IndiaJoy – one of India’s largest expos to celebrate gaming and digital media and entertainment content – had an interesting lineup of sessions for the VFX Summit on Day 2.
The day began with a keynote presentation by Framestore India managing director Akhauri Sinha on Talent and Technology: Creating Compelling Content. Sinha showcased various ambitious projects that Framestore has worked on, elaborating how the team went about executing them.
Up next was a session on Digital Humans and AI Revolution in VFX by Ice Studios founder Anant Haldia. Haldi shared how his studio has worked on digital humans for various Indian films like Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, Fan, Zero, Sahoo and more. He went on to explain the importance of photogrammetry in creating life-like 3D models and using various tools to create digital humans.
Haldia’s session was followed by a session by Framestore India CG supervisor – film & episodic Prashant Nair. In his session Creating Believable Performances With Digital Characters: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Nair explained the work done by Framestore on Rocket Raccoon in the Marvel film. Apart from Rocket, Nair showcased the work done by the studio on other VFX-heavy scenes and multiple other characters in the film.
Post this was a session Incentives for VFX Industry in Filmmaking by Invest India VP Shruti Rajkumar. Rajkumar spoke about the incentives the government is providing the VFX industry. Post lunch was an insightful panel discussion titled The VFX & Animation Industry in a Globalised World: Trends, Strategies & Implications. The panel comprised industry veterans like Technicolor Creative Studios India country head Biren Ghose, Rotomaker founder Mike Yatham, Framestore India’s Sinha and Famous Studios managing director Anant Roongta. The panel was moderated by RFX Virtual Infrastructure CEO Prashant Buyyala.
The VFX Summit was graced by a delegation from UK. During the session Innovate UK – An Innovation Showcase for the Creative Industries from the UK Delegation, delegates from the country presented various projects for which they are seeking partnerships or audience in India. The delegates encouraged Indian professionals and studios to get in touch with them for possible partnerships.
Day 2 also witnessed Asifa India’s sesions, one of which was a fireside chat between film producer and Arka Mediaworks CEO Shobu Yarlagadda, and Dancing Atoms Studio CEO & creative director Saraswathi Vani Balgam.
The highlight of the day was a session by renowned Indian cinematographer K.K Senthil Kumar, which took place as part of Cinematica Expo. Apart from the VFX Summit and Desi Toons, this year IndiaJoy launched Cinematica Expo – a mega premier film and cinematography conference bringing together leading cinematographers, film technicians, directors, and learners. A debutant at its best, Cinematica showcased the advancements of cinema and the technology fusing insights from east and west. This conclave witnessed an insightful session on Crafting the Framework of Advanced Technological Narratives. The speaker for this talk was Kumar, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema and is well-known for his work in Eega, Baahubali and RRR. The talk was moderated by cinematographer Ajay Vincent.
With three tracks – VFX Summit, Cinematica Expo, Asifa – running parallelly, the second day of IndiaJoy catered to the interests of a diverse group of audiences, and saw a full house during every session. Attendees and students interacted with various creative professionals and speakers who were part of the expo, and had a blast at the fun activities being conducted at the booths in the exhibition area.
The day concluded with people looking forward to the three-day IGDC conclave which will take place at HICC, Hyderabad from 2 to 4 November.