Friday, January 30, 2009

Roadside Romeo makes it to animation Oscars' shortlist

Indian film industry has just bagged its first nomination at the prestigious Visual Effects Society (VES) awards, known as the Oscars of the animation and visual effects industry.

India’s first full length animation 3D film, Roadside Romeo, co-produced by Yash Raj Films and Disney, has been nominated in the ‘Outstanding Animation in an Animated Motion Picture’ category alongside big Hollywood animation films such as Dreamworks’ Kung-fu Panda and Disney’s Wall-E.

Tata Elxsi, the Bangalore-based VFX arm of the Tata Group, has done the entire animation for the film and a large contingent from the company is heading to Los Angeles for the awards, which are scheduled just a day before the Oscar night on February 21.

“This is the Oscars for us. When we heard the news of nomination, we felt so proud of our achievement. Just the fact that our name and our work was in the same category as the legendary Dreamworks and Pixar was unbelievable. Having said that, we always knew while making Roadside Romeo that we were doing something special. But I guess it’s just the Indian humility that we remain in awe of the work done by these big studios,” said Pankaj Khandpur, creative director of Visual Computing Labs (VCL).

Khandpur’s excitement also comes from the fact that this is the first time that a property created in India has been nominated for VES awards for excellence in visual effects and animation. Though Khandpur could barely contain his excitement, he assured us that he and his team double checked that they were the first to notch a nomination in any category at VES.

Read More Article...

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Animation Software delivers real-time cinematic results.

January 29, 2009 - Designed for users of MAXON CINEMA 4D, Craft Director Tools(TM) utilize artificial intelligence and autonomous control systems to condense traditional animation processes. Craft Camera Tools provide real-time camera control for immediate, professional-quality cinematic results, while Craft Vehicles allow artists to create realistic simulations for in-motion vehicles. Craft Accessories add finishing touches to productions by simulating and animating props.

Read More Article...

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Princess-Themed 'Strawberry Shortcake' Animation on DVD

Things have been a little turbulent over the past few months for little miss Shortcake, to say the least. The Strawberry Shortcake property, which has been tugged back and forth between competing brand management companies in international sales discussions, for its multi-billion dollar net value, holds a relatively unknown future. Although in the long-term the animated Shortcake and her sugary sweet friends may not have a definitive home, the 2009 short-term is still looking up; first with the February home video release of the princess-themed "Happily Ever After."

Strawberry Shortcake, currently a property of the American Greetings group (Holly Hobbie, Maryoku Yummy), has become what is arguably the most lucrative character re-branding ever of a classic children's property of decades past.

One of a few select animation titles touted in discussion between AG and Cookie Jar Entertainment last year in terms of a sale of the entire brand, Strawberry Shortcake, now with the deal having fallen through, remains with a somewhat uncertain future in animation despite a variety of intriguing re-branding projects already well laid out [past A.I. news: "AGP Readies New 'Strawberry Shortcake' Revival" (07/2008)].

Scheduled for release from 20th Century Fox home entertainment, the DVD release "Happily Ever After" is one of several seasonal or themed video releases under the Shortcake moniker.

For this particular animation release, Strawberry Shortcake and her fruit-flavored friends take in a more fanciful story, in "Sleeping Beauty," where a neglected fairy casts a sleeping spell over Princess Strawberry Rose. Of course, at the insistence of friendly fairies--the familiar personalities of Tangerinaberry, Orangeberry, Gingerberry, and others--it's up to Prince Huckleberry to teach everyone a lesson on friendship (and to save the princess).

Read More Article...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Animation Movie Industry Needs Support

A GHANAIAN cartoonist, Pastor Joseph Gyebi, has expressed the need for players in the arts and entertainment industry and the corporate world to give particular attention to the county’s seemingly dormant animation movie industry.

According to him, even though cartoon movie is one excellent area to positively tell the true African stories to children especially and Ghanaians in general, much is not done to encourage cartoonists.

