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.