Do we really know about the skills of managing ourselves in our work environments, our time, our resources and our efforts with each of our projects?…and all of this with outmost efficiency? Authored by Ranjit Singh and Published by Macmillan Publishers, ‘The Art of Animation Production Management’ which was recently launched at Anifest India 2012 addresses these among a host of other issues common to Animation & CGI artists across various mediums.
Written by well known Industry Personality Ranjit Singh; Creative Producer, Animation Director, Founder Trustee of The Animation Society of India and one of the mentors at RamSinghKumaresh – The Animation Master Class, this 272 Page Book comprising 10 very simply written chapters, emphasizes on creating a structured outlook towards managing art.. Ranjit just completed his latest assignment as a Management and Productivity Consultant at Studio Eeksaurus Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, where he helped streamline productions of their stop-motion and 3dCGI IP projects among other studio operations.
The book was inaugurated by the father of Indian Animation Shri. Ram Mohan and pioneer ‘Mad Max’ Madhavan, CEO of Crest Animation Studios. Macmillan Publishers India Ltd will officially declare its launch in the market in the coming days.
Sharing thoughts behind the idea of writing the Art of Animation Production Management, Ranjit stated “Well, I believe, managing your art is just as important as creating it. In our endeavor to chase creativity we are very often happy to sacrifice discipline and method in the mistaken belief that processes constrain our creative boundaries. Nothing could be further than the truth. Through this book I am sharing my first hand experiences over the past 2 decades from the production floor. I have also addressed issues such as soft skills that we artists are expected to have, apart from our technical and creative skills, but which are not formally taught anywhere. Things such as effective communication techniques, personal workstation management, client interactions, what to watch out for in meetings and brainstorming sessions and how to make them result oriented and so on. This is managing art from an artists perspective so there is lots in here that artists will find familiar from their daily grind and thus be helpful for them.” Priced at INR 1599, this authorative treatise is a first from India, and definitely a first by an Indian Producer & Artist. It has taken 4 years for the author to work on it from inception to Publishing.
Highlighting more on the book, Ranjit said, “I believe that this book will help an independent filmmaker or artist as much as it will a student or for that matter, a studio, as it aims to provide an understanding of how to take projects from script to screen by keeping track of time, resources and efforts invested at every stage. It shows how to break down a project into simple manageable tasks. This is not about production pipelines, but about us -the artists and simple work practices that can help us to better organize our projects. It will hopefully enable the reader to understand and start looking at what needs attention in order to develop simple yet effective systems that can aid the creative production process.”
When asked about the target audience for this book, Ranjit highlighted, “Though the title seems to make it sound very specific, The Art of Animation Production Management is relevant not only to the animation community but also to anyoneworking with or associated with any medium of art. They will surely benefit from this book.”
According to Ranjit, the book has a chapter on opinions of accomplished artists from all the over world. This he says was included to give the reader a more holistic viewpoint about this subject and one that will enable readers to draw their own conclusions about what works for them and what doesn’t.” I maintain that what I have written, the techniques and methods I have outlined, are not the only way to do things; these have worked for me, and in situations or places where I have introduced them. I encourage my readers to evaluate what is written with an open mind and hopefully adopt what seems doable to them. I’m just flagging the issues that need attention along the way. There is no denying the fact that there is no set formula in production, every situation, medium, project and work environment has its own set of challenges, but with certain underlying commonality. The trick is to develop solutions that best fit the situation and are adopted by all concerned, not because they have to, but because they themselves want to; and that is the first step towards creating an efficient work environment. The book will show you some of the proven techniques, methods and work practices by which this can be achieved.”
“I would like to express my gratitude towards Macmillan Publishers India Ltd and also express my deepest thanks to The Animation Society of India, for all that they did to organize the release of this book at Anifest India 2012.”Ranjit concluded. The book will be available in the market soon. Ranjit is on Facebook and you can read more about him and his work on www.tony-singh.com.