“The industry is not getting the necessary support it needs. There is no support for the industry. We have been doing animation for some time now but we don’t get support. People like Zingaro, one of Ghana’s top animation producers, only gets support from outsiders,” he said.

Pastor Gyebi said these in a brief interview with Beatwaves on Saturday at the British Council in Accra where his outfit, Parable Production, an animation company, premiered an intriguing animated feature movie based on the February 28 disturbances which led to the tragic death of Private Odartey Lamptey, Corporal Attipoe and Sergeant Adjetey 61 years ago and subsequently the national agitation for the country’s independence.

Read More Article...

Monday, January 26, 2009

Nasscom empowers women with animation skills

Bangalore: With animation training mushrooming in every nook and corner of the country, Nasscom Foundation (NF), the social development arm of Nasscom has introduced an only-for-women animation skills training. The training has been introduced at NF's Hyderabad and Sangli center, whereby along with tools training the trainees will also be engaged in developing their soft skills.

At the Sangli center, the women are all Government Diploma holders in Fine Arts while the Hyderabad center have picked up girls who were engaged in Zardosi work or Mehendi designing, generally women with artistic inclination. The program, which comes with a job guarantee, has a significantly lesser course fee and the girls can pay it once they are employed. In Hyderabad, NF has tied up with an animation studio that will employ these trained girls and in Sangli they will get to work on a Maharashtra government project.

Read More Article...

Friday, January 23, 2009

SIGGRAPH Award Winner Nominated for Oscar

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just announced that the SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer Animation Festival Best of Show winner, Oktapodi, is among five animated short films nominated for a 2009 Oscar®. Since 1999, the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival has been an official qualifying festival for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Animated Short Film award. No fewer than 16 films from the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival have been nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Animated Short.

The film’s directors, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand were students when they made the film – a tale of two octopi in their comical escape from the grasp of a stubborn and determined restaurant cook. During the SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer Animation Festival, competition screening audiences were able to vote for their favorite selection to win the esteemed Audience Prize – an accolade also given to Oktapodi.

“SIGGRAPH continues to be the place to showcase the latest technical achievements and innovations in animations and computer graphics,” stated Carlye Archibeque, SIGGRAPH 2009 Computer Animation Festival Executive Producer from Sony Pictures Imageworks. “Having SIGGRAPH films continue to show up as nominees for the Academy Awards® is a testament to the incredible pieces that are prevalent throughout the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival. We expect nothing different this year.”

Read More Article...

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Disney animation exhibit to open in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A big show of animation art from the Walt Disney studio will open in November at the New Orleans Museum of Art, a month before the release of an animated movie set in New Orleans that features Disney's first African-American princess.

Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio will run through mid-March 2010.

"It was Disney animators who really led the way in the 20th century toward establishing animation as a serious art form," museum director John Bullard said.

Read More Article...

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Disney animation show to run in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS - A big show of animation art from the Walt Disney studio will open in November at the New Orleans Museum of Art, a month before the release of an animated movie set in New Orleans that features Disney's first African-American princess.

"Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio" will run through mid-March 2010.

"It was Disney animators who really led the way in the 20th century toward establishing animation as a serious art form," museum director John Bullard said.

The Walt Disney Corp. suggested the exhibition to the museum, and Bullard made several trips to Disney's animation research library to decide what will be shown, museum spokesman Jim Mulvihill said.

Read More Article...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

India's animation sector moves up value chain

INDIA--The animated films market is growing at a fast rate in India, where in the last one year alone, nearly 85 such shows were announced.

2008 saw the box office release of several animated movies in the country, such as Roadside Romeo, Ghatothkach, Dashavatar and My Friend Ganesha 2.

Sangeeta Gupta, vice president, Nasscom, told ZDNetAsia in a phone interview: "In the last two years, the domestic market for animation has grown significantly. And so has the quality of production."

