ANIMATION: Creation of a Cartoon Series
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About this ebook
This book chronicles the efforts of a group of people I was fortunate enough to be involved with while creating and producing a children’s cartoon series of 26 twenty-two-minute episodes entitled the Mister Pig Mysteries.
There are no punches pulled: you will know every trial and tribulation that the group went through, from arguing about one of the main character’s hairdo, another character’s gender, the main character’s shape, what to promise in the demo’s voice-over, plus many other backstage events that the creators of an animated series never mention as guests on an evening talk show... which rarely happens, because those shows usually prefer to interview the movie stars doing the voices for the animated characters.
The 12 Chapters include informative discussions about things that to be considered when contemplating creation of an animated project. They include:
• Business Aspects & Target Audience
• Levels of Sophistication and Software
• Story, Script & Storyboard Usage
• Building Characters & Sets
• Structuring the Series
• Production & Foreign Languages
• Distribution
• Ancillary Products
• Budgeting for the Promo and all Episodes
• Getting and Investor
• The Small Print
Gene Grossman
GENE GROSSMAN was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the North side neighborhood of Albany Park, where he attended Hibbard Elementary and Von Steuben High School.He pursued majors in psychology, chemistry and mathematics at Wright Junior College, Roosevelt University and Illinois Institute of Technology - all the while working his way through high school and college by playing piano in clubs on Chicago's then-famous "Rush Street."After moving to Southern California, he worked his way through law school playing piano in night clubs and appeared as a musician in seven major motion pictures.While slowly building his law practice, Gene purchased a truckload of movie equipment he rented out to film production companies and then started his own production company which over the years produced more than 50 educational programs on subjects ranting from Boating and Celestial Navigation, to legal subjects (Depositions, Bankruptcy, etc.) Sign Language Instruction and many more.Always having been interested in boating, getting divorced prompted him to buy and move onto a 45-foot Chris Craft motor yacht in Marina del Rey California,.Years later, while serving as navigator on a yacht delivery from the U.S. to Tortola, Gene wrote his first book, "Celestial Navigation for Dummies" (before the popular series of 'Dummies' books was created). He used his own production equipment to shoot a video on the subject Celestial Navigation - "Sextant Use and the Sun Noon Shot" and unintentionally started the nautical video industry in this country.Over the next few years he followed that first title up with more than 50 other educational DVD titles, all displayed on his production company's website at www.MagicLampDVDs.com.Having moved on from doing scripts for his video productions, Gene turned to writing fiction, and now spends most of his time in the marina on his new boat, where he created the 15-book series of 'Peter Sharp Legal Mysteries,' all now available both in print and as eBooks at Smashwords via www.LegalMystery.comIn addition to the 15 Peter Sharp novels, Gene compiled a group of fiction and non-fiction titles that he has either written or edited for others, plus some classic stories: the publishing company he formed (www.MagicLampPress.com) now has more than 60 books in print.The Peter Sharp Legal Mystery Series#1: Single Jeopardy#2: ...By Reason of Sanity#3: A Class Action#4: Conspiracy of Innocence#5: ...Until Proven Innocent#6: The Common Law#7: The Magician's Legacy#8: The Reluctant Jurist#9: The Final Case#10: An Element of Peril#11: A Good Alibi#12: Legally Dead#13: How to Rob a Bank#14: Murder Under Way#15: The Sherlock Holmes CaperThe Suzi B. Mystery Series (a spin-off)#1: ...Sorry, Wrong Number#2: Movie Magic#3: Two Perfect Crimes#4: He's the Guy#5: The Magic BulletsAll 20 of Gene's mysteries are described in detail in a free eBook: The Mystery Books of Gene Grossman: Summaries with the Author's Comments.
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ANIMATION - Gene Grossman
ANIMATION
Creation of a Cartoon Series
By Gene Grossman
www.MisterPigMysteries.com
Smashwords Edition 1.0, January, 2011
©MMXI Gene Grossman - All rights reserved
*****
Introduction - The Learning Curve
This book chronicles the efforts of a group of people I am fortunate enough to be involved with while we create a children’s cartoon series of 26 twenty-two-minute episodes entitled the Mister Pig Mysteries.
There are no punches pulled: you will know every trial and tribulation that the group went through, from arguing about one of the main character’s hairdo, another character’s gender, the main character’s shape, what to promise in the demo’s voice-over, plus many other backstage events that the creators of an animated series never mention as guests on an evening talk show… which rarely happens, because those shows usually prefer to interview the movie stars doing the voices for the animated characters.
Al Pacino starred in the 2002 motion picture Simone, about a computer-generated actress that Pacino controlled and who appeared in his productions. She was so realistic that everyone believed she was real, and the movie showed how even an ideal computer-created actress could cause problems that a producer would never expect to arise.
We don’t have Mr. Pacino or Simone in our series, but every one of the above-the-line people in our group has had years of involvement with the motion picture industry.
I spent many years producing over 50 instructional programs, practiced entertainment law, appeared in seven major motion pictures, owned and operated a 5-ton grip and light rental package from my Venice, California sound stage, and have had more than 30 books published, including a popular 15-book series of Legal Thrillers… so I was given the task of writing the series, which was no easy job because never having had any children of my own, I had to start watching cartoons to learn what the kids want to see.
Another member of the group, an experienced editor, owns a 15-bay post-production facility capable of creating sophisticated special effects, and also operates an equipment rental facility supplying high-end decks to the studios for creation of the digital files required for projection in the growing number of motion picture theaters upgrading to digital projection.
Our director spent many years at sea producing and directing documentaries for National Geographic and has gone on to work with an organization that attends most major film festivals and award ceremonies as liaison with the entertainment industry.
For music, we were pleased to have an old friend join with us who received several gold records while playing on and arranging music for famous singers. He went on to score many television series episodes and major motion pictures, one of which he received an Academy Award for.
In addition to our above-the-line quartet of friends, we were surrounded by a group of experienced people for all aspects of the production process. The only thing our entire staff lacked was some knowledge about animation. Maybe that’s why we were surprised to learn how many problems a virtual pig could cause.
But please don’t feel that if you don’t have a powerhouse of assets like we started out with it’s impossible to get your cartoon series off the ground, because if you’ve got the animation gene in your blood, a good idea with good writing will always shine through. As one well-known writer once penned, the play’s the thing.