High levels of interactivity between the audience and speakers marked day 2 at CgA world 2004.
Day 2 at CgA World began with a technical presentation by Sanjiv Waeerkar, Director, Dream Forest Films on ‘How to set up an animation studio’. The power point presentation laid threadbare the processes involved in 2D animation explaining the difference between pre production , production and post production. Sanjiv also listed the number of people involved to ensure the smooth functioning of a studio.
This was followed by a panel discussion on animation in advertising, the discussion though became more broad in nature and issues such as industry status for animation and the need for animation to attract adults as a viewing audience too were discussed.
Moderated by animation producer Ranjit Tony Singh the panelists for the session were UTVToons General Manager – Business Development Jyotirmoy Saha, Crest Communications’ Creative Director Virendra Chauhan, Famous Animation Creative Director E Suresh, eminent animation personality and Asifa India president Bill Dennis and veteran Ram Mohan.
Speaking on the current scenario of animation in advertising, E Suresh cited the example of the Amaron battery ad where the age old tale of the race between the Tortoise and Hare had been animated to effectively convey Amaron’s message.
The audience was a mix of experience and youth, with students being the majority. Amongst the interesting interactions between the panelists and the audience were:
How to get recruited by an animation studio
On being quizzed by the audience to questions like Which are the best animation courses available for students? How should students increase their chances of working with big studios? the panelists had a good word for the Toonz Webel Academy.
Virendra Chauhan from Crest commented “Regardless of whether an applicant has gone through a six month course or a two year course, what Crest looked for in an applicant was aptitude.”
Addressing the students he further added “If you are a good modeler than make a model of yourself, if you are a good animator then animate a character by making him walk, show us some samples of your work upon which we can judge your ability.
He also said that in the current scenario most artists need to be competent and must double up in various capacities if the need arises.
The panelists agreed that students should include only their best work in their portfolios as against the habit of carrying huge portfolios filled with a lot of illustrations. Moy elaborated: “At UTV we have a special five page document which we have kept for applicants, they refer to the document and return after a week much more ready for being interviewed.”
Attracting grown ups to Animation
A member from the audience asked Why don’t we have an animated ‘Kyunki Saas bhi….. ‘? to which UTV Toons Moy replied “We spend more time then you can imagine contemplating this question in our board rooms ”
There was an animated debate on whether kids pull grown ups to the theatres to watch animated fare or is it viceversa, the winners of course were those that opined in favour of the kids. Commenting on this, Asifa India president Bill Dennis said “In the US if parents do not want to watch an animated movie they let the kids go on their own”
On the issue of creating awareness and interest for animation amongst grown ups UTV’s Moy said that “40 years ago, Japan did not boast of world class cars as it does today. The outsourcing of manafacturing processes from top US companies to Japan exposed the Japanese to top class quality and imbibed in the Japanese a love for good cars. Ditto for animation, gradually as more and more Indian animators will get involved in working on high quality projects, the market for animation in India will grow both in quality and numbers”
Industry Status
The important issue of industry status for animation was also brought up in the discussion, Ram Mohan humorously quipped ” It is the same case with the government as is with the grown ups of the country, they dont take animation seriously”
On a serious note Moy commented “It is not difficult for someone from a UTV or a Crest to go and sit in the I&B ministry’s office, but then they ask us the size of the industry, which is not large enough for us to be accorded an industry status.” The panelists more or less agreed with Moy on the issue.