The mainstream film industry too is increasingly using animation and special effects. In the last 18 months, Bollywood has released several Hindi movies with special effects and animation, such as Drona, Taare Zameen Par, Jodha Akbar and Love Story 2050.

According to Nasscom, a total of 85 domestic animation movies have been announced over the last year and 28 are in different stages of production.

Gupta said: "Animation companies have also started focusing on building original IP (intellectual property), which they can leverage in terms of merchandising and TV broadcast revenues."

Read More Article...

Monday, January 19, 2009

Animation film series

The spring 2009 semester International Film Series will be showing animation films in February in order to appeal to a broader audience.

PUC's animation film series theme was chosen by Josh Travis, the film series student assistant.
"We choose to show people something that they would not normally see. Animation films should be taken as seriously as other films," said Travis.

Steve Lombardo, director of the international film series, said he wants people to get the full experience of the artwork in the films.

The film series begins Feb. 4 showing French film "Persepolis." Feb. 12 the series will present Czeck Republic film, "Little Otik." A Japanese film, "Millennium Actress" will be shown Feb. 18, and "Watership Down," a United Kingdom film will be shown Feb. 26.

"What I hope students will gain from the animation theme is a respect for the works of art that are full length themes; films of great artistic quality that would never be screened here in the states," Lombardo said.

Read More Article...

Sunday, January 18, 2009

'Can't stand modern animation'

HONG KONG - IN the age of digital animation and computer special effects, Hayao Miyazaki is a purist.

The 67-year-old Oscar-winning master animator known for his hand-drawn movies said in a newspaper interview on Sunday he hasn't seen any of the major digitally animated films in the last two decades.

'I can't stand modern movies. The images are too weird and eccentric for me,' Miyazaki told Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post in an interview to promote his latest movie, 'Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.'

Miyazaki said his recruits are tested in a boot camp where mobile phones, iPods and other electronic devices are banned.

Read More Article...

Friday, January 16, 2009

Creating Eye Catching Banners

Everyone with a web site should have at least one banner - for banner exchange programs, advertising on other sites, and targeted reciprocal banner exchanges. So, what do you do if you have no experience in creating an eye catching banner? Read on...

Banners are a mini advertisement with ONE purpose - To get the viewer to click on it! (Of course, you may use banners to brand your name, but ALL banner creators want the viewers to click it!)

Animated banners have proven to be clicked more often, but you have to be careful they don't drag a pages load time down too much, or surfers may be resentful. Some animation can be downright ugly, so be careful not to go overboard.

So, how to get people to click your banner, animated or not? Remember some of these key factors:

  • A quick load time is imperative. People won't wait to see what you banner says, so make sure they don't have too. You can do this by limiting the colors you use in your banner, and by the size of the banner. ("Average" banners are either 400x40 pixels or 468x60 pixels.)
  • As mentioned earlier, you want the viewer to CLICK the banner, not read your sales pitch, mission statement, etc. A short one liner with a great incentive for them to click may work best. Don't write:
    "FREE MONEY - Click Here!"
    if you're advertising your secretarial service, because such trickery usually only backfires. On the other hand, if you're promoting your expertise in finding lost money, that may not be a bad line.
  • Some people are turned off if your business name or product name is not in the banner, and will not click through. But I think the majority of people click on banner that pique their curiosity, so you may or may not want to include this infomation.
  • One thing you should include is your URL, especially one that is short and memorable, if you want to brand your web site address.
  • Contrasing colors will help your banner stand out. As a firm believer in having all of your marketing materials work together, try to choose colors, and a 'look', that match your web sites own colors and look.
  • Writing "Click Here" somewhere on the banner has helped countless banners by clicked a little more then others. By reminding readers that yes, this is a clickable graphic leading to something you're intested in, you'll get that many more hits to your site.
  • A newer trend is to use things that look like the things we click on our computers everyday - windows to type in, drop-down screens, etc.
Having a nicely designed banner is very important - just as having nicely designed business cards, brochures, flyers, and web sites are of utmost importance. Remember, the key is to get them to click, and look good doing it.

