Animation films fail to rock the box-office

MUMBAI: All's not well in animation land. Despite corporates doing all they can to ensure that India's animation industry gets its place in Bollywood, there's still time before your favourite toon can rock the box-office.

Rumour has it that Percept Picture Company's Jumbo was bought cheap (it's originally a Thai animation film) but they paid Akshay Kumar a whopping Rs 9 crore as dubbing fee. They also shot a promotional video, allegedly had a large marketing budget (Rs 8 crore) and gave the Christmas offering great visibility on both hoardings as well as the airwaves. "However, Jumbo was swept away in the Ghajini wave,'' says trade analyst Taran Adarsh, who personally felt the film was probably Bollywood's best bet at animation in 2008.

Trade sources confirm that Bollywood has had a bad run with animation this year. Between Hanuman Returns, Krishna, Roadside Romeo, Dashavatar, Ghatotkach and My Friend Ganesha parts 1 and 2, insiders estimate animation losses will total up to about Rs 70 crore. "Indian animation has suffered quite a few hiccups,'' says a trade source. "What's worse is that many animation films that are complete and awaiting release have no takers.''

Barely a year ago when Walt Disney tied up with Yashraj Films to commission their first joint venture Roadside Romeo (Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor dubbed for the lead pair), Bollywood pundits went to town claiming that animation as a genre had `arrived'. In fact, at least 25 animation films were announced by various corporations, and an estimated Rs 4,000 crore was to be kept aside for the animation studios that were being planned across India. "Everything is on hold now,'' says trade guru Amod Mehra. "Film corporations are shaken with the blow-hot, blow-cold response to this genre.''

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The Good, bad and ugly of Bollywood animation movies in 2008

There were quite a few animation films that released in 2008. However, not even one of them turned out to be successful at the box office. ‘Roadside Romeo’ at least stood out from animation point of view while ‘Jumbo’ made waves due to Akshay Kumar factor. However, rest just fizzled completely hence putting a question mark on the future of animation films in India. Here is a low down on the performance of some of the most notable animation films which were unleashed to the audience in the year gone by.

Roadside Romeo
If not for Yash Raj Films’ practice of promoting their films to the minimal, ‘Roadside Romeo’ could well have been the second Bollywood animation film to have worked with the audience after ‘Hanuman’. While one or two have still been decent attempts at the least, the remaining have been plain shoddy.

Things could have just gone right for ‘Roadside Romeo’ had it been pitched amongst the audience in a better way. It was released sans any fanfare and worse, the two best parts about the film - it’s animation and coming together of Saif and Kareena behind the mike - were not just not highlighted enough for the audience.

‘Roadside Romeo’ may not be quite emotionally charged or howlariously funny like it’s Hollywood counterparts. But still, it is watchable at the least. And for that, most of the credit should go to Tata Elexsi - VCL that has managed to get some stupendous 3D animation in place. Whether it is shot taking, moving frames, transition from one situation to another, lip movements or lighting - everything about ‘Roadside Romeo’ comes across as a fresh experience. In fact for those who haven’t been exposed to the Hollywood animation flicks, this is a truly unique experience.

My Friend Ganesha 2
The most torturous animation film of the year which is so poorly made that one wonders how it’s rough edges, especially when it comes to animation, would seem when seen on the big screen. Those backing the film may have had an argument that it was made for kids under 10 years of age. Well, if they were actually under this false belief, they were seriously underestimating the choice and mindset of children who have definitely warmed up to far more entertaining films over a period of time.

Leave the storyline (which by the way is none at all); just one look at the animation in motion and you are seriously un-amused by the state of affairs. Frankly, the worst of movies can sometime become an engaging experience since they are so bad that they bring some full-on entertainment. However, ‘My Friend Ganesha 2′ crosses all patience limits. Lasting close to 2 hours, there is absolutely no redeeming factor in this film which has just about everything being so un-engaging and uninspiring.

Jumbo
While promoting ‘Jumbo’ as an Akshay Kumar film, the makers chose not to high light the fact that the film was neither an Indian product nor had it been made in collaboration with an International animation house. Instead, Percept Picture Company had claimed the rights of a Thai film that went by the name of ‘Khan Kluay’. Nevertheless, the film boasted of good animation and was a good full fledged musical (’Roadside Romeo’ was a musical as well but the music wasn’t as good) to arrive on the big screen. Add to that actors like Lara Dutta, Dimple Kapadia, Gulshan Grover and Rajpal Yadav joining Akshay behind the mike and it was a Bollywood treat for children. If not for it’s arrival next to ‘Ghajini’, it would have done much better at the box office.

Dashavatar
This was an animation film which actually managed to hold your interest at least at the script level. Otherwise if one looks at the plethora of animation films which have released in the year gone by, majority of them have failed at the story level, let aside animation which by itself has been nothing great shakes. However, the area where ‘Dashavatar’ wins is that it tells a story which has been hitherto untold to majority of viewers in India, at least through the medium of cinema or television. Moreover, with good animation to match (at least by Indian standards), it only makes the experience more engaging.

Ghatothkach
First half of this animation film followed a standard route as adopted by many a mythological animation movies coming out of Bollywood in recent years. The ‘natkhat’ ways of a child, his escapades with all living beings, be it humans, animals or demons, his love for nature - all of this has been explored to the fullest by many a film makers in the recent past. Nothing wrong with this actually. After all it is a genre and the same holds good even for action, comedy, romantic or family tales which are bound to have a similar look and feel.

Still, overall ‘Ghatothkach’ was a very average film which had something going for it by means of visuals that were indeed unheard of (before the release of ‘Roadside Romeo) and surpassed the standards (although not quite high) set by it’s predecessors.

Prithviraj Chauhan
If after watching a film, you are made to log on to internet right away and explore further details about the subject and story line, you can certainly say that the makers have succeeded in telling an interesting tale!

This is what happens the moment you are through with watching 80 minutes of drama that unfolds in animation film ‘Prithviraj Chauhan’. For a change, you no more care about the quality of animation (it is substandard) but are intrigued by the sheer story line and narration. One can question the mediocrity of animation here but certainly not direction which manages to keep a stranglehold on proceedings without letting boredom slip in.

‘Prithviraj Chauhan’ was a ‘direct to DVD’ release rather than coming at theaters. A good move since the animation’s canvas isn’t quite suited for the big screen. However, instead of numerous animation flicks which are arriving at theaters these days and are primarily catered at children, ‘Prithviraj Chauhan’ boasts of a story that has a good appeal for adults as well. Watch it for it’s drama and forget about the animation quality!

Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang
This movie had some interesting voice overs but animation wise, it just remained sub standard. Add to that the characters in the film that hardly appealed and one knew before the release of the film itself that it won’t do well at the theaters. The promotion of the film was patchy and there was no target audience defined. Result? A film that was certainly one of the most ignored and forgotten animation flicks that have been unleashed on the unsuspecting audience. -Joginder Tuteja / Sampurn Media

Source : http://www.realbollywood.com/

Arena Boosts Animation In Ahmedabad

Arena Animation has put Ahmedabad in even more prominence on the global animation market with its latest animation event – The Animated Movie “Jumbo” Showcase Event.

According to Vishal Vora, Regional Head, Gujarat, Arena Animation, entertainment giants like Walt Disney, Imax and Sony have increasingly outsourced work for special effects and character development to India, hotting up the market as a result.

The event began with a new concept titled First Day First Show Series where students of animation were treated to “Jumbo” and the “First Day First Show” that featured other upcoming animation and special effects movies.

Following the show segment was the award ceremony for the Creative Hunt Competition and Christmas celebrations.

Commenting on the competition, Anish Shah, Centre Head, Arena Animation said that its objective was to promote professional skills of the students that are all due in today’s animation industry. The competition not only enhanced their technical prowess but their ability in research and development for increased effectiveness in quality production.

Source : http://www.designtaxi.com/

Computer animation breathes life into learning

Kindergartners at Seminole Springs Elementary used software to create a book and learn about adjectives.

A first-grade class at Cypress Ridge Elementary created a Claymation movie to study endangered creatures.

And Astatula Elementary kindergartners made a computerized alphabet book.

The youngest students at these three Lake County elementary schools learned old concepts in a new way. And they did it with the help of some new computer software designed to help children bring clay to life and draw on the computer screen, among other things.

Last year, a few Lake County schools piloted the innovative computer programs to help the district's youngest pupils. This year, they're being rolled into more elementary schools.

The programs come from the California-based Tech4Learning. Lake's school district has been implementing the company's multimedia-publishing program called Pixie and its Clay Animation Kit, among other products.

"We have seen some incredible results," said Kathy Halbig, the district's manager of innovative learning.

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Animation up there with Hollywood

KUALA LUMPUR: Money is a major factor in the development of computer-generated imagery (CGI) technology in Malaysia, said Burhanuddin Md Radzi, managing director of Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd.

He said local producers could do better if they were willing to invest more in their work.

