Friday, March 20, 2009

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.

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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…

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