Source : http://www.promotionworld.com/

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Studios using 3-D more to attract moviegoers

There are a whole mess of 3-D movies coming out this year that won't just be for the kiddies. The first 3-D movie of '09, "My Bloody Valentine," opening today, puts viewers up close and personal with an unstoppable killer whose tool of choice is a pickax.

The competition between motion picture studios and home entertainment systems is driving the increase in 3-D movies, said Steven Smith of Movie Marketplace. "Studios along with theater exhibitors are looking for ways to enhance the experience and drive people to theaters."

Both DreamWorks Animation and Pixar Studios have announced that all future feature films will be released in 3-D, said Nikki Kealalio, director of marketing for Krikorian Theaters. "Nearly all our theaters have one 3-D viewing room, so we will show these movies in both 3-D and 2-D."

Several Krikorian Theaters broadcasted the 2009 FedEx BCS National Championship game live in digital 3-D last Thursday and will broadcast the NBA All Stars game in February as well.

"We're going to be doing a lot more live sporting events," Kealalio said. "We will eventually start adding more 3-D rooms to our theaters so there will be more viewing capabilities."

Read More Article...

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Animation Tips & Tricks

Animation is all the rage on the web and is becoming more popular every day. But before you begin to create animations for your site, you need to consider some basic questions, such as: What is the purpose of the animation? What kind of audience do you want to draw? What are you trying to say/promote? Will the animation add interest to your site or detract from it? If you've decided that having an animation will add value and interest to your site, we now move onto other considerations. These include file formats and file size, along with design and execution.

When looking at the available image and animation formats, here are a few things to keep in mind. JPEG, (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a 24-bit file format and is the best choice for compressing photographs, realistic artwork, gray-scale images, etc. As a JPEG file is compressed, it discarding data and referred to as a "lossy" format. Repeated saving discards more data and can cause "artifacts," where portions of the image begin to clump together.

GIF, (Graphic Interchange Format) is the format of choice to compress lettering, simple cartoons, and line drawings. GIF images are often made up of Vector graphics, such as lines and curves, which are mathematically defined, so they produce a high quality result, regardless of how much they are scaled. GIF files are often composed of few colors and compress well. Other common animation formats are AVI (Audio-Video Interleaved - a desktop video movie format from Microsoft), MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) Quicktime and SWF (the Flash Player format).

Read More Article...

Monday, January 12, 2009

Dr. Toon: 2D or Not 2D

With this year's arrival of The Princess and the Frog, Martin Goodman assesses the current CG landscape to ascertain the significance of Disney's highly anticipated 2D return.

The movies have been subject to as much advancement over the years as any other form of media. The first static efforts in the late 1890s gave way to ever-sophisticated changes in techniques such as cuts, fades, zooms and POV shots, devices that we now take for granted. There is a popular myth concerning the famed silent film The Great Train Robbery (1903); audiences allegedly fled the theaters in fear, believing that they were seeing an actual robbery and trains coming directly towards them. While this is untrue, there was a scene at the end of the film in which a nasty desperado fires a pistol directly into the camera. This always seemed to get at least a few patrons ducking cinematic bullets in their seats. After that, filmmakers vied to wow their audiences through the use of spectacular fx and fancy camerawork.

Animation first appeared in the late 1890s and amazed audiences with moving pictures that were drawn by hand. People saw popular comic strips come to life, as well as some original characters that made an indelible impact on the culture itself. Seminal animator Winsor McCay averred that audiences, upon seeing his short How a Mosquito Operates (1912) believed that McCay was manipulating puppets with wires. Although this is highly doubtful, moviegoers were eventually treated to genuine magic such as synchronized sound in 1928 and full Technicolor by 1933, raising the stakes for future artisans.