Still, films like Cicakman 1 and 2, Antoo Fighter and Duyung are proving that Malaysian film-makers are capable of putting CGI on the silver screen.

The local film with the most extensive use of CGI today is Cicakman 2 Planet Hitam, with 800 shots.

"Unfortunately, we are still lagging in the technology, compared with other countries," said Burhanuddin.
Les' Copaque was the first company set up by a Bumiputera to focus on CGI. Its first film, Geng, is a fully CGI film.

"The cost for the 103-minute film was RM4 million and it took us three years to complete."

Geng is expected to open nationwide in February and will be submitted to France's Aneccy Animation Festival in June.

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Israel's Crew 972 is animated about cartoons

Hollywood is the center of the film industry in the West, Bollywood its center in the East. But where is the capital of Toontown? If Crew 972 has anything to say about it, Tel Aviv will be the world center for quality animation.

"Our expertise is in high-quality animation and with a focus on top-tier clients: service work, advertising, film, Internet, and DVD," says company co-founder Michelle Orrelle, noting the company's client list. Crew 972 has worked directly for Aardman Animations - of Wallace & Gromit fame; Bren Productions - the 3D animation arm of Spain's Filmax Studios; Electronic Arts and Super Villain Studios; with advertising agencies Leo Burnett, Ogilvy and Mathers, Young & Rubicam, and as subcontractor on projects for Cartoon Network and others under non-disclosure agreement. This week, a new Crew 972 project is being tested at Warner Brother's studios.

"We've identified that Israel is a boutique provider of talent, innovation and creativity," Michelle tells ISRAEL21c. "It's not a mass animation producer like China or India, the Far East, or Eastern Europe. Israel's cultural compatibility is one advantage that we have; the Israeli sense of humor is one the US audience understands."

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Mass Animation Draws Animators to Facebook

Mass Animation, Intel Corp.’s initiative to create a CG-animated short film through a virtual studio staffed by animators around the world, has received more than 270 entries and accumulated more than 25,000 fans on popular social networking site Facebook. The short, titled Live Music, is being produced and directed by Yair Landau, former president of Sony Pictures Digital. The Facebook application is powered by online animation community aniBoom.

Live Music is inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and early CG films. Set in a musical instrument store, the tale follows Riff, a rock ‘n’ roll guitar who falls in love to the wrong song but ends up with Vanessa, the classical violin of his dreams. The story is conveyed through the universal language of music rather than dialog, and the instruments are brought to life through original compositions and familiar rock tunes played principally by legendary guitarist Steve Vai as Riff and acclaimed violinist Ann Marie Calhoun as Vanessa.

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Conor Nolan finds 3D animation in Monster vs Aliens very exciting

THERE has been much debate recently about 3D and its potential growth in the UK. So when the Dreamworks' big boss Jeffrey Katzenberg invited me to see a preview of his new 3D animated movie, Monster vs Aliens, I simply could not resist, writes Conor Nolan.

3D is of course not new and has been around since the 1950s, but the advent of digital projection technology has allowed it to advance leaps and bounds.

As I sat down in the cinema I was given a pair of odd looking sunglasses to watch the latest Dreamworks animated flick and what an experience it was: I was treated to about 30 minutes worth of clips from Monster vs Aliens and it was dazzling.

You literally feel that you are in the thick of the action as it unfurls on the big screen and on several occasions I actually ducked and moved my head to avoid objects hurtling towards me.

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DreamWorks Animation bets big on InTru 3D technology

Jeffrey Katzenberg is a man on a mission.

That's why the head of DreamWorks Animation flew up to Boston earlier this week to meet with exhibitors, film students and members of the media. With the hope that he'd then be able to win a few more converts over to his new world view. Which holds that the future of film lies in 3D.

Mind you, this is not -- to quote Katzenberg -- "your father's 3D" that we're talking about here. Waving a pair of the old red-and-blue anaglyph lenses about, Jeffrey talked about how the old version of 3D used to " ... give some people headaches, make others nauseous. And that's supposed to be good for business?"

Katzenberg certain hopes that this new version of 3D is good for business. For he's pretty much betting DreamWorks Animation's future on this new film format. Starting with the release of "Monsters Vs Aliens" in March of 2009, all of his studio's forthcoming releases will be produced in 3D.

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Animated Film Gets Oscar Look

Hollywood - One of the 14 films submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the three nominations in the best animation feature category, Dragon Hunters will make its one-week qualifying run starting today at Laemmle’s Grande 4-Plex Theatre in Downtown, Los Angeles.

Set in a mystical kingdom of non-firma terra (“things fall apart; the center cannot hold”) a dragon so big and powerful and with such ferocious eyes that to gaze upon can drive a warrior blind or mad (“a vast image out of Spritus Mundi troubles my sight”), is about to rise from its long sleep and wreak havoc on the dark world (“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last”).

Okay, putting aside the near-fetched allusions – and there are others (“Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds”; “were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle”) — to William Yeats’ “The Second Coming” (the greatest poem by a vastly overrated and politically reactionary poet) filmmakers Guillaume Ivernel and Arthur Qwak’s Dragon Hunters follows the tale of a wandering and wondering girl who reads lots of fairy tales, Zoe (voice by Mary Mouser), and her band of misfits who have taken it upon themselves to save the day. (In fact nobody else notices any threat from the dragon accept those immediately involved in Zoe’s adventure.)

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Animated Film Gets Oscar Look

Using Animation to Explore the Nanoworld

Tiny self-assembling metal cubes dance across the screen in a video posted on the Web site of the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology. You could read a book — or at least several chapters — on the principles behind how these microcubes build themselves up from microscopic metallic sheets cut by lasers. Or you could watch a one-minute animated video that tells their fantastic story.

The INBT video of the self-assembling cubes is the result of the independent study course Animation in Nanotechnology and Medicine and was produced under the guidance of INBT animation/Web director Martin Rietveld, who shares his skills and experience in 2-D/3-D animation with students from throughout Johns Hopkins who want to learn to use this lively medium.

INBT's animation studio and the independent study course have attracted students from the basic sciences, engineering, the School of Medicine's Department of Art as Applied to Medicine and the Krieger School's Writing Seminars, to name a few. Some students understand the science; others are skilled in illustration or other types of visualization. "My job is to try to guide these forces into something that actually produces a movie," Rietveld says.

Students who sign up for the course should be aware of the time commitment involved in order to produce a film as well executed as the current productions, Rietveld says. Presently, there are two animated movies on the INBT Web site demonstrating the research of INBT-affiliated faculty members. One explains the self-assembling cubes used in the research of David Gracias, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering, and the other shows the interaction between a protein and a lipid bilayer, based on the work of Blake Hill, associate professor of biology in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

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Katzenberg to 3-D movie fans: Open your wallets

Ever since Jeffrey Katzenberg boasted this September that sometime soon "all movies are going to be made in 3-D," I've had a nagging feeling that there must be a catch to all this 3-D ballyhoo, since, let's face it, do you really want--or need--to see "Doubt" or "Milk" or most of the other Oscar contenders in 3-D anytime soon? (Though I am looking forward to the first ad that trumpets: " 'The Reader': See It Now As You've Never Seen Before--In 3-D!")

As I've said before, I am not a knee-jerk 3-D detractor. I've sampled most of the 3-D reels in recent months and can imagine a host of movies being great candidates for 3-D, including the next "Ice Age," Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland,"and "Iron Man 2." It's just that in an era of preplanned obsolescence, where I'm supposed to toss out all of the electronic equipment in my home (computers, TVs, cellphones, etc.) every 15 minutes, I've become a little suspicious when someone insists that even my happy movie theater-going is suddenly in dire need of being entirely reinvented, based on the vague promise that 3-D will provide a far more dazzling experience, which has been Katzenberg's sales pitch so far.

Thanks to Variety, which did a good job of covering a recent meeting between Katzenberg and a scrum of Wall Street analysts, I'm beginning to see why the DreamWorks Animation chief is really so eager to push us all into 3-D paradise. Surprise: He wants to improve his profit margins. It turns out that Katzenberg envisions us paying a $5 premium every time we see a 3-D movie, greatly enhancing both DreamWorks' and theater owners' profits. As Jeffrey's chief financial officer Lew Coleman put it: "Because the costs of 3-D are fixed, there is substantial leverage and most of the extra revenue falls to the bottom line."

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Using Animation to Explore the Nanoworld

Tiny self-assembling metal cubes dance across the screen in a video posted on the Web site of the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology. You could read a book — or at least several chapters — on the principles behind how these microcubes build themselves up from microscopic metallic sheets cut by lasers. Or you could watch a one-minute animated video that tells their fantastic story.

The INBT video of the self-assembling cubes is the result of the independent study course Animation in Nanotechnology and Medicine and was produced under the guidance of INBT animation/Web director Martin Rietveld, who shares his skills and experience in 2-D/3-D animation with students from throughout Johns Hopkins who want to learn to use this lively medium.

