Review
of
The Animator's Survival Kit
Review
by Paul Naas
Book:
The Animator's Survival Kit
Author: Richard Williams
Year: 2001
dFX Review Rating: 8.5 out of 10
More
Info from Amazon.com
Chapters:
1. Drawing in Time
2. Time to Draw
3. It's all in the Timing and the Spacing
4. Lesson 1
5. Advancing Backwards to 1940
6. More on Spacing
7. Walks
8. Runs, Jumps, and Skips
9. Flexibility
10. Weight
11. Anticipation
12. Takes and Accents
13. Timing, Staggers, Wave and Whip
14. Dialogue
15. Acting
16. Animal Action
17. Directing
18. Review
For many years
the most highly regarded "how to" books on animation
have been The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston,
and the many incarnations of Preston Blair's Animation. There
have been several books published in recent years about the techniques
and processes of animation, but none of them have achieved the
"must have" status most animators bestow on the work
of Thomas, Johnston, and Blair. That's all about to change, with
the publication of The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.
Some early
reports from British animators who got an early look at The Animator's
Survival Kit predicted that it could replace The Illusion of Life
as the must-have book in every animator's library. After having
a look at the book, it won't be replacing Thomas and Johnston's
work, but it certainly is every bit as valuable and outstanding
in its own right.
For those
unfamiliar with his name, Richard Williams is the multiple Oscar-winning
animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a movie widely
credited with sparking the 80's animation resurgence. For the
last few years, Williams has crisscrossed the globe teaching an
animation masterclass to animators of every discipline and from
nearly every major studio.The Animator's Survival Kit is a book
version of the content of his class. Anyone who's taken the masterclass
and reads the book will find that they compare favorably to each
other (they will also find an inside joke at the bottom of page
278).
The format
of the book is unique. It has very little typesetting - nearly
all the text is hand-written by Williams, and text blocks are
sprinkled throughout the staggering number of illustrations the
book contains. While this all contributes to the book being a
fast read, it's a volume that rewards detailed study. Its contents
are an inspiration, and anyone who can read cover to cover without
getting an overwhelming urge to try out some of these techniques
is probably in the wrong business.
Listing the
contents of the book comes close to doing it a disservice, because
merely saying that it covers subjects such as walks, takes, working
methods, and so on doesn't begin to describe the depths to which
Williams goes in discussing these subjects. At times the book
reads like a stream of consciousness, as though while describing
a technique, a thought struck Williams on how to improve upon
what he'd just shown. He then takes off and shows an example of
the improvement, then another, and another.
While the
content in The Animator's Survival Kit is presented using traditional
drawn animation, it has much to offer animators working in other
techniques. Topics like eases, soft and hard accents, and timing
and spacing are universal, and are covered in detail in The Animator's
Survival Kit. Examples showing the many ways to turn a head from
a side view to a front view or to have a face transition from
a smile to a frown are applicable regardless of the technique
the animator is using. Other techniques he shares would seem to
apply only to drawn animation, but work just as well in computer
animation. For example, Williams advocates animating by using
a combination of straight ahead (starting with the first pose
in a scene and working in sequence until finished) and pose to
pose (defining the key poses first and then filling in the gaps).
He suggests creating the key poses first and then going back through
the scene several times in "straight ahead runs", fleshing
out the details and using the keys as guidelines, improvising
along the way. This technique is very similar to how many computer
animators approach their work - starting with strong key poses
and then adding in the secondary actions and additional animation
in subsequent passes.
Other techniques
may not transfer as well to the computer realm, but are valuable
nonetheless. For example, Williams describes how to do a stagger
vibration, such as when a character nervously reaches for an object.
This technique has stymied many an animator, but Williams provides
the secret - draw the action straight ahead, then shoot the drawings
slightly out of sequence, skipping back and forth (drawing 1,
3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 4, 6, etc).
The Animator's
Survival Kit represents not only Williams' experience, but also
the knowledge he gained from working with industry legends like
Ken Harris, Grim Natwick, and Milt Kahl. For those who never had
the opportunity to learn from these industry giants, having their
combined skill and experience distilled through Williams makes
the book even more valuable.
Williams doesn't
limit himself to discussing the act of creating footage, but also
delves into peripheral issues that can help an animator produce
better work. For example, he strongly advocates "unplugging",
or turning off music and other audio distractions while working.
Based on Kahl's statement, "I'm not smart enough to do two
things at once", Williams believes that music and such are
distractions that detract from an animator's concentration and
therefore the character's performance.
Williams uses
the phrase "the possibilities are endless" several times
in The Animator's Survival Kit, and perhaps that's this book's
greatest contribution. Through the examples he gives and techniques
he shares, Williams gives us a peek at the endless possibilities
of animation while providing some very useful tools to help us
explore those possibilities. Anyone who's serious about doing
the best work possible should add this book to his or her library,
read it thoroughly, and refer to it often. The techniques and
tips in The Animator's Survival Kit will serve any animator well.

You can order
The Animator's Survival Kit (Softcover Edition) by clicking
here.
You can order The Animator's Survival Kit (Hardcover Edition)
by clicking
here.
Paul Naas is a veteran animator with experience in many different
areas of the industry. He's worked in film, TV, video games, location-based
entertainment, and interactive multimedia. When he's not pushing
pencils or pixels, Paul can most often be found hanging out with
his wife and son or perfecting the transition to a B9 chord on
his guitar. He currently manages a multimedia group for a Fortune
500 technology company, where he uses the skills he developed
teaching animation to sell wacky project ideas to corporate bigwigs.
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