To be sure, there have been misfires. 3-D movies (aside from a few early experiments) existed at least since 1922, but it was not until the early 1950s that the technique made its way into American theaters in wide release. Observers in the local movie houses reported patrons shying away from objects "thrust" at them, ducking "flying" projectiles and attempting to grab or get their hands behind objects that seemed to float in the air before them. While 3D was a nifty perceptual trick, it did little or nothing to advance the actual art of filmmaking; it was a novelty rather than a progression in cinematic language and representation. In fact, 3D stilted films by purposely setting up shots that emphasized technique over narrative and acting performance.

Computer-generated imagery was a true advancement. By all accounts, CGI first appeared in a mainstream film in 1973 when raster effects were used in the film Westworld. Early wireframe techniques soon followed, but most of the general public was not overtly aware of CGI until the 1982 Disney film Tron. Roughly 15 minutes of full computer animation was featured, and everyone who attended the film realized at some level that a revolution was underway. It was merely a matter of time, training and technological advancement until CGI became a major component in world cinema. Technicians, software engineers, film studios and even some visionary critics secretly wondered how soon a film might be composed of nothing but computer-generated images.

Read More Article...

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Hollywood Finds Headaches in its Big Bet on 3-D

imminent full-bore return to 3-D filmmaking, upon which the movie industry is placing many of its hopes, is in danger of becoming Hollywood’s latest flub.

Some of the mightiest forces in film — Jeffrey Katzenberg, James Cameron, John Lasseter — think the multiplex masses will soon demand that all movies be shown in newly available digital 3-D. Mr. Katzenberg, in particular, has pushed the format, trotting the globe to herald the technology as a transformative moment for cinema akin to the introduction of sound.

His bandwagon has plenty of passengers, at least in Hollywood. The Walt Disney Company alone has 15 three-dimensional movies in its pipeline. Twentieth Century Fox is betting an estimated $200 million on “Avatar,” a 3-D space adventure directed by Mr. Cameron and set for December release, his first nondocumentary film since 1997’s “Titanic,” still the biggest moneymaker in movie history, without counting inflation. All told, the movie factory has over 30 3-D pictures on the way.

But analysts are starting to warn that all of that product could find itself sitting on a loading dock with no place to go. Studios, thrilled by 3-D’s dual promises of higher profits and artistic advancement, have aggressively embraced the technology without waiting for movie theaters to get on board. And without those expensive upgrades to projection equipment at the multiplex, mass market 3-D releases are not tenable.

Read More Article...

Friday, January 9, 2009

Movie review: Animated 'Waltz With Bashir'

Think of the most mind-boggling scene in a war film - say the one in "Apocalypse Now" where a shirtless Robert Duvall proclaims (as bombs fall and fires rage) "I love the smell of napalm in the morning"; or the one in "Black Hawk Down" where a U.S. soldier is pinned down in a deserted Somali street against overwhelming firepower - and recall the ominous feeling that overcame you. Recall the stench of conflict that seemed to permeate your stomach. Recall the edginess that engulfed your brain even as the action segued into less dramatic footage.

Now, ratchet that up 10 times, and that's what to expect from this juggernaut of a film. The best movie of 2008? The most revealing war film ever made? The greatest animated feature to come out of Israel? All these descriptions could apply to "Waltz With Bashir," a confessional account of Ari Folman's experience as a young soldier during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

Less is more here. Violence permeates the movie, but Folman's feature is festooned with long stretches of introspection. In fact, it's the introspection - as much as the brilliant animation, and the unimaginable horrors of warfare - that pushes "Waltz With Bashir" into the category of unforgettable filmmaking. It's not just Folman (or, at least, the animated Folman) who tries to reconcile his time in Lebanon, it's his fellow ex-Israeli soldiers - all middle-aged, all out of the military - who look back and cringe or cry or laugh with nervousness.

