All Entries in the "Animators" Category
Learning from Waltz With Bashir
Waltz with Bashir
Well, from Ari Folman, the creator of this compelling animated documentary, actually. An interview with Marshall Fine of the Huffington Post, gives us a glimpse into the mind of writer/director Ari Folman who made this film against all odds and gained worldwide success. He has almost philosophical views on war, forgiveness and politics but those have no place here on an animation blog. What I really want to share here are 5 invaluable lessons gleaned from the interview with this unconventional film-maker. I hope our aspiring animators and film-makers who want to make their own films will take these lessons to heart.
Lesson No. 1: It is all in the story-telling
(from the interview) …A very personal look at the Israel-Lebanon war of 1982, Waltz with Bashir follows Folman as he tracks down old friends and fellow veterans of the Israeli Army and asks them to share their memories of the conflict. Whenever he tries to remember it, he draws a blank - and so he goes to his friends to help refresh his memory. The result is an exercise in recall that melts from memory to dream to hallucination - ending in a shocking moment of reality when the film suddenly moves from animation to archival footage of the aftermath of the Sabra and Shatila massacre of Muslims by Lebanese Christian forces, in retaliation for the assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel…With a controversial but factual story about war combined with real, archival footage, who would have thought the film would catch the fancy of people across the world? A dark, disturbing subject like war has been tackled innumerable times before so what sets apart this film? The answer lies in the telling of the story. Can you create interest in the minds of the audience? Can you get them involved in the lives of your characters? Can you hook them, grip them, enchant them, make them suspend disbelief and lose themselves in your story? THAT is the power of story-telling, no matter what the subject is.
Lesson No. 2: Believe. In yourself. In your story. In the medium.
(from the interview) …But, as Folman says, a nonfiction retelling that relied on archival footage would have been lumped in with all the other talking-head political documentaries that come and go - many of them never being released, most going unseen in the U.S. - every year. Animation made it stand out - and helped Folman find a way to exploit the visual aspects of what is essentially an oral history. “Animation was the only way to do it,” he says. “I imagined it as an animated film. I always knew it would be. I had no other choice. It’s a story about the subconscious, about fear and death, war horrors, drugs - the only way to include all of that was animation.” Inevitably, he faced questions: Is it true? Is it real? Which raised other questions: Did animation undermine its connection to reality - or enhance it? “The hardest part was convincing people that it could be done,” Folman say…A lot of people questioned Folman’s decision to make a film on this subject. They felt his choice of medium was inappropriate as well. He did not have a background in animation either. But he believed. In the story he had to narrate, in the medium of ‘animated-documentary’ and most of all, in himself. The strength of his conviction ensured that the film got made.
Lesson No. 3: Never give up. Keep trying.
(from the interview) …Even then, the film had to be made piecemeal. Folman started with three minutes, then started pitching. It took him four years to get the money to finish the movie. “I pitched it three and a half years ago in Toronto,” he says. “I had a three-minute scene that I showed to 40 people - and 38 of them said, ‘Why animated?’ They didn’t want it. “You have to convince a lot of people. I went to a lot of parties. It was a complicated four years. I never stopped. I did three minutes, then went to Toronto and raised money. Then I did 20 minutes, then I stopped and raised more money. Then I did 40 minutes. If you stop, you get stuck and lose your team and it gets more complicated.”…The task was daunting. The film was almost experimental and most people had rejected his pitch. Yet he went on undeterred. He not only worked on the film himself, he also went around trying to raise funds. He did everything possible to ensure the film was completed. He had a vision and a task. He went all out to make it a reality, not giving up even once.
Lesson No. 4: Innovate
(from the interview) …A TV writer (including for the Israeli version of In Therapy) and director, Folman had never worked with animation before. And with minimal funding for his idea, he had to come up with his own approach. “We invented the animation style,” he says. “Basically it is cut-out animation. We did it ourselves because of the very low budget we had.”…Sure, there were problems. Unforeseen ones as well as expected ones. With a budget that was limited, Ari and his team reiterated the proverb - Necessity is the mother of invention. When you have a goal, you cannot let anything stop you from achieving it. Try with whatever is within your means but also push the limit whenever you can. Experiment, innovate, turn your shortcomings into advantages, push the envelope.
Lesson No. 5: Do it for YOURSELF
(from the interview) …As he worked on it, Folman felt he was making something special - but what filmmaker doesn’t? Even then, though he was excited when the film was accepted at Cannes, he had no sense of the way it would be received. “We were clueless about its impact until we came to Cannes,” he says. “We knew nothing. We were working in a small lab on the outskirts of Tel Aviv and we were having fun. I knew when it was done it would be a great movie. All along, I was very confident. I had solved a lot of the problems artistically and financially. But I was surprised at the fight for the film after the screening. Really, we didn’t know what we were doing. I believe you never do as filmmakers.”…Folman did not make this film to prove a point. He did not make it to win accolades for the animation. He had a story that he wanted to narrate which he wanted to take to people across the world. He was not thinking of audiences or jury when he was making the film. He made it the way it best enhanced the story. He was focussed on the task at hand and gave it his best. That is something most of us do not do. We lose track thinking of the grand prize awaiting us at the finishing line. Do not make the film because it is your class lesson, or project, or perhaps your job. Do not do it for the ‘money’ or ‘awards’. Do it for your own sake - because you have a story that deserves to be told in the best possible manner.
