This is a blog for reviews and articles about Adobe (Formerly Macromedia)Products, Flash 8 and graphic and animation technologies.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Reviewing Developing Digital Short Films (Reviewed by Rafiq R. Elmansy)

Sherri Sheridan takes you in her book Developing Digital Short Films through a very spectacular trip in the most interesting design topics which is about films and animation production industry.
While moving through this interesting educational trip, you will find Sherri stands out with her tips, proverbs of famous people and exercises, which is the only way to fully digest the content of the book.
 
This practice opens your eyes widely to see your favorite movies with a new vision. Every part of the film will remind you with a concept or a principle Sherri has mentioned in this book. Then you will realize how much interesting this filed is. And for sure, a dream to create your own movie comes to mind.
 
As said, " This book will not make you Steven Spielberg, but it is a good step to start with", this book gives you a strong background in the field of animation. Not only the people that interest in working in the field of short films who can use this book, but also all who work in the filed of animation, including cartoons and web and digital animation. It will give the key to add a flavor to your animation and create eye-catching ideas with the principles used in film production industry.
 
This book is divided into three parts that take you step by step to reach by the end of the book to create a complex idea. Enhanced with the exercises after every step. The first part (Digital Storytelling) prepare you to create your own story and develop it to create a story board for your film, in this part you will learn the concepts and principles of creating interesting story and develop it through its stages using its basic elements (Plot, Character, and Theme).
 
After writing your story, Sherri takes you to the next step in part two (Visualizing Your Scripts) which converts your story into a storyboard ready for production. In this part, you will learn how to use film elements like cameras and locations to well deliver your story target to the audience. This part is very important to learn the principles of filmmaking and animation. However, it is important for all who works in the animation field.
 
The third part (Creating Digital Short Films for Different Production Styles) is about using different techniques to come up with your film into the production phase applying all what you learnt through the book.
 
This book provides a great experience for all who work in the fields of films production, cartoon and animation.
 
Developing Digital Short Films
Written By Sherri Sheridan
ISBN: 073571231X