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

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.

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.

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

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

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?

2008 was a year of a lot of frenetic activity on the industry front.

AnimationXpress.com held a series of AITF (Animation Industry Technology Forum) and IAI (Industry Academia Interface) sessions, announced a print magazine, a quiz competition and new awards of excellence and also ventured into something never done before - Animation tourism. Its my sincere hope that it does not lose its original vision in this juggernaut of diversification.

CGTantra.com took its LIG (Learn, Inspire, Grow) seminars to several cities across the country. It held the first ever (and I must say, mighty successful) CGT Expo in Mumbai, launched many new features on their website and finally ended the year with a bang by celebrating its 4th anniversary by confering “CGT Community Honours” on people from various sections of the Indian animation industry and community.

TASI - The Animation Society of India - organised valuable seminars and workshops all year around - ranging from Animation for those who cannot Draw, Music for Animation, The Making of taare Zameen Par, Preproduction, Acting for Animation and the gem of the year - A Masterclass with the Master - Ram Mohan Sir himself! And how can I not mention TASI’s Anifest India 2008 - the 3 day festival at IIT, Mumbai, that saw a phenomenal turnout of close to 3000 people who attended over 15 workshops and sessions. The icing on TASI’s cake was a neat write-up that appeared in Times Of India in August about the sincere efforts of TASI members to give something back to the Indian animation community. (Don’t take my word for it, I am a committee member of TASI this year too after all. Just ask any one who has attended the TASI sessions and I am sure they will vouch for us)

ASIFA India celebrated the International Animation Day with great gusto across 13 cities in India this year. I attended the one in Mumbai and for me the 2 highlights of the day were the opportunity to interact with Gitanjali Rao and watch clips from her latest film ‘Girgit’ and the screening of the Pixar Documentary which I had been dying to see. (It is now available for everyone to watch - on the Wall-E DVD - and I recommend all aspiring animators to watch it)

The proof of the potential of India’s animation industry lies in the fact that the Annecy Festival chose India as the country of focus. The ever-popular animation festival held every year in the beautiful town of Annecy in France put India, its animators and their animation in the spotlight. This was the year when one could not afford to miss out on the festival if one had anything to do with Indian animation. Unfortunately, I was unable to go.

Of course a lot else happened in the ‘industry’ - mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, splits, break-aways, law-suits, launches and shutdowns, but I will not discuss those here.

Then there was the formation of NAGFO and BAGS. What’s that you ask? NAGFO aka NASSCOM Animation and Gaming Forum is NASSCOM’s endeavour to brign together India’s animation as well as gaming institutes and studios under one umbrella to further their cause, improve standards and benefit everyone within the industry. BAGS is the Board of Animation and Gaming Standards that is emerging from NAGFO that will set guidelines amongst other things for the betterment of the industry.

Industry events that happened this year included FICCI Frames 2008 which was held in Mumbai (which I attended) and NASSCOM Animation and Gaming India 2008, Hyderabad (which I was unable to attend thanks under unfortunate circumstances).

And then there were the films. The Good, the Bad and the downright UGLY!! Enough has been said already about the UGLY aka Icy n Spicy (refer this blog) and I won’t waste anymore webspace writing about it. Gladly noone seems to remember the movie anyway!! Dashavatar and Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang did not do very well at the box office for different reasons. The effort was sincere but did not show through and both did nothing for the Indian animation industry. Everybody waited with bated breath for Roadside Romeo the first Big Banner Bollywood film - helmed by Jugal Hansraj and produced by Yash Raj Films. The creators did push the envelope quite a bit and I have to credit the animators for doing a good job. The tragedy was that this film too failed to excite Indian audiences enough. Partly the fault of the producers who hardly promoted the film and partly the inexperience of the director who is not an animator to begin with. The hype was limited to within the industry and ultimately, neither the voices of Saif and Kareena nor the sincere efforts of the animation team got their due. The film found its audience neither in kids nor in adults. It was wrong to expect Disney/Pixar quality - we pinned our hopes too high. A toddler must first learn to crawl, then walk, then run. Yet, I reaffirm that Roadside Romeo was a giant leap for Indian animation in more ways than one. (I won’t bring up Jumbo because it is not an Indian animated film to begin with and the  only Indian connection, the voice-overs, sounded so awful in the trailers itself that I shall give it a miss!)

