The session by Ittina Studios' Manu Ittina and Bill Miller dealt with a very interesting topic, that of quality in animation and 'How does one define good quality?'

Defining Quality in Animation: Manu Ittina and Bill Miller at ABAI Fest 06

Manu Ittina who has always been vocal about Animation being an art form first and foremost and then anything else, emphasized on the art part yet again. The great thing about attending Ittina's sessions is that it rekindles one's sensitivity to art and story telling and it helps refresh one's perspective.

"Art at its essence is to try and communicate ideas. Art forces you to look at things in Isolation. Animation is storytelling. It is multimedia in the truest sense of the word. One of the few art forms that use everything" said Manu.

Manu also contemplated on story telling, pointing out that it was a strong human trait. "Story Telling is probably the earliest creative urge in human history. And all of us in our own way tell our own stories; be it narrating the past day's event to a friend or exaggerating about how the traffic stressed us out, we all are story tellers and it is a strong human trait"

"Story language is a complex mix of emotion, imagery, Intellectual ideas, rational and irrational impulses. Characters are the words and story is the sentence" he added.

Coming to the topic of defining quality in animation, Ittina shared at the session as well as later on with Animation Xpress.com that "In the case of Animation, no matter how technically perfect an image may be in terms of rendering, texturing, lighting etc, but if it does not tell a story, if it does not communicate what its creator wants it to, it cannot be called high quality. It may have a good finish, but in animation, high quality is that which tells a story, something that expresses"

"And for that matter, an artist sitting at the Zoo and drawing with crayons may have a better way of telling a story through his visuals and if that be the case then his work will be called high quality" he added.

"It is all about infusing ideas and creativity, understanding where the image comes from. If an artist doesn't have anything to say, then there is no point in doing technically superior quality animation" he further added.

Manu shared his SUPT philosophy of an artist.

Seeing: Learning to see

Understanding: Interpreting that understanding

Practice:

Technique: It's a free gift

"Only After one manages to tell the story through his art, comes finesse which is very important too. And the law here is that the first 80% of the work takes 20% of the time and it is the last and finishing touches that add finesse, which take up nearly 80% of the time" shared Manu.

Manu Ittina made a list of common problems in Indian Animation that he had identified.

• People quit too early
• Over Obsessed management
• Lack of direction - punching the wind - working hard but not working smart
• Over Analysis
• Cliché'

Two solutions that he shared were

• PPPP (proper prior planning prevents problems)
• Kiss: Keep it simple, stupid

Talking about a global phenomenon where clients as well as senior management need to assert themselves sometimes at the cost of perfection, and how as an artist one has to learn to manage the situation, Manu shared an anecdote about the maestro Michaelangelo.

Michaelangelo had nearly completed the creation of David when a senior official asked to be shown the masterpiece. After a while of staring, the official said that it seemed fine but for the nose which seemed a bit big. An experienced professional that he was, and shrewd to the management psyche, Michaelangelo hiding some marble dust in his hand reached out for the nose, gave a few mock knocks in the air and let the dust fall of his hands. "There. Does it seem Ok now?" he asked the Official, "NOW!" said the official, "It is perfect"

Manu ended his presentation with a pointer for young artists and professionals.
"A shot that you work on is not a demonstration of your skills, it is an exploration of your ideas"

Bill Miller from Ittina Studios next gave some tips to the young artists.

"In the past six months every show reel that I have received has got the same acting in it. Break out of the cliché" said Bill. "And don't resort to short cuts" he added.

Clarity of thought, one of the pre requisites to success in every sphere was something that Bill asked the animators to work at. "Animation is basically thought animated. It reflects the way the animator thinks. The shot is better if the animator is clear about it. Think your work through. Visual communication is about clarity of poses and clarity of Ideas" he said.

"Simple things in animation can be very rich. Like for example if one observes, no two people get off a chair or get in it in the same manner. There's a lot of simple observations like this which when applied into your animation will add to making it rich and enjoyable" continued Bill.

Concluding the session, both Manu and Bill asked the audience to watch as many movies as 'Inhumanly' possible.