Can you tell us more about Arjun-The Warrior Prince? And your role and responsibilities in the film?
Arjun is a 3D animated feature film, It is a very classic and beautiful film with a lot of toon shading used; it is very aesthetically shot and has a different style to it. We are solely responsible for the production of the film, Arnab who is the director of Arjun came to us along with UTV with the primary design and script and then we took over the production. We did the production in a number of phases, we started with the assets, then the layout, animation, lighting and rendering.
When did you start working on the project?
We started working on it after we finished Roadside Romeo. We started the work in August/September 2008 and we finished it in January 2010. It took us approximately 14 months to complete the film from pre-production to the final product.
How many artists at different levels have worked for the film and for how long?
Around 75 artists have worked on the film. It is an average number, sometimes even 100 at a time depending on the stage of the movie. We made our own shaders for rendering.
How big and significant is Arjun-The Warrior Prince for you?
Arjun is our second animated full length feature film after Roadside Romeo. No other studio has done two 3D animated feature films back to back, so this is a great achievement for us. Arjun has a very powerful story; it is a journey of a boy becoming a man. The story is set in the pre-Mahabharat era and ends with the start of the Mahabharat. It has a lot of action sequences which are produced on a very grand scale, Arnab had a very clear vision about all the sequences and we have tried to accomplish his vision. It is not a childrens’ film in a strict sense. It has a very philosophical theme to it with a heavy treatment, compared to other animated films. Arnab believed that story is the most important part of a film, the animation part should come in between. It has a lot of strong Indian Mythological emotions.
Tell us about the key action sequences in the film? And how did you do it?
There are 8-10 big scenes in the film like the Mahabharata, chariot race, fire sequence, there is also a scene in which Arjun gets nightmares. For the fire sequences it is very necessary for the fire to look the same in every shot, so we had to work on the modality for every shot. We first worked on the plan because the look of the fire was very important. We did not go in the order of the sequences, we first worked on the simpler sequences to get the hang of things and then moved on to the difficult ones and then again worked on the simple scenes. The Mahabharata, fire and chariot sequences were done last. It is not necessary to work in order. For the action sequences, we performed with live actors for reference; their videos were used for understanding the expression for each character.
As it was a huge project, there must have been quite a few complexities and challenges faced during the project, what were they, and how did you tackle it?
Making an animated feature film is very difficult; from Roadside Romeo we gained a lot of experience. The challenge was to maintain the quality and consistency of the film.TV is a lot more easy, it is very necessary for the production to be efficient, the key is to deliver fast and in a practical manner, this is more difficult then it sounds as there 75-100 artists working simultaneously and each one has his own views. It was easier to plan sequences and shots because of the experience we got from Roadside Romeo, we learnt that the rendering engine is not good, it is only suitable for tv viewing, for this we wrote our own propriety shaders so that we would play with it the way we wanted. This takes a lot of time but the final work is brilliant, it also creates less hassles. Everybody was happy with the final look.
As Visual Computing Labs -Tata ELxsi is very well known for its large scale and quality production, how did you maintain the same level/standards for Arjun-The Warrior Prince?
It is one of the best looking films; we wanted it to be aesthetically correct, it was very important to us. Arnab is a great director, we wanted to go by his vision. The look of the film was very important to us, the experience of doing a feature animated film earlier really helped us in the making of Arjun. It has a 2D style with a 3D look to it. We didn’t want to compromise on the look of the film, for this we took efforts to anticipate every scene, we tried to conceptualize the art of every sequence, what to do for the day sequence for the night sequence, for the fire sequence, we kept all questions upfront. The credit should go to Arnab and to the art director of the film. We didn’t want to compromise on the main look of the film, for that we looked upon the little things upfront. For instance to create more depth, we created 3D forests to make it look more realistic. It is not like the cartoons, it is a very human, the things that a human can do. We have used a toon shaded visual style in 3D.We have used 2D animation to get depth,3D space,3D body and proper lighting, the film has a 2D look in a 3D world some thing like the animation you have seen in Prince of Persia. The movie was a great experience, to work with Arnab.
What are your expectations from the film?
I expect a lot of admiration for the film from the people and critics alike, the first trailer of the film got a very good response from abroad for its look. It is a complete film and I really want people to go and see it, The film will get critical acclaim but Box Office success is also important. We require good stories and good quality feature films and a lot of them. This is a start of a journey.
Any recent film which made you look up and notice?
I really loved HUGO though it is not an animated film but it has a lot of great work, it is a beautiful film with virtual sets and CG animation and I also loved TinTin, it was superb, filled with a lot of emotions and cutting edge technology.
Would you like to add anything?
I just want to tell the readers of Animation Xpress to buy tickets and watch the film, it is a good film and it deserves success. In the world, a very few number of studios have done animated feature films and theatrically released it because releasing it in theaters is a big responsibility, your mistakes can be seen, the chances of being caught are high, we are the only studio in India to do two feature films back to back so that’s a feather in our cap. A lot of animated films were announced earlier but gave up. We have a lot of international work but we really want to do stuff for the Indian audience. The problem here is that people don’t know how to convert a story into reality, it is necessary for people to learn the animation idiom. No matter how good the animation and music is, the story is most important. I really want the movie to do well, specially even in the eyes of lay people (who do not understand the process of animation but still love the film) like my mom should appreciate it.
What are your current projects?
- We have started work for the VFX of ‘Ek tha Tiger’, ’Dhoom 3’ and ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’
- We are also doing some international animated films.
- We are presently doing few TV series for the European markets.
Mr. S. Nagarajan,COO, Visual Computing Labs-Tata Elxsi
How big and significant is the movie for you?
This was our second full length feature film after Road Side Romeo. Road Side Romeo. even got nominated at The VES Awards. We have huge expectations and hopes from this film; it is a complete team effort. There were few complicated sequences which required fluid simulation and many softwares as well. We are immensely proud of the quality and hoping it to be a commercial success.
Can you please elaborate on the importance of Arjun with a business point of view?
We have various works involved in VCL-Tata Elxsi, i.e. VFX, TVCs, Animation etc., but 40% of our revenues come from feature films, hence it is very important for Arjun to be a hit.
We hope the audiences acknowledge the high quality work. We not only want Arjun to be a critically acclaimed film, but we also want to be a commercial success.
First of all I would want the audiences to see the movie, so that the film would get broader acceptance and create a larger market for the animation industry. I hope it mends into a turning point for the animation industry.
What are your current projects?
- We lately delivered episodic series Martha and Friends which was showcased on Hallmark Channel.
- We are even working for few Hollywood projects for VFX
- We have even launched a new animation center at Bangalore and TVC unit in Bandra
- We have an Animation and VFX studio at L.A. mainly for American market.
- We are also doing some international animated films.