R&H and the Indian connection to Alvin and The Chipmunks 07 February 2008 06:45 PM
By ASMITA BHARRATI
(07 February 2008 02:40 pm)
Alvin and the Chipmunks released last month and has received appreciation from all quarters with the Chipmunks being loved by one and all. It is a matter of pride that Indian artists from Rhythm and Hues, were involved in bringing these lovable characters to life for their much anticipated big screen debut. Unlike the typical outsourcing scenario, where only manual intensive or back office operations are sent overseas, the Indian artists in Mumbai were involved in all stages of the creative process of the animation in the movie.
Over 375 employees from Rhythm & Hues studios worked on this project over a period of five months. This huge team was skillfully headed by VFX Supervisor Todd Shifflett and VFX Producer Karey Maltzhan. "Out of these 375 plus employees, 75 employees were based out of the R&H Mumbai facility," shared Prashant Buyyala, MD of R&H India. "The Indian digital artists were involved in pretty much all the stages of the pipeline, from modeling, to BG Prep, to tracking, to look development, to animation and technical-animation (fur and cloth dynamics), to lighting and then to final compositing. Plus we also had a significant number of support employees involved like our pipeline programmers, production coordinators, render support, admin, accounts, education, HR, etc. who were all critical in helping to realize this ambitious project on such a short deadline."
R&H India in fact hosted a special screening of the film recently where the artists from R&H and other community representatives enjoyed the movie. Speaking with AnimationXpress.com, Saraswathi Balgam the founding director of R&H India, shared, "It was a great thrill for all of us to go to the theater and watch such a fun movie and then top it off the evening by cheering for all the names of the R&H India employees in the credit list at the end of the movie!"
Telling us about the style of movie, Prashant informed, "The overall style of the movie was different from some of our other recent projects like The Golden Compass and Night at the Museum which required very realistic animals. These chipmunks are more cartoony, comic, and very lively which required a great sense of timing and a strong grasp of traditional animation principles to bring across their lovable and humorous characteristics."
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When asked about the challenges faced while working on the movie, Prashant replied, "There were several creative challenges that were faced in making the movie. For example, in the past, Alvin and the Chipmunks were well known in 2D animation form, and the challenge was to convert them into 3D characters by not only maintaining the lovable personalities but also seamlessly integrating into the live action environments. Our talented production designers at R&H went through several iterations to be able to strike the appropriate balance. The balance needed to be established in the littlest of details from the look of the scruffiness of the fur, to the characteristic style of motion and acting. The other big challenge was the schedule. We had around 500 CG shots in the movie that needed to get delivered in only a handful of months. I think it is a testament to the amazing pipeline and the talented people that we have at R&H to have been able to deliver so much high quality work in such a short time."
Whom would he give the credit? "For a large number of artists both in Los Angeles and in Mumbai, Alvin and the Chipmunks was their first production experience. A lot of credit needs to go to our education department for preparing the new talent so very well for the rigors of production. Also, we had a tremendous team of experienced supervisors, leads, and mentors that nurtured the new talent and provided a collaborative environment where everyone in the team was able to learn quickly and deliver some pretty amazing quality work. We are truly proud of everyone on the team!"
With so many prestigious projects in hand, how does R&H multitask? Says Prashant, "To be able to work on such diverse projects as The Golden Compass and Alvin and the Chipmunks at the same time was a treat for most artists at Rhythm & Hues, and to be able to contribute to these high end Hollywood projects without having to leave home was a dream come true for most of us in India!"
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a five-time Grammy Award-winning animated music group, created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated Chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual; and Theodore, the chubby, impressionable sweetheart. The trio is "managed" by their human "father" and confidant, David Seville. In reality, David Seville was Bagdasarian‘s stage name, and the Chipmunks themselves are named after the executives of their original record label, Liberty Records: Alvin Bennet (the president), Simon Waronker (the founder and owner), and Theodore Keep (the chief engineer). The characters were an unprecedented success, and the singing Chipmunks and their manager were given life in several animated cartoon series, using redrawn, anthropomorphic Chipmunks, and eventually motion pictures.
Presently Rhythm & Hues‘ film division is in production on ‘The Incredible Hulk‘ for Marvel, and "The Mummy 3" for Universal Studios, amongst several other high profile Hollywood productions for 2008 and 2009.
TurtleinMotion Studio,a group company
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Cornershop Animation Studio, A Zee Network
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development and broadcast media has opportunities in various departments.
BIG AIMS, a premier animation training institute
of BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd. a part of Reliance Big Entertainment - the largest
entertainment group in India is hiring for following position for various franchisee
locations in India:
Sheen Animation Studio Pvt. Ltd. A Delhi
based Production Studio is looking for talents in 2D and 3D for their ongoing
and new international as well as national projects. If you have the experience
an expertise of 2-5 years in the relevant domain handling any of the following
functions, apply in confidence.
Hiring for all VFX Positions
ANTS is seeking talented artists and teaching
faculties to be a part of the expansion team and work on various national and
international projects. Areas of key vacancies are: Lighting, Animation and Rigging,
Dynamics, Game Design, Texturing, Creative Art, Designer, Web Developer and Content Creator. Interested candidates can send their resumes and works to 
India`s No.1 Multimedia & Animation Academy
with one of the best state of the Art infrastructure requires trainers in the
field of:
