Bollywood is unarguably one of the strongest elements of popular culture ingrained in Indians. We just love our movies and all things Bollywood. Be it in Television, in advertising, in merchandise, in our jokes, in the songs at the local disc, a lot of Bollywood reflects in the way we dress and our social behavior too.
Of late with globalisation and the Indian economy speeding up, the scope of entertainment and the way we consume it is widening. Crossover cinema is coming of age, films are being specially made for the urban multiplex audience just as they are made for the Indian diaspora abroad as well as regional films catering to regional audiences.
Entertainment and the way it is consumed may change, the durations, the platforms, the narrative patterns and the subjects may change but one thing remains constant and that is the fact that it is all story telling and film making.
When it comes to the entertainment sphere, Animation can be approached in many ways, as an art form, as a film making medium, as a technique for executing concepts and theories, as a clutter breaking activity and so on, whatever the approach one may take, entertainment related animation too just like the case with general entertainment is all about story telling and film making.
Promoted by the grand storyteller and ace film maker turned media BigWig Subhash Ghai, Whistling Woods International Limited, the largest film school in Asia which begins operations from July 15, is revolving its animation course around the subject of film making, story telling, animation fundamentals, drawing and next generation 3D technology.
What makes the whole thing even more interesting is that the timing of the launch of the course coincides with the newly emerging phase of more than half a dozen big banners announcing animated feature films in India.
WWIL just recently opened up admissions in eight disciplines related to film making, one of which is The Art & Technique of Animation. The other disciplines include Acting, Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Business Of Film & Television, Sound Recording, Design And Music Production, Screenwriting.
Speaking to Animation ‘xpress on the occasion WWIL promoter and Mukta Arts Chairman Subhash Ghai stated,”Animation in Entertainment is emerging to be the major growth area in India over the last few years. Realizing the potential of animation in entertainment, we have invested into the best technical tie up. We have carefully designed the course curriculum to provide an opportunity for the students to learn and experience the Art and the Technique’s of Animation from a story telling and film making point of view”
“At Whistling Woods, the objectives are to create an environment for students to nurture themselves into building strong leadership qualities in their areas of specialization” he added.
To add value and depth to its animation course, WWIL recently tied up with Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology a leading educational institute in Canada funded by the Government of Ontario which runs programs in various specializations including Animation, VFX, SFX and gaming.
Under the agreement Seneca will provide its expertise and faculty to Whistling Woods International and also train Whistling Woods’ faculty to ensure high quality of education in animation and related topics. The students will also have an option to go to Seneca College, Canada for a third year specialization in gaming, visual effects etc. Seneca will have faculty training and exchange program with WWIL and a joint certification for the students passing out of that institute.
“This is the first time in India that Whistling Woods International will provide a platform for students to interact with several other students and leading professionals in the film making process and experience the campus atmosphere to make a successful career in the area of art and technique of animation. The tie up with Seneca for joint certification and the faculty training will help our students gain immense knowledge from the foreign faculty members. The long standing experience of Seneca in animation, gaming and visual effects will certainly help the students identify their skills and map them in their specialization area within the animation space” remarked WWIL Business Head Meghna Ghai Puri.
At WWIL, the animation course curriculum as well as the teaching process is developed and supervised by eminent animation personality Anirights CEO Ashish Kulkarni. The faculty comprises of professionals with six to seven years experience in the studios and teaching in India and overseas. Whistling Woods will have five to six faculty members to mentor, identify and nurture the skills of the students. So far even as the course launch is two months away, two members Gokul K and Nyaneshwar have already been inducted into the faculty.
The complete curriculum is designed for a two year time frame. Students go through a complete foundation program in story telling and film making, followed by sharpening of their traditional skills, principles and design of animation; migration of skills from traditional to digital; and finally the making of actual films from concept to script to screen in a group environment. The 1.5 lac square feet institute in a 20 acre sprawling sorroundings within Filmcity is fully equipped with state of the art film making labs, sound studios, auditoriums and state of the art post production infrastructure.
“The Animation Courses at Whistling Woods International are to give an opportunity to an Indian Animation aspirant to go through a fully integrated film making traditional and digital animation program. The complete curriculum of Whistling Woods is based on identifying and sharpening ones skills to meet the global standards of animation and film making. It is all about the process of defining the idea, visualization and carrying forward the process from script to screen” remarked Kulkarni.
“Think of it this way, when you are into the subject of film making wether live action or animation, the best thing is to be sorrounded by aspiring film makers and film making technicians, whose ideas, approach and thoughts will help infuence you and make you a better and more complete film maker. WWIL students will have a great and unique kind of cross disciplinary exposure to film making and related techniques” he added.
“For long, large campus based value based training in animation has been absent in this part of the region. With WWIL we would be able build a quality leadership in animation from India” he concluded.
Of late, one has witnessed a spate of high value animation education courses being launched by various players, each having its own unique merit points and approach to animation education. It will be interesting to see the way each of these courses unfolds and the kind of students that come out of them.
One however can be sure that such developments ring a very positive bell for the industry and hopefully the human resource need of animation studios across the value chains will be better met with.