WHEN THE MENTORS FOUND THEIR MENTOR

Kolkata, 31^st March, 2009 : The word “Animation” is all about Soul as “Anima” means SOUL in Latin. Unfortunately, technology has obliterated the soul from our animation.

Some 15 odd mentors from Arena Park Street were to find this out over two days in the sanctum of academics at Jadavpur University courtesy the infallible, energetic, enthusiastic and adorable Prosenjit Ganguly aka PJ.

On 29^th March 2009 the day began with a quote of Brad Bird:

“The first step in achieving the impossible believing that the impossible can be achieved"

and this was enough to charge up everyone present.

Animation is an art of visual communication, based on conceptualization. Here Film is the Soul and Art is its Heart.

The essence of the program can best be summed up in the words of John Lassetter:

“Computers don’t create computer animation any more than pencils create pencil animation. What creates computer animation is the artist.”

Thoughts should always reflect the imagination irrespective of the field of application whether it be animation, screenplay writing or even graphic designing.

The core element of unique art form always needs a medium to express. And graphics or animation films (narrative / non narrative) are one of the finest mediums to communicate. Technology is only required to deliver the expression or to communicate the thoughts that we develop.

The entire bunch began the day by honouring legends like Charlie Chaplin, Satyajit Ray and few academy award winning filmmakers and made the day very nostalgic.

We all watched some great films including:

o I met the walrus

o Creature Comfort

o Every Child

o Balance

o Octupodi

o Cat came back

o An occurrence at the Owl Creek’s bridge

PJ also emphasized on the essentials of character design-its universe, treatment of films, screenplay, pitching, storyboarding etc. He explained brilliantly the importance of conceptualization, aesthetic sense and skills, in the process of film design with the help of these films.

The most interesting part of that two-day session was that both the days all the mentors were given assignments. They were given crayons and papers (the most fundamental tools) and they had to paint to the rhythm of sounds of flute and Tchaikovsky. The exercise was designed to cure the fear of colour from our minds.

PJ ended day 1 with an assignment on pitching ideas. He gave all of us a premise or brief wherein we were to prepare the concept and story for a PSA (Public Service Announcement) of 20 seconds to be aired on TV and whose message was that “Ghosts exist but we don’t have to be scared about them”

Day – 2 began with the pitches and turned out to be another brilliant session since the experience of pitching ones idea was new and unique for most if us.

The two-day long session was to discover the ART from HEART, ACT from ACTING and above all the SOUL from ANIMAtion (Anima means Soul in Latin). And to get the Soul we have to “Live in Animation.” Obliterated

We would like to thank PJ personally from the core of our hearts as he has made us learn the fun and artistic way of playing with colors- it’s all about “RHYTHM & SKETCH”… Thanks a lot and hope to see you again with few more assignments for us..!

- Arundhati Halder

Out in the Open… (Sorry PJ, we stole your line!)

19 March, Prinsep Ghat, Kolkata: The recent Holi celebrations seemed to have had a Santiniketan-effect on Arena Park Street as the entire T-T-S (Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday) batch were taken out of doors for their classes. All the mentors and their students met in front of the CAB Club House (Eden Gardens) at around 9 in the morning to kick start the day with some Perspective-drawing at the Customs Grounds.

the group assembles

The day began with an hour of intensive drawing sessions with the mentors helping, guiding, sometimes rectifying mistakes of the students as they tried their hands at live perspective drawing. It was a welcome break from the mundane routine of indoor classes. Trying to visualize landscapes, buildings and different structures from the confines of a classroom gave way to a much more effective and helpful way of drawing-as-you-see-it from different angles. Initially the mentors had to explain the purpose of an outdoor study such as this and gradually the interest level of the students started to grow. It was interesting to see a few students breaking away from their group of friends to get a better view of their subject of interest. Every student was armed with their sketch books and pencils and it was a treat to watch the budding animators getting a first-hand experience of field study.

 '

explaining the purpose

the most popular object of interest

    

budding animator 1

budding animator 2

budding animator 3, 4, 5 and more...

more animators

By 11.30, the team reached the next stop where the rest of the day was to be spent.  A long walk to reach the Prinsep Ghat helped the students get into the mood and a ‘learning is fun’ kind of an atmosphere built up gradually. After a short break of fifteen minutes, the group was divided into two halves. The first semester students made up Group One, while the second, third, fourth and fifth semesters constituted Group Two.

While both groups studied the same topics through the day, the treatment had to be different for the new students of the First Semester as they have not yet been introduced to the nuances of animation. As the mentors posed for them, they drew stick figures and got their queries answered.

perspective drawing lessons

the perspective of a train

our destination of the day

what a sight!

After the much awaited lunch-break, everyone came back for another session of classes. While the first semester students were introduced to The Principles of Animation, the rest of the group had a thorough revision of the same topic. The students acted, posed, mimicked and showered queries on their mentors for this interactive session. The topics covered in the day were as follows -

1.       Nature Study:

a.                   Perspective

b.                  Composition

c.                   Texturing 

d.                  Colour Tone

e.                  Light And Shade

2.        Action and Posing:

a.                   Line of Action

b.                  Stick Drawing

c.                   Principles Of Animation

d.                  Acting

 

when students and mentors posed alike!

The students thoroughly enjoyed the sessions because of the vast difference in the learning environment from the day-to-day 2 hour classes. For once, there were more than 8 students in a class, hence there were different kinds of queries that the students were exposed to by their peers. Second, there was more than one mentor explaining one topic; hence students received more knowledge on every topic.

 

principles of animation for sem - 1

The day ended with a session on Colour Theory with a practical demonstration on Colour Tone and Light & Shade as the sun set behind the huge monument erected in honour of James Prinsep. As the students dispersed for the day, the mentors sat down for a review of the entire day’s proceedings; to take feedback, to discuss and to chalk out a plan of the step of action.

colour theory @ sunset!

Every person on this trip realized that there is a lot more to animation than Max and Maya, a day out in the open had managed to open a lot of eyes to the reality that the Holistic Animation Training Methodology has been trying to drill into these minds for quite some time now.  

Looking forward to the next trip…