In April 2010 this year, the Indian animation fraternity received some surprising but welcome news. Vivek Ram, Ranjit (Tony) Singh and Vaibhav Kumaresh announced their collaborative venture - RamSinghKumaresh. For our knowledge-starved industry, it was indeed heartening to see experienced professionals taking the extra step towards animation education. Most ’sessions’ and ‘masterclasses’ have, until now, been the domain of educational institutes and have therefore been limited to their own students, with the exception of the ones organised by The Animation Society of India, the autonomous and voluntary organisation that has been doing this for a decade now. It is no surprise then, that one of the brains behind TASI also happens to be the catalyst behind RamSinghKumaresh.

So here is the scoop, directly from the horses’ mouth, as I caught up with RamSinghKumaresh for an exclusive interview.

Q. Who is the mastermind behind this? Ram, Singh or Kumaresh?

RAM: That would be the Singh. We were all thinking about this over a long period on a very individual level, but it was Tonyji who first threw the idea in the air as to “Why not do this together and provide much more value than all of us are individually capable of?” And we unanimously voted for Awesome!

SINGH: This was something waiting to happen I guess. Kumaresh and me had been toying with the idea of doing something concrete and in a sustainable manner for quite some time, I just happened to jump start the process. I thought of roping in Ram, since I had a feeling about his mindset, we had a joint meeting and figured out that my hunch was right. The three of us share the same passion, commitment and philosophy towards animation education, so it really became a no-brainer. This may have been one person’s idea and that to us is unimportant, it is our collective commitment that’s got us excited.

KUMARESH: It was Tonyji who did the initial prodding! We jumped in with all the happiness! And once we were all in, we collectively structured this plan piece by piece and gave birth to RamSinghKumaresh: The Animation Masterclass!

Q. What was your aim behind this venture? What do you hope to achieve?

RAM: We all love what we do and we would ideally love to see our industry grow to its full potential. Unfortunately, what we have right now is an industry that tried to grow like the IT or BPO industry where numbers and manpower were thrown at every problem and the key concerns of art and film-making were never considered as the primary areas of importance.To compare, it would be like trying to make fine wine after observing the process of making aerated drinks! The resulting scenario is there for all to see. What the three of us are trying to do is to share whatever little we know and have learnt over the long years that we have spent in this field. We want to lead the audience’s thought process onto a road that makes them look at this industry as more of a satisfaction driven process than a numbers game.

SINGH: The aim is actually quite simple. The methodology and curriculum of animation training being imparted by various institutes has been defined by specific demands from the industry. Traditionally this industry has had no requirement for animation film makers, rather, its focus has rightly or wrongly been to provide software based skill sets to aspirants. There is a lot that can be taught to enable overall development of artists to encourage independent thinking. Our aim is to help bridge the gap between animation training and holistic education. We hope to bring about enough of a change in the way animators today perceive animation. It is not a 9 to 5 job. The purpose of learning animation has somehow become focused only on securing jobs. Once the demand for a particular skill set dries up - what next? An artist should be empowered enough so as to not be dependent on a fickle demand and supply situation. Good solid education is the only safeguard.

KUMARESH: I feel we are today in a highly illiterate animation industry. The aim is to share with the fraternity whatever little knowledge I think I possess. I hope to spread at least some amount of literacy! Twelve years after passing out of NID, my dear alma mater, I still consider myself immensely fortunate to have got that kind of an education environment. I feel equally miserable when I see a majority of our current animation students not getting anything even close to that! Therefore, if I can even pass on a bit of that energy to my students, I would be very happy!

Q. Will RSK always work as a team of 3? Do you have any plans to rope in other specialists?

RAM: So far it is the three of us. If we meet more like-minded individuals in the future who can add to what we are trying to achieve, we will always be more than willing to join hands. But that looks like a plan after a couple of anniversaries!

SINGH: As of now, this is a team of 3. Let us see how far we are able to succeed in this venture. The future is not something that anyone of us can or is interested in predicting. We are completely focused on the task at hand and that is to make RamSinghKumaresh a success as per our own high standards.

KUMARESH: Yes, we have considered those options. However, we don’t want to plan too far right now. Let us first see what the response to our inaugural session is.

Q. What does each one of you bring to RSK?

RAM: Together, we bring in a mutual love for the medium and a common set of ideals. Individually, I believe the three of us have the expertise that can enable us to cover a very wide area in the medium of animation.

SINGH: Our individual practical experience in animation as well as our collective knowledge across different mediums.

KUMARESH: I’ll bring my light box, Tonyji will bring the receipt books and Shriram will surely bring his tablet drivers! Sorry. I guess the three of us are mad in three different ways. That is what we plan to bring.

