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

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

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.

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.

Animated Lalu

I don’t know what their real motivation behind this was but the theme is sure to get them a lot of eye balls. They have already been covered by the Indian press and have been interviewed by television channels in India. I managed to catch a glimpse of the animated clip during one such interview and was horrified by the crassness of the content. The voice-over is pretty accurate no doubt but watching a semi-dressed Lalu in a vest and lungi, carrying a ‘lota’ for obvious reasons and being chased by a cameraman is not my idea of entertainment. Worse still, Lalu’s character then enters a loo and the cameraman focuses the camera inside the loo through the keyhole. Is that supposed to be funny? What on earth are Indian audiences going to be subjected to next?!

In terms of design, the quality is poor - very, very primitive and the animation is limited. The only saving grace is the guy who voices Lalu’s character - he is spot on.

The creator - Pawan

This is supposedly the first clip the team is about to release. They are looking for sponsors/financiers for subsequent episodes. The team members named in the news reports were Pawan - the cartoonist/animator and brain behind this project and Shashi - the voiceover artist who has mimicked Lalu’s voice quite well. You can read the IBNlive report here and watch the TV interview below. Would love to hear from my readers what they feel about this one.

If you are unable to view the above clip, see the original video on the ibnlive website

images courtesy IBNlive.in.com

2008 was a year of a lot of frenetic activity on the industry front.

AnimationXpress.com held a series of AITF (Animation Industry Technology Forum) and IAI (Industry Academia Interface) sessions, announced a print magazine, a quiz competition and new awards of excellence and also ventured into something never done before - Animation tourism. Its my sincere hope that it does not lose its original vision in this juggernaut of diversification.

CGTantra.com took its LIG (Learn, Inspire, Grow) seminars to several cities across the country. It held the first ever (and I must say, mighty successful) CGT Expo in Mumbai, launched many new features on their website and finally ended the year with a bang by celebrating its 4th anniversary by confering “CGT Community Honours” on people from various sections of the Indian animation industry and community.

TASI - The Animation Society of India - organised valuable seminars and workshops all year around - ranging from Animation for those who cannot Draw, Music for Animation, The Making of taare Zameen Par, Preproduction, Acting for Animation and the gem of the year - A Masterclass with the Master - Ram Mohan Sir himself! And how can I not mention TASI’s Anifest India 2008 - the 3 day festival at IIT, Mumbai, that saw a phenomenal turnout of close to 3000 people who attended over 15 workshops and sessions. The icing on TASI’s cake was a neat write-up that appeared in Times Of India in August about the sincere efforts of TASI members to give something back to the Indian animation community. (Don’t take my word for it, I am a committee member of TASI this year too after all. Just ask any one who has attended the TASI sessions and I am sure they will vouch for us)

ASIFA India celebrated the International Animation Day with great gusto across 13 cities in India this year. I attended the one in Mumbai and for me the 2 highlights of the day were the opportunity to interact with Gitanjali Rao and watch clips from her latest film ‘Girgit’ and the screening of the Pixar Documentary which I had been dying to see. (It is now available for everyone to watch - on the Wall-E DVD - and I recommend all aspiring animators to watch it)

The proof of the potential of India’s animation industry lies in the fact that the Annecy Festival chose India as the country of focus. The ever-popular animation festival held every year in the beautiful town of Annecy in France put India, its animators and their animation in the spotlight. This was the year when one could not afford to miss out on the festival if one had anything to do with Indian animation. Unfortunately, I was unable to go.

Of course a lot else happened in the ‘industry’ - mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, splits, break-aways, law-suits, launches and shutdowns, but I will not discuss those here.

Then there was the formation of NAGFO and BAGS. What’s that you ask? NAGFO aka NASSCOM Animation and Gaming Forum is NASSCOM’s endeavour to brign together India’s animation as well as gaming institutes and studios under one umbrella to further their cause, improve standards and benefit everyone within the industry. BAGS is the Board of Animation and Gaming Standards that is emerging from NAGFO that will set guidelines amongst other things for the betterment of the industry.

Industry events that happened this year included FICCI Frames 2008 which was held in Mumbai (which I attended) and NASSCOM Animation and Gaming India 2008, Hyderabad (which I was unable to attend thanks under unfortunate circumstances).

And then there were the films. The Good, the Bad and the downright UGLY!! Enough has been said already about the UGLY aka Icy n Spicy (refer this blog) and I won’t waste anymore webspace writing about it. Gladly noone seems to remember the movie anyway!! Dashavatar and Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang did not do very well at the box office for different reasons. The effort was sincere but did not show through and both did nothing for the Indian animation industry. Everybody waited with bated breath for Roadside Romeo the first Big Banner Bollywood film - helmed by Jugal Hansraj and produced by Yash Raj Films. The creators did push the envelope quite a bit and I have to credit the animators for doing a good job. The tragedy was that this film too failed to excite Indian audiences enough. Partly the fault of the producers who hardly promoted the film and partly the inexperience of the director who is not an animator to begin with. The hype was limited to within the industry and ultimately, neither the voices of Saif and Kareena nor the sincere efforts of the animation team got their due. The film found its audience neither in kids nor in adults. It was wrong to expect Disney/Pixar quality - we pinned our hopes too high. A toddler must first learn to crawl, then walk, then run. Yet, I reaffirm that Roadside Romeo was a giant leap for Indian animation in more ways than one. (I won’t bring up Jumbo because it is not an Indian animated film to begin with and the  only Indian connection, the voice-overs, sounded so awful in the trailers itself that I shall give it a miss!)

Whew! That wraps up this lengthy post. I know I might have missed out a couple of things, if so, you are most welcome to add them in the comments below. I will sign off by wishing all of you a very happy, peaceful, successful, fun-filled and ANIMATED 2009!!!