At the sidelines of the seminar on animation and visual effects held in the fully-packed 500 seater NDRI auditorium in Karnal recently, Paresh Parekh, Creative Head of Frameboxx Animation and Visual Effects, shared his thoughts on the emerging opportunities in the field of animation.
Paresh Parekh who had been the script researcher for Oscar-winning “Slum Dog Millionaire” and worked closely with screen play writer Simon Biufoyl of UK for the project, had been actively involved in preparing various actors for the movie. Paresh Parekh, a product of National School of Drama has learnt theatre from Naseeruddin Shah and Barry John.
What is the essential component of a good animation movie?
Character animation is what holds the audience, and it is essential that these characters are lifelike and can act their way into the hearts of the people.
Why do you think that most Indian animated movies have not excelled?
Our Indian animation lack proper scripting and pre-production. The major work in any successful animation production is the story-telling technique, and performance acting. Though Indian animation artists excel under the supervision of Hollywood directors and are able to provide excellent technical inputs yet when it comes to home grown production, the characters are somehow not believable. Once you start watching a Hollywood animation production, after sometimes, you would forget that you’re looking at computer graphics. And it is despite the fact that Indian animation artists have contributed technical expertise to some of the notable recent productions, including Narnia, Hulk, Golden Campus, Mummy series, Alwin and Chipmunks, etc. So much so that it is almost 30 to 40 percent of technical expertise of Indian animators that has gone into these productions.
What kind of work students at Frameboxx are doing?
Students at Frameboxx, in the past five years, have excelled in their work and are making a mark in leading animation studios only because we have made acting and film-making a part of the curriculum, because animation does not mean creating motion, but filling it creatively with emotions and feel. In last two years, students have created more than 400 original ad concepts and some of these have been picked up by the industry readily, which speaks volumes.
What about the Indian original IP in animation?
There had been several good attempts in creating animation serials for television as well as several full-length feature films have been created, but there is a need to create such content that typically appeals to the Indian audience. There is a need to create animation characters that are not European but very much Indian, representing Indian ethos, values and culture. There has to be strong story telling and ‘Chhota Bheem” produced by Green Gold Animation is an excellent TV series on that count.
What would be your advice to the young animators?
Bring the finesse of an accomplished artist. Walk the street with open eyes and ears. Watch carefully. Watch the way people walk, talk and sit. Study human anatomy and expressions. And then animate your lifeless characters into animated lively ones who can connect with the audience easily. Motion in animation is life-less without performance.