All Entries Tagged With: "Animation"
TASI takes animation to IFFI ‘09
The Animation Society of India (TASI) is joining hands with the Goa government’s Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) to curate a special segment on Animation at the upcoming International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2009.
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.
Three Cheers for ‘Yama and Moo’
After blog upon blog of cribbing about the absolute crap coming out of Indian animation studios, here is something that will bring a smile to your lips and make your chest swell with pride. A short CG animated film conceived, produced and executed by a young team of Indian animators. A brilliant piece of art, it is the result of a collaboration between Void Films and Frameboxx Incubation Center. Don’t take my word for it. See it for yourself and send your feedback. Enjoy!!
TASI’s Full Day Model Making Workshop with Vaibhav Studios
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.
Oh dear! Is that an animated Lalu?
Just when I thought that Indian animation had redeemed itself for the atrocious ‘Icy n Spicy’, I received a reminder that we have a long way to go, courtesy - the animated avatar of Lalu Prasad Yadav. A three-member team of enterprising animators from Patna have created a ‘cartoon clip’ based on the Indian Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, and even got his approval for it!
Animated Lalu
Good bye 2008!
What a year it was, for Indian animation and for me personally as well. A roller-coaster year one may call it. Ups and downs, highs and lows. Memorable moments and some, unfortunately, ‘trying-hard-to-forget’ ones. A year that saw the launch of many new animation training institutes and studios, the formation of strategic partnerships, major acquisitions and tie-ups, a couple of announcements about new animated features/series and also the scrapping of highly-publicised, prestigious ones. A year whose first half saw more jobs than people but ended with the equation reversed - layoffs and yet more layoffs!
Toonz to animate Santa Claus for 2010 Christmas release.
Toonz Animation is all set to foray into feature-length 3D animation, and how! The Thiruvananthapuram-based studio which had earlier created the animation for Hanuman is now going to animate the life of Santa Claus.
Singapore based Toonz Entertainment, which owns the Indian animation studio Toonz Animation India, has tied up with Gang of 7 Animation USA and Hyde Park Entertainment USA to produce a CG animated feature film “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus”, based on the classic book by L. Frank Baum, the creator of ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
Recession in the industry?!! Don’t press the panic button just as yet.
Now that the noise has died down and the dust has settled, the casualty is slowly beginning to show. For two years everyone was shouting from the rooftops about the animation boom in India. Institutes proclaimed India needs animators and ill-informed parents poured out their hard-earned money into many an unworthy school. Many people left their well-paying jobs and successful businesses to enter the animation industry. All of a sudden everyone wanted to be in animation.
The hype was not all bad. Many more people began sitting up and taking notice of this thing called ‘Animation’ than before. Students and parents alike opened their eyes to this new career prospect. Existing animators began celebrating their new-found respect in the eyes of their detractors who had so far looked down upon their choice of vocation. All-in-all the Indian animation industry saw a spurt in interest, enthusiasm, educational avenues and job opportunities. Within a year, more than 70 animated feature films were announced. Actual work began on a far lesser number of movies.
But the latest news coming out of studios is not good. Many production houses and studios have folded up. Others have laid off a majority of their employees. People have woken up to the fact that making an animated film is no cake walk. There may be a lot of enthusiasm and ideas but the lack of funds, acute shortage of ‘talented’ artists and short-sightedness of studios have become major obstacles.
