The 3 part Animation Masterclass by RamSinghKumaresh debuted in Mumbai on April 24th, 2010. AAA was to cover all the 3 modules but due to unavoidable circumstances, I missed the first one. So the report extensively covers Modules 2 & 3 while for Module 1, we have a photo slideshow (courtesy @RamSinghKumaresh) and feedback from some participants.

Although the coverage is in great detail, it in no way makes up for the masterclass itself. There is a lot more to be gained from actually attending such educational workshops and learning first-hand from these veterans and benefit from their experiences during their long, illustrious careers.

Therefore, my heartfelt advice to all those who are serious about making careers in the field of animation, please do not miss such masterclasses and workshops. If you have the opportunity to learn from someone who has been in the field for a while and made a name for himself/herself, please make the most of it. You will learn much more than any school or institute can teach you.

REPORT LINKS:

Module 1: click here

Module 2: click here

Module 3: click here

Sorry folks, I missed this one due to bad health, so there’s no detailed report to accompany the pictures but I promise to make up with the next 2 modules.

Also for a quick review from a participant’s perspective, head over to Kshiraj’s blog. Kshiraj is an upcoming artist and animator based in Delhi who travelled all the way to Mumbai just to attend the RSK Masterclass Module 1. What dedication! If more of our aspiring animators would have this kind of enthusiasm for learning, our animation industry would see far greater progress. He couldn’t stay for the other two and had to head back home, so the reports of Module 2 and 3 are specially dedicated to Kshiraj and many other rising stars of Indian animation.

Other Reports:

Module 2: click here

Module 3: click here

Luckily for me, Vaibhav (KUMARESH) was just doing a recap of the last module. The auditorium this time was much smaller and better suited to the size of the audience. It felt more intimate - like an actual classroom - and this was reflected in the way the participants were sitting in rapt attention.

“A walk is controlled falling.”

Vaibhav began Module 2 by explaining the basic dynamics of a frontal walk. “Babies have no control over their limbs and keep falling. Once they learn to control falling, they learn to walk.” Using drawings of skeletal structures, he illustrated the twists and turns the body goes through while walking, the changes in volume that the body experiences, the movement of the head and the torso and so on. The same up and down bounce that you notice when you observe a walk sideways is seen when you view it from the front. (continued…)

No matter what the medium, it becomes easy to animate once you understand the basic principles of movement. The most important thing is to observe, study and practice animation timing. Vaibhav screened specially created video clips of his assistant walking in different styles - casual, deliberate, aggressive, comical - and then played each clip frame by frame to show the breakdown of movement. He pointed out that the common mistake that most animators make is to miss the frame that shows the contact between foot and ground. The subsequent frame should have a squash, caused by the weight of the body bearing down upon the foot after impact.

He next showed a comparison between walk and run cycles. Again using a video clip, he tracked the movement of the head of a person walking and running. The waves formed by the bouncing action of the head while running have higher arcs than when walking. He then sketched key frames and in-betweens to further illustrate the movement.

“The Blink”

The key to convincing facial animation lies in the blink. Most of the time we tend to overlook the beauty of a blink. Like the blinking light on the CPU of a computer indicates activity inside the hard disk of a computer, the blink of an eye serves as an indicator of activity inside the character’s brain. Typically a blink occurs when the character’s attention shifts which may happen because the topic changes or there is some sort of distraction. Blinks occur also when one is concentrating or thinking hard. A blink may be used to convey suspicion. Rapid blinking occurs when a person is holding back tears. There are blinks and then there are half-blinks too.

An infant’s brain is still developing, therefore it doesn’t blink as much or in such a coordinated manner. Likewise, old people too do not seem to blink as much. To illustrate his theory, Vaibhav showed a video clip of his daughter at three months of age where despite all the activity and sounds around her, she barely blinks once during the duration of the video. He also showed a few recent photos of an ageing Indian superstar at film industry events, where he has a completely blank expression on his face. Perhaps brain activity at a very young or old age is far slower and therefore blinking is less frequent.

Vaibhav then showed a few clips from various animated films (Wallace and Grommit, Up and Wall-E) as examples of the use of blinks to convey emotions and to embellish dialogues. He even played some scenes with the volume on mute to highlight his point. Grommit the dog, for instance, has no mouth - but his eyes convey almost every emotion under the sun. In Wall-E, the eyes and the blinks are a constant indicator of the state of mind of the 2 main characters - Wall-E and Eve, who are mere robots. The blinks breathe life into the two of them.

Even in blinks, you can have brilliant stretches and squashes - Vaibhav screened a couple of cleverly executed TV channel promos to illustrate this.

