Mar
26
Mar
26
‘Deadpool’ animated series on the rocks after Marvel, FX and Glover announce split
Posted in: Animation
Those anxiously awaiting Deadpool’s animated avatar to appear on screen, it might come as a disappointment as the series is stalled indefinitely after Marvel TV, FX and Donald Glover, have all parted ways on the production citing creative differences.
Having announced a 10-episode series in May last year, the animated show was supposed to go on floors early this year and launch in the following months. But the unfortunate meltdown among the makers now leaves the series’ production in a limbo.
Though FX Networks has officially confirmed its exit from the project, it continues to maintain business with Marvel TV for the live-action series of Legion, which is set to premier its second season on 2 April 2018. The show is based on the Marvel comics character of the same name and created by FX.
However, it’s uncertain whether Marvel would resume production on the Deadpool animated series. The project in place never really got off while a script was never delivered. Floyd Country, the animation house on board for the project, haven’t commented anything on its developments while Marvel TV too, have refrained from discussing its future just yet.
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Mar
26
From lyric videos to ad campaigns to social awareness, take a look at how this studio is carving a niche in animation
Posted in: AnimationThe first thing you notice when you enter Supari Studio’s office in Juhu Scheme, Mumbai, is that it does not look like an office, as much as it looks like home. A couple of steps from the doorway, and you enter the spacious hall, with a sofa and couch lined neatly on a side. However, what grabs your attention the most are the big frames on the wall with DC, Marvel, Star Wars and Death Note art. All signs of a very young studio.
The workplace that I visited was Post Office Studios, the sister company of Supari Studios. Founded in 2012 as a digital content studio, Supari Studios is run by a team of extremely young artists, creative thinkers, production managers and film-makers. Post Office Studios, the division which handles all the post-production work including animation and VFX, was started in September 2017.
“Post Office is focused on building proprietary processes to improve the process of creating visual effects and animated content,” said Aditya Tawde, who heads the division. “While we bring a wide range of capabilities from motion graphics and classical animation to visual effects and CGI, we are also further enhancing our capabilities in technology to build scalable and innovative tools for content creation.”
This is reflected in the variety of animated videos the studio has created. From lyric videos like Nike’s Da Da Ding and Dua Lipa’s New Rules, to The Rules of Kabaddi for Red Bull and Why Karo for public charitable trust Karo, one gets to see various animation styles. “These differentiated processes seek to improve the time and cost taken to develop new media content and automate core aspects to further drive scalability,” Tawde explained.
As a creative, bootstrapped business, the studio considers its people as the greatest asset. “It is with this in mind, that a lot of our focus is on finding ways to align our people’s personal and professional goals to that of the organisation.” WTFIGO (What The Fuck Is Going On) is a comprehensive 360 degree feedback session where organisational as well as life goals are discussed between employees and the founders.
As you enter each department of the studio’s office, it is difficult not to be distracted by the various figurines stacked on shelves and pop art frames lined neatly on the walls. The Yoda, Po, Groot, Deadpool, Batman, Wolverine, Baymax, Goku, Hulk, Eva and many more action figures sure make the place fascinating to say the least, nonetheless a constant inspiration to create indelible work.
“We believe that creativity can come from anywhere and hence diversity in thought plays a critical role,” Tawde shared. “In terms of a tactical process, we use sprints with design thinking principles to rapidly prototype ideas and test them.” One of their most recent original content properties, Vitamin Stree, was an outcome of their annual exercise Son of a Pitch, during which employees are divided into teams across passion points to deliberate and come up with new ideas and content pieces and/or a direction that the company should take.
In the last year and a half, Post Office has worked on 35 projects in various degrees of post-production with clients across Singapore, USA, UK and Indonesia. The studio’s Why Karo recently won the FICCI Frames BAF Award 2018 for best ad film in the Indian category.
With constant innovation, refreshing content and the pace at which the studio is growing, the next award doesn’t seem like a long way then, does it?
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Mar
25
The former Los Angeles Lakers star, Kobe Bryant penned down a poem Dear Basketball for The Players Tribune in 2015. The poem is now turned into an animated short film which won accolades and the Oscar in 2018.
