Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) in an exclusive association with the Road Transport Office of Mumbai launched a series of 66 animated films made in 100 hours at centers across the country with an aim to spread awareness on the importance of road safety.
The initiative of using these films to promote the cause of Road Safety was very well received at ‘The Economic Times Road Safety Summit 2015’ at Courtyard Mariott, Mumbai. The summit was held with an aim to cast a spotlight on innovative policies, practices and solutions for a better transport management system, road safety bills and amendment, etc and was attended by a number of eminent personalities.
On this occasion, Aptech AVP and MAAC marketing head Bhavika Chouhan said: “As one of India’s largest training providers for a career in animation & visual graphics, MAAC has always strived for excellence from students and shown them a way on how to give back to the society. This initiative with the RTO Mumbai is an excellent opportunity for the students to grow and hone their skills as well as to spread the message of safety to a wider audience.”
Early this year the RTO of MUMBAI approached MAAC to make animated films on road safety as this is one of their important initiatives and they wish to use animation as a medium to educate the masses on this subject. The content will be used across mediums such as theatres, outdoor media and other RTO associated properties to convey the message and reach out to the common man.
Aptech VP & head of corporate communications and affairs, Shrutidhar Paliwal added: “We were very excited with this opportunity because MAAC as an institution believes that creative animation is the best way to capture the imagination of the audience and at the same time communicates a powerful message. We hope that more cities will eventually adopt this medium and reduce the startling number of road accidents in our country.”
A summit such as this was long overdue in India as over 2 lakh deaths occur annually causing an economic loss of about one lakh fifty thousand crores. The Road Safety animated films were undertaken by 375 students in 75 teams that made 66 films on road safety. The final product of their collaborative efforts resulted in 2250 seconds of pure 3D animation in just 100 hrs.
The movies highlight a multiplicity of important themes such as wearing a helmet, seatbelt and the harm that comes from speeding and drunk driving, distractions during driving such as use of mobile ,texting , priority to emergency vehicles and ambulanceto name a few. Animation was chosen as the medium as it has a universal appeal and can be understood by a larger cross section of the population.
The films were evaluated by the eminent personalities present at ‘The Economic Times Road Safety Summit 2015’, where the TOP 3 films will be felicitated by the RTO, Transport Department in an award function that will be held at a later date.