Secrets of Oscar-winning animation : behind the scenes of 13 classic short animations / Olivier Cotte.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

If you love animation then you're in for a treat! Olivier Cotte has gone behind-the-scenes of 13 of the greatest short animations ever made, interviewing the directors and close collaborators who made each one, to offer us a unique guide to classic techniques from the masters of their crafts. Packed with beautiful, instructive illustrations and previously unpublished material (including story-boards, photos and hand-drawn sketches) and interspersed with interviews - this is an exceptional source of inspiration and knowledge for animators, students and fans alike. Covering 13 winners of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film: Neighbours (Norman McLaren, Oscar 1952) Frank Film (Frank Mouris, Oscar 1973) Le Chateau de sable (Co Hoedman, Oscar 1977) The Fly (Ferenc Rofusz, Oscar 1980) Anna & Bella (Borge Ring, Oscar 1985) L'homme qui plantait des arbres (Frederic Back, Oscar 1987) Balance (Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein, Oscar 1989) Manipulation (Daniel Greaves, Oscar 1991) Mona Lisa descending a staircase (Joan C. Gratz, Oscar 1992) Quest (Tyron Montgomery, Oscar 1996) The Old Man of the Sea (Alexandre Petrov, Oscar 1999) Father and Daughter (Michael Dudok de Wit, Oscar 2000) Harvie Krumpet (Adam Elliot, Oscar 2003) L'homme qui plantait des arbres (Frederic Back, Oscar 1987) Balance (Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein, Oscar 1989) Manipulation (Daniel Greaves, Oscar 1991) Mona Lisa descending a staircase (Joan C. Gratz, Oscar 1992) Quest (Tyron Montgomery, Oscar 1996) The Old Man of the Sea (Alexandre Petrov, Oscar 1999) Father and Daughter (Michael Dudok de Wit, Oscar 2000) Harvie Krumpet (Adam Elliot, Oscar 2003)

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword
• Frank Film
• Le Chateau de sable
• A Legy
• Anna & Bella
• L'homme qui plantait des arbres
• Balance
• Manipulation
• Mona Lisa descending a staircase
• Quest
• The Old Man of the Sea
• Father and Daughter
• Harvie Krumpet
• Table of Contents (Long)
• Each chapter includes: Introduction to the technique being discussed Synopsis of the film Biography of the filmmaker 7-8 page discussion of the techniques used and how the film was made 7-8 page interview with the filmmaker Listed below is a brief synopsis of each film - to show the range of techniques covered and the international filmmakers discussed. Neighbours
• Norman McLaren, Scotland. Created his most famous film Neighbours in 1952, besides the brilliant combination of visuals and sound, the film has a very strong social message against violence and war. McLaren is famous for his experiments with image and sound as he developed a number of groundbreaking techniques for combining and synchronizing animation with music. Frank Film (Oscar 1973)
• Frank and Caroline Mouris, USA. Classic of stop motion animation, this film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1996. This animated short features two soundtracks - in one, Frank narrates an autobiography,in the other, he reads off a list of words beginning with the letter "f." Tying the two soundtracks together and influencing their subject matter is the animated collage of photos collected from magazines - all arranged by theme and each theme merging into the next. Le Chateau de sable (The Sand Castle), (Oscar 1977)
• Jacobus, "Co," Hoedeman, Holland/Canada. Animates puppets, sand, paper cut-outs, building blocks and, on occasions combines more than one technique. Born in the Netherlands in 1940, he started at the Canadian National Film Board in the middle of the 1960's. He has won many important prizes for the twenty or so films he has made there, including, an Oscar in 1977 for The Sand Castle (1977), as well as the Grand Prix at the International Animated Film Festival in Annecy. A Legy, (The Fly), (Oscar 1980)
• Ferenc Rofusz, Hungary. The film is a simple story about a day in the life of a housefly. Totally from the point of view of the fly, the film builds tension and sympathy for the insect throughout. An amazing example of perspective and foreground-to-background movement. Anna & Bella (Oscar 1985)
• Borge Ring, Holland. Anna and Bella are a pair of old ladies, subsisting on their memories. As they page through a photo album, the ladies conjure up images both sweet and sour of their past lives and loves. Ring is one of the few independent animators whose style carries a definite Disney influence. Ring?s work has been awarded by both the Academy Awards and the Cannes Film Festival. The Man Who Planted Trees, (Oscar 1987)
• Fr+¼d+¼ric Back, Canada. Internationally renowned film-animation artist, muralist, illustrator, and teacher. His films are known for his exquisite technique of drawing on frosted acetate with coloured pencils in a gentle post-Impressionist style. Two of his films have been awarded Academy Awards -Crac! in 1982 (in which he uses a rocking chair to trace the history of both a family and Qu+¼bec culture) and L'homme qui plantait les arbres (based on a Jean Giono story about a man who transformed a barren landscape single-handedly) in 1987; two others have been nominated - Tout- rien in 1981 and Le fleuve aux grandes eaux in 19

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Olivier Cotte worked as an animation and computer artist for movies, and as a animation director between 1987 and 2002. He is a journalist, historian and animation teacher. He studied in fine art school and at the Sorbone and started making his first films at the age of fourteen. He collaborates as a journalist on numerous film animation and new digital tools magazines. He has written nine books on animation, of which one is a technical and historic world encyclopedia of animation "Il était une fois le dessin animé" (Once Upon A Time.in Animation - 2001), two monographs about animation directors (David Ehrlich, Georges Schwizgebel) and has also translated a book on animation methods "The Animator's Survival Kit" by Richard Williams into French. He also works with international animation festivals and major events in animation as a selection jury member and jury member and lecturer on animation history and teaches in several animation schools in France and around the world.