TASK holds Kol.Katha'09 - a Grand Success!

* The First Ever Animation Film Competition in Eastern India *

Kolkata 26th February 09: The Animation Society of Kolkata (TASK) showcased the first ever animation short film festival in Kolkata, aptly named “Kol.Katha” which could be interpreted as a competition about story telling or about the tales from grandma’s lap, as the audience wishes to perceive it. This gift from TASK to the City of Joy, Art, Culture and Creativity was long overdue and was warmly received in the true Kolkata spirit by the audience. The early morning fog delayed our guests from Mumbai but that did not lessen the excitement and the enthusiasm in the 800 strong crowd that gathered at Kala Mandir to witness history being created.

CROWDS GATHER IN THE MORNING

The event promises to become a landmark in the cultural calendar of this city, being the only forum for expression of ideas and storytelling through the medium of animation which has many forms and dimensions.

“Kolkata has always been known for its creative geniuses and their contribution to all forms of art. Animation is the art form that has captured the attention of both viewers and artists in contemporary times. Kol.Katha is an initiative to encourage and promote the budding animators who would get a platform to showcase their talent through this competition. We hope this event would prove to be a milestone for all those creative people”, said Shilpi Chakraborty, Secretary, TASK.

“Kolkata experienced an animation festival of this kind for the first time and I am very happy to see TASK’s initiatives result in this event. I sincerely hope that animation students and professionals make the most of it.” says Mr. Vaibhav Kumaresh of Vaibhav Studios (Mumbai).”

TASK felicitates Shri Chandi Lahiri

The day started with the society felicitating the noted cartoonist Shri Chandi Lahiri who said “Kolkata, famous for its creative brains, may now find better avenues to express through TASK. Earlier we never knew where to show and sell.”

Next in line was a high voltage case study on “VFX in Advertising” by Mr. Aijaz Rashid from Prime Focus, Mumbai. He presented a case study on the “how to” of creating advertisements with high voltage computer generated special effects. Mr. Abhishek Chandra shared with the audience the story behind Cg Tantra’s motto of “LEARN INSPIRE GROW.”

VFX workshop

The 800 strong student and professionals from Kolkata bound together for their love for animation were glued to their seats when the screening of the entries started after the short lunch break. Their excitement was boundless in voting for the Viewer’s Choice Award in each category. The viewer being the best and most strict critic of any film, this was an integral part of the proceedings of the day.

The competition attracted more than 150 entries from all over India in the “Professional”, “Independent” and “Student” categories and was judged for overall impact of the Film, Story, Design, and Artwork. The winners and runners-up in every category were awarded.

The initial pre-screening was done by the members of the committee of TASK and thus shortlisted entries were sent for nomination to an eminent Jury panel comprising of Mr. Prakash Moorthy (Head of Animation, Miditech, Prosenjit Ganguly (Independent Animation Designer, Director, stop-motion animator and educator), Yunus Bukhari (The Chief of Artery Animation & FX), Mr. Arijit Dutta (Managing Director, Priya Entertainment).

JUDGES IN ACTION

On the day of the event, these entries were judged by an eminent jury comprising of renowned industry experts like Mr. Aniruddha Roychoudhury (Renowned Bengali Film Director), Mr.Bickram Ghosh (Noted Percussionist & Tabla Maestro) Dr. Madhuja Mukherjee (Faculty, Film Studies, Jadhavpur University), Sarbajit Sen (Independent Cartoonist and Illustrator) and Abhishek Chandra, (Co-founder of CG Tantra) and Mr. Aijaz Rashid (Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Prime Focus Ltd.).

This is what the Judges had to say about the event:

Dr. Madhuja Mukherjee: “I would have really missed something had I not been here today and I hope TASK will continue to strive for excellence in this manner.”

Mr. Bickram Ghosh: “I am not an animator but I am certainly animated. What I realized after going through these films is that as language is to poetry, animation is to film making.”

Mr. Aniruddh Roy Chowdhury:”I never expected the student community to do such good work and animation and VFX are an integral part of my film designs. Hence it is encouraging to see that TASK is furthering this cause in this region as well.”

Mr. Sarbajit Sen: “Finally there is a platform for art and creativity in our city.”

Mr. Aijaz Rashid: “It was a treat for the eyes to watch so many good films at a stretch.”

Mr. Abhishek Chandra: “Finally we are seeing a shift from tool based thought process to creative film making and it is very encouraging.”

