Module II
- StoryTelling II
- Fundamentals of Movement II
- Anatomy for Visual Development II

Date: May 8th, 2010
Time: 10am to 5pm
Venue: Karma Hall, Whistling Woods International, Film City, Goregaon (East), Mumbai

To register, visit: www.ramsinghkumaresh.com

AllAboutAnimation.com interviewed Vivek Ram, Ranjit Singh & Vaibhav Kumaresh just before their debut session - read it here.

Sadly, I missed the first module held on 24th April due to unavoidable circumstances but our friends at CGTantra have a detailed report here.

AAA will be present at the second module so you can expect a detailed report for sure.

Here is a little bit of information about the Masterclass - It aims to bridge the gap between Animation Training and Education and covers the following:

StoryTelling
Discussion on the basic building blocks of a story. How do you take an idea that sounds good, and actually construct a meaningful and captivating story out of it? A look at some interesting animated short films across various mediums with interactive discussions on their use of specific techniques to aid the storytelling process. Understanding different genres of film and the advantages of animation as a medium of expression. We will simplify story construction by discussing successful film plots and why they worked and in simple terms understand how to translate ideas into visual scripts for animation.

Fundamentals of Movement
Introducing the participants to the fundamentals of movement in animation. Whatever be the medium of animation, the fundamentals of movement remain the same. Covering the basic principles like stretch, squash, timing, spacing, anticipation, follow through and much more, the importance of each of these in creating convincing animation will be illustrated. Live demonstrations, homework and exercises for the participants as well as review and analysis of their work.

Anatomy for Visual Development
A study of the various anatomical structures in the human body in detail, and how each is translated into believable structures that make up the creatures and characters that we see on screen today. Emphasis will be given on those structures that are essential for an artist to understand balance and rhythm in characters created for both a realistic as well as a toony visual.There will be assignments so that the audience has a chance for a complete hands-on experience on the subject.

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!

TASI Model Making Workshop

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

The workshop will demonstrate the following:

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

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

ONLY 100 SEATS!

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

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

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?

The preparations have been hectic. A lot of hard work has gone into organizing this year’s Anifest India, as always! With an expected turnout of over 1500 people, this long weekend is going to be one hell of a big party, with lots to do, lots to learn and many many people to meet. I’m going to be there - to participate and also as one of the committee members of TASI. And I do hope many of you join us. For details, do visit the TASI website. I haven’t had a chance to update the AAA blog because I have been handling the responsiblity of maintaining and updating the TASI website as well. I will be covering the event on all 3 days - 15th to 17th Aug. But it will be a lot more interesting to attend it rather than just read about it later.

So be there… Or be square!

TASI’s much awaited ANIFEST INDIA 2008 will be held this year on August 15th, 16th and 17th at IDC, IIT Powai in Mumbai.

They have already announced the ‘Call For Entries’ for the Viewers’ Choice Awards and this time there is an added category too.

1. Short Films : Students

2. Short Films : Professional

3. Advertising Commercials

The last date for submitting your entries is 15th July, 2008.

Lots of exciting stuff is being planned and with the beautiful IIT campus as the backdrop, there will be many interactive and hands-on workshops this year.

Further details will be announced soon, so stay tuned!

So here is a very nice effort by a bunch of NIDians - a blog where various contributors upload links to some amazing short films from across the world. Smit Shah and Rohit Iyer kick-started the film-recommendation network and were later joined by a lot of their peers. See the blog - DEKH BHAI DEKH - subscribe to it if you like and then come back and read this wacky interview with the duo that started it all!

AAA: How did you come upon the idea to create a blog like this? What was the ‘inspiration’ or thought behind it?

SMIT: All through my stay at NID, I came across a lot of good short films, animation and otherwise which we used to share amongst each others. But by November last year I realised there were a lot of people who had left NID, and we couldnt keep up with exchanging these films. So to share these inspirations I started a mailing list which had a lot of NIDians as well as non NIDians. Anyone who was interested could ask for an invitation to the mailing list, and a lot of people wanted the archives of those good films. The idea was simple, growing into a ‘one good animation a day in your inbox’. It was also to provide as much information about the film maker and the production houses. We try to look for more information about the film on the net and include it as well. It wasnt until mid jan that this mailing list was converted to a blog, and what an appropriate name Rohit came up with.

ROHIT: I’m sure Smit must have started it out of boredom… or to show off (he likes doing that!). He started sending everyone these mails and he added me to the list. Me… I’m like efficiency - as cool as it was to have the links in my inbox every day, I got kind of fed up of being linked to a trazillion different video sites. So I figured the best way to do this is to have a blog where we could embed the videos and group members could sign up and post new videos and an update would be sent to subscribers’ inbox through a feed. This really helps because you can look at the videos at a glance and not sift through lots of emails to find something.

So we also invited all the people in the mailing list to be part of the blog, so anyone can sign in and post stuff. There was a concern about what’s the point in having a blog like this when there are so many other such blogs/sites online already. So after some thought, we kind of figured that these are videos recommended by people we KNOW and not just random shorts. The idea behind posting on the blog is that we want to share what WE like and express our tastes and discoveries through this, as opposed to creating some sort of archive.

The name “Dekh Bhai Dekh” came about because when creating the blog, I had to give it a name and I preferred something in Hindi. Trivia: Dekh Bhai Dekh is the name of an old TV show from nineties starring Shekhar Suman, which used to air on Sony Entertainment Television!

AAA: Who started it?

SMIT: Like I said, the mailing list was open to people. Anyone could reply back to the entire community. But it needed a lot of pushing from me and Rohit. I guess it still does.

ROHIT: It was Smit! It was him! But seriously, Smit started it. He’s a starter, he is. And like he said, starting is just half the job, unless people keep posting and updating the site, it can go stale. So ideally, it should be a collaboration, but no one is pressurized to post.

AAA: How did it expand into a collaborative effort from many contributors?

SMIT: It was always a multi contributor collaborative effort. It was started with an idea of exchanging good inspirational stuff people make.

ROHIT: Ditto. I think when Smit started mailing it was just like a normal email; you know recommending something to a friend. Then he started forwarding the mail to more people so it kind of expanded in an organic way. And now it has evolved to it’s logical form.

AAA: How many contributors do you have as of now?

SMIT: There are 12 contributors as of now, and anyone is free to ask for an invite to contribute.

ROHIT: Hey… I counted 27,391 last Friday!

AAA: Are they only from NID? Or do you have others from the animation community as well?

ROHIT: Yes. No.

AAA: Is it open for all?

ROHIT: Only if you can pass the official Dekh Bhai Dekh written exam and obstacle course. If you’re interested in joining please contact our HR department.

AAA: Very funny, Rohit! The idea behind Dekh Bhai Dekh! is really nice. How would you like to take it forward? Do you have any plans or would you prefer to keep it as a mini discussion group for sharing great films?

SMIT: Right now I suppose the blog remains as a discussion forum, but we are trying hard to convince more and more people to contribute. With such a big library of films, I’m sure people new to animation or animation fans would get an idea of how vast the discipline is. There are personal blogs also that some of the contributors like me and Rohit publish about their own projects they are working on.

ROHIT: I think the basic idea of a tight-knit group is working very well right now. I’m all for it getting bigger, but then it would necessitate a tighter system. Right now it’s a little casual and that’s what creates the kind of atmosphere we like. It’s not “All the animation and film that’s out there”, it’s more about what we like and hence, what we think others will like. It’s all about sharing and creating a sense of community amongst Indian artists and students. Well at least we hope it’ll become that.

So we take leave of the talented duo as they get back to their diploma films and wish them all the very best!