Composition for the 21st ½ century, Vol 2 : Characters in Animation book cover
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Composition for the 21st ½ century, Vol 2
Characters in Animation




ISBN 9781138740907
Published June 29, 2022 by CRC Press
362 Pages

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Book Description

Composition for the 21st ½ century: Characters in Animation focuses on characters and their application in animation, illustration, games, and films. It covers various technical aspects of character design and their artistic applicability. This book analyzes in detail the purpose of these character design features and provides examples of their impact. Emphasis is placed on each aspect and how it affects and is affected by the narrative. Additionally, complex case studies that assist in explaining the successful use of these concepts in films and animation are included. This book is geared toward students; however, it is also reader-friendly for professionals. Composition for the 21st ½ century: Characters in Animation’s goal is to comprehend composition as an artistic tool and as a significant part of the professional character design process.

Key Features:

  • Teaches the complexity of composition in the professional character design process.
  • Closes the gap between praxis and theory in character design.
  • Explains how to produce believable characters that express their narrative in the visuals.
  • Discusses the need for artistic reasoning in character design.
  • Presents case studies to assist readers in understanding the process as they progress through this book.

Author Bio:

For more than twenty years, Thomas Paul Thesen’s career has been about learning and understanding the complexities of art, animation, and image-making, both in still illustration, drawing, and photography and in the moving image. He has worked in the industry as a character animator and visual development artist for companies such as Pixar, DreamWorks, and Sprite Animation Studios. He has also taught for many years at universities across Asia, the USA, and the UK.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Job of a Character Designer

Chapter 2: Visual Development Process

Chapter 3: Storytelling and Drama

Chapter 4: Personality

Chapter 5: Relationships

Chapter 6: Emotions

Chapter 7: Message or Theme

Chapter 8: Research and Concept

Chapter 9: Design Scale

Chapter 10: Pose and Communication

Chapter 11: Thumbnail Drawings

Chapter 12: Shape

Chapter 13: Form

Chapter 14: Line of Action

Chapter 15: Anatomy

Chapter 16: Weight

Chapter 17: Tension and Compression

Chapter 18: Contrapposto

Chapter 19: Movement and Twist

Chapter 20: Pivot Point

Chapter 21: Balance and Tension

Chapter 22: Silhouette

Chapter 23: Perspective and Dimensionality

Chapter 24: Foreshortening

Chapter 25: Tangents

Chapter 26: Light and Shadow

Chapter 27: Vectors and Directions

Chapter 28: Facial Expressions

Chapter 29: Extroverted and Introverted Pose

Chapter 30: Negative and Positive Space

Chapter 31: Body Ratio

Chapter 32: Contrast

Chapter 33: Texture

Chapter 34: Line Quality

Chapter 35: Simplicity and Readability

Chapter 36: Believability

Chapter 37: Color Design

Chapter 38: Clothing Design, Folds, and Fabrics

Chapter 39: Style Pass

Chapter 40: Character / Model Sheets

Chapter 41: Refinement

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Author(s)

Biography

Thomas Paul Thesen has spent six years in studying illustration at the University for Applied Sciences in Hamburg, Germany and then got his Master of Fine Arts in Experimental Animation at CalArts in California. During his studies he was approached by Pixar Animation Studios to do inspirational character development on their feature film Ratatouille. After getting his MFA from CalArts he started to work as a character-animator for Dreamworks Animation and worked on the feature Shrek 2. He always wanted to go into visual development and switched departments to work on features like Bee-Movie or Puss-in-Boots. Since then he has been focusing on visual development, character design and illustration in his professional and freelance work. For eight years now he has been teaching animation for universities like NYU Tisch Asia, Hongik University or Hallam University and others.