Art Attack with Shibika

How to work in teams and showcase an individual’s creativity was taken into consideration in one of our most interactive session Art Attack. The objective of the workshop focused on understanding the mindset of the potential customer and then producing the right kind of creatives that are required for the publicity. Understanding the potential customer and enhancement of ones creativity was the objective of the workshop. It was held in Conference Room of Academy of Fine Arts on 13th December, 2008.

This workshop was conducted by an eminent Communication Designer who was done her masters in design from IIT Kanpur. She has worked as Graphic designer, Interaction design and Ethnography in Elephant design,Pune ,Oracle India Bangalore, Honeywell Technology Solutions Bangalore , ITC Infotech ,Kolkata Mrs Shibika Chaudhury.Accompanying Mrs Shibika Chaudhury was Mr Anindya Kashta who is a Product Designer and has done his Master of Design (Product Design) from IIT Kanpur He has worked in McCann-Erickson India Ltd ,Hawkins India Ltd ,Jayana Packaging ,ITC Kolkata.

The attack on creativity began by dividing the students into groups from the very beginning of the workshop .Students were divided into groups of ten. They were told to think about a product. After deciding about the product they were to decide the name of the company.

At first, students found it easy to think of a product and decide the company name. but things became more streamlined when the students were asked to decide the advantages and the services that the company is providing to its potential customer. That was not it, the next step was to design a logo appropriately matching with the profile of the company.

It was brainstorming task for the students. What should be the design of the logo? What kind of colors are to be used? Shibika and Anindya were giving constant advice to the teams as what color should be chosen and why? What is its significance? Next was to design a poster for the company. Students were to complete the task within a stipulated time.

Shibika and Anindya ultimately asked the teams to send in their representatives and to give a presentation regarding their product, the advantages, the logo of the company and its significance. Students had come up with excellent ideas. It became difficult to differentiate as to who was the best. The explanations were appropriate.
The ambience was full of excitement when one of the groups was declared as winner. Among such creative students it became very difficult to choose the best.

Mr. A.D.Singh, Centre Head, Arena Animation Chowringhee stressed upon exercise that was conducted by Shibika and Anindya. He also emphasized on participating on more brainstorming contest in which one can understand its product and can create appropriate graphics to represent a company. In the closing ceremony, awards have been handed over to the students who have achieved excellence in Academics. The Arenite of the Month was Sweta Jaiwal and Best Academic Performer Award went to Kaushik Dutta.

Arena Interface 2008

The Annual Interface Awards 2008 hosted by Arena Animation – Chowringhee was held on 15^th November,2008 amongst much fanfare, pomp and festivities. The event had been designed keeping in mind the dual purpose of harnessing the best of talents in each of the students and at the same time generating widespread interest in the animation industry.

The God of all Awards began with the lighting of the diya by the chief guest Mrs Jaya Seal Ghosh (famous actress, dancer and wife of percussionist Mr Bickram Ghosh)

Then rolled on the award ceremony seasoned with an amazing dance and song performances, fashion show sequences and skits. The students had put in months of hard work and dedication to put up a wonderful show.

Moments had become very emotional during the award ceremony when the prize winners were given prizes from their parents and guardians itself. The true spirit of interface could be felt when there was a loud cheering in the audience for their friends and fellow mates who had won the award and even for those who were performing.

In all there were 10 contests, the winners of which were :

Graphics

Restoring History –
WINNER : Akash Mukherjee, 1^St Runner Up : Megha N.Koya., 2^nd Runner Up : Priyanka Jaiswal

Meri Pehechaan -
WINNER : Anuja Banthia, 1^St Runner Up : Snehasish Bhowmick , 2^nd Runner Up :Debraj Nandi

Bijoyar Misthi Mukh -
WINNER : Anwesh Banerjee, 1^St Runner Up : Debmallya Das, 2^nd Runner Up Bivash Parbat

3D Modeling
Banao Apna Hero -

WINNER : Robel Kanti Deb, 1^St Runner Up : Tapabrata Mondal, 2^nd Runner Up Kamtre Sumer.

Audio - Video

Jhalak Dikhla Jaa -
WINNER : Akash Mukherjee 2^nd Runner Up : Sandip Routh, 1^St Runner Up : Subhasish Goswami,

Break Ke Baad –
Winner : Ravans.

2D Cartooning

He, She And Chhotoo -
Winner :Chitrabhanu Banerjee, 1^St Runner Up : Tamal Chakraborty, 2^nd Runner Up : Pinak Pal.

3D Animation :

3D Environmental Show Reel
WINNER: Vikash Kr Singh and Kamlesh Kr Gupta, 1^ST RUNNER UP: Aranjit Saha, Arunabh Sen, Jayabrata Nath, R Kamtre Sumer , Robel Kanti Deb, Sweta Jaiswal, Sudeshna Guhathakurta, 2^ND RUNNER UP: Sawan Kr Gupta,Alok Kr Singh,Kushal Thakkar,Khan Md Zartab Khan.

