Sullivan K. et al. Ideas for the Animated Short: Finding and Building Stories

Focal Press, 2008. — 280 p.Build your skills in the development of story ideas that will command an audience for your 2-5 minute animated short. Packed with illustrated examples of idea generation, character and story development, acting, dialogue and storyboarding practice this is your conceptual toolkit proven to meet the challenges of this unique art form.
With Ideas for the Animated Short you'll learn about: story background and theory, building better content, acting: exploring the human conditionm, building character and location, building story, dialogue, storyboarding, staging.Story Background and Theory
The Ideas behind Gopher Broke: An Interview with Jeff Fowler, Blur Studios
Building Better Content
Making the Animated Short: An Interview with Andrew Jimenez, Pixar Animation Studios
Acting: Exploring the Human Condition Kate Alexander
Visual Design: Interviews with Kendal Cronkhite and Kathy Altieri, DreamWorks Feature Animation
Building Character and Location
Personality, Goals, Shapes, and Variance in Character Design: Tom Bancroft, Funnypages Productions, LLC
Building Story
Story and Humor: An Interview with Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier, Blue Sky Animation Studios
The Purpose of Dialogue
Pitching Stories: Sande Scoredos, Sony Pictures Imageworks
Storyboarding. Gary Schumer
Storyboarding: An Interview with Nathan Greno, Walt Disney Feature Animation
Staging. Gary Schumer