Acting for Animators

Ed Hooks’ essential acting guidebook for animators has been fully revised and updated in this fifth edition, capturing some of the vast changes that have affected the animation industry in recent years. Written specifically for animation professionals instead of stage and movie actors, this book provides an essential primer for creating empathetic and dynamic character performance and, in the process, shows how the strongest storytelling structure works.

Hooks applies classical acting theory – from Aristotle to Stanislavsky and beyond – to animation, as well as explaining scene structure, character development and the connections between thinking, emotion and physical action. Theory presented here applies to any and all character animation regardless of style or animation technique. Whether your project is stop-motion, 2D, 3D or a blend of techniques, audiences are audiences are audiences, and they have shown up at the theater or cinema so they can experience and enjoy your story.

New to this fifth edition:

Four new scene-by-scene acting analyses of animated feature films: Flee, Soul, Porco Rosso and The Triplets of Belleville
A comprehensive and updated section titled “Classroom Notes” which includes a segment on experimental animation, a brief history of acting training for actors and guidance on Motion and Performance Capture technology
Updated online database of Hooks’ previous film analyses, all in one place

Acting for Animators is essential reading for all students and teachers of animation courses.

Author Biography

Ed Hooks was a professional actor for almost 30 years, trained in New York, with credits in all media. He is an internationally recognized acting teacher who has taught in over 35 countries, and he has written several books for actors. Hooks is the first person to apply classical acting theory to animated storytelling.