{I have to say here that I really appreciated how Vaibhav had taken a lot of effort to go through several films and hunt for the exact clips to substantiate his points.}

“Lip Sync”

The most common mistake made by animators is to over-analyse and overdo lip movements to match dialogue. To demonstrate this, Vaibhav showed 2 video recordings of a person saying the same dialogue - one at normal speed and another of him saying the same lines very slowly and in a deliberate manner. When the second clip was played faster, you could clearly see that lip movements were exaggerated and looked incorrect. During normal speech, the lips move in a minimal manner - sometimes with the mouth just opening and shutting.

A very good example to study for lip-syncing would be Aardman Studio’s Creature Comfort series where an assorted bunch of animals speak to the camera. The dialogue is lengthy and one gets a fair idea of how best to animate lip movements. Vaibhav made it easier to understand by first showing a plain text version of the dialogue on the screen, then followed it up by playing only the audio of the dialogue and finally showed the actual animated clip.

“Timing for Audio”

To enable the audience to better grasp the tempo of a walk, Vaibhav played a video clip of people walking at various speeds and asked the audience to make a clicking sound with their tongues to match the footsteps. As different people walked across the screen at different speeds, some even changing their speed half-way, the audience clicked along, grasping exactly what Vaibhav was trying to convey.

“Wave”

When animating, the human body acts like a pendulum. Using animated matchsticks, Vaibhav demonstrated the movement of a wave - how the human body moves like a pendulum and creates arcs. The wave here is a series of joints which move in a coordinated manner. If you plot points along the line of the wave, you will see that the points closest to the controlling point (fulcrum) swing the least and the ones furthest swing the most. Similarly, as the motion stops, the point closest to the fulcrum stops.

The principle was demonstrated further through a scene from the Disney movie - Mulan.

Vaibhav’s Tip: “When you watch a movie for the first time, do so just to enjoy it. The second time, observe and learn from it. Watch a few more times if need be. Then recreate it yourself. Don’t stop at that - better it!”

Vaibhav teaches you to really SEE, not just look. And see with different eyes - an animator’s eyes.

Answering a question from one one of the participants, Ranjit (SINGH) explained different walk styles - the American walk is purposeful, the European walk is not purposeful but yet it is confident. The Indian walk is aimless, almost languid. Singh walked across the front of the class to demonstrate the different walking styles.

Mannerisms and Timing are crucial to make any animation convincing. People across the world walk differently, their mannerisms are varied. Men and women walk differently. Even a person being thin or fat makes a difference to how he or she walks. It is the same with running. Japanese animated characters mostly run in way such that their feet fall in line with each other. Western characters run along parallel lines. This makes a difference to the way the body sways during motion.

Vivek (RAM) added that whenever we stand, our body is constantly correcting the center of gravity. The center of gravity shifts between the two extreme positions of the hips. In women, the hips are wider, therefore the center of gravity has to travel a greater distance and that is what causes the sway. The wider the hips, the more the sway. The same applies for legs - the longer the legs, the more shift in center of gravity, which is why models with long legs are so in demand!

{Lunch Break!!!}

Vivek Ram began his session by screening a brilliant short film by Blur Studio and using the film to recap all that he had taught in the first module. The film, “A Gentlemen’s Duel”, is a brilliant showcase of character design and detailing, with a very simple story-line. Two gentlemen, one British and the other French are vying for the attention of the same woman and decide to duel, while the young lady and her butler watch. The anatomy of each character has been created in a certain way for a reason - to visually give us an insight into the background, nature and personality of the character. Be it the proud Frenchman or the Genteel Englishman, there is a reason for the way they have each been designed.

“Anatomy”

It is tough to explain using only words what Vivek was teaching - you ought to have been there in the class and watched him explain the structure of arms, hands, feet, legs in a very scientific manner by drawing on the white board using three different coloured markers. He explained the reasons for why certain parts were shaped in a particular way, how any kind of movement influenced the shapes and how gravity affects the muscles.

“Hands and feet give rhythm to the body”

Because muscles are attached to the bones only at the edges and not the center so the larger muscles dangle. They are influenced by gravity. Vivek then went into detailed structure of anatomy, bones, muscles, joints. The outer shape of limbs and their movement is determined by the internal bones, muscles and joints. He also explained how the structure of hands and feet have very little to do with muscles. The finger, even in the simplest form must not have its edges drawn parallel to each other, as fingers always taper a bit. The nails go under the skin at the base.

Vivek asked Vaibhav to draw a random character - so Vaibhav drew a funny looking one. Vivek then explained the anatomical structure in a scientific manner. Sometimes, a character can be very stylised too e.g. the Powerpuff Girls who have no fingers and no elbows.

“Anatomy is not a still frame. You have to consider it in movement. Everything needs to follow the motion principles. Especially when you simplify the drawing, anatomy becomes even more important.”

Giving the example of dance, he said it is very important to position your fingers. In dance, the hand creates the final rhythm, so a fist won’t do, the finger position is critical.

