Computer Animation Arts

"How MacGuffins Can Ruin Movies" by Just Write MacGuffins are ubiquitous in Hollywood blockbusters, and are often the root cause of overly simplistic storytelling. In this episode, I take a look at the pitfalls of using this narrative device, as well as 5 ways to make this trope more interesting, unique and effective.

A nice little over-view... watch and learn!

I thought I would jump in on this as well and recommend Framed Ink by Marcel Mateu-Mestre  . This wonderful book is jam packed with a myriad of useful and practical illustrations that demonstrate the art of composition. This book is a must have for storyboard artists, directors and comic book artists as it presents tools that will prove useful to all those individuals and many more besides. This book explores more than just camera angle and framing and also looks at lighting and scale to enhance a particular narrative. As a bonus it is also the sort of of manual that can read from cover to cover rather than just dipping into for some cherrypicking. Link to Amazon This book has just been reprinted and if you can afford it grab it, as when it last went out of print prices soared to well over $100 for an as new copy. There is a huge demand for this book.. The ultimate guide to visual storytelling. Using his extensive experience of working in the comic book ind...

Although not a lot to read in this book it does however provide the perfect companion for a CG student. Over the past few years of being a student on CG Arts this book has been my friend. Even if you don't use every shot depicted in it, its still helpful for getting ideas together. Each page takes you through a different camera angle/shot, what the shot is called and a description of how it is captured. It also gives examples of where to find such a shot in well known films as an example to follow. . 

Someone once said, "A week is a long time in politics". The same is true of CG Arts & Animation, where within the space of seven short days, whole new worlds spring into being, new life-forms are born, evolve and grow, and new stories go from improbable musings and jotted plots to entertaining animatics and dynamic pre-visualisations. One short week ago, CGAA Year 1 had their Unit 4 Storytelling crit, and I was particularly impressed by the ambition and professionalism of much of the work submitted.  With stories ranging from Steve Payne's ingeniously monikered Frankenstylist to Nick Baker's superhero parody, The Crimson Corn , there  was much to enjoy and it was a positive day.  Sammy Butler's & Son was particularly  effective, and I'm kicking off this week's PWTM with Sammy's Making of and animatic.   & Son is the best resolution of the 'turn-3-randomly-picked-story-components-into-an-idea-for-an-animated-short' c...