12/18/2006: "Joe Barbera, RIP"
Tom and Jerry is the reason why I became an animator. What and awesome carrer and what a huge contribution Joe Barbera has made to animation. Thank you for the countless hours of fun!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
back
sorry been away so long. Will try and post regularly from now on. Having a blog is like having a conscience. It keeps pricking at you till your drawn back to you. I been very busy at work but I am finding a couple of hours a week to teach. I will try and document those expereince over the next few weeks.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Animation Podcast
This has got to be the best site on animation ever. I find myself waiting for each new update....
http://www.animationpodcast.com/
http://www.animationpodcast.com/
Monday, May 01, 2006
acting - breakdown I
I think there are many ways to classify acting. One of it is implicit and explicit.
In explicit acting the character is visually/verbally presenting his accurate emotions. Like if a char is happy then its YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE! and jumping up and down. If he is morose then its frown and heavy steps.
In implicit acting the chracter is not Visually/verbally true to his inner emotions. If the character is happy then he pretends to sad or normal while trying to contain all the energy from his true emotion. This is fun acting, lots of oppourtunities for animators to be animators.
Every kind of acting has its place even hammy acting. A good movie will have a nice texture of the various types of acting shots.
In explicit acting the character is visually/verbally presenting his accurate emotions. Like if a char is happy then its YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE! and jumping up and down. If he is morose then its frown and heavy steps.
In implicit acting the chracter is not Visually/verbally true to his inner emotions. If the character is happy then he pretends to sad or normal while trying to contain all the energy from his true emotion. This is fun acting, lots of oppourtunities for animators to be animators.
Every kind of acting has its place even hammy acting. A good movie will have a nice texture of the various types of acting shots.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
talk on indian animation in LA
Found out from the animaionnation.com
http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=000284
I wont be able to make it. If anyone is then please let me know how it went.
http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=000284
I wont be able to make it. If anyone is then please let me know how it went.
what killed big idea?
What a heart breaking story to read! I dont if his analysis is correct but its an informative (and painful) story to read, all 22 pages of it.
http://www.philvischer.com/bigidea_archives/Killed_BigIdea1.htm
http://www.philvischer.com/bigidea_archives/Killed_BigIdea1.htm
Friday, March 31, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
language
I always thought animation looks more real and belivable and live action. I think this is because animation depecits the "feeling" or "emotion" of the character than the character itself. Animation just feels right!
A smile on screen is just a few centimeters more than "default". But in animation u can have a smile that literally goes from ear to ear! It LOOKS like how you feel and so the viewer just believes it.
Are you depressed? So depression feels like you are limp and flat on the ground. A live actor may try to do something to approximate that more so in pantomime or vaudeville than in drama. But in animation the character is limp! He is FLAT!
Getting hit on the head feels like it became flat. In animation it looks flat!
Animation speaks directly to the heart. It doesnt rely on the eye as much as live action. Its the animation language.
A smile on screen is just a few centimeters more than "default". But in animation u can have a smile that literally goes from ear to ear! It LOOKS like how you feel and so the viewer just believes it.
Are you depressed? So depression feels like you are limp and flat on the ground. A live actor may try to do something to approximate that more so in pantomime or vaudeville than in drama. But in animation the character is limp! He is FLAT!
Getting hit on the head feels like it became flat. In animation it looks flat!
Animation speaks directly to the heart. It doesnt rely on the eye as much as live action. Its the animation language.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Exactly what I mean!!!!!
This is exactly the kind of thing i mentioned when i said hype in indian animation. Look at this article.
Mumbai Mirror
Mumbai Mirror
What!! Where did you hear that? Which company in india worked on incredibles? No facts, just gas.. absolutely Shameful reporting.
Mumbai Mirror
Mumbai Mirror
What!! Where did you hear that? Which company in india worked on incredibles? No facts, just gas.. absolutely Shameful reporting.
Monday, February 27, 2006
a scanner darkly
Cool style by the director of waking life. I can wait to see it. Probably wont release in India so have to wait for the DVD.
trailer
trailer
Sunday, February 26, 2006
HYPE!
There is so much hype here in india about animation. Everyday there is something or the other in the newpapers and online news services jump over one another to print the latest statement from the animation companies. Its really ridicilous and i think its giving birth to insane hype and is presenting an image that is as close to being absolute falsehood as possible.
I am upset that media only focuses on these things and doesnt really probe behind the statements.
Media should focus on the art of animation. What makes animation they way it is? Why is it so hard to produce? What are the characteristics of companies such as DreamWorks, Disney, Pixar? Why do they produce such good content? Where is the empashis laid in such companies? What is it going to take to do work like that here? What steps need to be taken to open India as a market? What is story and storytelling? Artists need to develop observation and sensitivity. Press needs to show that these things are lacking. When press comes out with statements like India will do the next big movie in 6 months time they need to know that there is an animation community out there laughing at them.
I am upset that media only focuses on these things and doesnt really probe behind the statements.
