Shannon Muir’s Take on the Animation World

From Amazon.com, as of right now:

#451,493 in Books

That’s out of ALL Books on Amazon.  ALL BOOKS.

I am over the 500,000 mark.

Oh my…

Been very busy with AWN work, largely surrounding the Media Center.

Book continues to sell well. As of this hour I am #23 (TWENTY-THREE!) in Direction and Production on Amazon.com. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/books/4491/ref=pd_nr_b_nav/105-9369553-8372415

I’ve also found the Hot New Releases for Animation, for which I’m number #11 of 17 as I write.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/books/170107

I continue to be amazed, pleased, and quite frankly honored. It is my sincere hope this filled a void for people who want information about this industry.

First off, the book is holding relatively strong on the Amazon charts for Direction and Production.  It’s moved down a few spots to 67 of 91, but I’m impressed it is there at all, not to mention that it’s beating over 20 books in the category.

Haven’t been around much because I’ve been part of the team shepherding AWN’s Media Center at media.awn.com.  The bigger draw right now, is AWN teaming up with fxguide to bring unprecedented coverage of SIGGRAPH via Netcast twice daily and I’m part of the behind the scenes team making sure this gets to you.  That’s not all though, you’ll also find lots of other videos to check out submitted from around the globe.

Later!

The book’s only been out a week, and already Amazon is down to 1 left in stock with more on the way.

A friend of mine just emailed me and told me that as of 9am PT I was #63 in Amazon’s Movies>Directing and Producing Hot New Releases List:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/books/

I still need to write about the panel I know but it’s been busy since I got back. I hope to soon. But thank you, thank you everyone, for such incredible support. Here’s hoping the wait has been worth it.

Got home at around 7PM from Comic-Con. Good, but I was too wiped out Sunday to manage much. Still am, truth be told. All I did was wander an hour around the hall before leaving with my boyfriend around 1:30. (He took his niece and nephew in separately earlier while I rested up)

Tell you more when I’ve caught my second wind. And thanks to all who came to the panel Saturday!

While I plan to speak in detail about my own panel in this blog after the fact, the kind folks at AWN who are spearheading our on-scene blog at http://awnatcomiccon.animationblogspot.com/ have allowed me to also post with them as time and availability permits, though it is Rick DeMott and Gina Ruiz of AWN that deserve the credit for leading the charge with the above blog.  They’ll be your main sources throughout the Con.  Check in reguarly and see what they have to say!  They and the rest of their crew will start immediately, and I’ll get into town Thursday night and join in behind.

 They’re basically doing what I would have done on my own - post about my experiences throughout the Con in more detail - and to me it made no sense for us to compete.  So I’m glad to get to work with them. 

So check out http://awnatcomiccon.animationblogspot.com/ for AWN’s collective, multiple view, up to the minute coverage, and see you there, or keep up online!

GARDNER’S GUIDE TO WRITING AND PRODUCING ANIMATION is finally out and available! Order it from major online retailers such as Amazon or Best Buy, stores like Barnes and Noble and Borders. It’s available through Ingram Booksellers, so anyone who uses Ingram as their distributor should be able to get it for you.

Please accept my personal apologies for the long delay. Early April to late July is a very long wait, and I’m sorry that you had to do so, those of you that pre-ordered. But none of that was under my control. It’s just the printing biz I guess.

I put my heart and soul into this book hoping that it brings something to everyone who reads it. The last twenty plus years of my life have been an incredible journey, and it became so because many people in the industry were amazingly kind and helpful to me. The people who contributed to this book were the same way. I thank each and every one of them for their time and consideration.

Looking forward to seeing some of you at Comic-Con Saturday. I’ll be with Tad Stones and Greg Weisman (who have mini-interviews in the first book), and Stephanie Graziano, who among other things is the new incoming president of Women in Animation, Inc. Just be aware that our room only holds 240 seats, and Saturday admission is TOTALLY sold out, so if you want to hear us talk about the Animation Production Process, be sure to be there at Room 3 6:30 to 7:30 on Saturday!

It was a fun little film, with well developed characters (something Brad Bird does very well in all his films), a plot that took some groundwork to lay but overall held up well though at times a bit predictable.

There are a couple items I’m going to specifically point out though. 

Pacing is a little odd.  The first half goes a little slower than I would have liked for an animated film (given animation is geared to action), though I loved the character development.  What turns out to be the big turning point that takes us from what is roughly Act 2 to Act 3 of the film feels like something that normally would be the climax of an entire movie.  Then Act 3 almost feels like it could have been the premise for a sequel film with its own beginning, middle, and end (and this is difficult to explain without giving away plot points, you’ll have to trust me).  So it may be a bit of a shock when you think the film should be over but it’s not, but the reality is neither of these could merit a full film on their own without being painfully drawn out.  Ultimately it does work, it just defies conventional expectations.

The oddest part is the title itself.  The name Ratatouille (which is a food dish, for the uninformed… including myself before today) does not even APPEAR until halfway through the film, and even then comes out of the blue.  However, once it appears it becomes a crucial concept.  Again, without blowing plot points, it needed several mentions earlier in the film to tie that all together and the opportunities were certainly there.  It truly feels like a needed scene got lost along the way, or something disappeared in a rewrite.

Considering that unlike THE INCREDIBLES, that began as the passion of Brad Bird’s imagination, Brad Bird was brought on to take over this film - though I understand he was very interested in being involved - my expectations are such that I can forgive such smaller points.  In the end, especially compared to some animated films rushed to market, RATATOUILLE is a tasty film treat indeed.  I recommend it definitely worth seeing at some point, even if at matinee or DVD rental prices.

Well, folks, I’m going to do it again. Practically a whole new cast, possibly even in slightly a different style, so even if you saw it at Wondercon you just might want to come visit again!

Here’s the scoop:

SATURDAY, JULY 29TH

6:30-7:30 The Animation Production Process—What goes into bringing an animated script to screen? Producers Stephanie Graziano (X-Men: The Animated Series), Tad Stones (Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms), and Greg Weisman (Spectacular Spider-Man) take you behind the scenes and into the trenches. Moderated by Shannon Muir (Invader Zim), author of Gardner’s Guide to Writing and Producing Animation from GGC, and currently project management coordinator at Animation World Network. Room 3

Hope to see you there!

But of course with all the holiday distractions going on right now, it goes to figure. I hope that you all will get to see it soon. I worked really hard to make the best book I possibly could in hopes it would benefit a lot of people. I still hope that it does.

I hope to announce something else soon as well but am waiting until I know it is firmly solid until I say anything. I feel a little burned by this current experience in not being able to come through with something continually promised.