Web Design

Rok Sako To Rok Lo -
Winner : Chandan Das, 1^St Runner Up Pratibha Sipani, and 2^ND RUNNER UP Subham Samanta

Hungry Kya? -
Winner : Pratibha Sipani, 1^St Runner Up Sanjana Kothari, 2^ND RUNNER UP Akash Mukherjee.

The MC for the show Ms. Gunjan Sinha (RJ – Radio Mirchi 98.3 fm ) spiced up the show with an animated performance and quiz shows for the audience. The venue, Vidya Mandir which has a sitting capacity of 738 seats was overfull before the show began and a lot of students had to stand or sit in the sidelines to watch the show proceedings.

The award ceremony was seasoned with an amazing dance performances and song performances by our very own students who had put in months of hard work and dedication to put up a wonderful show. Our student also got fashionable by putting up a fashion show with different sequences and not to forget our drama which was inspired by Mughal e Azam but in a most comical manner.

Students who had worked hard and had put in special effort were awarded with Rizwanur Rahman Special Award .

How could we forget our Arenites of the Month and the academic performer of the Month who have performed well all the year round? We felicitated them for their excellent performances in the field of academics and overall behavior. The candidates were awarded on particular month but we had to felicitate them on this grand platform. Even we acknowledged our judges who helped us in selecting the winners without partiality for anyone.

The most popular awards category included the award for Best Batch which these awards inculcate amongst the student a feeling of unity and a competitive spirit in order for them to perform better.

The first category is BEST BATCH OF 2008.

The criteria being a) Academic performance, b) Attendance and Regularity d) Behavior and Interaction with fellow students and team members. Best is always kept for the last and it was the award for Miss Arena and Mr Arena. This Category is based on Academics, Student’s involvement in the center’s activities and overall behavior. Our Miss Arena ward went to Miss Moumeeta Bhattacharya and Mr Arena to Sawan Kumar Gupta.

Moments had become very emotional during the award ceremony when the prize winners were given prizes from their parents and guardians itself. The true spirit of interface could be felt when there was a loud cheering in the audience for their friends and fellow mates who had won the award and even for those who were performing.

Our team members’ were acknowledged and were introduced to the audience. Immense cheering came from the student who were present in the audience which made us feel special and we realized to what extent these students love us and respect us.

Mr. A.D. Singh, Centrehead concluded by giving a vote of thanks to all the sponsors and promising to make the event a grander one in the coming years.

We began with the first award on graphics category like Meri Pehchan which was a logo making contest. Where the students were asked to create a logo of a certain given brands like networking, toy’s company or soft drinks brand . We had around more than 98 entries in this category. The other graphics category in which the contest was named as Bijoyar Mishti Mukh represented the festive season of Durga Puja where the students prepared a greeting card for Shubho Bijoya. Each student gave more than one entry moreover what were astonishing were the creative ideas that each one of them came up with. Restoring History was again where distorted images had to be rectified.

The 2D cartooning category was a lot more fun which was named as He, She and Chottu where students had to make characters of a family.

The audio – video category rocked the hall when nominations for Jhalak dikh la Ja were announced.where interesting movie trailer by editing existing movies. BREAK KE BAAD is the name of our next category. Here the students were asked to prepare an ad commercial like what you see on T.V. . The winner was a group called Ravans where the student had made an interesting trailor using images and sound nad was generated in public interest as the topic of their commercial was Aids.

The next category was web design and the name of the contest was Hungry Kya?? Here the students had to make an introductory page on a fictitious watch company. The other was ROK SAKO TO ROK LO where students had to make an introductory animation for fictitious watch company.

The 3D animation category was amazing since the 3D character that they had made in Banao Apna Hero just represented how innovative and creative the students could come up with. The 3D environmental showreel students had made wonderful walkthrough in 3D.

The award ceremony Our student also got fashionable by putting up a fashion show with different sequences and not to forget our drama which was inspired by Mughal e Azam but in a most comical manner.

Students who had worked hard and had put in special effort were awarded with Rizwanur Rahman Special Award .

How could we forget our Arenites of the Month and the academic performer of the Month who have performed well all the year round? We felicitated them for their excellent performances in the field of academics and overall behavior. The candidates were awarded on particular month but we had to felicitate them on this grand platform. Even we acknowledged our judges who helped us in selecting the winners without partiality for anyone.

The most popular awards category included the award for Best Batch which these awards inculcate amongst the student a feeling of unity and a competitive spirit in order for them to perform better.

The first category is BEST BATCH OF 2008.