“I feel better than winning championships. This is crazy, man,” Bryant said on winning the Oscars.
Bryant accepted his Oscar as executive producer for the best animated short film. The short film is an inspiration from Kobe Bryant’s self-made poem he wrote while retiring from NBA after 2015-16 season.
The legendry animator Glen Keane spent 37 years at Disney and animated iconic characters like Ariel from The Little Mermaid and The Beast from Beauty and the Beast. He served as a mentor to a senior animation studio and gave the animation world an entire generation of talent. He got his game right with the stupendous work, Dear Basketball. Kean and Bryant are legends in their respective fields and make an artistic pair.
Keane personifies the essence of the hand drawn art with 2D animation, bringing the beauty of motion to his projects. The film is crafted beautifully with the elements of sketching and playing sport going together hand in hand. The unquestionable animation technique used is making the Oscar winner all the more appealing. With sketching art taken as the focal point, it implements well with the powerful sport actions, giving audience a visual treat.
Motion capture is the best technique while focusing on a specific art form. The lines drawn are perfectly synced and animated with the voice of Bryant in the background, giving goosebumps as one goes through the entire film. The animator felt that CG would not have given the same impact as that of hand drawn sketch. It was a very realistic animation and so was done in live-action.
Google’s executive producer Karen Dufilho said, “I want to tell stories. I want to tell stories in animation. And the first thing I want to do is write Dear Basketball, which is a thank you letter. But, but I want it to be something that not just kids, but everybody, can see.”
Directed by Glen Keane and produced by Gennie Rim, Dear Basketball is an apt winner for the Academy Awards. The finely drafted film is capturing hearts of Bryant’s fans and artists all over. The collaborative effort from Believe Entertainment Group Kobe and Glen Keane Productions is a well done motion art.
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Mar
25
Imagica, India’s entertainment theme park is geared to extend a unique consumer experience for guests in association with Green Gold Animation. This alliance will witness the introduction of India’s first character ride named Chhota Bheem-The Ride. The kids-friendly attraction is scheduled to be unveiled at Imagica’s theme park this May.
“Our constant endeavour is to ensure that the character reaches out to more of his fans. Our aim is to create an exciting association which can transcend into fun, excitement and entertainment for all the visitors coming to the theme park,” added Green Gold Animation COO and executive director Samir Jain.
From left: Dhimant Bakshi, Pooja Shetty Deora, Samir Jain
The character will meet and greet fans at the Grand Imagica Parade. The association will also introduce an assorted range of Chhota Bheem merchandise at all the stores and kiosks across the theme park.
Adlabs Entertainment director Pooja Shetty Deora said, “Our vision at Imagica is to bring the best of experiences at par with international standards to the country, and our collaboration with Green Gold Animation is sure to set a benchmark in the space of Indian theme parks. This collaboration marks India’s first of its kind, where a theme park is associating with an animated content creator to bring India’s favourite character alive.”
Chhota Bheem has a massive fan base in South East Asia, with plans of expansion in the Middle East and North American countries.
“We aim to build a synergistic association with Green Gold Animation and offer an engaging experience for our guests. Since our key target segment is families and children, we see this as an exciting and apt collaboration for both the entities, leading in their own spaces, to give an enthralling experience with Chhota Bheem at Imagica,” said Adlabs Entertainment joint CEO Dhimant Bakshi.
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Mar
25
YouTube Brandcast 2018: How the platform is shaping culture in India with 80 per cent reach
Posted in: AnimationOn its tenth year anniversary since its India launch in 2008, YouTube hosted Brandcast 2018, a flagship event for marketers before the grand finale of YouTube’s live event performed by Indian and Global YouTube creators at the YouTube FanFest. Celebrating the 10-year milestone, YouTube shared insights on its journey in India, highlighting how deeply it is interlinked to India’s internet growth story.
With affordable data costs, increasing penetration of smartphones and an ever growing availability of great content across native Indian languages, YouTube today has become a gateway to a world of information for India’s growing base of internet users. Reaching 225 million monthly active users on cell phone alone, India is one of the fastest growing country for the company. By 2020, the total number of users in India, consuming online video is expected to reach 500 million as per the FICCI – EY Report 2018.