AWARDS DISTRIBUTION CEREMONY

“Stick to the basics and respect your teacher. You may be more of an expert than your teacher but he is there to teach you the fundamentals. As a film maker, your fundamentals should be very strong, and your editing skills should be very sharp,” said Victor Banerjee, the celebrated actor, who boosted the confidence of the winners and all present by gracing the occasion during the Award Distribution Ceremony.

Winners at Kol.Katha’09:

	Category	Film	Winner
STUDENT	Best Film – Jury (Winner)	Sikuaq	NID
	Runner Up	Dugdugi	Mukesh Pachauri
	Best Film – Viewer’s Choice (Winner)	Dugdugi	Mukesh Pachauri
	Runner Up	C9H13NO3	Palash Vaswani
	Best Story – Winner	Roop	Shyam Sunder Chatterjee
	Runner Up	“g”	NID
	Best Character – Winner	Dugdugi	Mukesh Pachauri
	Runner Up	Make Laugh Not war	NID
	Best Poster - Winner	“g”	NID
	Runner Up	The Bushman & The Egg	Picasso Animation College
PROFESSIONAL	Best Film – Jury (Winner)	Samba Mamba	Vaibhav Kumaresh
	Runner Up	Flying Menace	Vaibhav Kumaresh
	Best Film – Viewer’s Choice (Winner)	Samba Mamba	Vaibhav Kumaresh
	Runner Up	Laadli	Metaphor Studios
	Best Story – Winner	Samba Mamba	Vaibhav Kumaresh
	Runner Up	Music Binds All	Pushpendra Prakash Sagar/ Sharad Mante
	Best Character – Winner	Samba Mamba	Vaibhav Kumaresh
	Runner Up	Flying Menace	Vaibhav Kumaresh
	Best Poster - Winner	Music Binds All	Pushpendra Prakash Sagar/ Sharad Mante
	Runner Up	Didi Bhi School Jayegi	Nandita Basu
INDEPENDENT	Best Film – Jury (Winner)	Use Me	Anindya Basu
	Runner Up	Drugs Will Wipe You Out	Copal Mathur
	Best Film – Viewer’s Choice (Winner)	Use Me	Anindya Basu
	Runner Up	Drugs Will Wipe You Out	Copal Mathur
	Best Story – Winner	Use Me	Anindya Basu
	Runner Up	Drugs Will Wipe You Out	Copal Mathur
	Best Character – Winner	Drugs Will Wipe You Out	Copal Mathur
	Runner Up	My Friend Noju	Kirat Gurung
	Best Poster - Winner	Drugs Will Wipe You Out	Copal Mathur
	Runner Up	Use Me	Anindya Basu

The icing on the cake was “Teen-Phodon” - an interactive workshop on animation production conducted by the three musketeers of the animation world – Sekhar Mukherjee (NID, Ahmedabad), Mr. Vaibhav Kumaresh (Vaibhav Studios, Mumbai) and Prosenjit Ganguly (Independent animation designer & NID Alumnus).

TEEN PHODON IN ACTION

Kolkata has a very famous ‘seasoning’ known as Paanch Phodon (Five flavors) ... using that as a theme, the Teen Phodon session at Kol.Katha will have the flavors of animation by Vaibhav, Sekhar Mukerjee and Prosenjit. Shared Prosenjit, “The session is going to have an exemplary introspection of work in terms of the way each of us approach animation including its cultural context as well as the treatment. The thing that we are looking at is variety, for e.g. Sekhar does a lot of comic work and cartoons and teaches as well, Vaibhav does a lot of commercials and I work with kids and on creating IP, we will give a wide palette to the audience and explain the range of possibilities”. “Overall we want things to be interactive, light-hearted and art centric” he added.

WE MADE IT HAPPEN!!!

Kol.Katha’09 marked a “small step for TASK, but a giant leap for the animation fraternity in this city”, said Mr. Ramesh Kumar Ruia, President TASK, for whom the feeling was equivalent to what Neil Armstrong must have felt when he landed on the moon. Indeed, Kol.Katha’09 marked the beginning of brand new journey altogether.

About The Animation Society of Kolkata:

The Animation Society of Kolkata (TASK) was formed by a bunch of animation enthusiast led by Ramesh Ruia and its prime objective is to share and spread knowledge in the field of animation development. TASK intends to conduct workshops, seminars and trainings in the various dimensions of the creative field of animation and intends to hold at least one such event every month for the benefit of the animation students of Eastern India.