The criteria being a) Academic performance, b) Attendance and Regularity d) Behavior and Interaction with fellow students and team members. Best is always kept for the last and it was the award for Miss Arena and Mr Arena. This Category is based on Academics, Student’s involvement in the center’s activities and overall behavior. Our Miss Arena ward went to Miss Moumeeta Bhattacharya and Mr Arena to Sawan Kumar Gupta.

The grand show came to an end with the Vote of Thanks to the Chief Guest, guest and parents who had attended the show. Our special thanks went to our sponsors – online media partner Animation Xpress Network. Our special gratitude went to Mr H.S Azad our centre Director, Mr A.D Singh our centre head and Mr Manmeet Singh for their immense support. Immense support and participation came from students and volunteers and team members who had made this show possible. We rounded up the show with the promise of being back with a grandeur show next year.

Avenues in Animation

Avenues in animation – Approaches, preaprations and practices was the topic of our workshop which we were exploring. We learn animation but we do not to know the right path that has to be taken to be a successful Animator.

Our eminent speaker was Mr Puneet Sharma who is presently part of the Senior Technical Advisory Group at Arena Animation. He started his career in the Animation Industry as a Graphics Designer with Moving Picture Company, Delhi and has a professional experience of nearly 12 years working with TV Production houses, Web-portal Companies, Multimedia companies and leading Animation studios. He has worked on various domains of animation – web, multimedia, e-learning, architectural walkthroughs, social ad campaigns, animated ads (TVCs) & films (2D & 3D). His last assignment was with Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA Studios) as Head of the Academy and Production.

Animation is used in various fields like television, movies, e learning and many more.
As Mr Puneet pointed out, that India would produce at least 2D animated films in the year 2008 -09. He pointed out that study of principles of Design and Composition is essential for becoming a successful animator. The study of posses of different creatures, their gestures, expressions and perspectives play a vital role before we start working on the software with tools.

To become an animator ones Approach and Preparation would include the principles of animation, study of stop motion animation, the story telling techniques, story boarding with the help of film language , study of acting for animation and identification of specialization and ones core strength.
One cannot become a professional animator until one does not know the correct method to practice. One must be a member of animation groups like TASI, ASIFA. Active participation in various seminars and workshop would enhance our knowledge. Reading of animation magazines and journals would give us an insight into the latest developments into the animation industry. Master classes and launches are also important.

Mr Puneet showcased various samples to explain the points for examples from certain animation films like Ice Age 2, short films from PIXAR and many more.

The workshop not only intended in just giving a presentation but it was an interactive session where the students could ask questions and could clarify their doubts, if any. For example one of them questioned about Background making in animation whereas another participant clarified their doubts on rigging for 3D.

Mr. A.D.Singh, Centre Head, Arena Animation Chowringhee stressed upon that participants should ask more and more questions because may be even a simple question can prove to be vital in future. He stressed on concepts being the most important to become an animator rather than tools of a software. Mr singh also pointed out that we wanted Arena Chowringhee students to be ‘Designers’ and not ‘Tailors’. The Arenite of the Month was Jai Shankar Singh and Best Academic Performer Award went toAstik Kumar. Special Awards for outstanding participation was given to Bivash Parbat and a Rizwanur Rahman Creative Award For 1st Semester was given to Sanjib Adhya of TTS 9-11 batch.

Art Attack

The attack on an individual’s creativity was done our one of the most creative fun and learning session of ours entitled as Art Attack. Exploration and enhancement of ones creativity was our objective of this session which was held on 23rd August 08 in the Conference Room of Academy of Fine arts. The workshop was conducted by an eminent advertising professional who has many years of experience in advertising, also a cartoonist, theatre practioner and script writer Mr. Arthur Cardozo.

It aimed at giving an insight into creative conceptualization in terms of acquiring the Big Idea and Perceiving and Associating with the same.

It was a brainstorming and an interactive workshop where the students had to be participative and discover the creative potential within them. The first exercise involved closing ones eyes and to give a description as what they were viewing. Numerous interesting answers were given by the participants. The next task was to make an interesting advertisement on a face cream.

Certain interesting international advertisements were showcased for the participants to generate more creative ideas within them.

The ambience reached its peak when Arthur organized a small contest for the participants. They were given a task to make a poster on promoting literacy in India. Participants were divided into groups of nine. Participants got a chance to showcase their talent within a stipulated time. Some very interesting posters were submitted. Two groups were declared as winners.

