Animator Sagar Funde creates a vibrant ‘India of Tomorrow’ for 22nd DigiCon6 Asia Awards

The 22nd DigiCon6 Asia Awards, organised and held by Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings (TBS) throughout the Asian countries and territories including Japan, has invited and is now accepting entries from talented short film and animation creators.  Organised for the purpose of seeking and recognising talented video creators and awarding them for their outstanding works, the 22nd DigiCon6 Asia Awards also has a promo specially curated for India.  Created by independent animator and former senior character animator at Animal Logic, Sagar Funde, the animated DigiCon India promo is a palette of vibrant colours and stunning, unique animated visuals.  After his animated short film Kite became the regional gold winner at DigiCon6 Asia Hong Kong, Funde was offered to represent India for this year’s theme – ‘Tomorrow’.   “The idea was to make a short 10 seconds film based on their theme ‘Tomorrow’ which highlights India. I decided to showcase what would be India in future in a comical animated style. The film shows the deep cultural history of India moving into the future in harmony,” said Funde in a candid chat with AnimationXpress The animated short took him six weeks to complete using Maya and After Effects. 

Speaking about visualising the theme of Tomorrow’s India, Funde revealed, “The idea of fusion between our Mythology and the future has always fascinated me. I imagined India in the future where we will possibly have flying cars, futuristic skyscrapers and more yet we will preserve our deep and vibrant cultural history alive. So when DigiCon came up with this theme for the promo film from India, I instantly felt inspired by this thought – how we embraced both. The thought is deep for such a short time span but I visualised it and came up with a simple, typical Sadhu (monk) character representing our cultural history of India moving harmoniously into the future.” After brainstorming on the theme, he built the visual concept around it and pitched it to DigiCon team through a Previs Pass or a storyboard design. The Digicon team instantly loved it and the feedback Funde received was – “This looks gorgeous and fun! Everyone loves the idea. Cannot wait for the final film, please take it forward”.  “Their feedback kept me going and I continued the choreography of the whole scene using simple geometries that represent the character and the set pieces of the film. Then I finished the camera work at this stage, and once I was satisfied with the scene, I began designing and modeling the characters in Maya and rigged them. Then came the animation of the characters, and simultaneously I was modeling the set pieces and adding them in the choreographed scene. Once the rendering finished, I composited the film on various layers in After Effects and did little bit of colour correction. It wasn’t difficult for me to do this one without music, as the whole film was about visuals,” added he taking us through the process.  It’s an indeed happy moment for the Indian Animation community that the country is represented in animation through an attractive animated video oozing with vibrant colours, adorable characters and depicts the cutural diversity of the country.  “It is a very proud moment for me to create an animated promo for DigiCon Asia that represents my country and I am very thankful to them. I would also like to thank AnimationXpress for covering this and spreading awareness to all the amazing artists and students in the Industry. Lets all Keep Rocking!” noted Funde. All animators, and creative artists who want their animated short films to be showcased on a platform and receive the recognition it deserves, can send their entries through us, as AnimationXpress is the official media partner for 22nd DigiCon6 Asia Awards.