Q. What are your future plans?

RAM: None as yet. Based on the response to the first few sessions we’re going to wing it from there. Our format allows us a lot of flexibility so we would like to evolve based on the feedback that we garner therefore we haven’t planned too far.

SINGH: We have some interesting and radical ideas, since we know this is a very strong and potentially explosive property. But having said that, each of us is clear that we’re going to take small and measured steps. We’re in no rush here to build a conglomerate overnight.

KUMARESH: We’ll know after our first three sessions!!

Q. Who is your primary target for these masterclasses? Students/professionals/teachers/general public?

RAM: Our primary target would be individuals who are willing to learn or who believe we have something that they could gain from and also share with us. These could be students, professionals, teachers - anybody. I personally believe that we ourselves are still students in many ways, so we wouldn’t want to think of those attending as belonging to a certain section. All are welcome as long as they have some working knowledge of the medium.

SINGH: Anyone who is interested in understanding animation film making. Remember we are not going to train you, but through knowledge gained by practical experience we will give you the understanding of how to approach the subject. The aim is to encourage you to be able to take your ideas forward with the confidence that your basics are in place. We want to encourage independent thinking by empowering you with the requisite knowledge. There is a lot more to animation than just software based skill sets. We will expect people to have some exposure / interest in the creative arts so to that extent it is not going to be an introduction to animation. But again, software proficiency and expertise is not at all important for you to attend and experience these classes.

KUMARESH: Whoever wants to learn is most welcome. Our classes are going to be an exciting mixture of theory, live exercises, technicalities, fundamentals and of course, films!

Q. This announcement came as a surprise to most of us from the industry - you were very hush-hush about it. What are the responses you are getting from people?

RAM: This was quite a  surprise for us too. A month ago, all three of us were probably on very different roads. This is one of those times where it is about the right people with the right idea at the right place. When the idea was proposed, we all felt this was the right thing to do. The responses so far have been great and people have been super supportive. Very rarely have we seen institutes, forums and studios all supporting the same thing and we have been fortunate with that kind of a response. It’s quite encouraging!

SINGH: No point in beating the drum without a concrete plan in place. In fact, the speed of us coming together has also take each of us by surprise. I guess there was this innate pent up desire to really make a difference to animation education on our own terms and things just fell into place. The response from the industry has been very humbling. It came as a big surprise to me when I saw people from training institutes encouraging us and even saying things like - “It is about time!” Colleagues and even friends from the corporate vendor fraternity continue to send in their good wishes. Friends in studios are helping us to spread the word around, so I guess the response is excellent.

KUMARESH: Our friends, colleagues, clients and relatives are all extremely happy and proud that we are doing this! I am extremely thankful for their wishes and blessings. Registrations from participants are also picking up very well.

Q. Are you planning sessions in select towns? Typically such sessions are held only in the big cities and aspirants from smaller towns miss out on them. Are you making any special effort to reach out to them?

RAM: We’ve been talking to a lot of people and we’ve noticed that there is an interest from a lot of places across the country. We would love to take this on the road, but considering our limited resources at this time, we’re still working the logistics out. With the right support, I am sure its only a matter of time before we start hitting every possible town in the country.

SINGH: We’re starting with Mumbai since the three of us have our immediate network here, that is just a natural step, but we’re hoping RamSinghKumaresh will travel pan-India. It all depends on the kind of support we get on the ground in other cities. Registrations, venue, travel, hospitality etc. are all factors that have to be looked at so that it remains a feasible venture. We don’t wish to pass on the burden to the market since then it would defeat the very purpose of our venture. This will remain affordable for those who are genuinely interested. We do have some guidelines as to the kind of support we are willing to take. We don’t want a situation where just by facilitating our sessions, an organisation exploits its association with us to further its own commercial interests without actually bringing real value to the table for the attending crowds.

KUMARESH: Yes. There have been many queries from different parts of the country. As long as people want to learn, we are most happy to conduct our classes in any part of the world!!

Q. This is a tricky question - Since all 3 of you are on the TASI committee, don’t you think there are chances of people confusing RSK with TASI, especially because of the sessions that are/will be organised by both entities? What will you do to ensure that doesn’t happen?

RAM: Speaking for myself here, I am a member of TASI, CGtantra, ASIFA, and will be a member of any and every other such organisation that I can lend my support to, to improve the animation scene in the country. I believe we’re all working towards the same goal. It is just that our formats, challenges and limitations are different. We are all basically supporting one another in filling in the spaces where another might have limitations. RSK for me is just another of such organisations that will allow me to collaborate with 2 super individuals, where we’re working for the exact same cause in a different format. People might confuse RSK with TASI but that confusion will last only till they personally experience what RSK is offering.

