| SINGAPORE: There's
an animated atmosphere here at the third day of BroadcastAsia 2006. Besides sessions
on the new broadcasting technologies, Day 3 saw a special session on animation
called - Animation and Visual Effects seminar.
The speakers for the morning
session comprised Crest Animation Studios CEO A K Madhavan, Blackmagic Design
Singapore director of creative services Peter Barber, Rhythm & Hues USA visual
effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer and Intense Animation Studio managing director
Tony Sealy.
Throwing light on the success
of Crest Animation Studios in the last four years or so in the space, Madhavan
said, "We began as a production house for TV commercials 14 years ago, and
then moved on to providing post production facility. Four years back, we decided
to get into animation; acquired an American company - Rich Animation and I think
we have done a fairly decent job."
What's more, Crest has progressed
from providing animation content on the television platform, to the DVD platform
and now is moving on to the theatrical space. One of it's 3D show, Arthur,
is going to release in the US next month as a DVD feature. The company has also
signed a deal with renowned French producer Marathon for a new 3D animated series
and it's DVD feature Casper is also due to launch. Crest also inked a deal
with Lion's Gate International for Silvester and the Magic Pebble, which
will hit the screens in the summer of 2008.
"One needs to understand
the sensibilities, likes and dislikes of various markets to create a show for
them. There is a lot of background research that goes behind making shows for
various international markets," Madhavan said.
When queried as to
whether the company was doing enough more for the local Indian market, he said,
"We are providing some amount of content locally but the market has not yet
developed. Apart from that, the budgets are very low and the animation industry
still hasn't got the push. But, I see the Indian animation industry exploding
in the next 10 years' time."
Over the last three years, Crest Animation
Studios has delivered over 126 series to broadcasters like PBS, Fox and Cartoon
Network. Some of the series that Madhavan spoke about were - Jakers, Pet Alien
and Bratz.
Rhythm & Hues' Westenhofer explained in detail
the process of the making of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch
and The Wardrobe. "It was a huge challenge especially where hybrid characters
like the Centaurs were concerned. We extensively used pre-visualisation in this.
It took us six months of motion capture, which included eight weeks of horse capture
as every creature has it's own unique fighting style," he said.
"With
all the new technology coming in, it becomes imperative for filmmakers to know
what the tools are. Digital photography is going to change the paradigm of how
we do things," he added.
Intense Animation Studio managing director
Tony Sealy, whose company has conceptualised -11 - an animation soccer
comedy show for broadband television, threw light on the various challenges that
the animation industry faces in Singapore.
"Originally, Intense
Animation Studio was intended to be a creative agency, but there was a serious
lack of talent in Singapore. So, I first opened a training center and we were
the first company in Singapore to teach Maya. We also conduct seminars and workshops
to teach people more about computer animation," Sealy said.
The
show 11 was pitched to M2B World, which is a leader in broadband media
entertainment business, and a major provider of interactive entertainment-on-demand,
education-on-demand and e-commerce streaming over broadband channels, internet
portals, and 3G devices. "With M2B, we had a far wider reach over broadband
on-demand, 3G and internet. Broadband TV provides a great diversity of delivery,"
Sealy said.
Pointing out the difficulties that the animation industry
in Singapore faces, Sealy said, "One needs to address the lack of private
investment in the creative projects and educate the investors about the scope
of animation. We also need to lift the training standards and address the current
subsidies for training and internships. Apart from this, studios must develop
their own IP." |
