All Entries in the "Interview" 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?
This one is for Walt Disney fans…
Found this very interesting post on a fellow blogger’s page. Didier Ghez has this really nice blog called Disney History. Do check it out. The following content was sent in by Michael Barrier and originally posted on Didier Ghez’s blog.
It is a special treat for all those who can’t seem to have enough of Disney. It’s an article by Walt’s brother and business partner, Roy Disney, that appeared in the Reader’s Digest in Feb. 1969 (much before many of us were born!)
Click on the thumbnails below to read the original article.
Dhimant Vyas and the ‘making of TZP clay animation’ on CNN IBN!
Taare Zameen Par has not only caught the fancy of the nation as a warm and touching film, but its clay animation sequence has enthralled audiences as well. After we featured the making of the TZP clay animation on the AAA blog (see here), others have followed suit, including Indiafm.com and now CNN IBN.
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.
Photos and the making of TZP Clay Animation
Hear it from the maker himself…
Dhimant Vyas talks exclusively to All About Animation
and shares photos from Taare Zameen Par’s clay animation sequences.
Interview with Dhimant Vyas - The making of TZP’s clay animation
As promised, we present the transcript of the chat we had with Dhimant Vyas about the making of the clay animation sequences in Taare Zameen Par. Hope you enjoyed the photographs we posted earlier. You can send your feedback and comments to Dhimant directly by sending him an email at dhimantvyas@rediffmail.com
AAA - First of all, congratulations on being the first animator to use Clay animation in a Bollywood live-action feature film. How has the response been?
Dhimant - Yes, the response is overwhelming and very positive!! Thanks to Aamir for choosing the clay animation style. It is a craft with a human touch to it so it also tugs at the audience’s heartstrings. It works well with the main film because the story needed this kind of feel to it. The scenes depict Ishaan, the main protagonist’s imagination so the transitions had to be smooth scene and convey the dream-like quality. we used transitions like morphs, camera moves, elements appearing and disappearing, or you have one element dragging you to anther scene, so there is not cut till the end. And you do not realize when the three minutes pass by.
AAA - How did this project come about?
Dhimant - I had created the caricatures for the Lagaan DVD (Special Anniversary Edition Three Disc DVD box) I had shown Aamir some of my work which he had really appreciated. So when he decided to use animation for TZP, he approached me. Aamir initially wanted to use the classical animation style with a painterly quality. I suggested we try the clay animation technique. I showed him some samples. He liked it a lot and we decided to go ahead with clay animation.
*EXCLUSIVE* The making of TZP Clay Animation
Remember, you saw it here first!! 
Stop motion animation veteran, Dhimant Vyas and Aamir Khan Productions have generously shared photos of the making of the Clay Animation sequences from Taare Zameen Par.
Also read the exclusive interview with Dhimant Vyas where he explains the technique he used to animate these sequences and chats with us about his experience of animating for a Bollywood film for the first time ever. Taare Zameen Par or ‘TZP’ has made Bollywood history by being the first Hindi film to extensively use clay animation in the movie.
VES Vice Chair Tim McGovern speaks about the VES India Tour
In this month’s edition of “The Digital Eye” on VFXworld.com, Tim McGovern recounts his participation in the VES’ recent five-city tour of India as the first step in creating a VES section there.
He describes in detail the entire tour spanning five cities - Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai. He was accompanied by Eric Roth, Executive Director of VES, Peter Chiang, Chairman & Founder, Double Negative Ltd (UK) and Indian VFX stalwart and first Indian member of the VES, N Madhu Sudhanan.
Read the complete article on VFXworld.com
Guest Article: ‘Becoming an Animator’ by Gaurav Jain
In three more days, the allaboutanimation.com website will go live. The aim of AAA is to create awareness about animation, especially in the context of education.
Our guest writer for today, Gaurav Jain, producer, Illusion Interactive , has some advice to give to our young animation enthusiasts who would like to take up Animation as a career.
Here is what he has to say:
BECOMING AN ANIMATOR
The Indian animation market is poised for strong growth as IP becomes the order of the day and many youngsters have begun to choose animation as their career path.