The homework assignment given was to draw/study 20-30 sketches of hands/feet in various positions.

Vivek ended his session with yet another brilliant film by Blur Studios - ‘In The Rough’.

Ranjit (SINGH) began his session with a quick recap of the last Module - an overview of the 4 basic components - Plot, Characters, Setting & Performance.

PLOT
The Plot is the relationship between the cause and effect of events within a story. Someone/something/somewhere CAUSES an event that has an EFFECT on someone/something/somewhere as a result. If you miss the thread, you lose your way. If you stick to it, you will be able to keep it compact. You will remain focussed.

“Film Genres”

Singh showed a quick slideshow of the various genres and sub-genres of films and examples of each from Hollywood/Bollywood. When you write a story it helps to know which genre you are writing for (unlike typical Bollywood Khichdi). You can mix and match if you like but you must know what you want to do. Clarity is of essence. What is the core idea? What is the principal plot? What is the embellishment? Examples of genres are Action, Adventure, Gangster/Mob, Comedy, Horror, Epics, Musicals, Drama, War/Antiwar, Sci-Fi, Western, and Indian (Bollywood and regional Indian films are mostly a hybrid -of various genres).

“Advantages of Animation”

- there are infinite possibilities
- no one dies in the course of making the film and/or its sequels
- the size of digital camera
- you can do what you can’t shoot
- it is relatively inexpensive
- it is safe and nondestructive
- it is also repeatable, mouldable
- you can have bizarre twists and turns
- it pre-sells the unreal
- you have freedom from constraints of time and place

“The Plot is the action that happens in a story”

–> Every story has to have an event/conflict which will lead to a result
–> For the event/conflict to happen there has to be a cause that generates it
–> For the event/conflict to be resolved, there has to be action
–> For the action to happen, there have to be actors
–> For the actors to perform, they have to play the characters i.e. performance
–> The action should rise gradually for the audience to relate to it
–> Culmination is in a climax - a crescendo of emotions/events/action
–> Post-climax, there has to be be a settling down/conclusion to the plot

eg. What was the plot for Jab We Met?
- A chance encounter between two strangers that changes their lives.

EXERCISE:- Take a movie, break it down into its basic components - define basic event/conflict. Define characters - who are they and what are they doing? Understand and analyze the story.

“Building a 3 act structure”

- know the end, know where are you are headed for
- work backwards towards the conflict
- introduce the idea, the people and the setting
- write a ‘log line’ (a short description of the gist of what you want to say)

Another important aspect - your character has to transform across the film’s storyline - it makes the character endearing, it makes you empathise with the character

EXERCISE:- Build log line of a movie that you have seen and let the others identify the movie:-
–> Does the log line define the story completely?
–> What is missing?
–> Can you define what is not required?

Singh then showed a sample screenplay for the benefit of those who have never seen one.

Important Points to Remember:

1. One minute of screen time per page - 90 to 120 pages length
2. Two main components - Action (what is happening in the scene) and Dialogue (what are the characters saying)
3. Action is described as it is to happen - eg. Priya wipes a tear NOT Priya is wiping a tear i.e avoid ‘ing’ for actions
4. Act out the writing to check for performance as described (most people have inhibitions to act but must get over it - it will hamper your writing)
5. Focus on action that moves the story forward
6. Engage the readers through writing
7. Write only what can be HEARD & SEEN
8. It’s all about PICTURE & SOUND. Narrative description shouldn’t contain anything that can’t be seen or heard (like emotions and feelings)
9. Get objective opinions from performers, read others’ screenplays

“The Essence of a Story”

The Narrative is a structured set of sentences that relates a sequence of events. It is intended to amuse/interest audience - a tale. People usually go to the movies to see things that normally do not happen / seem to happen.

“The Importance of a Story

First get your story, then worry about how you are going to tell it. Singh ponderd aloud, “How can you think of a 3D movie?”

1. Don’t fall in love with what you have created
2. Look inside, there are stories, there are conflicts (experiences, situations, events, skeletons, guilt, pride)
3. Observe keenly - people, places, events, situations
4. Explore viewpoints, talk to others - get objective advice. Listen to it.
5. Collaborate with like minded people, multiple heads are better than one.

“3 BASIC RULES OF A STORY:  1. Story,  2. Story and 3. Story”

A story requires the following basic elements:

• problem / basic issue
• threat causing the problem
• conflict/complications - obstacles to resolution
• change of fortunes - caused by threat which caused the problem
• climax, highest point - extreme escalation before resolution
• resolution - solution and consequences

Then using the second Munnabhai movie as an example, Singh elaborated on the above points.

