Announcing a new initiative that brings Vivek Ram, Ranjit Singh and Vaibhav Kumaresh together to conduct masterclasses on the craft of animation filmmaking. This will be the first of a series of classes over the next few weeks. Featuring assignments, reviews, presentations and interactive discussions, the classes will bridge the gap between training and education.

For details visit: www.ramsinghkumaresh.com

Watch this space for a special interview with Ram, Singh & Kumaresh about their new (ad)venture!

It is a first for the festival and TASI has plans to not only have a retrospective on Indian animated films, showcasing nearly 50 films produced in India but also various other special programmes to take animation to the broader spectrum of people who will be attending IFFI.

Team TASI has already chosen a panel of experts to speak on various different aspects of animation and I will be putting up details here on the blog once the TASI committee and ESG finalize the list of speakers and presentations.

For The Animation Society of India this is just one of the many endeavours it has undertaken to promote Animation and animators in India. Their monthly workshops/sessions are very popular amongst students and professionals alike and their annual “Anifest India” animation festival is already in its 5th year now.

The International Film Festival of India kick starts in Goa on November 23rd.

Watch this space for more details.

The season kicks of with the much-awaited and resilient ANIFEST INDIA ‘09, which battled the killer flying pigs (you know what I mean!!) to emerge a winner. Now slated for 18th, 19th and 20th of September, ANIFEST INDIA will retain its flavour and all its fantastic sessions except for those by Nate Wragg and Christian Krupa who had to return to the USA. Instead we have a super VFX bonanza from Sony Imageworks - Behind the Scenes of ‘The Watchmen’ and ‘G-Force 3D’. TASI has done a superb job of getting an assortment of topics together all at one venue - Anifest India ‘09 is being held at the Convocation Hall, IIT Powai, Mumbai. Registrations were closed in early August itself as the number crossed 1500 but spot registrations @Rs.400/- all inclusive might just be available if you reach early on the days of the event.
For all the details including sessions, speakers, timing and the TASI Viewer’s Choice Awards, visit www.tasionline.org

Next up is the week-long International Animation Day celebration by ASIFA India sometime in October-November. Every year, 27th October is commemorated as International Animation Day across the globe. ASIFA India has been celebrating the occasion with events held across various cities in India - typically beginning with an all-day event in Mumbai at NCPA where the Awards of Excellence are given out. While I’m still awaiting details about this year’s festival, the Call for Entries for the 8th Annual ASIFA India Awards of Excellence are open. For details, check out this link. Hurry, the last date is 13th September 2009.

Then from Oct 29th to 31st we have the second edition of Chitrakatha - An international student animation film festival organised by the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. What’s even cooler about the festival (besides the fact that you get to interact with probably the best talent in the country) is that it is being held against the beautiful backdrop of the NID campus. If you missed it the last time, make sure you don’t miss it now! They also have announced a call for entries - one for a student category and the other for teachers. Check it out here.

Make the most of it and don’t miss any of these celebrations of the Art of Animation!

Remember the dates: 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th August at the Convocation Hall, IIT Powai, Mumbai

The TASI committee has worked extra, extra hard and got some super-speakers all ready to share their knowledge with the Indian animation enthusiasts. Here is the basic information (click on the posters to enlarge) and if you want to know more, just go right ahead to the TASI website - www.tasionline.org

First, a very big thank you to all those who have been waiting patiently for new updates on the website and blog. As most you must be aware by now, AAA is a one-person effort at spreading awareness about animation and sharing knowledge as well as industry news. AAA is not a funded company but the result of an individual’s passion for the art of animation.

For the past couple of months there has been very little activity on the site and blog because I have been busy working on some other projects. As these projects, which essentially fund AAA, are almost reaching closure, I assure all my readers that come June, AAA will be back in full swing. In fact, with a lot of new features as well as some important announcements. Therefore, I request all of you who have been patient for so long to just bear with me for another month, and I promise not to disappoint you.

Also, to enhance some of the features, I am moving the site to another server in the coming weeks. This will enable me to host many of the new services/features that are being planned for AAA. During the shifting process, the AAA website and blog will experience downtime for 24 to 48 hours. I will post an announcement 2 days before the actual migration. Once the transfer is complete, you will find AAA at the same url as you always have - www.allaboutanimation.com

Looking forward to rekindling the active relationship with all readers from June onwards. Do send in any suggestions that you have for improvements to the website!

Thanks to all the supporters, friends, colleagues and especially, all the readers!
Akshata

Frame Flixx Awards 2009 - Call for entries

TASI Model Making Workshop

TASI is organizing a full day Model Animation Workshop conducted by none other than all-time-favourite Vaibhav Kumaresh of Vaibhav Studios. It will begin with the screening of some puppet animation film clips. After that, the process of stop motion/puppet/clay animation will be demonstrated live. This will include techniques like displacement as well as replacement animation. Topics like lip sync and character performance will also be touched upon. The participants will be guided to create their own wire frame armatures for stop motion.

The workshop will demonstrate the following:

1. Translating a 2d character design into an armature diagram
2. Building the armature
3. Shoot setup
4. Action planning
5. Lip sync with replacement lips
6. Stop motion shoot and playback
7. Q&A with the audience

Date: 22nd March, 2009
Time: 10 am to 6 pm
Venue: P C Saxena Auditorium, IIT Powai, Mumbai
Fees (includes the cost of materials for armature creation):
Students - Rs.300/-
Professionals - Rs.500/-
TASI Members - Rs.200/-

ONLY 100 SEATS!

To register, contact the following TASI committee members:
Devang - 9870006181
Devika - 9821319058

REMEMBER: There is no online registration for this workshop and registration is against full payment only. Registrations close on 19th March.

I would also like to thank all of you who have read my articles and commented, sent feedback, asked questions, given suggestions and encouraged me in any way you could. I have sincerely tried to answer your queries, solve your doubts and share information through my articles. I have also ensured that my write-ups are ALWAYS unbiased and true - if I have praised somebody or something, it is because I truly believe it is praise-worthy. If I have criticized, it is because I have felt strongly about the flaws. All About Animation is neither funded nor sponsored by any individual or organization - it is solely my effort to do my bit to raise awareness about animation in India and encourage our talented animators.

CGTantra Community Honour for Akshata & AllAboutAnimation.com

Having said that, it is really nice to be appreciated by my peers for my efforts. The “Community Honour” conferred on me by CGTantra at their 4th Anniversary event in December 2008 has been a sweet validation of my endeavours and it sure feels good to be acknowledged. Thank you Chand, Abhishek and the entire team at CGTantra.

2009 has begun with a lot of question marks - stalled projects, jobless animators and an overall uncertainty that has beset members of India’s animation community. I will do my best to keep you updated. You will see many new things on the AAA website/blog in 2009. So keep watching

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)