TASK has already conducted such events every month since its inception on the 8th of November 2008 including a workshop on sand animation and Train the Trainers while introducing various forms of animation other than tool based to the student community. The enrolment of more than 300 students as members in a short span of four months is a testimony to the excellent job this society has been doing.

For more information please visit: www.taskindia.org

About KOL.KATHA:

Kol.Katha is an attempt to put the creativity of the people belonging to the field of animation in the Eastern Region of India on the world map, to expose them to the kind of work that is being done elsewhere. It is an initiative to provide some food for thought, to enable them to benchmark their efforts with the best in the business. Cinematic brilliance has always been Kolkata’s forte, thanks to a rich cultural heritage combined with an enormous pool of creative geniuses who dare to think out of the box. As animation captures the fantasy of the film-goers worldwide, it’s time an animation buff who dreams of making a masterpiece gets the opportunity to tell his story…and Kol.Katha is here to listen to, watch and applaud excellence.

“My congratulations to TASK and all those who are associated with organising Kol.Katha’09. The multi-faceted cultural brilliance that emanates from Kolkata has found a befitting ally in TASK to mesh technology with art. And what better way to present to the world that Kolkata is abundantly talented in both – technology and art – than to invite amateurs and professional both to present their creations and vie for recognition at a forum that will provide them visibility and recognition. Such events encourage everyone to excel and motivate others to try harder – and it is the selfless dedication of the people behind TASK and Kol.katha’09 that deserves recognition too. My best wishes for the success of the event and many more in the future.” – said Mr. Pramod Khera, MD, Aptech Ltd.

Footprints in Sand...

3^rd January, Kalkunj, Kolkata: TASK’s New Year gift to animation lovers of eastern India was “Footprints in Sand”. Conducted by Delwyn Remedios who had mesmerized the audience at Anifest ’08 and Debjani Mukherjee, his batch mate, this sand animation workshop stole the hearts of a 300 strong crowd that had braved a transport-strike to attend it. These makers of the much appreciated film, “Chai Break” (the outcome of an experimental animation workshop at NID using sand as the medium) engrossed the audience with a 2 ½ hour long interactive session. They took us through their journey of the making of their film, reliving their memories and at the same time, educating us about the various do’s and don’ts of sand animation.

Delwyn and Debjani started the workshop by inviting three volunteers from the audience and asked them to sketch a human being. Later he combined the head, body and legs from the three drawing – taking one element from each drawing to make a completely different being. He had just introduced the audience to “cut-out” animation technique. He further illustrated this technique by showing his film “

akansha” which has used this technique of animation.

The most important lesson that the audience took home was, “while working with sand, never be afraid of making mistakes. Rather, fall in love with. Merge them with your film. They’ll make you learn a lot and in the end become a very valuable part of your film,” as pointed out by Debjani.

The unique thing about sand is its formlessness, as Delwyn pointed out. So, the movements become much more important than the formations. The beauty of the medium lies in the ease with which morphing and trans

formations can take place. Interaction with the medium becomes very important as animating with sand is more of a personal experience as both speakers re-iterated many a time. Every maker’s point of view is reflected in the story as is his/her personal traits. Also, it is essential for us to “let the sand tell the story.”

The whole session was divided into three parts, screening of a few films, including Chai Break, the making of the film and a live workshop which resulted in a short animation film worked on by both speakers and also a few volunteers from the audience. 

Delwyn and Debjani further explained that they had learnt the importance of understanding their teammates while working on the film as they worked in shifts and it was essential that the idea was carried forward properly. They had also learnt that it did not pay to be rigid about their ideas as the interaction with sand led to a lot of innovations by itself.

The duo answered a lot of questions from the very inquisitive audience including queries about handling a walk-cycle on 

sand, the concept of ‘boiling’ the sand, the post-production stage and even the set-up required to try their own hands at it.

 The icing on the cake was a short talk by the mentor of this dynamic duo. Sekharda wrapped up 

the session by screening a few animation films as a New Years gift to the audience. The Korean 

film “Walking in the Rain” emphasized the need of simplicity in story-telling, imagination in ideation process, and the difference between obscenity and a work of art. A few other films, made by the students of NID really inspired the audience with their unique concepts. Sekharda stressed that “animation is not two-minute noodles; it requires a lot of labour, passion and hard w

ork, along with a lot of patience and love for the medium.”

He encouraged the young animators to participate in the upcoming Kol.Katha’09 and promised that this film festival would create a new bench-mark for Indian animation film-making, redefining its course.

TASK President Mr. Ruia added, “It is really encouraging to see the support extended by the participants to these newer avenues of animation that we are determined to open up to animation lovers of this region. We promise that this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have a long way to go.”