"Waltz With Bashir" dramatizes sequences, but the basic facts reflect the hell that enveloped Folman, his fellow soldiers and Lebanon's civilian population, particularly the Palestinians who were massacred by Christian Phalangist forces in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. As a soldier, Folman was on the outskirts of that 1982 massacre - or was he? In the beginning of "Waltz With Bashir," Folman doesn't know what to think. When a friend - also a veteran - describes his nightmares about menacing dogs from Lebanon, Folman's repression comes undone, and he begins to remember faint outlines of the bloodletting that took place 20 years earlier. Interviews with other veterans - and flashbacks (some of them funny) to their time in Lebanon and their pre-war years - propel the film at a nonstop pace.

Read More Article...

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Animated movies return to old idea with new technology - 3-D

CLEVELAND -- Moviemakers want to put a pair of 3-D glasses on every theatergoer's nose in 2009.

The popularity from the recent surge of animated films -- which bring to life everything from cars to penguins to robots -- is taking the genre to an old but new level.

Movies in 3-D cost more to film, and not all theaters can screen them, but Dreamworks Animation has announced that all of its upcoming animated movies -- "Monsters vs. Aliens," "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Shrek 4" -- will be made in 3-D and traditional versions.

Other films are contributing to the oncoming flood of 3-D animation. "Coraline," a creepy alternate-universe fantasy from Neil Gaiman, will be the first stop-motion animated film produced in 3-D. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," the third in the popular franchise, will offer a 3-D version this summer. So will "Up," the Disney-Pixar comedy about a man who ties thousands of balloons to his house and floats to South America.

Proving what's old can be made new, Disney recently announced it will release the mostly hand-drawn "Beauty and the Beast" in 3-D digital in 2010. Also on the horizon are 3-D versions of "Toy Story 2," "Toy Story 3" and "Rapunzel," according to press reports.

Read More Article...

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Animated education hits fourth dimension

Claudia Sardi, The Jakarta Post, Gianyar

Rilly steps back, pauses, and then takes a deep breath. In his head, he has already visualized a joyful, adventurous trip.

"Rilly, come on, we have to leave now," a female voice behind him cries. "Otherwise we won't get there by dawn."

Rilly sets his eyes firmly on the distant horizon and begins moving his legs, lifting his wings, pounding them faster and faster. The combined momentum of wings and feet catapults him high above the ground.

The little duck has just taken off for his first big journey.

Rilly is the youngest of a Mandarin duck family that must migrate to a warmer place to avoid the harsh winter back home. Their journey is the subject of a film being screened in the newly opened 4D animation theater at Bali Bird Park in Batubulan, Gianyar regency.

Before entering the theater, which still smells of freshly laid carpet, children and their parents are equipped with 3D glasses so they can experience the three-dimensional effects when watching the film on the theater's 6x4-meter screen.

Read More Article...

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Animation station stops here

When you think "animation," you probably think of Tinseltown.

But what about Hollywood on the Hudson?

"We want people to know that this area has influenced the (animation) industry," says the Westchester Arts Council's Julia Dixon. "It doesn't just happen in Hollywood.

"Over the years, 500 animators and/or studios have been located in the Westchester-New York City region."

Many of them are among the cast of characters in "It All Started Here," a coming Arts Council exhibit (Jan. 20-Feb. 28) for which Dixon serves as coordinator.

The show - which will be previewed at a Jan. 17 reception at the council's Arts Exchange building in White Plains - surveys the animated stars and technology that have been created in the county and the Big Apple over the past 100 years, from Gertie the Dinosaur (1914), the first animated-cartoon character, to the rascally prehistoric critters of the "Ice Age" movies.

Read More Article...

Monday, January 5, 2009

Film critics name animated documentary best film

The National Society of Film Critics has picked "Waltz With Bashir" as the best film of 2008—not bad for a film that doesn't hit Chicago theaters for a few weeks.