INBT's animation studio and the independent study course have attracted students from the basic sciences, engineering, the School of Medicine's Department of Art as Applied to Medicine and the Krieger School's Writing Seminars, to name a few. Some students understand the science; others are skilled in illustration or other types of visualization. "My job is to try to guide these forces into something that actually produces a movie," Rietveld says.

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3D Animation - The Next Frontier in 3D Animation

As the frontier of 3D animation expands, animation studios are preparing for the next big thing. An internship with one of these studios may be the best way to prepare for a career in animation. First things first: you’ll want training in 3D animation from an animation school.

Taking 3D Further

Dreamworks, one of the largest animation studios in the industry, announced recently that beginning in 2009, they will begin producing all of their movies in stereoscopic 3D.

Most animation features in recent years have included 3D animation, but this new development opens a new frontier in animation. Traditionally, stereoscopic 3D films and animation features have been considered novelties. Now, with a major animation studio making it the standard, the rest of the industry will either get on board too, or wait it out to see if it catches on with the public.

In related industry news, Dolby just announced its new 3D projection technology. It can be used with conventional movie screens as well as inexpensive 3D glasses. Anyone see a future industry partnership?

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DreamWorks Animation drawing up new ventures

As DVD sales slow, the studio is launching its franchise characters into TV shows, a Broadway musical and theme park attractions to generate revenue.

DreamWorks Animation SKG is launching its franchise characters into new lines of business, giving the Glendale studio a chance to grow steadily and consistently even during a recession that already is slowing its DVD sales.

In their first investor conference since 2005, studio executives Thursday outlined a series of new business ventures to lessen DreamWorks' dependence on production of only two animated movies a year, which often has led to big swings in its earnings and stock price.

DreamWorks will feature the studio's popular characters in TV specials for NBC, for instance, as well as in theme park attractions in Dubai and Singapore.

"Shrek the Musical," which will debut on Broadway this Sunday, could be the first in several DreamWorks-inspired shows. The company hopes to match the kind of success arch-rival Walt Disney Co. had with its musical based on the classic animated movie "The Lion King."

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Free 3D animation tools released by Craft Animations

Craft Animations has released simplified versions of its Craft Director Tools 3D animation plug-ins. The scaled-down products include Craft 4-Wheeler Free, ObserverCam Free, and Airplane Free. The free series is intended to allow users of Autodesk 3DS Max or Maya to familiarize themselves with the suite of Craft tools, without needing to purchase the professional versions.

4-Wheeler is used for creating simulations of four-wheel vehicles, with adjustments for acceleration, top speed, steering angle, brake force, suspension and weight. Users control a vehicle in real-time with an input device, directly through the Autodesk parent program. The Airplane Free plug-in works in a similar manner, allowing configuration of weight, top speed, altitude gain, and turning speed. Aircraft are also manually controlled by the user.

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Computer Animation- How to Learn How To Do

If you are wanting to learn how do computer animation there are a many things you will have to learn about. Here are a few things to get you started on the right track.

Instructions

Step:1
Design Software. Before you can actually animate things you must be able to design pictures. That way the things you have drawn you can animate. This can be done on the computer or free hand. Things can move a lot faster if you are good with the computer, so try to practice with using animation software.

Step2
Practice. When animating practice is really the key. The more you practice, the better you will get. You rarely hear of anyone practicing and getting worse. So continue to practice your computer animation and you will learn more things that will make your animation better.

Step3
Classes. When starting out things can be difficult to understand and programs can be very complicated. Try taking a class online or, even better, from a school. That way you can get one on one help with any questions that you have. Then eventually you will be able to do your animation all on your own.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/

3D films: the next film revolution?

They've been the next big thing for the past 50 years, but 3D films have finally come of age. Just the thing to get bums on seats, says Chris Evans

Cinema has already been through two major revolutions in its relatively short life. First there was the transition from silent to talkie, then from black and white to colour. Now Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, believes "3D is the next revolution in the cinema-going experience".

A bold statement, and one tinged with a distinct bias as DreamWorks is one of several Hollywood studios set to release their forthcoming animation projects in the new, digitised 3D format. Titles set to hit our screens include Monsters vs Aliens (2009), A Christmas Carol (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Shrek Goes Fourth (2010), and Avatar, due for release in December next year, which is hotly tipped to be the turning point in the 3D revolution.

It is important to point out that 3D is, of course, nothing new. It was first experimented with back in the 1950s and Imax cinemas have been showing films in 3D for the past 30 years. But now, with the advent of digital 3D technology being installed in cinemas worldwide, and the fact that the choice of films in 3D is not only broader but much better, audiences need only head to a multiplex and put on the glasses to immerse themselves in what is proving to be a wholly new way to enjoy the latest studio blockbuster.

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Annie Award nominations

'Kung Fu Panda' masters the field, drawing 17 nominations, far more than other comers for the annual prizes in animation.

"Bolt," "Kung Fu Panda," "Wall-E," "Waltz With Bashir" and "9.99" were nominated Monday by the International Animated Film Society for best animated feature for the 36th annual Annie Awards. The awards honor the year's best animated features, TV productions, commercials, video games and short subjects.

DreamWorks Animation's' "Kung Fu Panda" received 17 nominations, more than any other film. In addition to best animated feature, the box-office hit earned recognition in the character animation, character design, directing, music, production design, storyboarding, voice acting and writing categories.

Walt Disney Animation Studio's current hit "Bolt" received nine nominations, and Pixar Animation Studio's summer blockbuster "Wall-E" earned eight.

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Animation bonanza for film buffs

KOLKATA: Over the week starting Sunday, the city will have the rare opportunity of catching up on some extremely offbeat short films including some cutting-edge animation work at Nandan.

The festival is being organised jointly by Chitrabani (an initiative of the missionaries who run St Xavier's Collegiate School) and the Nandan authorities that will help budding film-makers from across the country showcase their work. Incidentally, a large number of animation films have been selected as part of the pantheon.

While a majority of the films have been shot by students from Kolkata, there are several entries from other cities and even foreign countries like UK, US and Bangladesh.

The shortest film to be screened is an animation of 31 seconds and the longest a tragedy of 43 minutes, 36 seconds. The city directors are students learning filmmaking at institutes like Jadavpur University, Calcutta University, St Xavier's College, Chitrabani, Roopkala Kendro and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute.

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Animation industry set for high growth

Indian animation industry is expected to record USD1163 million by 2012, as against USD460 million, reporting a CAGR of 27 per cent,according to a report jointly prepared by NASSCOM and Ernst andYoung. The report, christened Indian Animation and Gaming 2008, divided the animation market into entertainment USD120 million, education USD53 million, custom content development USD187 million and multimedia/web design USD100 million.

While it had projected an annual growth rate of 40 per cent for education segment, the gaming industry is poised to grow at a CAGR of 50 per cent.

With all the groundwork already in place, the domestic animation and gaming industry is on the threshold of growth. With improved skill set and the ability to develop and produce high quality work, the industry has moved up the value chain, Ernst andYoungs National Leader Media andEntertainment Practice Farokh Balsara said.

He further added that with the change in the intellectual property ownership, the rights of animation will be retained by the developers enabling them to exploit alternative revenue streams like merchandising and sale of digital platforms.

Though the players in the animation and gaming sectors are bullish over future opportunities, they need to address some of the vital challenges like quality manpower, high attrition rates, cost of consoles, lack of bandwidth, acclimatizing the people about original IP internet protocol, lack of content variety and dependence on outsourcing, the report pointed out.

Source : http://www.offshoringtimes.com/

Animation parks to create 2 lakh jobs in 3 yrs: Assocham

Setting up of animation parks with studios for animation movie making can generate employment opportunities for two lakh skilled workers in the next three years, industry body Assocham has said.

"The parks could alone generate employment opportunities for skilled animators to the extent of a minimum of two lakh in next three years," a study paper by Assocham said.

Currently, the Indian animation industry employs anything between 9,000 and 15,000 animators and needs another 30,000 manpower immediately.

India would need skilled professionals like creative animator, conceptualiser, visualiser, 3D modeller, character designer, digital effects artist etc, who can handle multimedia software such as 3D Studio Max, Maya and Tictactoon, it added.

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Animated Santa by Christmas 2010

The Christmas season is set to see Santa Claus arrive on cinema screens, straight out of Toonz Animation India’s Thiruvananthapuram facility. Toonz Entertainment Pte Ltd, the Singapore-based parent of Toonz Animation India, has entered into a deal with US-based animation majors Gang of 7 Animation and Hyde Park Entertainment to produce an animation feature film on Santa Claus.

P Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Group, said that the animated feature film, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, will be a computer graphic imagery (CGI) animation project. “We plan to make the film entirely at Toonz Animation India’s Technopark facility at Thiruvananthapuram . The total cost of the project is estimated to be $12 billion, a majority of which will be borne by Toonz,” Jayakumar added.