I will leave you with the trailer of Waltz with Bashir and a parting thought. There is so much to learn from the experiences of others. Our animation/filmmaking students sometimes suffer because they do not have good teachers at their schools and institutes, but what stops them from learning outside the classroom?
Good bye 2008!
What a year it was, for Indian animation and for me personally as well. A roller-coaster year one may call it. Ups and downs, highs and lows. Memorable moments and some, unfortunately, ‘trying-hard-to-forget’ ones. A year that saw the launch of many new animation training institutes and studios, the formation of strategic partnerships, major acquisitions and tie-ups, a couple of announcements about new animated features/series and also the scrapping of highly-publicised, prestigious ones. A year whose first half saw more jobs than people but ended with the equation reversed - layoffs and yet more layoffs!
Must Attend Workshop with Ram Mohan, the Father of Indian Animation
Masterclass with the Master himself!
A REMINDER: TASI is organizing an interactive workshop on Character Design, Concept Development and Production processes on 5th December, 2008 from 3 pm to 6 pm at Whistling Woods International, Goregaon, Mumbai.
The Father of Indian Animation, Ram Mohan or ‘Sirjee’ as he is fondly called will be conducting the workshop and this is a session which should not be missed.
Ram Mohan needs no introduction. Any Indian animator who has not heard of him should not be doing animation!
So make sure that you are there with your sketchpads and pencils to learn from the Master himself - for details of the workshop and to register online go to the TASI website (click here)
CGTantra’s Anniversary Celebrations
CGT Anniversary Celebrations
CGTantra is celebrating its 4th Anniversary at the Mumbai University YBR Auditorium, Kalina, Mumbai on Saturday, 29th Nov, 10.00 am onwards.
It will be a celebration of 4 years of the CGT community, where CGT will honour friends and organisations who have supported their initiatives in the last 4 years.
For the previous 3 celebrations, they had speakers and guests coming from all over the world. This year, they have planned something different.
CGT will commemorate its 4 year long journey with friends and supporters from the industry by honouring them and having lots of fun.
The highlights of the programme are:
- A detailed making of Roadside Romeo-by Tata Elxsi, VCL
- Launch of New products and features of CGTANTRA
- CGTANTRA Community Honours to all our speakers, supporting Educational organisations, Studios and technology companies as well as volunteers
- Announcement of CGTANTRA Community Excellence Awards categories to be given during CGTEXPO.
- Rock Show by Student Volunteers Team.
latest@allaboutanimation.com - Podcast review of ‘Roadside Romeo’
While on the topic of ‘Roadside Romeo’, I requested my friends at twoandahalfiyers to share their review of the film with All About Animation. Unlike most typical ‘Bollywood’ reviews, these three young artists/students from NID, one of whom is an animator himself, offer a fresh perspective on the film.
The trio comprising of Rohit, Avinash and Akhila review a different movie every few weeks and their podcasts can be downloaded from their blog twoandahalfiyers.blogspot.com. This is their very first review of an animated film and though their podcasts can get quite lengthy, I highly recommend them.
Is that Brad Bird and John Lasseter??!
This one is just for fun! Flipanimation.net is a monthly online magazine that’s been around since May 2007. With some very interesting articles and free readership, it seems to be quite popular. Their latest issue (September 2008) has a very interesting Black and White photograph on the cover - its the Character Animation Class of 1976 from Cal Arts and guess who’s there in the picture? See for yourself…
Flipanimation.net has many more such fascinating bits of trivia besides some really good articles that make for engrossing reading. Do check it out!
Women in Animation Meet Up in Mumbai on 23rd April
Meet Chutki, the cute little mascot of the Indian chapter of Women in Animation, at their first ever Meet Up on 23rd April, 2008, in Mumbai.
Women In Animation is a professional, non-profit organization established in 1994 to foster the dignity, concerns and advancement of women who are involved in any and all aspects of the art and industry of animation. WIA is also an educational organization. The Indian chapter is led by Saraswathi Balgam with help from Rekha Thorat.
Through their workshops, meetings and panels, WIA aims to share with its members a valuable insight into the industry, available opportunities and other educational resources. The Indian chapter is actively looking for volunteers to help launch this organization at a grass roots level.
On 23rd April, WIA has organised its first ever meet up that will bring together on one platform some of India’s leading women animators and film makers like Simi Nallaseth, Geetanjali Rao, Simi Nallaseth, Sherry Bharda, Nina Sabnani, Shilpa Ranade and Saraswathi Balgam.
TASI’s “Animation For Those Who Cannot Draw!”
With a fabulous turnout of 250 plus people, the TASI workshop titled “Animation for those who cannot draw!”, began on all the right notes! The TASI team had planned this workshop with the intention of initiating a new outlook towards animation and the encouraging response was proof enough that there are many who nurture a desire to animate but fear their own lack of drawing skills. The 5 hour session was held on 19th Jan. at Mumbai Educational Trust (MET) in Bandra, the heart of Mumbai city with registrations open students, professionals and novices alike. Sanjiv Waeerkar, Creative Director, UTV, who conducted this interactive workshop is also a former TASI committee member.
