Apni Pehchan – Your Identity (Good Vs Great)

The difference between “Good” and “Great” is an enigma which has probably never been deciphered appropriately. For one, the interpretation of these aspects about anything is highly context sensitive and can change from situation to situation and from one context to another.

So whether there exists a common thread which if followed would lead from one to another i.e. from good to great in the context of animation film development is the issue which we would like to attempt to address hereunder.

I would personally define “Great” as a function of “Good”.

Greatness = function (Good)

The challenge however, is to define this function especially in context of becoming a great animator.

The simplification or expansion of this complex function, which had eluded me for a long time, finally hit me like a lightning bolt and I suddenly became “Buddha” the enlightened one or the only one to have finally cracked the code. (Just kidding)

On a more serious note, I have been thinking about this for a long time and have been involved in numerous debates with the likes of animators, students and even trainers on this subject in an attempt to unearth the truth.

The responses or outcome of all these debates have yielded complex furmulae which transform the path from “Good” to “Great” into a complex maze of roads with names like “Creativity”, “Designs”, “Unique”, “Hard Work”, “Style”, “Skill”, “Dexterity”, “Story”, “Pride” …and the list goes on and the maze becomes more and more complex…….

I am not convinced. I am not undermining the importance of these issues in the hunt for Greatness. All I am saying is that in the journey from Good to Great, these elements are like the signals which our train driver must obey. They enable us to complete the journey safely and surely, but are certainly not the driving force which propels the train that we are aboard in our quest for “Greatness”. They and similar other prepositions are probably the ingredients behind “Good”. The hunt for “Greatness” is still on.

The driving force, which makes a good animator, The catalyst which triggers the final transformation from “Good” to “Great” in the context of animation film making, I believe is the “Junoon”, “Diwaangi” “Fire” or “Obsession” which comes but from the love for this subject. The process of maing a great film starts with igniting the creative fire within ourselves and converting it into a towering inferno which burns out the volatile matter and leaves behind the residue of “Gold” of “Greatness”

This is the objective of our HAT Methodology. We want to make “Great” animators out of you because everyone else is making “Good” animators, and the industry where you are headed does not need “Good” animators – It needs “Great” ones.

I would welcome comments and debates on this. Please post here or write to ramesh@arenaparkstreet.com. Also visit http://www.arenaparkstreet.com/