The movie will be based on the classic book, The Wizard of Oz, by L Frank Baum. The story would chronicle the life of Santa as he embarks on a hero’s journey through an enchanted realm and into a confrontation with the heart of evil, ultimately revealing the origin of the world’s best-loved Christmas legend.

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Toon Boom Delivers Animate To The Digital Animation Generation

Already Adopted by Aaron Simpson, Founder of ColdHardFlash.com, Toon Boom Animate Combines the Best of our Digital Animation Toolsets, a Compellingly Friendly Workspace and a Flexible Workflow, Making it Toon Boom’s most Advanced Software Release to Date

Emmy award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. has released Toon Boom Animate, a new creative animation software packed with ground-breaking features and unprecedented productivity gains. With Toon Boom Animate, users have greater productivity, better quality and faster delivery of animation than ever before. Enjoy the flexibility of a fully-fledged in-depth animation solution and publish animation for all types of media, from online to HDTV.

Responding to digital animators’ specific needs, Toon Boom Animatedelivers the most advanced tools to create cut-out and digital animation. All this and more is embedded in a flexible environment: vector, bitmap, symbols, pegs, camera, morphing, inverse kinematics, advanced lip sync to name a few.

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No shortage of animated product at AFM

Toons are on the rise at each year's market

AFM is more animated than ever.

With nearly 90 toon titles offered at the market, from low-budget straight-to-DVD or TV to high-end $10 million-plus features, buyers have seen a constant rise in animated product, thanks in part to 2005's "Hoodwinked! The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood."

"The cost of production has come way down and, with a budget of $10 million, you can make a really great looking movie," said Edward Noeltner, president of Cinema Management Group, which brought "Hoodwinked" to the market four years ago.

At the time, "Hoodwinked" was among the few high-quality animated features at AFM, selling in 16 territories its first time out, Noeltner said. It was picked up by the Weinstein Co. and went on to scoop up $110 million at the boxoffice worldwide, with a virtually even split between domestic and foreign boxoffice sales.

Its main competition that year was "Valiant," repped by Odyssey Entertainment, which was picked up by Buena Vista Pictures and went on to gross $62 million at the worldwide boxoffice.

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Disney Animation Moves Toward U.K. on-Demand

Disney Animation News in UK

To make a sweeping statement that intimates the phenomenal success of digital television has become increasingly on the mark for television territories where video-on-demand has become less a luxury and more of a genuine, everyday preference for global audiences. Such is the case of course, not only in North America, where leading children's entertainment networks are constantly grabbing at opportunities to project content onto multiple viewing platforms; but such is also the case in international markets, where television networks and animation broadcasters are similarly exposing quality cartoon content to pay-as-you-go audiences.

BT Vision, a British broadband and digital television subscription service, has recently come to into a multi-year agreement with Disney Channel UK under which BT Vision subscribers will now have the option to pursuer a variety of Disney-produced or Disney-distributed content. Effective just recently, the agreement makes available a plethora of quality television animation and children's entertainment, making the on-demand market quite a bit livelier.

"BT Vision's offer opens up a whole new potential audience for Disney Channel and we're delighted to be working with them," Michael Cairns, the General Manager of Disney Channels UK and Ireland, commented.

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Animation says anything goes

This year, the festival incorporates student work and big name animators' movies for two hours of entertainment.

The second annual animation mini festival will have one big difference from last year's: student work.

"Last year went really, really well … there were 125 student attendees and 25 participants in the kids' workshop," said Cable Hardin, assistant professor of visual arts.

This year, the festival will show around a dozen animated short movies. "Some shorts are highlights from the Ottawa Film Festival. There are shorts by Bill Plympton, Pat Smith (who spoke on campus last year) and PES, who does stop motion," said Hardin.

Shorts, as Hardin said, are one to ten minute movies. Hardin said he chose films from animation outlets that are aware of new animation. Some examples include the Ottawa Animation Festival, independent animators and students.

Three students who have their work in the festival are Isaac Windham, Lynette Lobien and Corey Beffert.

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Avid exits 3-D animation business

Avid Technology is exiting the 3-D computer animation market.

The company is selling its Softimage 3-D software business to Autodesk for an estimated $35 million. It may close the deal by year's end.

About 90 Avid employees who worked on the Softimage business will join Autodesk with the closure of the deal. An additional 410 layoffs are expected at Avid. The combined 500 staffers represent a reduction of nearly 20% of Avid's workforce, which the company said would "better align its cost structure around the core businesses" of video and audio.

Softimage's XSI is one of three key 3-D software programs used in entertainment production. The two others -- Maya and 3ds max -- already are owned by Autodesk, which controls the bulk of the market.

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Pixar Animation Goes to Poland

In the forthcoming months, animation fans based in Poland will have the chance to see all of Pixar Animation Studios' theatrical shorts on free-tv. In a series of broadcast deals signed within the past week, Disney-ABC-ESPN Television has come to an agreement with TVP (Poland) to air Pixar's fourteen animated shorts, in addition to other, live-action Disney Channel properties. Disney-ABC-ESPN Television is the content distribution group of The Walt Disney Co. which is chiefly centered on facilitating international television programming.

Poland's TVP, a public broadcasting station, has acquired the rights to air each of the fourteen Pixar theatrical shorts. Titles picked up naturally include the supernatural Driver's Ed tale of "Lifted" (2006), which tracks the humorous experience of a young alien student whose knack for flying a flying saucer isn't yet perfected; and "For the Birds" (2000), whose elegant and fluid portrayal of the perils of birds perched on telephone wires is indeed made of the stuff of theatrical cartoons past.

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Avid exits 3-D animation business

Avid Technology is exiting the 3-D computer animation market.

The company is selling its Softimage 3-D software business to Autodesk for an estimated $35 million. It may close the deal by year's end.

About 90 Avid employees who worked on the Softimage business will join Autodesk with the closure of the deal. An additional 410 layoffs are expected at Avid. The combined 500 staffers represent a reduction of nearly 20% of Avid's workforce, which the company said would "better align its cost structure around the core businesses" of video and audio.

Softimage's XSI is one of three key 3-D software programs used in entertainment production. The two others -- Maya and 3ds max -- already are owned by Autodesk, which controls the bulk of the market.

"Softimage is not a strategic fit for our business," said Gary Greenfield, who was named CEO of Avid in December.

Avid bought Softimage from Microsoft in 1998 for $285 million in cash and stock.

Softimage is headquartered in Montreal, where Autodesk's Media and Entertainment business also is headquartered.

On Thursday, Avid reported revenue of $217.1 million for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, compared with $226.8 million for the same period in 2007.

Source : http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/

Animation boom!

Animation has come a long way, from the early phenakistoscope device of the 1800s to today’s photo-realistic, computer-generated, three-dimensional (3D) graphics.

Disney Productions’ early 2D animation film "Steamboat Willie" in the late 1920s was already considered revolutionary for animators then. But today, CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation continues to soar as the new standard in film animation.

This continuously evolving art form has captivated the imagination of new generations of artists, most especially Filipinos. Today’s young generation grew up either reading comics or watching cartoons, or both, and this may have influenced young Filipinos’ inclination towards the cartoon industry.

In the comics industry for example, publishing companies like Marvel Comics hire Filipino artists to draw for their famous comic pages. Because of the growth of the digital film and gaming industries, Filipinos are again tapped to be one of the prime professionals in the industry.

And now experts are making a big pronouncement, that in a few years from now, digital arts, animation in particular will be the next big thing. "Ang forecast is next to Nursing, magbu-boom ang digital arts in the next 10 years, mainly because of the films and gaming industry," explains digital artist and 3D animation instructor Peter Honrade.

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Cartoon mania: Fox champions its animation hits

By now, a generation of TV viewers takes this for granted: Most Sundays nights, Fox has cartoons for grown-ups. And around Halloween, it has “Treehouse of Horror.”
Now “Treehouse” is back. It “airs Nov. 2, which is when we celebrate Halloween in our house,” jokes producer Al Jean.

That slight delay is due to the World Series. When “Treehouse” arrives, it dares to give “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” a dark twist.

“The Great Pumpkin comes to life and he’s so upset at what humans do to pumpkins that he tries to kill and eat everybody,” Jean says.

Hey, that sort of thing happens in “Treehouse.” Since these are just tales, anything is possible. This time, Homer kills celebrities; also, he ends up as a piece of a giant foosball game. All of that is part of a TV tradition. People might forget how unique such shows were.

“Everyone in the dorms would get together to watch ’The Simpsons,“’ recalls Mike Barker, now an “American Dad” producer. “It was a form of community.”

It was also just about the only TV show he watched. When a friend, Matt Weitzman, asked him to co-write a TV script on speculation, Barker says:

“I basically admitted, ‘I don’t watch a lot of television, so I don’t think I’m going to be very useful to you.’

“And he’s like, ‘Well, what if we wrote a ‘Simpsons’”?

They did and got work. After writing regular situation comedies for a while, they’ve spent the past eight years doing “Family Guy,” “Father of the Pride” and “American Dad.”

