Animation Films- The Best is Yet To Come

Much to the delight of young and ambitious animators, the 'back office' tag on the Indian Animation film industry is finally wearing off. The face of the Indian Animation Industry has changed phenomenally over the last few years. From subcontracting for global animation giants to striking co-production deals, India has made quite a dramatic transition which can be attributed to both the insatiable demand made from International Content Producers as well as the availability of comparatively cheap but skilled manpower in the country. In such an emerging stage, the springing up of several Film festivals and Animation Schools can aid the growing process tremendously by nurturing and recognising the early signs of creative brilliance seen in students and professionals. “We observe subtle shades of hope, despair, innocence, introspection, humour and happiness in the entries we receive from talented students around the world. In the face of challenges like tight deadlines, stringent resources and consistent storytelling, we are overwhelmed by the sort of substance we receive in the animation category” asserts Hemanshu Parmekar, Vice-Chairperson of sixteen:nine International Film Festival organized solely by students with an aim to unearth and promote new talent. Also, the organizers at sixteen:nine International Film Festival(SNIFF) declare that such events provide our domestic students a forum to witness and discuss the works of students from advanced animation content creating countries. The sheer range of stories, styles and mediums employed in the repertoire of the animation genre gives you the fundamental reason why there is so much excitement about the potential future of the Indian animation industry. On the other hand, critics and skeptics suggest Indian animators may have a tough time adjusting to original movie productions as they require greater skills, time and capital than what subcontract companies focused on outsourcing are accustomed to. The Indian Film Industry, notwithstanding the most prolific film industry in the world, churns out only 4-5 animation films every year which makes it a lamentably lopsided scenario and presents the herculean task ahead of Indian Animators and Production Houses. “If our country wants to develop a national brand identification in Animation and have a strong representation in major International Animation Markets and festivals, then it is imperative to increase the demand for Animation as a career option for our students” says Prof (Mrs.)Zinat Aboli, faculty advisor at sixteen:nine International Film Festival. With recent releases like Roadside Romeo, though it may not have been a commercial success, animation films in India has finally taken a step beyond mythology, folklore and fairytales. Suffice to say, due to the general lack of awareness about the industry, we are wont to identify animation only with light-humoured cartoons meant for children and escape the glaring fact that Animation is a vast genre which can transcend humour and embrace serious tones of satire, tragedy and drama catering to “adult understanding”. Sure there is an unprecendented boom with the Indian Animation Industry projected to grow to Rs.42 billion by 2009, but will our animators and production houses ever find a pan-India audience? That only time will tell. In the meantime, let us hope that in the days to come, India will boast of animation parks, along the lines of software technology parks that provide us all the infrastructural facilities to help us build our own identity in this field.

It's A Small Small Small World!!!

As digital technology and filmmaking has grown ever more interconnected over the years,number of filmmakers are searching for forums to celebrate the marriage.But now their union is taking the world of filmmaking altogether to a new ground –Cell Phones.Since their inception,cell phones have been constantly getting smaller, cheaper and equipped with more functions and the best has yet to come.It’s almost hard to believe that fifteen years ago cell phones were a rarity.The idea of cell-phone films is to present something visually simple and entertaining in a short duration as most cell-phone films run for under ten minutes and their picture background is less detailed than traditional movies.Shaarika Pandit,chairperson of sixteen:nine International Film festival remarks, “We plan to capture the potential for audio-video expression that lies hidden in a “practical high tech-toy” with which most people play and its popularity hasn’t ceased to grow. “Though cell-phone films are obviously nowhere near their big-screen cousins in sophistication and popularity,chances are cell-phone films will rapidly get more refined as this new genre develops.On the positive side,new age digital multimedia cell-phones with color screens and powerful processors always run pretty good footage such as short movie trailers and sports recaps so quality will only get better in the years to come.Shreyas Thatachari,an aspiring filmmaker who studies at UPG college of management which organizes sixteen:nine International Film Festival avers, “There is not much scope for subtlety as far as cell-phone films are concerned.You can’t have a really long shot where you’re this person standing in the middle of the desert.From a director’s perspective,you’d probably shoot films that were visually simple and uncomplicated which pretty much negate genres like War,Fantasy,Action,Adventure etc.”.sixteen:nine International Film Festival which is organized solely by students takes place on 12’th and 13’th January,2009 and aims to promote student filmmakers across the world by seeking quality entries in the various categories: Cell Phone Films, Short Films, Animation Films ,Ad Films and Nano Films. Content, editing, lighting and all other aspects of making the clip are open to the filmmakers as long as it is shot on a cell-phone and does not exceed the time limit of 10 mins. With 2 billion subscribers worldwide, mobile phones represent a much greater market for film than movie theaters or PCs. No wonder studios, distributors, and independent animators and filmmakers are streaming into this virtual film genre. After all, mobile content like simple wireless games and ringtones have become unexpected hits with the global market for ringtones alone likely reaching astronomical figures this year. So why not movies? That virtual land is full of possibilities.

Off-Venue Events at sixteen:nine International Film Festival 2009

Wouldn't you want to Strike-a-Chord with people who Compose-a-Prose,Sketch-A-Story and Parade Parodies making it a Pot-Pourri of events in a film festival which will be Coming Soon?Yes,you read that correct.We,the organizers at sixteen:nine International film festival present you a range of off-venue events which will both be curiously interesting and interestingly curious.We do not suggest a tone of condescension but our extensive research on events,categories and film festivals has shown us that barely any of them focus on individual aspects and stages of filmmaking like scriptwriting,editing,background score etc.This opened an opportunity for us to present something unpresented ,experiment something unexperimented,invite something uninvited from people across the globe.We have carefully crafted a list of off-venue events keeping creativity,cinema and inter-relation in mind.So if you think,over the years,movies have moved you and excited some thought,we strongly demand participation as we sincerely wish to be the dumping ground of all those thoughts.

Welcome To A World With Rules

At sixteen:nine International Film Festival, we screen the best of short films made by students from the world over. Considering the growing interest shown by young people in cinema these days, we the organisers at sixteen:nine international film festival focus on harnessing young potential who are worth their salt. The festival is organized by the students of SVKM's Usha Pravin Gandhi College of Management,India with the vision to promote student filmmakers on a global level. sixteen:nine, a film festival with a difference not only in terms of being a platform for showcasing talent but also as a learning experience for filmmakers. The festival will be held on the 12th and 13th of January 2009 at venues in India. But,since cyberspace takes care of travel constraints,we will be happy to see you uploading your short films so we screen them here. Apart from short films and the various sub-categories, we have off-venue and on-venue events for which you can register on our official website. This blog will take care of all the news and events happening from the world of sixteen:nine International Film Festival. And when we’re not blogging about festival events, categories and deadlines, we will be blogging about movies in general and our undying love for them.So keeping reading us for interesting stuff cos’ in a thick Italian accent,we say,”We are going to make you an offer you can’t refuse”.