Anifest India ’10 – High on Gyan and fun

By Bollywood Hungama -

August 26, 2010 - 4:49 PM IST

India's largest Animation festival Anifest India came to a fitting conclusion on 21st August and saw some of the best speaker's lineup, a boasting crowd of close to 1500 on all the three days and many exciting sessions on animation, gaming and vfx.

Here is the coverage in a nutshell:

Anifest India ’10 – High on Gyan and fun

DAY 1

The first session of the event 'Comics ke Baap Dada' was taken by Aabid Surti, the legendary author and the pioneer of Indian comics, Manish Gupta and Sanjay Gupta, the founders of Raj comics. Surti shared how he started his first comic strip and comics 'Bahadur' which was a cult in late 70's. He also shared his journey with film stars like Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, and Spiritual Gurus like Osho and remarked how they were a fan of his comics and were influenced by it.

Manish and Sanjay Gupta were throwing the light on how Raj comics started and the characters like Doga, Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruv and Bhokal took birth. "We have around 40 comic characters as we understood the readers' choice and formed such characters. There are more such characters in the pipeline to be launched soon," said Manish.

Mastered by Santosh Kale, an ace short film maker and creative genius who has designed a number of Channel Ids and promos, the session 'Non linear approach to tele channel branding' was completely focused on his experience, thought process and execution of small projects like channel Ids. Kale showcased some of his work which included the making of channel Ids and promos including MTV, Channel V, Pogo and Bindass amongst others.

The third session of the day, 'Animating with Light' was conducted by Virender S Rathore, one of the pioneers of clay animation and founder of an animation studio 'The Animation Garage'. Virender showcased some of the experimental animation clips which included light animation and explained how they were made. He also showcased the process of light animation by creating a water fall with the help of the audience. This was certainly a session which led the audience to gape in awe.

The session Animation in games and simulation by Rajat Ojha of Hyderabad based Zen Technolgoies shed the light on history of game animation, where it is required and few examples of how the animation is used in games. Explaining about the gaming industry Ojha explained about the opportunities available, the growth and its pros and cons.

DAY 2

The session by award winning French animator Bastien Dubois, explained the film making process right from the pre-production to the final stage, by dissecting his film Madagascar - A Journal Diary (Madagascar, carnet de voyage). Made with a number of experimental animation techniques, the film gives a feel of hand drawn animation and traces several foreign culture.
Re-initiated by the TASI team, this years' Anifest featured a panel discussion after almost four years on 'Training/education and industry' which comprised the speakers like Arena's Puneet Sharma, MAAC's Sanjiv Waeerkar, Bombay Arts Society's Vijay Raut and several other experts. The session was an interactive one with an active participation from the audience, who raised several queries regarding the career, courses and placement. The speakers discussed the opportunities, the courses available and their future prospect.

The session by MAAC's Sanjiv Waeerkar on the 3D animated feature film 'Cric-x' which is developed by the students of MAAC explained the making of the film. An in-depth analysis of the film told the audience about the production process and glitches which the film makers face during creating an animation film. The session also discussed about the production management as the film was made by MAAC students spread in different cities across India.

The session by Mehul Hirani on Stereoscopic Feature Animation discussed the experience, challenges and the process of making a stereoscopic animated film taking Crest Animation Studio's 'Alpha & Omega' as an example. Pre-production, the process, post, were discussed in detail.

Day 3

Yet to release animated feature film Arjun's director Arnab Chaudhuri and his team shed the light on the process of the film making, the unique animation style which is being used in their feature and covered the character and production design.

The session by Rob (The creative bug who hosts MAD on POGO) was certainly the most entertaining and interactive session in all the three days. Rob's experience on creating his innovative TV shows like MAD, Big Picture were not only turned out to be a source of inspiration for the student community but also gave Rob a thunderous round of applauds for his creative work.

Mahesh and Samir from Prime Focus presented the case study on several Bollywood movies which the vfx house has executed. They explained how these projects were executed, shots requirement and challenges, amongst others.

At the end of the show, TASI Viewers Choice Awards were announced, which are as follow:

Student Film: Winner - Feel The Punch by Kasi Medidi/Madhu Dasyapu/Veera Bhadra Rao Parimi.

Runner up - Benigni by Pinja Partanen/Jasmiini Ottelin/Elli Vuorinen

Independent Professional Film: Winner - Shabdhane by Debjani Mukherjee

Runner up - Dracula 4D by Ben Smith

Commissioned Film: Winner - Electrolux Transformations

Runner up - Creamfills Alpenliebe Lions

Teachers' film: Winner - Ramatiya by Pradeep Soni

Runner up - Talktime Unlimited by Saikat Majumdar & Somraj Chatterjee