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‘Roadside Romeo’ marks new animated beginning in Bollywood boulevard

New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) With reigning romantic couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor lending their voices in the big-budget Disney co-production ‘Roadside Romeo’, Hindi cinema’s big daddy Yash Chopra adds a glamorous touch to the hitherto niche genre of animation with his first venture in the field.

‘Roadside Romeo’, which marks the entry of the Hollywood giant in Indian cinema in the avatar of a co-producer, is the most-hyped animated film to hit the theatres in this part of the world.

‘Roadside Romeo’ is getting released on a Diwali weekend, which is traditionally reserved for heavy-duty productions as the festive season guarantees big box-office gains. It is also a time when audiences expect nothing but the best of cinema, which is as much a religion in India as is cricket.

‘If industry old-horse Yash Chopra has chosen an animated feature as his best product fit to be released during the holiday season, then it is even more confirmation that animators are the newest stars of Bollywood,’ says a trade analyst.

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Admissions open for Specialisation in Animation

Graphiti School of Animation opens admissions for it's 6-month specialization course in animation called G CAT Expert.

Graphiti School of Animation is conducting counselling session and opens admissions for it's specialisation course.

The 6-month specialisation is targeted primarily at people who have some knowledge of animation and are looking for honing their skills or furthering their careers.

The specialisations are Modelling, Texturing, Rigging, Animation, Lighting and VFX & Compositing.

As per the requirement of animation industry various
studios are clearly identifying the need of specialisation in animation training. Many studios are shown requirements for specialised trained artist and are ready to pay a premium for the specialised students.

As per nasscom, to sustain the project growth, the training institutes should start offering specialisation courses in their training.

According to the heads of studios employing Graphiti School students, 'There is a marked difference in quality - the students are well-rounded animation professionals with their basics in place.'

According to Mr. Pandyan, CEO, Graphiti School of Animation, 'Given the requirement of the industry, we were the first training institute to offer specialisation courses. We got a very good response for the first batch of students'.

For information log onto www.graphiti.net. To register, call 022-32448544 / 9833841580 or write to training@graphiti.net

Source : http://www.pr-inside.com/

Agreement signed to expand animation education in India

New Delhi: An agreement has been signed between Frameboxx Animation & Visual Effects, an animation training institute, and Seneca College of Applied arts & Technology, Canada to offer post-graduate degree certificate programmes in animation, visual effects and gaming.

Seneca College of Applied arts & Technology is situated in Toronto and is internationally recognized for its leading edge training in 3D Animation, Gaming and Visual Effects.

The first batch of the programmes is scheduled to start from January 2009.

A world-wide attention was given to the centre in 2005 when work done in its facility by its faculty, students and graduates was showcased in the Oscar-winning animated short film Ryan.

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Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang: Movie Review

Voices of: Anjan Srivastava, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ashish Vidyarthi, Asrani

Rating: * ½

Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang derives its title from an English flick but nothing else about this film appears international. For how long will we give sympathy votes to Indian films for attempting animation? Agreed that the art is still evolving in India, but if nothing from the form or format appeals, I ain't patriotic enough to approve of the effort only because it's experimental. Moreover with access to advanced animation movies across the globe, one simply can't excuse this muddled endeavour. Rather overlook it in entirety!

The story is about two rival groups of ants and you obviously don't expect the animation to be as enhanced as decade-old Hollywood flicks like Antz or A Bug's Life. But what bugs you off is that the storytelling doesn't show much innovation either. The black ants and red ants are at war and one mediator named Ghunn (seemingly a termite) double-crosses both kingdoms for his personal gains. The river-separated rival setting is as age-old as Subhash Ghai's Saudagar and what's more - the kids of the combating kingdoms are also in love.

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TeleToon to become Marvel Animation's home in Canada

Mumbai: TeleToon Canada Inc. and Marvel Animation have inked a multi-year output deal that sees TeleToon become the home of Marvel Animation in Canada.

Beginning in spring 2009, a broad spectrum of Marvel animated series will air on TeleToon networks in both English and French. The agreement sees Marvel deliver a minimum of 182 episodes of first-run animation for broadcast and includes rights for additional platforms including broadband, video-on-demand, mobile and other online opportunities.

"Super heroes have always been key demo winners on TeleToon. This partnership with Marvel is central to building our dominance with boys and attracting more young adults who have grown up with the Marvel Universe," said TeleToon Canada Inc. president Len Cochrane.

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Government to establish animation centre

The Indian government has announced plans to establish a visual effects and animation training center for aspiring artists.

The centre is slated to receive an RS 50 crore grant from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Additional funding will be provided by a future stakeholding partner. The government has also allocated Rs 6.5 crore for the National Film Development Corporation and designated an additional Rs 48 crore towards the rennovation of Satyajit Ray film and television institute.

The Indian 3D market has been rapidly expanding at a frenetic pace. NASSCOM figures indicate that New Delhi may receive projects totalling more than $2 billion over the next two years. As IT Examiner previously reported, Pixar and Maximus have embarked on a joint programme to offer RenderMan animation training courses in the country. Autodesk has also launched its own professional certification program in 135 locations.

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NFB To Celebrate Wordl Animation Day

The National Film Board is celebrating World Animation Day - October 28 - with a 13-city tour of Get Animated!, a series of free public screenings from the NFB's Oscar-winning animation studios.

The NFB is also offering free streaming of two acclaimed NFB shorts on its website through to November 9, 2008.

Get Animated! will showcase new creations from Canada's public producer, for young and old, from October 22 to November 9, 2008. The NFB website provides complete details, along with free streaming video of NFB animated shorts, at nfb.ca/getanimated.

After celebrating the 65th anniversary of NFB animation, National Film Board studios have found a fresh burst of energy, producing works that have garnered international acclaim, including a record-setting 70th Academy Award nomination last year -- more than any production company or organization outside Hollywood -- as well as awards across Canada and around the world. Get Animated! is part of a broader commitment at Canada's public producer and distributor to ensure that Canadians from coast to coast have access to outstanding NFB productions.

Get Animated! free screenings will take place in Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, as well as five communities served by the NFB's pioneering e-cinema network for francophone Acadian communities, in Moncton, Bouctouche, Caraquet, Edmundston and Kedgwick, New Brunswick.

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Animation at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival

The stateside festival circuit for films produced domestically or abroad continues to wind its way across the nation as the fall season approaches. For moviegoers located in the midwest, the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) may occupy a few weeks of their time, as the 44th installment of the wide-ranging festival gets underway come mid-October 2008. Although not particularly devoted to the animation arts, the Chicago International Film Festival nevertheless features multiple screenings of quality feature-length and short form cartoon filmmaking that every animation enthusiast should see.

This year, the CIFF is bringing its usual small but powerful line-up of animated presentations for viewers to feast upon; titles produced mostly by independent animators. Films such as Bill Plympton's soul-searching dark humorist tale of Idiots & Angels (2008) and Nina Paley's fun but emotionally sensitive endeavor Sita Sings the Blues (2008), are currently on the bill alongside other intriguing items.

Although the Chicago International Film Festival appears to no longer have in place its "Anime Focus" program--which in the past has spotlighted a handful of insightful Japanese animation productions such as Hosoda's dramatic film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)--the film does still have a single anime title on its schedule, called ICE (2007). The festival itself lasts two weeks, from October 16th through the 29th

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MyToons Launches Animation Contest for Political Cartoons

MyToons today announced the launch of its latest artwork and animation contest, Red, White, and Who?

Focusing on the funny aspects of the political arena, Red, White, and Who? invites artists and animators worldwide to upload their political creations and share in a little positive reprieve from this year's election battlefield between Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin and Democrats Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

"Politics are a serious business and one that should be closely monitored and constantly questioned," says Paul Ford, president and co-founder of MyToons.

"Of course, there's no reason that we can't do what animators do best and have a little fun while we keep those politicians in check!

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Fatkat Animation Studios fined for software piracy

Fatkat Animation Studios in Miramichi, N.B., has been fined $36,000 for software piracy.

The commercial animation and graphics studio was among five companies fined under the Canadian Copyright Act after an investigation by the Business Software Alliance.

The alliance conducts investigations into alleged under-licensing of software. That's a form of copyright infringement, which sees a single copy of software used to install a program on multiple computers without proper authorization.

Internal audits revealed Fatkat ran unlicensed copies of Microsoft and Autodesk programs.

Fatkat Animation's founder Gene Fowler said the infringement by his company was due to an oversight.

"Somebody that wasn’t very experienced was perhaps purchasing or installing the software, and they got themselves in the position where they weren’t licensed properly. It does happen," Fowler said Wednesday.

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FatKat attracts other animation company

A small animation company has been attracted to the Miramichi from Ontario by the prospect of freelance work with FatKat Animation Studios, its founders say.

Black Willow Digital, a two-person company made up of two graduates from the animation program at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ont, moved to Miramichi in September.

