Chennai based Pentamedia Graphics is gearing up to release its 72 minute 3D animation movie ‘Gulliver and Lilliput’s’ this December. The studio has previously received many accolades for its projects like “Pandavas” “Alibaba” and “The legend of Buddha”.
AnimationXpress.com had a conversation with V.Chandrasekaran, Chief Managing Director of Pentamedia to know more this movie.
Please shed light on the story line of Gulliver and Lilliputs?
This story line is based on the original story written by Jonathan Swift. Lemuel Gulliver is a doctor who longs for adventure. A shipwreck leaves him swept ashore on the land of Lilliput – inhabited by people no bigger than his finger. Gulliver is taken captive by the Lilliputians who present him before the emperor. A series of interesting events takes place after that.
Who are the protagonists and antagonists in this movie?
Gulliver is the protagonist in this film and is having a Giant like appearance of the hero which is unbelievable to the little Lilliputians, who are just six inches tall. Antagonists in this film are Flimnap and Skyresh. Ferocious by look, Filmnap is a magician by nature who always thinks of ways to put an end to Gulliver. Seeking the help of Filmnap, Skyresh, the admiral of Lilliput knots up a plan against Gulliver yet he has no particular reason to hate Gulliver. The emperor is forced to give Death sentence to Gulliver as per the plan hooked up by Skyresh Bolgolam and Flimnap.
Why did you choose this story line?
We started the work in 2012 and completed the same by mid 2013.Gulliver is quite popular among the teenagers as his story is a part of their English non-detailed in schools. And as such it will be appealing for them to see this Giant hero and the six inch people on screen, that too through the 3D glass.
What kind of research went into the making of the film?
We studied the trends with the re-introduction of 3D Cinema and Digital Cinema penetration internationally to leverage its library effectively with its new production to be aligned to the International Market needs. Also in the Computer WorkStation Market with over powered system which was once available in the Server class system is being made available in the end consumer client PC’s. Technology such as Cloud Computing have made high power computing affordable on demand and secure with high speed network connections today. We perfected the use of these technologies with its R&D and market partners over the last few years to bring its next Feature product more to meet the expectation of the market internationally and better return on Investment to its stake holder.
Tell us about the technological set up involved in the creation of this film
It is an animated Stereo Scope 3D feature film that is produced using Performance Capture Animation, BYOD and Cloud Computing Resources. Our Key pipeline was based on Intel I3 systems with Open Source software Blender. Performance Capture Animation has evolved over 10 years and market accepted after Avatar Feature film release in 2009. This technology has evolved itself over its initial limitation of 2 characters and only body capture to multiple characters with face, body and hand with full blending between traditional animation and motion capture animation. We outsourced Visual effects and Editing; Sound mixing with DTS mix was outsourced to other service providers in the Kollywood market. All scenes were directly Stereo rendered avoiding the need for any compositing software. As of effects, we used complete digital effects to ensure good stereo quality. We used cloud infrastructure to render in the stereo files. As the complete production was in 2K Digital Stereo Scope with DTS sound we did complete non-linear line up of our digital files as per the Audio and Music sync data.
Is the movie being showcased at Film Festivals?
Yes! This film has been censored with universal rating in August 2013. This film is participating in various international film festival/awards viz., Indian Panorama Film Festival in Goa, New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) and “Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF), simultaneously this 3D film will be released and exhibited internationally in all formats.
Can you share the key credits of the film?
The movie is directed by Anita Udeep, Produced by Pentamedia, Writing was stylized to suit the international audience by the American script writer Alexandria and Music is given by Rob Reich.
What are your upcoming projects?
Pentamedia has completed the pre-production of another digital 3D animation film “Mustafa Vs The Magician” and the production is in progress using Blender. This film is expected to be completed in Jan 2014. Pentamedia is coming out with new courses on how to make animated / VFX/ CG films with the features of Pre-production, Production, Post-production, VFX, Marketing and Distribution. Among the trained students, the skilled ones will get an opportunity to work in our current project, “Mustafa Vs the Magician”.