“Character - The Who”

1. The Protagonist - the main character whom the audience likes & roots for
2. The Antagonist - the protagonist’s nemesis whom the audience dislikes and doesn’t want to succeed
3. Support Groups - the love interest, the family, group/associates, friends and story props (those who help move the story along - perhaps someone who has just one line in the film but a very important line - it changes the story)

There are many aspects to a well-defined character. Its appearance (the look/design), mannerisms (body language), mindset (intellect & sensibilities), voice (voice character & modulation) and behaviour (act/react). A back story provides valuable insight into the construction of a character - what created the villain, what made the killer, what made the vigilante? It provides an understanding of the basic motivation of the character and sets up the character’s path over the duration of the story.

Singh explained these points further with regards to A Gentlemen’s Duel, which was screened earlier. He also gave the example of Sholay where, with such a stellar cast of actors, the characters have not been overpowered. Each character is so well-written that you remember Jai, Veeru, Gabbar, Samba, Dhanno etc. rather than the actors who played those parts.

“Building Character”

The ground rule of building a believable character is to live your character. If Singh is making a movie about Ram, he has to become Ram, else it is not convincing. You need to know your characters inside out. Only then, when you sit down to define their performance, you won’t go ‘out of character’.

Basic guides to help you build believable characters:
1. Define Desires - What does he crave for?
2. Define Aversions - What is the character fearful of?
3. Define the Past - What is the history/backstory?
4. Define Behaviour - How does character normally behave?
5. Increase the Challenges - Push the limits of tolerance/severity of consequences
6. Don’t influence them with what you would be - this is a living person, let him/her react to its own being
7. Let your characters interact - define the interaction too

Exercise: - Take a character from any film and define what works/doesn’t work.

PERFORMANCE is critical to the success of a character. Dialogues many a times immortalise characters. To further reinforce this point, the memorable Gabbar Singh scene from Sholay was screened. It also served as the grand finale for the day.

Vaibhav regretted that due to lack of time, participants were unable to practice live sketching and hoped to make up for it at the next session. The participants were asked to send in their homework and exercises for assessment and also for their feedback on what they thought of the class and how it could be improved.

I thought it was well worth the time and money spent for anyone who wants to learn. I look forward to the third module to be held next Saturday.

Other Reports:

Module 1: click here

Module 3: click here

“Scribble - Scribble - Throw Away!”

Sketching is a very important exercise. It trains the brain to really SEE and the hands to DRAW what the brain sees. Your observation skills improve. As you keep sketching, the brain begins to store the data, so that when you draw from memory, the brain retrieves this data. Vaibhav reiterated that what was being done here was just a warm up, and that too a brief one. When sketching, one must take it seriously - focus, not fool around, joke or get distracted. 10 minutes isn’t enough to sketch. One must practise for at least one hour daily. Another point he made was to not get too attached to the drawings. Use them for practise. He called it “Scribble - Scribble - Throw away!” (Continued…)

Vivek Ram pointed out that most people begin by drawing the head first, which may not be such a good idea. He sketched on the whiteboard to show how while sketching, one must first capture the form and the pose, and finish the drawing with the head. He also suggested that initially it helps to use soft drawing tools like charcoal sticks or soft lead pencils as they allow the hands to move more smoothly over the paper.

Both Vivek and Vaibhav recommended a minimum one hour a day of sketching.

Next, the assignments from the previous two modules were discussed. The “homework” threw up some real gems. The story-telling module had a few participants turning out very interesting plots for films. And to Ranjit Singh, I recommend some serious thought at a career change - while instructing the participants, he spontaneously came up with a brilliant plot idea. Bollywood/Hollywood calling, eh?

Vivek Ram’s anatomy assignments also revealed a talented artist - Rajiv (a teacher by profession). The task was to take characters from animated films and draw their skulls. It was reverse-engineering of sorts where you have the ready character design and you try to figure out the structure of the skull that creates the outer shape. Vivek pointed out what was right/wrong about Rajiv’s sketches, explaining in great detail. He also gave a tip - since he was drawing digitally, he should try to draw the skull ON the image of the character for a better understanding of shape, size and structure. Another important point to remember is that human and animal skulls have one major difference, animal skulls, especially feline ones are pointed on top unlike smooth, rounded human ones. “The next time you are playing with your pet cat, just stroke the top of its head and you will see exactly what I mean”, said Vivek.

“The Human Torso”

Vivek Ram did a quick recap of the previous module and then began the final part of the anatomy lesson of Module 3 - The Human Torso. It was interesting to learn how the human body is shaped the way it is for a reason - each muscle and bone has a function and it is ‘designed’ accordingly. The rib cage protects many of the vital organs in the body and its unique shape has a definite purpose. Like I said before, the anatomy lessons can’t really be described in text so if you really want to learn, make sure you attend the next class that Vivek Ram takes. I assure you, it’s worth it.