With its massive reach and high viewability rate of 95 per cent, Google South East Asia and India VP Rajan Anandan said, “YouTube has become a powerful platform for users, content creators and advertisers alike. Huge variety of premium content combined with the growing base and popularity of our creator community – truly differentiates YouTube from all other platforms. For brands, YouTube is now an end to end platform as per the December 2017 ComScore Video Metrix Multi-Platform for it reaches 85 per cent of all highly engaged Internet users, in the 18 years and above age-group, across India.”
Google South East Asia and India VP Rajan Anandan
Underlining YouTube’s ongoing commitment to India, YouTube’s chief business officer Robert Kyncl stated, “In the last few years India has emerged as an incredibly dynamic content and user market for YouTube. We now have more than 300 channels with over a million subscribers from just 16 channels. We will continue to invest in programs to support creators and encourage more diversity and distribution of their content. And we’re doubling down on our efforts both on product and advertising to unlock the potential of online video advertising for everyone.”
“Brands now have an incredible opportunity to drive material results with constant ads innovation on the YouTube platform,” he added. “Be it bumper ads or TrueView for action or offline to online – allows you to track the impact of your campaigns in your physical stores – or our latest innovative tools like Director Mix and Video Ads Sequencing, we are constantly adding newer ways for marketers to get more from YouTube.”
Director Mix takes a video’s assets and creates thousands of versions to align with the audience being targeted. This saves time, money and management on the part of the advertiser, and filters it to the right audience.
Instead of users seeing the same creative multiple times, YouTube has introduced the ability to sequence videos. Video ad sequencing enables advertisers to create a video funnel that moves users along a planned sequence of videos.
At the event, Google also revealed insights on the growing influence of YouTube based on the research done by Ipsos, Video Landscapes research in January 2018, IN NCCS A-B audience (eight cities in India: Mumbai, Delhi, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Trivandrum). The key highlight shows that almost 65 per cent online video viewers subscribe to channels on YouTube and 85 per cent of them go and watch a new video within two days of its uploading. The list also added that over 50 per cent of working women use YouTube before the actual purchase of beauty products, automobile, travel and real estate. Also, 71 per cent of online video viewers go first to YouTube to watch video to learn about something.
Google director of marketing for South East Asia and India Sapna Chadha said, “The reason behind YouTube’s influence in shaping culture comes back to its engaged audience. From millennials, to parents, to working professionals – they all go to YouTube with a strong intent to learn and explore something new. It represents an incredible opportunity for brands to use that Intent to connect with their audience in a meaningful way and drive significant business results.”
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Mar
24
Twentieth Century Fox created a stir online as it dropped the second official trailer of Marvel’s upcoming slapstick PG-13 production Deadpool 2 as the Merc with a Mouth is all set to ignite yet more furore on screen with his antiques and a whole new vocabulary of slangs. And this time, he has new allies joining him in his madcap excursions.
Self-confessing as the X-Force, Deadpool will have the likes of Domino, Bedlam, Zeitgeist and a lasso-wielding Surge, all of whom are lifted from the pages of the X-Force comics, come together to fight a new villain in town, Cable, who’s vociferously hunting down a mysterious kid whom we aren’t enlightened much about in the trailer.
Other mutants such as Negasonic Teenage Warrior and Colossus also mark a return in the sequel.
The new Deadpool movie would see the anti-hero globetrot in the essence of discovering the importance of family and friendship, all the while battling ninjas, a yakuza and also hyper aggressive canines.
With another heavy dose of action comes long spells of visual effects, and Double Negative, Framestore and Method Studios have come together to help Deadpool pull off more savagery. Award-winning VFX artist Dan Glass is the production VFX supervisor.
Directed by David Leitch, Deadpool 2 opens in theatres on 18 May 2018.
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Mar
24
Creative Talent Network launches Creator Space for the next generation animation talent
Posted in: AnimationThe Creative Talent Network announced the launch of the CTN Creator Space, a co-working environment dedicated to the animation industry. The studio is open to students, professionals, and entrepreneurs in the industry.
