Hasta La Motion!

Global cybersecurity brand, Kaspersky, has announced its association with ILG (Indian LAN Gaming) to connect with the gaming community to showcase their home security solutions which are curated especially for gaming pros that spend continuous hours online, thus exposing themselves to numerous online threats.

“According to a recent KPMG report, India recorded a whopping 250 million online gamers in 2018, which is a 10-time spike from 25 million in 2010. The online gaming industry is expected to generate revenue of over Rs. 11,900 crores by 2023. Gaming can undoubtedly be seen as  one of India’s fastest-growing industries and with its fast-expanding base in one of the world’s youngest countries, the Indian gaming industry has been in a desperate need of a solid anti-virus that protects the machines and breaks the very popular myth that an anti-virus affects the speed and performance of the system, as those are the two most important aspects for a gamer” said  Kaspersky (South Asia)  marketing manager Nikhil Dudwadkar.

About 85 per cent of the estimated 250 million Indian gamers uses their mobile phones and 11 per cent use tablets and computers. This exposes to online threats, many of them irreversible.  Gaming mode covers them all. According to Dudwadkar, it is one of the sharpest, best performing anti-virus available in the market, busted the myth that anti-viruses negatively impact gaming performances. He added, “not only does this not hamper the functioning, but it also brings immense peace of mind to gamers who can now focus solely on their content without worrying about the security of all their sensitive data and hence we are proudly saying: Kaspersky Gaming Mode On- Security On!”

Kaspersky’s home security solution fills this huge gap in the market with its efficient, effective and non-interfering working. It comes with some groundbreaking features that makes it the most superior gaming anti-virus in the market today. Kaspersky’s Game Mode comes with:

• Gaming Mode for zero distraction
• Provides VPN so gamers can compete with players globally
• Protects gamers’ identity & stops them from being spied on
• Secures messages, photos, banks details & more
• Password management protects critical passwords on various gaming sites to secure game points

The most striking feature, however, remains that it does all of this without reducing the gaming performance at all. The partnership with ILG is to help Kaspersky reach out to the thriving community of gamers, allowing them to try the anti-virus and experience the benefits for themselves.

The ILG is a unique platform where e-gamers can participate in over 600 tournaments across India. This covers 30 games, including the extremely popular DOTA 2, CS:GO, FIFA 19 and WCC Rivals among others.

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The State Government of West Bengal has announced to set up a Centre of Excellence on Innovation at Salt Lake Sector V which will be dedicated to cutting edge emerging technologies, with special focus on animation. 1.5-acre plot at DP Block has been allocated for the centre and the design is ready.

This news was announced by the Finance, Information and Technology minister Amit Mitra recently at a knowledge workshop on animation, VFX and gaming organised by Webel, a nodal agency of the State Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E) Department.

For the centre, IT&E department is joining hands with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT) to provide a B.Sc in animation and film making for a  three-year degree course. The minister said the State Government wanted to create a talent pool in these fields as they are growing exponentially every year.

“Makaut has given us certain terms and conditions which we will be fulfilling soon. Our target is to churn out 500 graduates a year in the field of animation, visual effects who will be job ready immediately after they graduate,” said Mitra.

He also handed over certificates to 23 students last Friday who have successfully completed their course from Webel DQE Animation Academy. “Institutes offer training but do not guarantee jobs after that. All 23 students who were given certificates have secured jobs. We will be keeping up this trend. Next year we will be having 68 students from this academy,” he added.

Talking of the enormous growth potential in this sector, Mitra noted that the government will take a realistic and sustainable approach so that Bengal can position itself in a dominant position not only in the country but also in the world. The minister welcomed similar centres of animation in the private sector in the state and said that he wants noted media services provider like Netflix and Amazon Prime to come to Kolkata to provide indigenous animated products for the future.

The minister lauded the efforts of state IT & E additional chief secretary Debashis Sen and his Webel team for the professionalism and high standards offered in the Webel DQE Animation Academy .

Sen commented, “Content will be in demand in the future. We are trying to create an infrastructure and the required ecosystem for creation of content as well as product development.

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Netflix has recently released the trailer of the upcoming fantasy drama TV series  The Witcher.  The TV series has been created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich for Netflix. It is derived from Andrzej Sapkowski popular series of fantasy novel  The Witcher Saga.