Just to give you an idea, he explained the bone and musculature of the human torso, the shape and structure and their purpose, and what gives the physique a V-shape. Using different coloured markers, Vivek drew rough sketches on the white board, outlining bones, muscles and skin. For anyone serious about creating well-designed characters and/or animating them, be it in 2D or 3D, the study of human anatomy is absolutely critical.

I have noticed that most students take the easy route - “Oh, I’m gonna be an animator/lighting artist/texturer. I don’t need to study anatomy!” This attitude is detrimental to their progress and at some point or the other will reflect in their work. Animation is a science too - and you ought to have a clear grasp over the basics. Before you can become a master chef, you need to know your ingredients, utensils and the various cooking processes. If you skip the basics and decide you will just start cooking, you are bound to end up with awful tasting, under or over cooked food. Whether you actually master drawing or not, you really need to understand why a muscle bulges in a certain way, how the bones and joints move during various kinds of movements, how the skeletal structure of creatures varies from each other, why a man walks the way he does and a woman’s walk is so different from that of a man. This is the ABC of animation, students. Please don’t shrug it off. Observe, practice, learn.

{Post Lunch}

“Story-time!”

Ranjit Singh dived right into the story-telling session by showing a slideshow of scenes from assorted films (animated as well as live-action) and asked participants to make note of the first emotion that came to their minds - one word for each picture. After the slideshow ended, all these words were listed on the whiteboard and it became apparent that Singh was trying to demonstrate the importance of the ‘Setting’ in creating the mood for any scene.

“The Setting”

It involves the physical composition of the scene as well as the camera framing. It helps establish the environment and mood for the scene. It puts the audience in the right frame of mind and prepares them for what is to come in the scene. It guides the audience, establishes the mood and the character, and sometimes even defines the history and background information of the character in question. Everything in the scene - right from the lighting to the sound, to the camera angle to the colours - conveys a subliminal message instantly, before the scene even plays out.

To make his point, Singh screened the famous scene from ‘Sholay’ where Gabbar Singh paces back and forth on jagged rocks and utters the famous lines - “Kitne aadmi they?” Everything in the scene including the location, the eerie background sound, the tapping of Gabbar’s heels, the camera angle have been carefully planned to convey a sense of doom and malevolence.

Contrast that with images from ‘Finding Nemo’ where the scenes are mostly cheerful, many-hued and brightly lit. There is a reason for it. The story requires that a certain mood be set. But these scenes are not constant - in other scenes, the water is dark and murky, light is high-contrast and there is an overall sinister feel - you know something is wrong as soon as the scene begins.

Setting = Lighting + Colour + Framing + Composition + Placement + Sound

All these factors are equally important because the setting is leading you to something.

Singh compared it with a Magic Show. The fantastic sets, the high-contrast lighting, the smoke and the show; all add to the aura, to the feeling of mystery, the anticipation of the unknown.

If the setting doesn’t match the mood of the scene, it will most certainly clash with the dialogues. Production design is not limited to the background plate and must never be. Singh urged the participants to go back and look at the films that have made a lasting impression on them and study the settings in each of them.

“Voice Casting”

Singh played audio clips from Star Wars, The Simpsons, Shrek and The Lion King without revealing their source and questioned participants what each of the sound clips conveyed about the characters that said those dialogues. To my surprise, a majority of the audience did not know Darth Vader or Bart and Homer Simpson, neither did they recognise which films any of the audio clips came from. But it served the purpose because despite that, they were able to gauge the exact personality and attitude of the characters.

[A bit of trivia - did you know that the voice of Bart Simpson is actually that of a woman? Google it and while you are at it, also Google for James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader from Star Wars)]

The voice imparts attitude to a character, therefore character development and voice casting are intrinsically built together. They both play off each other. The language in which a character has been originally conceived also has an impact on its personality. Which is why, although Shah Rukh Khan is such a major star, his voicing of Mr. Incredibles in the Hindi version falls flat. Story-telling relies heavily on both audio and visual keys. Getting either of them wrong can ruin the pace and the impact of the story.

Singh then went on to define the 5 Acts of a Play, which are applicable in films as well. In the 1st Act, the audience is introduced to the characters and the situation, the conflict begins and leads to engagement of the characters. In Acts 2 & 3, fortunes change, the action see-saws, good becomes bad becomes good again. Act 4 sees dramatic development. The protagonist is down in the dumps. This is where the climax occurs. The 5th and final Act witnesses the resolution of the conflict and ends with the aftermath. Though a film need not strictly follow the 1st to 5th Act route, the ingredients are more or less constant with the main goal being to get the audience to connect with the characters, empathise with them and get completely involved in the story. The audience has to forget that they are watching a film and instead start living the moment in the movie. Singh described a scene from the movie ABBA which he had watched in the theater where the audience connected so intimately with one of the characters that they during a critical scene, they were all shouting instructions to him as if he was a real person who could have heard them.