Mr. A.D.Singh, Centre Head, Arena Animation Chowringhee stressed upon the role of moving from the tool based(software) training towards concepts training(design concepts, visualization, pre production)while pointing towards the role of the Faculty Members as Mentors, to help students recognize their inherent talents, and motivate them to bring their talent in front with proper application. In the closing ceremony, awards have been handed over to the students who have achieved excellence in Academics. Mr singh also pointed out that we wanted Arena Chowringhee students to be ‘Designers’ and not ‘Tailors’. The Arenite of the Month was Ayush Agarwal and Best Academic Performer Award went to Debaleena Dutta. Special Awards for outstanding participation was given to Alokananda Basu and a Special Award for excellence in 2D storyboarding was given to Sujay Dubey.

ANIMATION-The Making

Time and space play a critical role in Animation. Animation Types -and making was what we were exploring on 19th July 08 in the Conference Room of Academy Of Fine Arts. It was divided into two sections 2D & 3D being headed by persons who have excelled in their respective areas- Mr Jayanta Roy Chowdhury, Mr Biplab Chandra , Mr. Arup Guha , & Mr. Indranil Ghosh.

The purpose of the seminar was to give a vivid picture to the students about the usefulness of sketching in developing of ideas & critical analysis of movies where certain principles are getting followed by animators. Moreover, it focuses on developing how a person should think in making animation films.

Certain exclusive samples were displayed to explain the concept. Fascinating pencil sketches of Young Tarzan, Timon, and Jungle Book Junior and movie clips of The Popeye Show were showcased with explanations.
The charm was such that one would be glued to their seats to know the final outcome of the whole making of the character.

Heading from 2D animation our expertise went on to enhance the audience with the 3D animation knowledge. The points of the day were the uses of motion capture devices, concept of digital double character and compositing digital double background. Outstanding samples from the Making of King Kong in WETA Animation Studio were showcased along with vivid explanations.

The making of 3D characters or films would make one feel as if life was pumped into these so called Larger than Life characters.The workshop was concluded by focusing on the kind of production pipeline that is being followed in 2D and 3d animation studios during the film making. The different stages of pre-production, production and post production were also explained with examples to clear the doubts of students.

Mr. A.D.Singh, Centre Head, Arena Animation Chowringhee stressed upon the role of moving from the tool based(software) training towards concepts training(design concepts, visualization, pre production)while pointing towards the role of the Faculty Members as Mentors, to help students recognize their inherent talents, and motivate them to bring their talent in front with proper application. In the closing ceremony, awards have been handed over to the students who have achieved excellence in Academics. The Arenite of the Month was Abhinandan Kumar and Best Academic Performer Award went to Achintya Kumar Nandi.

Magic with 2D

What is Creativity? Is it something cherished only by selected few geniuses? Or do we all posses it? Where does Creativity stand in today’s Techno World? As we all know, they are the elements from two separate World, i.e., Creativity and Technology – Art and Science. Ruled by separate sections (Hemisphere) of our Brain – Right: Arts, Left: Science. Is there an effective combination and communication possible to enhance our everyday life through mixture of these two elements?

These were the Questions went under scanner. All these were thoroughly scrutinized, investigated and analyzed in the Conference that was held in Academy of Fine Arts Conference Room on Saturday, 23rd June, 2008. A genuine attempt was made to answer these Questions, by the Students and Faculties of Arena Animation Chowringhee Centre, with the help of an interesting topic - “Magic of 2D: Mingling of Creative Visualization with Adobe Flash Technology to Simulate a Breathtaking World of Rich Media Application.” Ms. Sudeepa Ghosh, Mr. Soumyajit Banerjee, Mr. Sudip Banerjee, Mentor and Faculty Members of Arena Animation Chowringhee, were the main speakers in the event. The main idea they tried to project and confirm was that we, the Designers, Animators, Graphic Artists, need to free our minds from too much dependency towards tools and software, and then we need to cultivate our inner instinct towards creativity and give it wings to take a flight.

There were three case studies, one from each Industry that employs 2D Technology to implement their Creative Outputs – Advertising, Internet, and Animation. The students were encouraged to participate in an interactive question answer session, where they got opportunity to clear all their doubts and achieved clarity on issues like 2D animation, it’s current Market in India, use of Actionscript in Flash Animation, etc. One ready-made example of an E-Project developed in Flash, had been showcased to provide a class-room perspective and knowledge.

Mr. A.D.Singh, Centre Head, Arena Animation Chowringhee, added the most value to the whole Conference with his closing speech. He stressed upon the role of Visualization, Creative Thinking, and Research while pointing towards the role of the Faculty Members as Mentors, to help students recognize their inherent talents, and motivate them to bring their talent in front with proper application.
In the closing ceremony, awards have been handed over to the students who have achieved excellence in Academics. Mr.Singh gave away the awards. Arenite of the Month was Pratibha Sipani and Best Academic Performer Award went to Subhashish Ghosh.
The Conference was not only proved to be a learning point for the Students, but, at the same time, generated huge excitement as they enjoyed watching three Animated Movies that were made mostly in Flash.