Ari Folman's animated documentary chronicles his coming to terms with repressed memories of his experiences with the Israeli army in the 1982 Lebanon war. The daring film, which is nominated for a Golden Globe for best foreign-language film and uses multiple animation techniques, has earned numerous accolades, including six awards from the Israeli Film Academy and best animated film from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (which chose the animated "WALL-E" as best 2008 film). The film is scheduled to open Jan. 23 at three Chicago-area theaters: AMC Pipers Alley Theatre in Chicago, Cinemark Cine Arts in Evanston and Landmark's Renaissance in Highland Park.

Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" and Disney/Pixar's animated hit "Wall-E" tied for runner-up in the best picture category.

Source : http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Animation film made on Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav

PATNA: An animation film has been made on Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

According to Patna-based resident Pawan, the animation film has not only been produced by him, but has also been characterized and conceptualized by him to show Lalu in a different light.

"I had been making cartoons on Lalu for a long time. So, I thought, how can I present Lalu in a different medium. These days children cartoon comics and animation films are in great demand. It was at this time that I thought of making a film on Lalu. Thereafter, I started working on this project and made a team to work on it," said Pawan.

Sashi, the voice over artist, who has mimicked the voice of Lalu in the film, said that he could not have found a better outlet for his talent.

"The voice of Lalu is unique in itself. After watching the video I thought that I could not find a better outlet for my talent than mimicking for Lalu in this film," said Sashi.

The Minister has been a favourite of Bollywood film producers who have made films revolving round his character, including 'Padmashree Lalu Prasad Yadav'.

Lalu has also been a part of many popular television shows.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Friday, January 2, 2009

Movie Review – Transformers Animated – Season Two

I was firmly against an auto bailout of any part of the Big Three. I am a Democrat and certainly have no problem with government owning parts of any business, I simply think that the terrible management of those companies makes them unfit to survive. Detroit is a mess because of bad oversight and bad foresight. But there’s a cartoon where Detroit isn’t a mess and is actually a beautiful and forward thinking city. Now it’s available on DVD.

Starting this January 6th, now available on DVD from Hasbro Entertainment and Paramount Studios Home Entertainment comes the second season of the animated adventures of robots from outer space. Transformers Animated – Season Two is ready to blast into your living room and transform your day into fun. Bring home this fantastically exciting second season today!

As we all know, the last season ended with the resurgence of Megatron and a battle in which the Autobots and Sari lost the Key. Now the Autobots need to clean up the mess the made and help the good people of Detroit believe in them again. Not only that, but the Autobot Elite Guard have arrived to pick up the Allspark, but it’s been destroyed and is in pieces all over the place. Now the race in on to find those pieces. Can the Autobots and Sari get them in time?

Read More Article...

Thursday, January 1, 2009

3-D goes big time in 2009; otherwise it's business as usual

As Hollywood unveils its 2009 schedule, the big trend can be summed up in one word: 3-D. The movie industry is jumping on that bandwagon like no time since 1953, the famous movie year in which virtually every major studio embraced stereoscopic technology then promptly abandoned it as a gimmick.

This time it's expected to take. DreamWorks animation boss Jeffrey Katzenberg (whose '09 3-D movie is March's "Monsters vs. Aliens") argues in a recent issue of Variety that the floodgate is now open and that digital 3-D is the wave of the future. "Eventually," he says, "I believe that all films will be shot in this remarkable medium."

What may be the year's most highly anticipated film, James Cameron's "Avatar," will be a wide 3-D release. The hugely ambitious, $200 million-plus sci-fi epic -- about a human hero "thrust into hostilities on an alien planet" -- has obsessed the "Titanic" director for more than a decade and finally will hit multiplexes on Dec. 18.

Meanwhile, Disney is releasing more than a third of its films this year in 3-D, including a Jonas Brothers concert film; the Pixar-animated "Up"; Jerry Bruckheimer's cute-guinea-pig comedy "G-Force"; a reissue of "Toy Story"; and a new version of "A Christmas Carol," with Jim Carrey as Scrooge.

Read More Article...

Outsource Animation Services Outsourcing Services