[TIP: to learn more about the 5 Acts, look up Eugene Scribe, a French playwright, on the internet]

Singh then outlined some of the story-telling must haves - the motivation of the protagonist, what does he/she want, obstacles, conflict, the presence of supporters to help as well as people/circumstances that obstruct, failure before success etc. The turning point is a critical part of the story and occurs twice - once to escalate the conflict and once more to resolve it. Also, the character must show a change in his situation/personality by the end of the movie as the conflict is resolved - he/she must go through a change.

Singh then compared the structure of a story with the every Indian’s favourite analogy - Cricket. (Makes it easier for most to understand, I guess!!)

[TIP: A website that Singh recommended very highly - www.creativescreenwriting.com]

Exercise:

1. Treatment: Write a treatment note for a movie that you have recently seen
2. Synopsis: Convert the treatment into a synopsis
3. Outlines: Convert the Screenplay into an Outline
4. Interactive: Choose a popular movie and discuss with others to create the Synopsis

So, what is the difference between Treatment and Synopsis and Outline? I’ll tell you in brief:
The Treatment is the blue-print for the screenplay and is never published. The Outline is a step by step description of the scene in point form. The Synopsis is a brief, abridged version of the entire plot.

Want more details? Tch. Tch. Not so easy. If you really want to know, next time, make sure you don’t miss such a vital class. Or do some homework - look up the words on the internet.

Parting words of advice from Singh:

“Write. Refine. Write. Refine. Write. Refine.”

Vaibhav’s session was about the Quadruped walk, Anticipation and Follow-throughs. In his trademark style, he explained all of these using visual aids - drawings, video clips and scenes from films.

“The Quadruped Walk”

When a biped walks, the head bounces up and down because when one leg is at maximum distance from the other, his height reduces. When a quadruped walks, it is more like 2 bipeds walking - rather than the heads bouncing, it is the body that forms the wave pattern, rising and falling with each step. Then again, it depends on the size and shape of the animal. In a camel, there is almost no bounce.

Vaibhav then showed images of various animals (camel, dog, horse, elephant, lion, gorilla, hippo etc.) and their skeletons to give a clearer idea of the bone structure and how it impacts the walk. He also showed a clip that he had created of a human sketch morphing into that of a dog. It highlighted the difference in the bones/joints and the stance of both.

As examples, he showed 2 clips from ‘The Jungle Book’ - one of Sher Khan and another of a Mother and a Baby Elephant.

[TIP: If you want to study the walk cycle of various animals, you will find them all in one place in 'The Jungle Book'. Study each of them in motion, then play the scenes frame by frame to understand how the Disney animators have captured each individual animal's physical characteristics as well as attitude and personality in its walk.]

“Anticipation & Follow-throughs”

Vaibhav showed video clips that he had recorded to demonstrate anticipation and follow-throughs:-

1. Badal (Vaibhav’s assistant) throwing a ball in different ways - when there was less anticipation, the force of letting go was less and the follow through was also minimal. When the anticipation was greater, he threw with greater force and that carried forward into the follow through as well.

2. Badal again, sitting down in the garden and then getting up. It is almost impossible to get up without anticipation. Even if you manage to do so, it will look robotic and artificial.

3. A crow picking up another dead bird and then flying off - just before take off, the crow lowers its wings and pushes the ground with its feet in anticipation.

4. A crow taking off from a ledge - it first stretches its legs and pushes its body backwards and downwards to propel itself into the air. It then lands by outstretching its feet in front of its body. Once it lands, you see the body go downwards as follow through.

5. A hen walks around, its head and neck bobbing forward and backwards to balance its weight and also to propel its body forward. The head and neck are used almost in an effort to compensate the lack of fore limbs that help other creatures walk and move about. A pigeon does the same thing when it walks.

6. Animated examples: The big fat toad from UP, scenes from Mulan and Wallace & Grommit, all exquisite examples of anticipation, movement and follow throughs.

7. A few more examples from live scenes captured on video - people seated in a bus that stops and starts in traffic, and a boy carrying a packet full of stuff while walking (the bag moves independently of his walk - a phenomenon known as Overlapping).

Answering an audience question, Vaibhav explained that a ‘Follow-through’ is the finishing of an action while ‘Overlap’ is a simultaneous but distinct (and differently timed) movement.

He concluded the session by screening 2 animated films.

1. The first ever Mickey Mouse film - ‘Steamboat Willie’, which also happens to be the first animated film with sound. The animation style used throughout the film is an excellent example of what is known as ‘Hosepipe Animation’ deriving its name from the cylindrical, flexible design of the limbs of the characters and also of many objects that are moving. The film was created by one of the animation greats - Ub Iwerks.

2. The last part of Fantasia 2000 - a visual masterpiece set to beautiful western classical music - a story of life, death and renewal - the circle of life itself, which is a recurring theme in Disney films.