The trailer reveals the monsters, dramatic special effects,  impressive-looking locations, tension and pretty brooding looks by leading man Henry Cavill (of Superman and Mission: Impossible fame). Other stars you can expect to see on screen are Freya Allan playing Ciri, Anya Chalotra playing Yennefer, and Anna Shaffer playing Triss Merigold.

Andrzej Sapkowski fantasy novel The Witcher was quite popular that thereafter  Polish TV series  The Hexer or The Witcher, movie, graphic novel and games which as of 2018 became so popular that it sold 33 million copies worldwide.  Thinking of the popularity mark how can Netflix let it go through it yet reveals the official date however to maintain the anticipation among Netflix has divulged that it will air in late 2019.

The two-minute clip shows our protagonist facing off against a variety of foes in a variety of different forms. At the end for perhaps the most dramatic shot of the trailer is when the spiders in the swamp rise above.

Stranger Things was the hit of summer, so probably Netflix has kept The Witcher in the kitty for the fall season to excel spookiness for Halloween viewing pleasure.

Sapkowski is on board as a creative consultant, so we’re expecting the show to follow the short stories and novel fairly closely. The trailer suggests the origin stories of Ciri and Yennefer are going to be crucial to the action.

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Animation is an ever evolving art form. In India, the medium is not only affected by trends and tectonic shifts in culture, but also by the technology available in the country to produce it. Despite shortcomings, this artistic tool is gaining propulsion with every passing day in the country. 

‘Nadam’

Now, with the help of animation, India is going to experience its first immersive film, Nadam, on Indian Music which is a part of the Indian Music Experience Museum in Bengaluru. Created by Switch Studios, Nadam, that was launched today, 27 July, in Bengaluru, is designed to play in a massive immersive circular enclosed space, over multiple projectors. The story depicts the origin and evolution of Indian music and its told by a mother to her child. 

Switch Studio founder director and director of Nadam, Upasana Nattoji Roy said, “Once I knew the space it was going to be experienced in and read the script, I knew I wanted this to be a seamless film without cuts. I did not have any reference of music or sound. The visualisation and storyboard was first created without considering the production process. This gave me the freedom to visualise and led to the multiple visual styles used within the film. After we had locked the story flow visually, I further detailed the storyboard and built a unique workflow to make it possible. I was very clear that neither live action nor 2D character animation will work. So, I built a unique style that was layered helped stitch this vast narrative together.”

Such an exciting and experimental project is sure to have its share of challenges. Unlike regular films, it is not possible to see the entire screen in a circular place while seated. The pixel ratio of the film is 6990 x 1200 that is close to four times the size of HD. Roy mentioned, “The visualisation posed a tremendous technical challenge for me as it had to be done in a new and unique way keeping in mind the audiences’ experience. I had no prior example to refer to in India and the only film in a similar screen size was a film in Australia. The scale of the story was the other challenge, we needed to tell a vast narrative in five minutes. We oscillated between the narrative and the non narrative. Layering meaning, colours and multiple styles of animation within it – including motion graphics, 2D animation, CD4 files and artistic rotoscopy. But at the same time, it was extremely exciting as well.”

Upasana Nattoji Roy

An alumnus of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad with specialisation in Animation Film Design, Roy has been a producer and broadcast designer in Ten Sports and Dubai One and won Promax Gold there. She has been profiled on ‘Art of the Title’ as the Top 10 women in title design, along with being a finalist in SXSW excellence in title design. Her presentation in ADI talked about her evolution from broadcast design to creation of art in motion. Her films have been selected in  many international short film festivals.

Roy set up Switch Studio nine years ago which operates at the intersection of art, culture and business. They provide services in brand film, broadcast design, advertising, title design and performance design. She thrives in a wide spectrum of visual styles and what lies in the core of it all is a story and experience that moves people.

Apart from Nadam, her credits include – the title design for Netflix’s dystopian original, Leila that premiered on 14 June;  a brand film, Bharat, Flooring and Tiles, for the 100 year old company Bharat Tiles; Performance Art for TedX Gateway – Maati Baani and others. 