One of the animators, Tim Martin, said the company initially planned to set up in Windsor, but the economy in that city was moving in another direction. They then applied to FatKat to do in-house freelance work on the studio's show "Three Delivery," and moved to Miramichi soon after to be "closer to the source."

He said Black Willow's dealings with FatKat had been good so far.

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Bollywood to be a part of global animation phenomena

It does come as a surprise to hear Indian character names like Charlie Anna resonate through the iconic Walt Disney headquarters in Burbank, CaliforYash Raj Films-Walt Disney's
guffaw when what one would imagine is typical ‘Mumbaiiya’ lingo spoken with a heavy South Indian accent say, “Tension Not, I Yam the Boss.”

But then Bollywood is the name of the game in the hushed portals of big Hollywood studios since the last few years. Each holds a long-term view and every possible research report is being done. In a nutshell, all the mind-boggling figures and research point out that the only way to ensure an Indian eyeball is to get him to the movies, if not to a game of cricket.

But, mind you, Indian movies for Hollywood, through all these years, are still at the low end of the revenue pie, even with all the languages they are now dubbed in. This, paradoxically, is also the reason why they have headed to Indian shores - some with JVs, some with tie-ups - trying to see if they can tap the right local talent and nurture it to grow as a good, sustainable entertainment business in India.

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Animation training institutes fail to produce talent

PUNE: Ramesh Patil, a college dropout, was picked up by an animation studio two years ago and was trained for six months. He now works as part of its core character designing team. Alongside him sits Venkatesh Rao, who spent five years in a fine arts course before the studio hired him. Jaideep Singh, on the other hand, enrolled in a twenty-month, Rs 2 lakh course, and is still jobless, in spite of the animation training institute having promised him placement.

Ramesh, Venkatesh and Jaideep (names changed) represent the workforce in the animation industry. The contradiction is that new training institutes are opening almost every other week just as many studios have either closed down or have laid off artists over the past two years.

Four years ago, there were 640 animation studios across the country. This number is now down to around 300, with UTV Toons being the latest to do so. Sources claim that Reliance ADAG-owned Big Animation recently laid-off a sizeable number of its pre-production artists.

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Animating the cartoon industry

Innovation and cooperation will continue to be the driving force for China's animation industry in the future, said Wang Yansheng, deputy director of China's International Cultural Exchange Center.

Many experts and scholars echoed the view at a forum on animation and cartoon industry held during 2008 China (Changzhou) International Animation Art Festival that opened on Saturday and will run until October 5.

Over the past few years, China's animation and cartoon industry has witnessed rapid development with application of new technology and resources. Many animation and cartoon companies have sprung up across the country, producing thousands of cartoon programs every year.

"But what we lack most is the power of imagination and innovation, which are indispensable in creating animation works," Wang said.

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Animax Asia to produce first original animation movie

Filipino amateur writer Carmelo Junio recently won the Animax Awards 2007 pan-Asia scriptwriting contest.

His luck, however, would not simply end there.

His script has become Animax Asia’s first-original animation movie production called "LaMB," a joint venture production under the US-million Singapore Economic Development Board and SPE Networks- Joint Production Fund.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg for this monumental animation project. Animax Asia has also assembled a heavyweight creative team to produce "LaMB."

"LaMB’s" director is Ryosuke Tei who will be working with Yasufumi Soejima as storyboard artist for the original multimedia and multiplatform animation production.

Tei said he's "very excited" to direct Animax Asia’s first original animation production. He vowed to make the animation a "unique entertainment experience" for Animax viewers.

Soejima, who echoed Tei's excitement, is on board to help Tei create his vision for "LaMB" across multiple platforms: On air (two ½ hour shows and one hour finale premiering February 2009 on Animax channels); online (web manga out this Nov. 2008; online games debuting Oct. 2008); mobile (graphic novels available from Nov. 2008 and mobisodes launching Jan. 2009).

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Nordic animation: short, sweet, bizarre

The main--and only--character in Looking Glass does not talk much. Instead, what mostly resonates in the short, black-and-white animation created by Erik Rosenlund are the sounds of a thunderstorm or of the little girl's footsteps as she runs away from what she saw in a mirror in the dark. Although the film runs for only five minutes, it effectively brings viewers a sensation of horror and reminds them of similar scary memories from their childhood.

"I wanted to make a very short and scary animation," Rosenlund said during a recent interview with The Daily Yomiuri.

"I also was interested in making characters who aren't really attractive," the Swedish director added, referring to the girl with the angular face, a feature shared by some of his other characters.

Along with the use of minimal lines and colors in Looking Glass and other works, Rosenlund said that the characters' angularity is a kind of reaction to his own drawing style when he worked making illustrations for newspapers. "The characters were supposed to be funny, and they were round...in a way to appeal everyone [at that time]. After doing that, I wanted to do something opposite in a way."

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India Animated Film Emerges: 'Ramayana - The Epic'

Feature animation production in India, for regional audiences, was projected go grow almost exponentially just a short time ago. Now, with large-scale productions further becoming the inspiration of animators with a familiar but fresh story to tell, India animation's overall growth is coming more and more in line with initially incongruous projections of the industry's growth to four times it's current value, by 2012. This to which brings animation enthusiasts to India's latest big budget cartoon film, Ramayana - The Epic, a story of Indian mythology that integrates the classic tale's sense of adventure with a youthful confidence.

Based on the ancient epic "Ramayana," Ramayana - The Epic, produced by Maya Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., is another highly anticipated Indian animation that market observers hope to push the industry further toward the precipice of international recognition. Although awareness for India features has yet to edge close enough to that cliff to warrant speculation of the local industry's potential to peer over into the deep and fast-paced ocean of global recognition, Ramayana - The Epic is another intriguing step in a new direction.

"There is a boom in the animation industry and India has immense potential to encash it," Jai Natarajan, Executive Vice-President of Business Development for Maya Ent., stated at a recent press event.

"I am confident that this movie will usher in a new era in the Indian animation industry."

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Learning avenue for animation in city

THE capital city has become an abode for animation training in recent times. Leading names have opened up branches in Bhubaneswar owing to the interest shown by students here towards visual effects courses. Adding to the names like Arena, MAAC and many others, MIDDS Mumbai which has already had success in placements and in getting animation projects for both Bollywood and the TV world, opened up a branch in Jayadev Vihar here recently and this course seems to offer little more than just software.

Satyam Bansal, MD MIDDS says students need to be prepared for the practical use of software and hence their course has included value additions. ‘‘Our focus is not only on the software but on the other important skills that an animator should have,’’ he said.

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Ottawa Animation Festival Review: Terra

Frequent fps contributor, René Walling and I rolled into Ottawa from Montreal fairly late on Friday night, both disappointed to have missed out on The New Wave Of Japanese Animation that had screened at 7pm that evening. Our options limited, we set ourselves toward the Empire Cinema across the street from our shared Novotel room, where we had quickly shed our luggage. We were just in time to catch a screening of one of the films in the running for best feature of the fest: a little independent CG number called, Terra.

Terra sets itself up as an alien invasion tale turned on its head. Happy little, sentient tadpole people float blissfully through their naive lives in a Miyazaki film/Flight GN inspired world of flying whale-things, gliders and airships until the fateful day when a "god" appears in the sky. The god turns out to be a giant, spinning spaceship carrying an invasion force of humans, desperate to take the planet as their new home. Amidst an explosive torrent of sci-fi action and Planet of the Apes riffing revelation, we follow fishy, doe-eyed Mala (voiced by Evan Rachel Wood) through a step-by-step Campbell-style "Hero Journey" to fulfill her destiny and save her people from extinction. To its credit, the film manages to throw enough plot and character curve balls to keep the structure from being too cookie-cutter familiar but rarely ascends beyond anything more than a simple story twist, illustrated with a collection of elements cobbled together from an animation fan's nerd-moist-dreams.

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Animation Festival “KROK” Kicks Off in Saint Petersburg

September 22 saw the opening ceremony of the international animation festival “KROK” in St. Petersburg. It is the world’s only floating festival of animation and one of the biggest events in post-Soviet space of animation art.

This year the festival will run the route of St. Petersburg - Valaam - Kizhi - Yaroslavl - Moscow. It will be dedicated to young animators’ creations that are not inferior to “adult” animation in their quality and originality, the number of interesting works making up an independent large-scale program.

Animators from all over the world seek to partake in the competition - the KROK recognition gives young animators a chance to gain fame in the professional field. After selection procedure 130 animated cartoon films from 33 countries have been included in the competition list.

Source: oreanda.ru

South Florida firms show building designs in 3-D

When Ralph Tapanes graduated from architecture school at the University of Miami a decade ago, he didn't take the conventional career route. Instead of designing buildings, he chose to make renderings and animations of them.

Around the same time, a similar idea was brewing in the minds of a trio of young architects working at Florida International University. During lunch breaks at Taco Bell, Eddie Leon, Kevin Smith and Johann Beckford conceived an architectural animation company of their own -- Spine3d.