CTN Creator Space aims at providing technical tools, education, and the opportunity for the next generation of animation talent to develop industry contacts. It is located near the major animation studios at 847 Hollywood Way, Space 100 in the Magnolia Park district of Burbank which is the animation capital of the world.
CTN founder Tina Price states, “We see the new CTN Creator Space as offering a creative social gathering opportunity for animators who work independently, yet share values. The idea is to help the animation community by delivering an environment where talented creators can have a place to work, and where they can help each other in a collaborative and inspired atmosphere.”
The CTN Creator Space provides affordable workstations for talent at all levels, along with tools such as Wacom Mobile Studio Pros, Cintiqs pens, ZBrush, Sketchbook Pro, Photoshop, ToonBoom, large format plasmas with Apple TV, high-speed Wi-Fi and more. The details regarding the opening hours, workstations, access, parking and more are available on the CTN website.
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Mar
24
Annapurna International School of Film & Media welcomes Hollywood VFX veteran Phaneendra as academic advisory board member
Posted in: AnimationIn a distinguished and interdisciplinary career, Phaneendra Gullapalli graduated from prestigious Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) and started his career at Digital Domain (California) – a pioneer in visual effects industry. At Digital Domain, Gullapalli was part of Academy award winning team for Visual Effects in the Hollywood movie Curious case of Benjamin Button and his other Hollywood tent-pole feature film credits involve Real Steel and Tron Legacy, A Good Day to Die Hard and Star Trek into Darkness. He also helped create competitive advantage for Visa Inc., by creating innovative and patented technologies involving image analysis. Most recently Gullapalli supervised pre-production of upcoming India’s most anticipated upcoming tent-pole feature film 2.0.
“In his role, Phaneendra will be responsible for raising the bar at AISFM as well as leveraging infrastructure at our Annapurna Studios where AISFM is also located” said AISFM director Amala Akkineni.
We are thrilled to align our curriculum with evolving industry by equipping students with modern techniques like image analysis, virtual reality and augmented reality said AISFM dean of academics Bala Raj.
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Mar
24
Reptile FX revamps the cliché idea of wedding invites with animated video invites
Posted in: AnimationWho wouldn’t wish for a memorable wedding and to add to that, an even more momorable wedding invite! Mumbai-based studio Reptile FX powers video invites in an attempt to make your wedding invites indelible. Wedding being the most important and personalised affair in a couple’s life, Reptile FX thought of making the invites all the more customised. Being an animation hub already working on corporate animated videos for the past six years, the team thought of a natural extension to the regular invites, coming up with such a creative and quirky idea.
Reptile FX was started in Mumbai, India but it serves clients globally, US being the second biggest market for the company after India. It’s a video production studio specialising in videos and ads for businesses using animation and live action. It captures stories of soon-to-be-married couples in a captivating audio-visual format. Typically lasting about 60 seconds, these animated invites take around two weeks.
Targeted at NRIs and millennials across India, these customisable animated wedding invites seems a great medium for couples to tell their story and request the presence of their guests in a truly engaging manner. The team has a finely tuned process which starts with the creation of the script based on the couple’s provided information. The characters designed are created by referring to the photographs shared by the clients. Storyboard is created considering the couple’s story from first date to proposal. The video gets an enhanced makeover when the background music is incorporated. Timely inputs of the couple are necessary before proceeding to the subsequent stage.
Reptile FX co-founder and strategy director Prashant Pinge says, “A wedding deserves nothing less than a spectacular announcement. With more and more couples seeking to express their love stories in unique ways, an animated wedding invite from Reptile FX can go a long way in making their special day an even more meaningful and memorable affair. Moreover, characters are modelled like the bride and the groom to ensure that the guests receive a truly personalized feel when the invites reach them”.
Clients desire to create an exclusive experience at a reasonable cost. Many times, the weddings are designed around themes which are incorporated in the video using appropriate elements. Adobe Creative Suite is the software that creates the magic the clients wish for.
“Nowadays, it’s a lot easier to share an animated invite on social media. We did a soft launch about a month ago, and the response has been tremendous. We’ve already successfully delivered five animated invites so far” added Pinge.
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