Comments on: Aptech going global! What about India?

By: Divya

Divya — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:08:25 +0000

I did a year long course in Arena Multimedia,but even after doing it I do not feel confident enough to make a demo reel on my own.there were no sessions taken on how to make a demo reel or what is the quality of a good demo reel. As a student who wants to know more about the field of multimedia,who wants to have a deep rooted knowledge about how things work in a production environment, what should I do. After having spent so much on the course I have feeling that I have not done justice to the amount I have spent.Wherever I go, People are asking for a demo reel and I don’t have one ready.

By: akshata

akshata — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:52:28 +0000

Thanks for your comments, Anirudh. I did not say that the Demo Reel means nothing, rather, I said that the Demo Reel isn’t EVERYTHING!
What I meant by that is that when a student works on a demo reel, he is working in isolation, not as part of a team, not on the same kind of deadlines, not with the same kind of team dynamics that he or she will have to adapt to in a studio environment.
A good demo reel is no doubt an asset, but like I said, it is just the foot in the door. Our institutes need to also prepare the students for what comes next so that they don’t get caught unawares.
All said and done, there is too much lacking and too less time. If we want to make a mark in the world of animation, an honest introspection and expeditious action by the institutes is needed, else we shall remain stuck in a rut for a long, long time.

By: Anirudh

Anirudh — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:41:05 +0000

Animation education in India is a joke. They are not interested in teaching Animation, but just to earn money thanks to the current animation boom. And i feel like a joke, that Aptech can even think about teaching the world, when in its own country the training is below average.

All these so called Animation institutes like Aptech and so on, know nuts about what Animation actually is.

But i feel you missing the point in your observation. You said Demo Reel is not the end of everything, i disagree to an extent. Thats one way of looking at it. But if a Demo Reel is good, there is no reason that person doesn’t deserve the job, as if he can make a good Demo Reel he certainly have the potential to do well if he gets the job. But here is the catch, plagiarism is rampant in our country unfortunately, and thats the reason many studios in India have a technical test. As to whether they are in the right direction of conducting a technical test thats another debatable topic for some other time.

And also, to be very frank, the demo reels of students coming out of these institutes is nothing to boast about. In fact there is a lot left to be desired. Out of 100 students, i doubt whether more than 10 are really equipped to handle the real production environment in all aspects. We cant blame the students, its the management of these institutes who are responsible for the pathetic state of skills shortage. They are not willing to have a proper curriculum. All they focussed is on teaching the “software”. But they are forgetting its not the software, its the art. Animation is not learning the software, its about learning the craft of the art.

I hope they realize sooner than before.