It would be the calm before the boom.

Today, the 3-D movement spawned in Miami universities by risk-takers who learned to traffic in the spellbinding allure of the future has reshaped the way architecture and construction are marketed in South Florida.

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Tardy "Potter" delights DreamWorks Animation

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Memo to Warner Bros. from DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg: Thanks!

"The single greatest Christmas gift ever in my 35 years in the movie business was Warners moving Harry Potter to next summer," Katzenberg said Wednesday.

He was speaking, of course, of the decision to push ahead "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" to July 17 from November 21, leaving his studio's "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" with a lot less competition.

Katzenberg, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XVII Conference in New York, told Wall Street analysts to adjust the "multiplier" estimates for the movie. A "good" movie, he said, will earn 3.5 times opening weekend box office, while a "very good" should get a 4 multiplier and an "exceptional" movie a 4.3 multiplier.

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Regional animation not viable

It seems that animation industry in Hyderabad has come of age as producer Bhargava bagged the national award for his animation film Kittu.

"It's a great honour," informs the maker who also bagged the state award some time ago. Buoyed by coveted awards, the young producer desires to make an animation film for international viewers.

"Without universal themes animation films are not viable," says Bhargava who has teamed up a with a popular TV channel to produce a regular film Manorama starring Charmme in the lead. 'It would be an interesting fare," concludes the maker. From animation to commercial cinema — logical progression indeed!

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

When animators get horny

The American science-fiction author Harlan Ellison tells a cautionary tale about how not to sex up a Hollywood movie. Hired as a writer by the Disney studio, Ellison was in the studio cafeteria on his first day, regaling amused co-workers with ideas for an X-rated Disney cartoon. He was even acting out the parts of Disney characters in pornographic situations. Unluckily for Ellison, several studio executives were sitting nearby, watching his routine. Returning to work, Ellison found a pink slip on his desk: he was fired.

Moral: don't mess with the Mouse. And yet in Japan, an artist and animator as nationally beloved as Uncle Walt took time out from creating adorable family characters to make X-rated cartoons. His name was Osamu Tezuka, and his work is now having a rare English-language screening at the Barbican. And it's not just kids' stuff.

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An animation film on Lord Ayyappa

While animation films do have an audience, very few companies produce them. One such company is India Tales who is coming out with a film on 'Lord Ayyappa' titled Manikantan. Eight different types of animation like 2D, 3D animation, clay mation, toy mation, oil painting and Kerala murals were used in the film.

India Tales, started by Nalin Singh a year-and-a-half back, opted for an animated film on Lord Ayyappa as his company’s aim is to show to the world the rich Indian tradition. “We want to tell Indian stories to foreigners in a way they would understand easily,” says Nalin Singh adding that 200 technicians are working on the film in Hyderabad and 60 in Trivandrum.

Besides using different types of animation techniques, the full-length feature film also has big names behind it. Malayalam actors Mohanlal, Sugumari and Jagathi have lent their voice to the film, while maestro Illayaraja has done the music.

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DreamWorks Animation predicts all films will be 3D

During the International Broadcasting Conference (IBC) held in Amsterdam over the weekend, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg made a bold prediction. He believes that in the future all movies will be filmed in 3D, but didn’t give any time frame past , “a reasonable period of time”.

The prediction was fitting as the speech he gave was actually broadcast in high-definition 3D with viewers wearing glasses to experience the full effect. The transmission was a first; beaming Katzenberg’s speech from Los Angeles to the attendees in Amsterdam on Sunday. It was made possible through the use of 3Ality Digital image capture and transmission tech, combined with a HD satellite link provided by Arqiva.

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West Bengal will soon emerge as animation hub

West Bengal will emerge as one of the leading hubs of the animation, visual effects and gaming industry in the next three years, DQ Entertainment (DQE) chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravarthi said here Wednesday.”West Bengal, though a late starter in this sector, has shown a steady growth rate in the last five years. I am sure it will be the next big thrust in the animation, visual effects and gaming industry,” Chakravarthi told reporters during the launch of DQE’s first production centre in Kolkata.

“This centre is the first of its kind in West Bengal with advanced IT infrastructure. Our thrust is manpower growth in this sector as there is no dearth of talent here. We have started off with 300 people at the Kolkata centre and will triple it in the next two years,” he said.

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Dublin firm wins €5m BBC animation deal

Dublin production company Jam Media has secured a major broadcasting contract to produce a new €5 million BBC animation series.

The British broadcaster provided over half of the funding for the ‘Badly Drawn Roy’ series, which will feature a combination of live action and animation aimed at the pre-teen market.

Additional funding came from a number of Irish sources, including the Section 481 government tax incentive for film and television, Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, Irish Film Board and RTE. John Rice, managing director of Jam Media, said the series would air on RTE in early 2010, with additional deals with broadcasters worldwide also in the pipeline.

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Animated Ramayan to hit screens early 2009

Mumbai (PTI): After the success of mythological films like "Hanuman" and "Ganesha", another animation film based on Ramayana is all set to release next year.

"Ramayana-the epic" features actors like Juhi Chawla, Manoj Bajpai and Ashutosh Rana in the voices of Sita, Ram and Ravan.

Director Chetan Desai hopes to introduce Ram to the younger generation as an inspirational idol and the greatest superhero of India.

"He was born a prince and evolved into a hero. Ram is not depicted as a godly character," he said.

The duration of the film is 100 minutes and it has been made at a budget which is more than the normal Bollywood feature film. There will be about 100 characters in the film and it would be dubbed in multiple languages, he added.

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Coming Attractions: Ottawa International Animation Festival

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is trying out some new elements this year, including a new supplementary venue (the Canadian Museum of Civilization), a new free shuttle bus between venues and new additions to programming, like a live art presentation by Daniel Barrow, who uses an overhead projector and narration to create something called “manual animation.”

Read the rest of the item at AWN's new events blog, Animated Travels.

Source : http://news.awn.com/

Get Animated: Filmmakers have a place to work at The Art Place

Moviegoers hurrying from one Traverse City Film Festival venue to another last month might have overlooked the sign in front of the Weaver Building on Union Street encouraging them to stop in and learn more about animation and filmmaking.

Those who checked it out during festival week got a chance to participate in one of several "Get Animated" offerings that were one of the new offshoots of this year's film festival. The mini workshops let children and teens try their own hand at animation and movie making by creating basic animation flip books and short videos.

The workshops staffed by members of The Art Place in Suttons Bay and the Suttons Bay High School Film Club members were so enthusiastically received that TAP has decided to stay on at the location and continue offering filmmaking and animation instruction.

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B'lore: High job potential in animation industry

The Indian animation industry is growing very fast and creating original content for the home market in the country.

With huge employment opportunities in the industry, several schools have been offering courses in animation. There are at least one hundred such schools in Karnataka alone.

The industry, which was a bit late in entering the animation race, is now seeing some significant changes in terms of availability of homegrown talent, growing pool of resources with specific skills catering to various segments of the industry and a more structured training infrastructure to hone the talent.

The success of films like 'Hanuman' and 'My Friend Ganesh' and animation forming an important part of the storyline in blockbusters like 'Krissh', 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic' are part of the changing storyline of the animation industry in the country, said Chetan, Director of Ants (Animation Training School).

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Indian animation industy seeing more domestic demand

Bangalore (PTI): The Indian animation industry, which works on the outsourcing model, is now looking at growing demand for the domestic market and creating original content for the home market in the country.

The industry, which was a bit late in entering the animation race, is now seeing some significant changes in terms of availability of homegrown talent, growing pool of resources with specific skills catering to various segments of the industry and a more structured training infrastructure to hone the talent.

The success of films like 'Hanuman' and 'My Friend Ganesh' and animation forming an important part of the storyline in blockbusters like 'Krissh', 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic' are part of the changing storyline of the animation industry in the country, said Chetan, Director of Ants (Animation Training School).

Source : http://www.hindu.com/

ASIFA Student Animation Film Festival 2008

ASIFA-Hollywoods' Animator Educator's Forum is hosting its first Student Animation Film Festival at Woodbury University, located on 7500 Glenoaks Blvd. in Burbank, CA 91510 on October 18, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Students enrolled in professional academic programs throughout the United States including NYU Tisch School of the Arts; UCLA; USC; Woodbury University; Loyola Marymount University; CSU Fullerton; Bay and The Art Institute of California-Orange County have submitted short animations.

The winners will be announced at the festival in the following categories: Best Visual Storytelling, Best Character, Best Technical Achievement, Judges' Choice and The Emile Cohl Award for the Best Animated Short.

In addition to the competition portion of the event, a free demo reel and portfolio review will be offered to the public. Students and artists alike are encouraged to bring demo reels in DVD format and/or an organized collection of flat artwork to be critiqued by some of the competition judges and other industry professionals.

