Ed Hooks - Acting for Animators: Most Discussed Posts

The Artist and the Politician

Posted In | Site Categories: Art

The artist looks for ways to demonstrate that all people in the world are fundamentally the same. The politician looks for ways to show that one group of people is superior to another.

An Illusion of Life: The New Normal

Posted In | Site Categories: Acting

The Illusion of Life is the New Normal.  Ed Hooks explains why new animators are expected to arrive on the scene able to make a character seem to live.  And he gives some pointers about how to accomplish that.

Acting vs. Moving Illustrations

Posted In | Site Categories: Acting, Education and Training

Moving illustrations are not the same thing as acting. Acting means the character is actually doing something.  To act is to do - action in pursuit of a provable objective while overcoming an obstacle.

The Younger the Audience, the More Obvious the Performance

Posted In | Site Categories: Acting, Films
The younger the audience, the more obvious the performance.  Children are adults-in-training, and their parameters for thinking and emotion are much more narrow than that of their parents. Most major animated feature films today are designated “Family” films.  But a family is comprised of a number of individuals of different ages and life experiences.  Is there really such a thing, really, as a “Family” film?  After all, Walt Disney did not make “Family” movies like those we see today.  He made movies for kids, and then charmed the adults into coming also.