejection.
Best of all the book is not only packed full of information, it is well organized and easy to read. There are 100’s of color photos and illustrations of everything from script excerpts and exposure sheets to story boards. The index is through and the recommended reading list is very comprehensive. This book should be at every animator’s finger tips. No matter whether you are just starting to make your first film or have been at the game a long time, the book is full of good advice and practical information.
Ben Mitchell knows what he is talk about. As an independent director Ben has produced 4 short films. Guest House, Ground Running, The Naughty List, and Klamenthas have been screened at over 100 international festivals including such prestigious festivals as Ottawa International Animation Festival, TrickFilm Festival in Stuttgart, I Castelli in Rome, and Anima Mundi in Rio. He also works as the managing director of Skwigly Online Animation Magazine.
You can listen to the introduction of the book in podcast form at:
https://soundcloud.com/skwigly/independent-animation-01-introduction
The embed code is:
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The book can be ordered from the publisher, CRC Press at:
The price in the United States is $49.95, United Kingdom £31.99 and in Europe €42.50
