We have come a long way, say animation students

Animation students who attended the Silver Salt Animation Film Festival that just concluded in the city found themselves on a creative high as they walked out of Jawahar Hall in Cubbon park on Sunday. The festival, which showcased 50 animation films made by animators from 26 countries, inspired the students to do something original on their own too. Supreet Adiga, a student with one of the animation schools in Bangalore, says he had come mainly for the workshops but was impressed by some of the animation films that were shown at the event. “I really liked some of the films and it was an eye-opener because generally we get to see only animations made by bigger Hollywood studios. I got an idea of the kind of films that are made in other countries. My favourite movie was an Indian entry, Samba Mamba, but what really surprised me was the quality of animation in some of the 2D movies. They were made by primary school students but were brilliant,” says Adiga.

He wasn’t the only one who walked out feeling blown away by the visual quality of the 2D movies. Sarath Raveendran, Vibhav Mutha and Prajakta, who are doing a bachelors course in 3D animation, seem surprised by what people have done without the added dimension. “The last film shown had a person change the whole world using his origami skills. It was really good. I didn’t know it was possible to create such animation in 2D,” Raveendran says.
The event finally had around 350 registrations despite a change of venue and dates a few days before the event.

Among the attendees were Stephen Swierczyna and Sigrid Ortwein, who had flown in from Germany for the event. “We had sent in an entry that did not get selected but we came because we still wanted to participate in the film festival,” Swierczyna says. The duo who’re in the city for a week were amazed at some of the Indian entries at the event. “My favourite was Sattala Bari based on a Bengali song, and what we liked about the Indian animations were the colours used and the drawing. I hope they do not trade it for the kind of animation we see in the West. Animation is a good way to preserve the past, the traditional art style in India,” Ortwein says.

However, not all the participants shared this opinion. Tejpal Singh of Graffiti School of Animation, who conducted a workshop on how animators should make a showreel, says Indians need to think beyond the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana. “They need to come up with original ideas and that’ll happen if they are passionate,” he says.