Whew! That wraps up this lengthy post. I know I might have missed out a couple of things, if so, you are most welcome to add them in the comments below. I will sign off by wishing all of you a very happy, peaceful, successful, fun-filled and ANIMATED 2009!!!

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)

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.

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.

Their reviews are witty, tongue-in-cheek and well-rounded, covering every aspect- right from the story, the cast (for live-action films) to the direction and the film-making itself.

A preview…

“This week, the Two and a Half Iyers investigate the curious incident of the dogs in the night-time. Jugal Hansraj’s directorial debut is India’s first big-budget-anthrophmorphic-talking-animal-bollywood-extravaganza, Roadside Romeo.”

Download the podcast here.

It is encouraging to see our young artists observe, analyze, express and discuss their views and use the internet to share them with the world. I wish them all the best!

Thanks Akhila, Avinash and Rohit for sharing the podcast with AAA and for mentioning AAA on your blog.

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 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.

Saraswathi Balgam will introduce WIA with a small presentation on the history of women in the field. This will be followed by a special screening of selected animation films done by women in India.

Next, there will be an informal Panel Discussion with the audience free to participate. Panelists will discuss their journey and experiences in the industry. The talks would delve into the challenges faced in the industry from a woman’s point of view, the attitudes of people towards women in this field, why so few women in the industry? Striking a balance between home and work; Is there any discrimination? Future activities of WIA and related issues.

click to see the poster

Besides the insightful panel discussion, there will also be a special screening of animation films by women in Indian, a special presentation of recent short films from Europe by women directors and producers selected and hosted by Shelley Page, Head of International Outreach, DreamWorks Animation.

The Meet Up is not restricted to women alone. Men are also welcome to join in, not only in the meet up but also to become members of WIA India.

So be there to celebrate and applaud all the women who have contributed and are contributing to animation in India!

Date: 23rd April, 2008
Time: 5 pm. to 8 pm. (Gates open at 4:30 pm)
Venue: National College, Bandra West, Mumbai

Entry is free of cost, you just need to register by sending an email to wia.ind@gmail.com

Sanjiv started by questioning a few pre-conceived notions about animation. He asked the participants to share whether they thought drawing was or was not integral to animation and the reasons for their beliefs. The answers were varied and the participants had a lot to say.

1. Drawing helps translate one’s imagination on to paper
2. Drawing is essential to successfully communicate one’s ideas to others, especially when working in a team
3. A fair idea of weight, volume, proportions etc. helps better animation
4. Observing and analyzing poses is important
5. Being able to draw well helps with framing of scenes through story-boarding
6. Drawn animation (or 2D) is a lot faster than 3D animation
7. Good observation skills are crucial
8. Good acting skills do not necessarily translate into great animation
9. A deeper understanding of anatomy aids animation

Sanjiv then put forth his views saying “If one’s brain is filled with brilliant ideas but cannot get his hand to realize these, his creativity can go to waste. But at the same time, a creative thinker needs only to learn the necessary skills, whether drawing or software, through an institute to be able to put forth is ideas in front of the world. Take advantage of the fact that today most animation is done by teams of specialised people. There is a person assigned to take on various tasks, eg. for a modeler, the knowledge of anatomy is critical but not for the rigger.”

“If you like a scene, you must analyze why you like that particular scene, why it works for you. That is what will sharpen your observation and animation skills.” Sanjiv also showed some of his studio’s work.

Sanjiv took the participants through a few scenes from famous Disney films - Peter Pan, Bambi and Lilo and Stitch along with a detailed breakdown of each of them. He explained staging, the setting up of the mood of the scene and drawing the audience’s attention to a particular point in the scene. A particular scene could be enacted in multiple ways but it is up to the animator to choose which is most effective. He talked about the use of audio cues through voice (dialogue delivery) and sound effects and how they influence the action in the scene. “It is a skill to make the audience anticipate the character’s next move through the composition of the scene, the pose of the characters and the direction of their motion.” Putting the spotlight on certain background or foreground elements also guides the audience’s eye through subtle hints at where the next action might take place. Sanjiv showed examples for each of the points that he presented before the participants who were glued to their seats, hanging on to his every word.