“[For Leila], we proposed two directions for the visual language and story. One was a direct approach building straight off the overpowering propaganda seen across the series. The other was a visually simple but intellectually layered approach of juxtaposing a single shot of a wall that holds it all. The first approach was selected and we created the whole lineup halfway through the production we got feedback that it needed the simplified one shot approach. We got it all together and worked backwards from the timelines we had available. The idea was now to build on this ominous and overwhelming power of AryaVarta and juxtapose all responses – in agreement and of dissent,” commented Roy.

Leila is produced by Open Air Films and is co-written and co-directed by Deepa Mehta.

The film for Bharat Tiles was primarily meant to be used in their events, website and across their social media. A 100 year old handcrafted tile company, Bharat Tiles’ origin was linked to the Swaraj Movement in India and had a lot of archival stories that could be told. The film focused on the company’s heritage and history and the process which is handmade and unique.

“The design language of the film was created based on the story we needed to tell. The film was designed using actual vintage photographs and the cement tiles themselves – so that the treatment itself had a deep connection with the brand. All my films are more about the impact and the look and feel we set out to achieve. We used live action, motion graphics, 3D from Cinema 4D as well as frame by frame animation. The film was meant to be primarily consumed on social media – including instagram – so it was designed to work even if the sides got cropped in a 1:1 ratio,” noted she.

TedxGateway is a fantastic experience that brings together some of the most inspiring speakers. While most of the engagement is through talks, and the screens were used as fragmented units – Switch Studio provided performance visuals for Maati Baani’s performance that unified the experience and led to a standing ovation.

Roy informed, “The scale of the event that was held in NSCI Dome was intense. Maati Baani performed a 20 minute set and in their unique collaborative style, they brought together musicians from across the globe and disparate musicality on one stage. My aim was to create visuals to hold them all together as one entity. They performed four pieces which were totally different in terms of origin and stories. I created visuals that I saw in my head on hearing a scratch track. One piece was predominantly inspired by the ‘morin khuur’ (Mongolian: морин хуур), also known as the horsehead fiddle which is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. This was layered with the beautiful melody by Nirali’s voice.  When I create visuals for performance – the medium is totally irrelevant. What is relevant is the experience I want the viewer to feel and have. All of these visuals were created using a combination of frame by frame animation, motion graphics and SFX overlaid with stock and shot footage.”

Maati Baani visuals

With such amazing work in her kitty, Roy is spearheading the studio and the quality of animated content they are producing. Being asked about the current position of the animation industry in the country, Roy concluded, “I cannot speak of the ‘industry’ as I exist in the periphery. However I can share what I have experienced in terms of looking for talent. I feel some artists and animators are doing fantastic work but on the other hand the ready templatisation and software driven work is affecting the visualisation and the stories themselves. Experimentation and unique stories seem to be occurring in pockets and are mostly self funded – and hence not sustainable. Like all art forms to grow and develop it – animation needs a surge of experimentation and patronage to truly grow. Animation in India was born too late to ever have patronage. As an artist and experiential designer I piggyback on our brand films and performance videos to challenge myself and my team to keep growing. Right now the trend points towards animation – mostly motion graphics, as the most sought after medium in digital advertising.”

Animation is a tool for communication and at Switch artists like Roy are constantly looking to experiment, creating their own challenges and outdoing them.

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During Xbox’s E3 presser last month, Bloober Team revealed their next horror title. Based on the universe created by the films, the Blair Witch game will sure get players’ hearts racing as they deal with all sorts of creepy things. Fans have been curious about the game ever since the announcement, without a ton of information being provided by the devs. We’ve learned about some of the gameplay details, including combat and time loops, but as we are a month away from launch, we now have a look at 10 minutes of glorious gameplay.

Its been a month since Bloober Team revealed their forthcoming horror title which was going to be based on the universe created by the films, the Blair Witch game, leaving the players in anticipation of its release. Fans have been buzzing with excitement ever since it was announced.

Recently Game Informer treated fans with 10 minutes of Blair Witch gameplay. It’s not known as to where exactly in the game the footage above is from, but it seems to be around the start of the game. The player character is traversing the forest and beginning to realise that something is remiss. To aid us in our journey, your faithful canine friend, Bullet, will be your guide.

Blair Witch is set to officially drop on 30 August 2019 for PC and Xbox One.

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