Media should focus on the art of animation. What makes animation they way it is? Why is it so hard to produce? What are the characteristics of companies such as DreamWorks, Disney, Pixar? Why do they produce such good content? Where is the empashis laid in such companies? What is it going to take to do work like that here? What steps need to be taken to open India as a market? What is story and storytelling? Artists need to develop observation and sensitivity. Press needs to show that these things are lacking. When press comes out with statements like India will do the next big movie in 6 months time they need to know that there is an animation community out there laughing at them.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Ittina Animation Studios and takshaa pictures
Here is what we've been working away at.. still in progress but getting there rapidly....Pictures of our animation company at whitefield, Bangalore.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
whats gonna define animation? OR my reactions on seeing narnia
wrote this abt a month ago.. dont know why it didn't get uploaded.. any where here it is.
Finally saw narnia in the theater. It took a while to come out. about 12 of us from the studio went to see it. Let me first say that the visuals were absolutely stunning. The modellers and the fur guys couldn't resist exclaiming wow every time there was an aslan shot. Congrats to R and H for such a wonderful achievement. The whole look flowed together with a cohesiveness rarely seen in a live action special effects extravaganza.
Technology is so advanced. It seems like nothing is impossible. If we can dream it we can create it. But one thing i noticed at narnia was that the audiences are so used to getting this quality of work in their movies that they take it for granted. Fewer people go to see movies just for effects alone as they would have a decade ago. CG has become a part of the filmmakers toolkit. Its absence is noticed and not its presense. For some reason the only thing that continues to attract audiences to theaters is still the same thing that used to 2000 yrs ago.
Story, drama, emotion, appeal etc. These things never ever get old. No one ever gets bored of these.
As CG becomes more and more powerful these words the only thing thats gonna differentiate a good movie from a bad one is still these basic ideas. I think the future of animation is still what it always was - appeal.
Finally saw narnia in the theater. It took a while to come out. about 12 of us from the studio went to see it. Let me first say that the visuals were absolutely stunning. The modellers and the fur guys couldn't resist exclaiming wow every time there was an aslan shot. Congrats to R and H for such a wonderful achievement. The whole look flowed together with a cohesiveness rarely seen in a live action special effects extravaganza.
Technology is so advanced. It seems like nothing is impossible. If we can dream it we can create it. But one thing i noticed at narnia was that the audiences are so used to getting this quality of work in their movies that they take it for granted. Fewer people go to see movies just for effects alone as they would have a decade ago. CG has become a part of the filmmakers toolkit. Its absence is noticed and not its presense. For some reason the only thing that continues to attract audiences to theaters is still the same thing that used to 2000 yrs ago.
Story, drama, emotion, appeal etc. These things never ever get old. No one ever gets bored of these.
As CG becomes more and more powerful these words the only thing thats gonna differentiate a good movie from a bad one is still these basic ideas. I think the future of animation is still what it always was - appeal.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Pixar disney
I know I am little late commenting on this. But I am not a commentator.
Anyway, I can make some observations. I havent spoken to any friends at pixar so i dont know what their take it. But I think this just means good news for the industry. I cant interpret it as anything but good. I think this gives the industry a great sense of direction. The focus has been reinforced on quality and storytelling as is sometimes forgotten.
Raise a glass to the future of the greatest art ever!
cheers
Anyway, I can make some observations. I havent spoken to any friends at pixar so i dont know what their take it. But I think this just means good news for the industry. I cant interpret it as anything but good. I think this gives the industry a great sense of direction. The focus has been reinforced on quality and storytelling as is sometimes forgotten.
Raise a glass to the future of the greatest art ever!
cheers
Spline Doctors
MY God what an awesome reference!!! I cant believe it took me so long to find it. I am sure everyone knows abt this by now. A blog by some of my past instructors. Its like being in class all over again. LISTEN to these guys. They teach how to make magic......Spline Doctors
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Back from nasscom
Phew whats a hectic few days. Lots of 5 am wake up calls and 11 pm dinners. I was in NASSCOM thursday and Friday and we flew back from hyderabad on friday night. Flight was delayed by 3 plus hours. So it took off at 1130 pm. The return flight was like a who's who of bangalore animation business. Rajesh was there, thhe guys from virgin and dr nandish from paprikas besided modi and bill. Lots of vendors sun, amd and ibm also were sprinkled around the cabin.
Back home and back to team. The next day we had a seminar. More than 120 people showed up. We had seats for 67 in the screening room. It was standing room only and then even that was gone. Great time for the AC to break down. But people bore it bravely as they put up with my bad jokes and listened as bill aaraty and raj spent time convincing them why the computer is not such a great thing. The mind is...
Why is this so hard to understand???? The computer doesnt do anything its the person behind it. learning a software is not gonna make u an artist. Its just so frustrating when students for takshaa ask for xsi or maya or max. Even after all the lectures abt art, it still comes back to software. They think that knowing software will get them all there is to know about animation.
Here r my notes from the talk as nasscom. I used some of it and did not use a lot of it. And I said somethings not in these notes.
NASSCOM_notes.pdf
Back home and back to team. The next day we had a seminar. More than 120 people showed up. We had seats for 67 in the screening room. It was standing room only and then even that was gone. Great time for the AC to break down. But people bore it bravely as they put up with my bad jokes and listened as bill aaraty and raj spent time convincing them why the computer is not such a great thing. The mind is...