SINGH: There is no confusion. TASI is a volountary body and our commitment to it and its activities shall always remain. Nothing stops RamSinghKumaresh from conducting a session for TASI in the future as well. This is a commercial venture only to the extent that our time is paid for. The major difference here is that with TASI there is a huge machinery that is set into motion every month to organise and conduct events. We don’t have that luxury, but then that also gives us the flexibility to move very quickly. Also since TASI is a non-profit organisation and all of us volunteer our time, there are only so many days that one can take out and give gratis to the community. I think each of us has nothing left to prove as far as our commitment and passion for the Society is concerned. We’ve given and will continue to give time as before. With RamSinghKumaresh, the idea is to keep up a sustained effort through regular classes, which is a practical impossibility for TASI. It will be built into our personal work systems as yet another business vertical and therefore we will be able to make time for it without thinking of the opportunity costs. We aim to have at least 3 classes over a period of 4 weeks. Surely we can’t maintain this pace in our voluntary work. The home fires also have to be kept burning.

KUMARESH: We are charging a fee for our sessions at RamSinghKumaresh. For TASI, we have never expected a penny for our contributions and we never will. I am sure people understand as well as appreciate that.

Q. What is each one of you working on currently? How will you find time to manage both?

RAM: I’ve just come back from a month long teaching stint and am currently occupied with my usual consultancy work and some game designing. I’ll be starting with 2 of my short films in the next few weeks. Preproduction is already under way and production should start soon! Like I said, RSK was a surprise in all our calenders, but considering the time we’ve been putting in, it is surely as important as any of our professional projects at this point in time and we’ll be managing it just like we would manage any other professional project we have with us.

SINGH: I’m working on my book on Animation Production Management. Plus my consultancy, and independent masterclass programs for training institutes takes up most of my time. This is another project and will get scheduled accordingly. I can’t be teaching Production Management if I can’t even manage my own projects efficiently, now can I?

KUMARESH: We are currently flooded with too many projects!! It is a bit of a mad season! Two TV commercials, one print campaign design, a TV channel packaging, attending juries of animation students, and yes our own animation short film!! When you love what you’re doing, you always make time for it!

So here’s wishing RamSinghKumaresh success in their mission of spreading knowledge and breeding a healthier culture of animation for our aspiring animators and film makers. AAA will be present at the Masterclasses to cover the event and you can look forward to reading all about it right here on the All About Animation blog. Better still, go register yourself for the masterclasses here and experience the ‘gyaan’ live and direct from RamSinghKumaresh. Module 1 of the first Masterclass will be held on 24th April in Mumbai. For details, visit www.ramsinghkumaresh.com

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?

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.

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.

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.

See the Photos

Read the Interview

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.

AAA - Why clay animation?
Dhimant  - Aamir showed me the completed film and we discussed the use of animation. The sequences where we planned to use animation were mostly dream sequences, where the boy is lost in his own world of fantasy. There are a lot of transitions from one fantasy to the other. Aamir did not want to use human characters in the animation. He wanted elements from nature - fish, animals, birds, plants, flowers and so on. I created a few samples for him of which he liked the clay animation the best. There is a certain tactile quality to this technique. As children, all of us have played with plastecine or modelling clay and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There is an organic feel to the medium which is not achievable through computer generated animation. Clay is something that everyone can relate to it easily.

AAA - But the animation doesn’t come across as ‘childish’ in the film as it is film about children.
Dhimant - No. Aamir made it very clear that though it is part of the protagonist child’s imagination, there must be no childishness to the animation. He wanted a beautiful and polished effect which we tried our best to deliver. The elements are bright and colourful, just the way a child’s world is but it flows smoothly into the story. It is not animation just for the sake of animating something. There is a purpose and that is to carry the story forward. It is a subtle way of giving the audience a glimpse into the child’s inner world and the animation captures that perfectly.

AAA - Aamir is known to be a hard task master. How has the experience of working with him been?
Dhimant  - Aamir’s thinking is crystal clear. He knows what he is looking for and conveys it exactly. It is up to us to realize his vision. He is a perfectionist but at the same time he respected my knowledge and experience with clay animation. He gave me full freedom, only giving his inputs from time to time but leaving the responsibility of the work squarely on my shoulders. Having the director’s trust in your ability is vital.