While Jai Natarajan presented his counter-point on the scene from Peter Pan, Ranjit Singh added that one must look at the sequential context of the scene. When planning a single scene, one must not forget the holistic picture into which the scene must blend in.

Sanjiv concluded the first part of the workshop with 3 key observations:
1. Most institutes ask students to demonstrate their drawing skills when they seek admission. Without judging the institutes for doing so, Sanjiv declared that he felt the question itself was unimportant.
2. Drawing is not critical to animation but it was always an added bonus to know any art form.
3. What is most important for good animation is understanding and observing everything around you.
“Animating is about movement, not drawing alone. The movement has to be conveyed really well.”

Vaibhav Kumaresh spoke of the National Film Board of Canada’s animators and film makers. They have created beautiful animated films where even though each individual frame is not an example of brilliant drawing, yet the entire film is a piece of art. He cited Paul Dressen’s style of animation. His drawings are almost like squiggles, the lines are shaky and most certainly not illustrated masterpieces. But the animation is outstanding. It is not the quality of drawing but the soul of action that matters.

Addressing the students in the audience, Ranjit Singh spoke of the two most commonly asked questions in his 6 years of conducting seminars and workshops with TASI -
1. What makes a good portfolio?
2. Is drawing really important for animation?

“The gist of good animation is the performance. Not effects, not modeling. Do not try to pack all your work into the portfolio. Only showcase your best work. Focus on what you are best at. Amateurs are very often picked up by studios for the potential, not for what they already are. What matters is how good you are in your grasp of the subject. You must identify your strengths and play to them. If it is texturing, then your portfolio should be biased towards it. Nowadays all studios have specialized departments and jobs. You will find your place based on your strength.”

For the second part of the workshop, Sanjiv chose 8 volunteers from the audience and split them into 2 teams. Each team was given a situation to enact which was captured on a digital camera. One team was led by Vaibhav and the other by Tony. There was no dialogue and the teams had to convey the story through their acting and performance skills. The audience had to draw their own conclusions from the performances. For every correct guess the team got points. This activity enabled the audience to fully gauge how crucial body language, actions and gestures are to convey not just the story itself but also to give the audience an insight into the characters themselves. At the end there was no winning team, but it felt like every participant came out feeling like a winner! Sanjiv liked the performances of both teams so much, specially keeping in mind that none of them are professional actors, that he decided all 8 of them deserved the prize - TASI T-shirts!!

Finally for some audience feedback. It was extremely heartening for the TASI team to know that their effortsare benefiting students. One of the participants summed up what she felt all of them have gained from TASI events. “At our institutes, there is only so much that we learn. But here, there is always something new and exciting that we are exposed to. I have attended every TASI event since I became a member and I have never been disappointed. Thank you, TASI!”

The same report may be found on the TASI website as well, with lots of photographs of the event!

About Sanjiv Waeerkar:
Sanjiv is a commercial art graduate (specialising in illustration) from the LS Raheja School of Art (Mumbai). The son of late Shri. Ram Waeerkar, his interest in animation was fuelled by his father’s illustrations for Tinkle comics. Sanjiv has won various domestic and international awards. As a director he has worked on animation production with companies from across the globe including the famous ‘Meena’ and ‘Sara’ projects for UNICEF. Sanjiv has personally trained many animators and has been instrumental in setting up one of the larger animation companies in India. He is now the Creative Director at UTV and is currently working on a full-length animated feature.

Last night, CNN IBN had a special interview with Dhimant Vyas and it will be screened today as well at 2:30 pm IST on the CNN IBN channel. Dhimant certainly deserves the accolades he is receiving for this mini-masterpiece that kids and adults alike have found fascinating. Here is the link to the CNN IBN video interview:

Interview with Dhimant Vyas on CNN IBN

Also read…

The AAA interview with Dhimant Vyas on the making of TZP’s clay animation and photos.