Time was up, it was getting late but none of the participants seemed to be in a hurry to leave. They surrounded the RSK trio, asking questions, getting their doubts resolved and trying to make the most of the opportunity. It was heartening to see that the thirst for knowledge is still there and that gives me hope for the future of Indian animation.

Other Reports:

Module 1: click here

Module 2: click here

image courtesy: Dhimant Vyas & Aardman Studios

Dhimant Vyas aka Kaka is a much-loved veteran of animation and his sessions always guarantee a full house. So on Sunday, the 2nd of May, when the Pelicula Auditorium at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai was temporarily transformed into Kaka’s Clayground for an afternoon of fun, films and learning, the 300 strong audience got much more than they bargained for.

In a span of 5 hours, Dhimant took everyone on a tour of Aardman Studios, Bristol, Bath and Stone Henge, with Shaun the Sheep, Purple, Brown, Wallace and Gromit for company. The audience not only got a peek behind the scenes of many Aardman films but also into the rich culture of Bristol, with its assorted festivals - of kites, balloons, boats and much more! And of course, they learned about ‘clay animation’, ’stop motion’ and ‘go motion’.

TASI’s Joint Secretary Vaibhav Kumaresh, an accomplished animator himself, began the session by introducing Dhimant to the audience for the benefit of those who don’t know him (Although I doubt that there was any such person in the crowd). He promised the audience a ‘hot’ session, hinting at the popularity of the event and simultaneously lamenting the fact that the venue had a scheduled power cut. Luckily for the audience, eventually it was only the the session that was hot.

image courtesy: The Animation Society of India (TASI)

Having previously worked with the Aardman Studio team on ‘Creature Comforts’, Dhimant had been specially invited to work on the new episodes of Shaun the Sheep (currently being aired on Nickelodeon in India), which is how he found himself spending close to a year in Bristol, UK, at the Aardman Studio, working right from pre-production stage to animation.

Dhimant began by screening a few short clips, requesting the audience to refrain from taking any photos or videos as it was all copyrighted material. The agenda was to share his experience of working on two clay-animation TV series at Aardman Studios - ‘Shaun the Sheep’ and ‘Purple and Brown’.

image courtesy: Dhimant Vyas & Aardman Studios

After screening an episode of Shaun the Sheep, rather than just talk about how the films were made, Kaka chose to elucidate through photographs. This part was highly interactive with Kaka explaining in great detail the process of animating for Shaun the Sheep, the audience throwing a constant barrage of questions his way and Dhimant answering each one patiently.

He explained a new technique that he learned and used for the first time - Go Motion. It is similar to Stop-motion, where the objects are moved and captured frame by frame, but in the case of Go-motion, while the frame is being exposed, the background or certain elements on the set are moved, thus creating an illusion of rapid movement. E.g. The road and the bushes in certain scenes were animated using the Go-motion technique while the characters in the foreground were simultaneously being animated in Stop-motion. While the go-motion was being done on ‘ones’, the stop-motion was being done on ‘twos’.

The set for Shaun the Sheep was divided into 16 parts, besides which some sets were created and dismantled as and when required. Dhimant remembered one particular set where the glass window in one of the model-buildings was reflecting his face in many frames. They had to modify the problem part and Dhimant had to crouch each time they exposed a frame. The sets were large and sturdy, with metal reinforcement underneath facilitating the animators to actually walk over the models, some of which were expansive.

image courtesy: Dhimant Vyas & Aardman Studios

‘Shaun the Sheep’ had 3 directors, and multiple animators, each one assigned with assistants to help him or her. There are production coordinators, art directors, model-makers, set-designers, riggers, cinematographers, runners and a whole big team handling various responsibilities.

Dhimant showed visuals to explain the construction of the various character models, the mechanical rigs to show flying/jumping movements, props which were only partially constructed (on the camera-facing side only) to enable the animator to move parts freely from the other side. Few scenes were shot against blue or green screens or on glass surfaces. Most character models were created partly with clay and partly with stiffer silicone. The miniature props (everything from furniture to vegetables to houses and trees) were constructed from clay, wax, fiber glass, wood etc. The mouths of most characters were created using replacement parts to facilitate lip-syncing to dialogue. For this particular shoot, more silicone rubber was used than plasticine because it is more durable. The props are all made in-house at Aardman’s moulding facility and not outsourced because of copyright issues. The backdrops were either stretched canvas or cut-outs and matt paintings.

image courtesy: Dhimant Vyas & Aardman Studios

While watching the final film, we tend to forget the effort that goes into making stop-motion films. The maximum animation that can be achieved in a single day is 6-8 seconds but because of the complex nature of the shots, on many days only 2-3 seconds could be completed. All the hard work resulted in back problems for Dhimant and in some photos, one could see him animating while wearing a back support belt around his waist. Reshooting was a luxury they couldn’t afford because there was no time for it, so the animators had to constantly keep checking each shot.