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Holland Animation Film Festival Web Competition

Holland Animation Film Festival
Utrecht, The Netherlands
November 5-9, 2008
Deadline: October 22, 2008

This year the Holland Animation Film Festival(HAFF) takes place November 5-9. During these five days, the festival will show international competitions and a range of programs to show the variety of animation. In addition to the regular competitions (applied, independent and student work -- call for entries closed on all three), this year the festival will introduce a new online competition: The Holland Animation Web Competition.

The online competition will take place on HAFF's YouTube channel, HaffTube (http://www.youtube.com/HaffTube). Aside from the competition, the channel will showcase past festival editions, trailers and more. Entries will be accepted starting September 8.

Animation filmmakers from all over the world can enter the Web competition. Call for entries are open now, rules, regulations and the entry form are on HaffTube.

During the second week in September, the Web competition will launch, filling the channel with films from around the world. Festival organizers will vet and rate all films entered for competition. When 50 films have been submitted, voting begins. Each week, films will be voted off to make room for new entries.

Entries will be closed on October 22, 2008, then a jury will decide which one of the 50 films should be the winner out of the final group. The selected winner will be announced on the opening night of the festival at November 5. The winner will receive a guest accreditation and free hotel stay during the festival.

Source : http://news.awn.com/

Maya-Toon Club JV to train kids in animation

MUMBAI: If claims made by Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) are anything to go by, then a training programme on the fundamentals of hand-drawn animation and creativity could see your kids showing off their animation film-making skills in three months.

MAAC Junior Toon Club (MJTC), a joint venture between MAAC and animation education institute for children Toon Club, is launching a professional training programme in animation and VFX for kids aged between seven and 14 years.

Tehzeeb Khurana, technical head, MJTC, said the company’s focus will be on training students in the fundamentals of classical hand-drawn animation using cells, sticks, sketches and clay. “Our modules are designed to develop the right side of a child’s brain, which will help in her overall growth development process,” he said.

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21st Century Chinese Animation Shorts in Montreal

Marcel Jean is the guest programmer. I've provided a loose English translation of what he wrote on the CQ website.

Faced with feeding it numerous television stations, China has recently become, on a quantitative scale, one of the most important producers of animation in the world. Seeking to limit imported productions from Japan and Korea, Chinese officials are basically encouraging local production by creating high production quotas and encouraging the creation of major schools, equipped with cutting-edge technology, which trains thousands of animators on a yearly basis.

In comparison to this rapid development, auteur animation film are still marginalized. As a result, the Chinese presence in large-scale international animation festivals (Annecy, Zagreb, Ottawa, Hiroshima, etc.) remains weak and, seemingly, purely diplomatic. In Annecy, this summer, for example, just one Chinese film was featured in the short competition and it was... a commercial. At this point the festival organizers can claim to have presented a Chinese film...

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Bleak Japanese animation film brings war to screen

VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - The presence of two Japanese animation movies in competition at the Venice film festival this year has created a contest within a contest, and brought to the big screen two strikingly different pictures.

The revered Hayao Miyazaki is among the favorites for the top prize at Saturday's awards ceremony with "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," his uplifting, colorful take on "The Little Mermaid" that has already stormed the box office in Japan.

Up against him in the 21-film competition is Mamoru Oshii, whose bleak yet spectacular "The Sky Crawlers" has received mixed reviews and, according to trade press, fallen well behind Miyazaki in domestic ticket sales over the summer.

In "The Sky Crawlers," humanoids are genetically designed to live forever as teenaged pilots until they are shot dead in fierce air battles.

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Taking animation seriously

If you've been tempted recently to think they aren't making movies like they used to, you're not alone. But before you totally write off today's efforts, you might want to take another look at animated movies.

Here's something to consider: only three movies out of the all-time top 100 movies (as listed by the American Film Institute in "AFI's 10 Top 10") were released within the past 10 years. But, of those three, two were animated—"Shrek" in 2001 and "Finding Nemo" in 2003. (The third was "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings" from 2001.)

Maybe not a very scientific analysis, but it seems to confirm what I've been suspecting for some time: namely that the talent and visual storytelling that used to be invested in live action films are now finding their way into animation.

These creative moviemakers are plying their craft at studios like Pixar or Dreamworks. Or they're sitting at computer screens anywhere in the world, from Japan to Iran.

It may be due to the inherent limitations of live action film or the increasingly powerful computer animation software that the 1930s Walt Disney could never have imagined. But for whatever reason, the best and the brightest of today's filmmakers are telling compelling and contemporary stories through what once were derisively called cartoons. Those who dismiss animation as just for kids really need to give it another chance.

Source : http://www.southsidermagazine.com/

Two-day animation festival from Sept. 5

Bangalore (PTI): The Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI) will hold a two-day animation festival at J N Tata Auditorium of Indian Institute of Science here from September 5.

Since its formation three years ago, ABAI has been holding the festival to exhibit the best available technology in the industry, it said in a release.

"The festival will provide an opportunity for technicians to be aware of the new available technology in the industry and business opportunities. Several companies from different parts of the country will participate in the event", it said.

Noted cartoonist and Magsaysay award winner R K Laxman, Karnataka IT/BT Secretary Ashok Kumar Manoli, Vishwanath Reddy, Proprietor of Chandamama Magazine, and many experts in the field will attend, the release said.

Source : http://www.hindu.com/

DreamWorks Spends $85 million in Upgrades for 3-D

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. has embarked on an expansion project at its Glendale campus to modernize its production studio for the transition to 3-D animated films.

The renovation and addition to the Lakeside Building adds 100,000 square feet and makes the structure the production hub for the studio best known for the “Shrek” franchise.

The $85 million project that started this year is about creating the best possible environment for the artists, said John Batter, president of production.

“It will house our entire production department with all the specialty spaces they need and will be the ideal space to be,” Batter said.

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Now, Shakti Samanta classics in animated form

Three of veteran director Shakti Samanta's memorable films - Howrah Bridge, Amar Prem and Barsaat Ki Ek Raat - are all set to get animated, thanks to filmmaker Pritish Nandy.

"This is my homage to one of the most underrated filmmakers of the country. When I met Mr. Samanta, he was so pleased to know his films would reach out to a new generation," Nandy told IANS.

"Howrah Bridge is one of my favourite noire films. The magic of Sachin Dev Burman's music, the chemistry between Ashok Kumar and Madhubala and the seductive charm of Ashok Kumar's baritone - all that I want to capture in animation form," he added.

The film will be produced under his banner Pritish Nandy Communications, which has made films like Jhankaar Beats, Chameli and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi.

Why these films from Samanta's oeuvre? Why not the other classics like Aradhana, Amanush and Kati Patang?

"I've chosen Howrah Bridge, Amar Prem and Barsaat Ki Ek Raat because they not only represent three phases in Mr. Samanta's career but also three generations of superstars - Ashok Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan.

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My Friend Ganesha 2, promises to be another great 2D animated film

My Friend Ganesha 2, promises to be another great 2D animated film, explains director Rajiv Ruia

Second part
Last year, when we made My Friend Ganesha it won intense adulation from cinegoers.As a mark of completion of the film we had organised Ganesh Puja. On the day of the immersion, we went to Juhu beach to immerse the idol. When people came to know that the makers of My Friend Ganesha had come to the beach, they swarmed us like bees, many of them saying that they had brought home idols of Lord Ganesha after their children, who were dumstruck after watching our film, insisted. That gave us an impetus to make My Friend Ganesha 2.

Strong Point
My Friend Ganesha, our first film was the country’s first 2D composite film (a film mixed with live action and animation). This film combines the animation character of Lord Ganesh with real life characters to create a fascinating tale of a young boy, who befriends young Lord Ganesha.

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Channel 4 creates 'home for animation'

4mations: Day with the Devil, one of the animations on the site

Channel 4 has created what it hopes will be an online home for the UK's animation community, rolling out an advertising-supported, YouTube-style site that will pay animators for their work.

4mations.tv has been in development for two years and launched in a trial form this week with 200 animations from Channel 4's extensive archive. Amateur animators are also invited to upload their own work.

The project is a collaboration with Aardman, the Bristol-based independent producer behind Wallace and Gromit, and the animation specialists Lupus Films.

4mations includes comedy, adult, sci-fi and 3D work along with games and specialist groups. Users can vote on clips, upload their own work and embed their favourite clips on their own websites and social networks.

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Animation comes to Class X students' aid

AHMEDABAD: Dialogues from motion pictures are somehow always easier to remember than remembering portions from books, even if they have been read over and over again. But for students appearing for Class X exams in March 2009, they now have an option to study their course in an animated form.

Navneet Publications have launched self-practice software, on Wednesday called 'Navneet Top Scorer Digest Plus' for students of Class X of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB). They also launched an Online Examination Software, 'Navneet GUJCET’.

The software has multiple choice questions which will prepare students for the entrance exam. The animated digest has information on Theorems. Formulae and Definitions. Audio-Visual Animation technic has been used to explain concepts which have been covered in the various chapters in the textbook.

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