AAA - Who came up with the concept for the animated sequences?
Dhimant - I visualized the entire sequence. I first presented a couple of concepts to Aamir which we discussed and finalized before beginning the actual animation. We had a very narrow deadline of a month and a half to complete the entire animation from concept to modeling to execution and compositing. I showed Aamir the storyboards. We removed some elements, added a few others. It was an enjoyable process. I had 3 model makers working with me including Arvind Chudasama. The cinematography and lighting was done by Satya Prakash Rath who has worked on stop motion projects before so he has the experience to handle this kind of work.

AAA - There is some cel animation and CG animation as well in the movie?
Dhimant - Yes. Vaibhav Kumaresh’s Vaibhav studios handled the 2D animation while Tata Elxsi worked on the CG animation as well as the visual effects and compositing besides putting credits on the sequence and adding some effects in my clay animation sequence. The 3 teams were working simultaneously but in isolation from each other. Aamir and his production team were the contact points.

AAA - Tell us about the technique.
Dhimant - I use my own technique which I like to call embossed clay illustration. It is different from typical clay animation, as the clay figures don’t stand upright but are laid out flat on a smooth surface. It is technically easlier to animate in this manner as it requires less planning than when armatures are used. Light is used to give the almost 2D surface the look and feel of a three dimensional one. The illusion of depth comes from the play of light and shadows. But the light has to be planned carefully or else it will throw unnecessary shadows. This steals the volume. So the challenge is in creating a model that looks three dimensional under the camera. You have to cheat a lot. When you look at the model by itself, its shape looks odd but when looked at through the camera lens, it is perfect. The camera is set up to film the animation from the top. We used 2 cameras - a web cam to check the animation frame by frame and another Canon digital SLR for capturing the final hi-res stills.

AAA - This is a technique you have developed on your own?
Dhimant  - Yes. I haven’t seen anyone else use this technique. This is just the third time that I have attempted to use it. Before this I had tried a few clay illustrations for my own work and later to create “Happy Planet”.

AAA - What other challenges did you face during animation?
Dhimant - A very important thing while animating is to be able to maintain correct timing. Each element has a different speed and a unique style of motion. Sometimes, one shot has 20 to 25 items moving. For example, there was a scene with 2 groups of fish. One small mistake means everything needs to be redone. To add to that, there was a very tight deadline. But timing is something that you learn with experience. There were no cuts in the 3 minute sequence. Sometimes we used morphs, other times there were pans, but the flow is always continous. It was physically stressful but creatively most satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed animating it.

AAA - Tell us about the title sequence.
Dhimant - The title where the name of the film Taare Zameen Par morphs from English to Hindi to Urdu, the movement of the octopus, fish and parrot was shot against a blue, red and then a green screen placed under the glass. The team at Tata Elxsi composited those shots.

AAA - Could you please share some clay animation tips and tricks with us?
Dhimant - Sure. For certain scenes, instead of modeling directly on the table, we made replacements beforehand and used them to speed up the actual animation process. But in other scenes, like in the scene where the peacock turns into a flower, we had to sculpt on the table. Everything was animated on one layer rather than multiple glass layers as is generally used for this technique. We left very little work for post-production. Only the bee’s and bird’s wings were created using Photoshop. The scene where the Hippos is entering the water also needed to be done differently.

AAA - What about the music and the soundtrack?
Dhimant - Luckily the music was superimposed later or else it might have been even more tedious to animate.

AAA - What else would you like to tell our readers?
Dhimant - Work very hard and have a passion for the work that you do - it could be anything. Enjoy your work, don’t just think about the money, it will follow if you do your best. Keep your eyes open and try to learn new things, experiment, try to be perfect and stick to your deadlines. Love your work and teach others! I think that is a lot of advice. Bahut ho gaya!!  Enjoy the movie on the big screen.

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.

All the images below are copyright protected. Please DO NOT use them without prior permission. If you want to use the images or extracts from the interview, email us first.

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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

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.

What you need to know:
Firstly, it requires a great amount of patience and hard work. The work is fast but the results are slow. It can take a whole day just to see a second’s worth of results (if you are lucky!) It is not for those who lose interest quickly. Good drawing is very important. Without it you will not get far.

Skills required:
The ability to observe bodies in motion and being able to replicate that motion on paper is the most basic skill required. Drawing skills are of paramount important, as is consistent drawing. To become a well rounded animator one must also be able to create a script, storyboard and have a fair level of cinematic understanding. These additional skills take prominence when one works on one’s portfolio or smaller personal projects. A great deal of animation is created by large teams and one must be able to communicate well with other team members.

Animation Education:
With the popularity of animation, several new educational institutes of have sprouted up. Their expertise is, however, doubtful. Before selecting a course, ensure that the facility has a good track record, the program offering is sound (drawing related education vs. learning software)and that the quality and level of placements is credible.