Sometimes there are unexpected problems - like when the prop-makers created the wheels for the car without taking into consideration the fact that the wheels had to move in the scene and the result was that the motion wasn’t smooth and the wheels had to be remade.

The session was peppered with constant questions from the audience.

Q. “How do you control the light so as to avoid flicker?”
A. - “The lighting in the room you shoot in must be completely under your control. Block all natural light by covering the windows with black paper/cloth. Use a stabiliser/UPS to prevent lights from flickering. Ideally shoot at night when there are lesser chances of people switching lights on and off repeatedly.”

Q. ” Does Aardman Studios use proprietary software to capture the frames?”
A. - ” The software - Stopmotion Pro is used at Aardman, as it has a lot of useful features including onion-skinning, rig-remover, live-action syncing etc. They do interact closely with the folks who create the software.”

Next came “Purple and Brown”, and the film clips that Dhimant screened left the audience wondering how the animators had achieved such impressive squash and stretch in a medium like clay-animation. Dhimant revealed some of the tricks using photographs of the models and the animation process. Although replacement models were used most of the time, the animators still had to keep moulding and reshaping the models. There was no armature inside the models - they were completely made of plasticine. In one scene the characters wore little glass helmets and again they were faced with the problem of reflections. The glass and the plasticine kept collecting dust and finger prints so they had to constantly keep cleaning the surfaces. The mouth and lips of the characters were made on the fly so lots of spare parts were required. The model-makers are always at hand to fix any broken or deformed models.

Kaka then showed complete storyboards that were created for 2 episodes of Shaun the Sheep. The painstaking detail in each of them was astounding and bears testimony to the amount of effort goes into the making of each episode. Time flew as the audience got to see several episodes of Shaun the Sheep.

image courtesy: Dhimant Vyas & Aardman Studios

The audience was begging for more and Dhimant happily obliged by screening the Oscar-nominated “A Matter of Loaf and Death”. He also showed a few segments from the American edition of “Creature Comforts” - which he too had worked on during his first stint at Aardman Studio.

Dhimant showed photos of the armatures of the characters from “Creature Comforts” to give everyone an idea of the construction and the materials used. He also shared the slug-sheets used to mark the breakdown of dialogue and lip movements.

Some more Q&A followed.

Q. “How do you show liquids?”
A. “A variety of materials is used to show liquids - for instance the coffee in “A Matter of Loaf and Death” was made using clay mixed with jelly. Other materials include - KY Jelly, Petroleum Jelly (vaseline), White transparent plastic and Glue-gun drops.”

Q. “How does one learn timing for animation?”
A. ” Observation. And practice. Lots of it. Watch any good actor or actress from a live-action film by pausing and viewing them frame-by-frame. You will notice subtle movements and actions that you would otherwise miss. Make a mental note and use it when you animate.”

Responding to another audience question about the importance of the story in Aardman’s productions - Dhimant shared that at Aardman Studios, everyone is invited to contribute stories. Everyone from Nick Park to the peon can submit a story. A team then brainstorms on the selected story and further tweaks are made during the story-boarding process. The final word, though, belongs to the client - the company that has commissioned the film/series.

On Vaibhav’s request, Dhimant then showed a hand-drawn animation film “Raag Malhar”, which he had made few years ago - it was a brilliant example of timing in animation. He also stressed that as an animator, you never stop learning - he was learning something every day on the sets at Aardman.

The session ended on an inspiring note. Dhimant shared beautiful photographs from his stay in UK - Bristol, Bath, Scotland and even the glorious Stone Henge. Bristol is a city known for its festivals and the audience was given a glimpse into the Kite festival, Balloon festival, Harbour festival as well as an air show. Dhimant also showed pictures of the city of Bristol as seen from a helicopter, the Bristol Zoo and the brilliant wall graffiti across Bristol.

By doing so, Kaka revealed a little secret - the secret of his creativity. A keen interest in everything around, in arts, in people, in places. Travelling, observing and capturing in photographs and in his memory, every visual that he sees and storing it in his sponge-like mind, to be used sometime in the future, expressed through his art and in his animation. I do hope that these little pearls of wisdom were collected by those who were lucky enough to have the opportunity to play on Kaka’s Clayground. I sure did.

The TASI Team and volunteers - image courtesy: The Animation Society of India (TASI)

Date: 2nd May 2010
Time: 1 pm to 6 pm
Venue: Pelicula Auditorium, Whistling Woods International, Film City, Goregaon East, Mumbai

If you haven’t registered as yet, do so right away as seats are limited. Visit www.tasionline.org to for registration details.

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.

More to come later…

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!