Why is this so hard to understand???? The computer doesnt do anything its the person behind it. learning a software is not gonna make u an artist. Its just so frustrating when students for takshaa ask for xsi or maya or max. Even after all the lectures abt art, it still comes back to software. They think that knowing software will get them all there is to know about animation.
Here r my notes from the talk as nasscom. I used some of it and did not use a lot of it. And I said somethings not in these notes.
NASSCOM_notes.pdf
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
clarification
Business standard did misquote bill and I on key facts but I did speak to the journalist. In my previous post I was refering to the awn article which sourced the business standard article and then further misquoted the misquotes. I immediatly came out with the blog post but avoided mentioning AWN. I Also took this up with AWN and they very kindly corrected the article. The revised version of which appears here ------> awn article
Monday, January 09, 2006
Nasscom
I am off to nasscom hyderabad on Wednesday. I am pretty exicted to meet the rest of the folks involved in animation in india and i think its great to have a forum like this to exchange ideas. Lots and lots of great people expected.
Very exicted to meet everyone. If one reading this is gonna be there and wants to hang out email me at mittina@hotmail.com
Very exicted to meet everyone. If one reading this is gonna be there and wants to hang out email me at mittina@hotmail.com
Wow
WOW! I really mean WOW! Today has been a wierd day. So, Bill calls me up and says that there is been an article on a leading online animation news site. I thought maybe some sort of article about creating IP( intellectual property) or something cause that was the last topic of discussion with Bill.
He proceeds to read the article and my heart begins to sink. Then he continues and my heart begins to dig a hole in the ground and sink deeper. Then I thought he was joking. Then I am totally stunned.
Turns out there has been an article published online which totally out of the blue made up statements and attributed it to me. They had me claim that our studio produced 12 seconds of animation a day per artist!!!!! It had me say that in Dreamwork and pixar people did a measly 3 sec a day!! I worked at dreamworks and I know what it took to get a shot finalled. I have never spoken to any journalist from the site. Nor have I ever said to anybody words to that extent.
Where the journo got the words from remains a mystery. Why were we the chosen target, remains a mystery.
Our goal has always been to go good quality animation. The best we can. Bill and I are trying to bring that appreciation for quality in everything we do. We tell everyone who will listen that animation is hard. It takes patience. In our studio we constantly discuss milt kahl and go over the nine old men's work frame by frame. We appreciate how much work it takes to do good work.
One of the reasons why we setup up a studio of our own was to do just that.
I hate that I was made to say things that are so contrary to what I believe. If it was a typo I would have understood. But this article made seem that that we "boasted" that we can produce 12 secs of animation per day per artist. It seemed that wee pited pixar and dreamworks who could do only 3-5 secs a day!!! Reading that article made me visualize of us as fat, cigar chomping sweatshop owners with whips, leaning back in plush room while gloating about our "efficent" meathods of production.
To create images - That is the power of media. I am trying to correct our image in anyway I can. Please link to this entry and help me.
Artists create images too. Ittina animation studios tries to do the best work it can. Our goal is to not compromise in quality in anyway. We have utmost respect for quality animation and dont denegrate it in any way. We love what we do and are proud of what we do. We stand behind our work for it is who we are ( "your shots are there for ever" - ollie johnson) And we have stories to tell and miles to go before we sleep.
He proceeds to read the article and my heart begins to sink. Then he continues and my heart begins to dig a hole in the ground and sink deeper. Then I thought he was joking. Then I am totally stunned.
Turns out there has been an article published online which totally out of the blue made up statements and attributed it to me. They had me claim that our studio produced 12 seconds of animation a day per artist!!!!! It had me say that in Dreamwork and pixar people did a measly 3 sec a day!! I worked at dreamworks and I know what it took to get a shot finalled. I have never spoken to any journalist from the site. Nor have I ever said to anybody words to that extent.
Where the journo got the words from remains a mystery. Why were we the chosen target, remains a mystery.
Our goal has always been to go good quality animation. The best we can. Bill and I are trying to bring that appreciation for quality in everything we do. We tell everyone who will listen that animation is hard. It takes patience. In our studio we constantly discuss milt kahl and go over the nine old men's work frame by frame. We appreciate how much work it takes to do good work.
One of the reasons why we setup up a studio of our own was to do just that.
I hate that I was made to say things that are so contrary to what I believe. If it was a typo I would have understood. But this article made seem that that we "boasted" that we can produce 12 secs of animation per day per artist. It seemed that wee pited pixar and dreamworks who could do only 3-5 secs a day!!! Reading that article made me visualize of us as fat, cigar chomping sweatshop owners with whips, leaning back in plush room while gloating about our "efficent" meathods of production.
To create images - That is the power of media. I am trying to correct our image in anyway I can. Please link to this entry and help me.
Artists create images too. Ittina animation studios tries to do the best work it can. Our goal is to not compromise in quality in anyway. We have utmost respect for quality animation and dont denegrate it in any way. We love what we do and are proud of what we do. We stand behind our work for it is who we are ( "your shots are there for ever" - ollie johnson) And we have stories to tell and miles to go before we sleep.
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