2D versus 3D:
The debate never ends. Personally, however, I don’t think it really matters. These are tools and they offer options. By themselves, they rarely make or break a project. The script, characters and concepts of an animated project will make it work, not the format of its production. The same goes for software packages- they are just tools. However, I will insist that only a good 2d animator makes a great 3d animator and I have yet to see otherwise.

“What if I can’t draw?”
If you can’t draw you still have many opportunities in CGI arena where you can join as a texturing, rigging, lighting artist or become a sfx compositor and still be a part of the animation process, these activities are just as important as making key drawings.

Finally…
Once you join a team or after your course is over, do not expect to immediately and rapidly move up in the world. Expect at least 12-18 months of intense work before you can become a competitive animator. You will learn a lot while working with others and this will in turn make you better. There is no alternative to this. It is an exhausting but ultimately rewarding process.

Good luck!

There is light at the end of the tunnel though. Whistling Woods International Institute for Film, Television and Media Arts seems to have got its fundamentals right with wise planning and a large investment. We caught up with Chaitanya Chinchlikar, Marketing Manager, WWI, and asked him to elaborate on the points that he had brought up during the panel discussion on human resources at the NASSCOM Animation & Gaming Summit.

“A lot of planning has gone into the making of Whistling Woods International. The curriculum has been devised by forward thinking industry experts, keeping in mind the industry’s needs. Education is not something that can be done on a part-time basis. Our students spend all day learning at the institute, from 7:30 in the morning till 8:30 in the night, so they accomplish in two years what others in accredited foreign universities do in three.

All aspects of film-making need to be taught as part of animation education. We need studios to come together and set guidelines. They have to take a stand that they will hire students only if the institutes that train them adhere to given guidelines. There has to be some sort of a benchmark.”

Whistling Woods International Institute for Film, Television and Media Arts, it appears, is giving its students the best to ensure that they become the best. Keeping in mind that sharing their experience will be beneficial to the industry as a whole, Chaitanya listed seven key points:

1. Investment:
Institutes must invest in technology and infrastructure. Education is not a business where you are constantly looking at returns on investment. The ROI for any institute has to be successful students. Whistling Woods International was set up with an initial investment of 65 crores. We have ensured that we have state of the art technology for every department, including animation, so that our students get hands on experience using the best and latest tools and equipment in an ideal environment.

2. Screening of students:
Our students have to go through a rigorous evaluation process before we enroll them. They first have to submit hand-drawn sketches and a statement of purpose. On approval, there is a personal interview session with student counsellors to understand their career goals in animation. Only if we are satisfied with their potential and integrity towards learning do we accept them. Filling up seats is the least of our concerns. Our facility has a capacity of 35 students per intake, twice a year. So far we have had 3 intakes of 12, 4 and 11 students. Ultimately, its is not about filling up seats. We turn away students if we feel they do not qualify. Our average rejection ratio is 6:1

3. Film making skills:
Each and every student begins with a 6 month film-making programme where all aspects of film-making are taught including writing, direction, editing and cinema production. The students have to make two live-action films in 6 months to gain a practical understanding of film-making and learn various skills. This helps them when visualizing for animation as well. Planning scenes, camera angles, these are as essential for animation as they are for live-action film-making.

4. Faculty:
Unlike many other training institutes, we do not hire recent graduates as faculty. To teach at WWI, one has to be a working professional for at least 2 years prior to that. If not, they have to go out and work on a live project before coming back to teach here. This ensures that our faculty is in touch with the latest trends and developments in the industry.

5. Teacher training:
Each of our teachers goes through comprehensive training. It is a rigorous programme with mock sessions, tips, instructions on how to make classes interactive, how to get students more involved students. We stress on ‘deeper knowledge’ so it stays with them longer. It is not enough to simply point to a camera and tell the student about it. The student must handle the camera, get a complete hands-on experience.

6. Specialization:
I have heard studios often complaining that the students coming out of institutes do not specialize in any particular area. At WWI, the first six months are dedicated to building a solid foundation in film-making as well as animation. The next one year is spent learning each and every aspect of animation - 2D animation on paper, 2D animation on the computer, 3D animation and compositing. In the last 6 months of the course, students learn specialized skills by working on multiple student films. They work in groups and in each film, the student gets to play a different role, thereby learning three to four different specialized skills. Based on his or her experience, the student can then decide which specialized field he would like to work in as a professional.

7. Internships:
We secure good internships for all of our students. We, as an institute, put together students’ profiles and send their portfolio to studios. Each and every students gets an internship with a reputed studio in VFX, live action or post production.

www.allaboutanimation.com thanks Chaitanya Chinchlikar and Whistling Woods International for sharing their experience and ideas with our readers.