 

TASKmaster: Kolkata, 2nd December 2008.

TASK, as promised earlier, organised a day long workshop named TASK-Master for the teachers and trainers of animation on the 2nd of December 2008 at the Academy of Fine Arts where two animation stalwarts Sekhar Mukherjee & Vaibhav Kumaresh interacted with about sixty trainers of animation from various institutes in Kolkata.

Sekharda explained to the audience the art of animation and dwelled on the critical aspects of film making. He urged the trainers to extricate themselves from the mistake of making Disney type animation the benchmark for all their works and encouraged them to explore other media and styles of animation film making. Sekharda illustrated this through various films which he showed to the audience including those by NID students and those that were made using different media like sand, stop motion and mixed media.

The trainers should also create animation and not lose sight of their primary responsibility towards making of a good student concluded Sekharda.

Vaibhav Sir also continued in the same trajectory and showed the audience films made using different media including flash, clay, stop motion and even foam puppets. He emphasised that the use of the media would depend on the story and script requirements and a judicious choice of media was important for the final outcome.

He went on the show the spellbound audience the case studies of two of his creations, the Buladi series and the Taare Zameen Par sequence. He explained to them the process of character development, background selection, lighting elements, storyboarding, animatics, X-sheets, set construction and trial animation.

He emphasised the importance of pre-production for animation and asked the trainers to follow the entire process of animation development. 

“I congratulate TASK for initiating an animation session specifically for the animation teachers. The prime asset of an education institute has got to be teachers and sensitizing them more and more to the beautiful art form of animation will always be a step in the right direction. I would be most happy if this event plays a role in revamping the curriculum of training institutes across India. We need to focus more on exposing our students to all forms of animation, storytelling and film making rather than trying to fit them into our existing industry. I am grateful to TASK for having given me this opportunity to share my views with the gurus and wish them success for all their future endeavours”, concluded Vaibhav Sir.
 

The sessions were followed by a small workshop where in groups of five were asked to present a story idea by drawing 5 frames after which Sekharda gave the teachers a crash assignment to come up with a short animated film based on these ideas. The workshop concluded with Sekharda making the participants promise a few short animation film entries of their own for the upcoming Kol.Katha competition.

Speaking on the occasion, Sekharda said “TASKmaster definitely is a welcoming initiative by TASK after the grand launch session in November. The entire team of TASK has shown very positive and liberal approach towards promoting the awareness of the medium of animation in 360 degrees aspects. The advisory board of TASK is a unique combination of persona of varied background and expertise with a common interest in promoting animation in this region”.




Ramesh Ruia, the president of TASK explained that they targeted the trainers since they were the first and primary contact point who would help in translate the importance of good animation film making technique down the line to the students.

The First Steps...

Heart-warming music, films, dance, poetry, theatre, art and prose… still there was something amiss from the creative platter that the City of Joy has been able to offer to the world. It was to fill in this gap that The Animation Society of Kolkata or TASK took its first few steps on the 8th of November, 2008 at the Gyan Manch auditorium. The formation of the society was announced in front of a 300 strong audience comprising of animation students, professionals and enthusiasts from all over the city.

A non profit independent body formed by a bunch of animation lovers with passion for story telling and duly supported and guided by a star studded list of eminent experts in animation from India, TASK’s vision is to strengthen the creative dynamics of the artistic and technical people in Eastern India to enable them to excel in the field of animation by fostering and nurturing talent through a forum wherein they can exchange and assimilate ideas, information and expertise. To promote the art of animation and to Nurture, Develop and Encourage Animation talent and Animation industry in Eastern India are its main two objectives.
TASK boasts of an Advisory Board that has made the creative circuit of India proud, comprising of:

Sekhar Mukherjee: Currently Head of Animation and coordinator for the department at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. An artist, satirist, illustrator and academician, Sekhar 'da' is a live wire with boundless enthusiasm.

Vaibhav Kumaresh: An NID (Ahmedabad) alumnus and ardent supporter to the cause of animation, Vaibhav brings a fresh perspective to the society. He has won prestigious awards in India and overseas and has recently returned form a short stint at Flikerpix Ltd.–Belfast (Ireland), where he was the director of animation and key animator for a short in-house production. Vaibhav specializes in traditional / clay animation. He is a keen trainer and believes in sharing his knowledge for the benefit of others.

Prosenjit Ganguly: Designer, Director, stop-motion animator and educator, Prosenjit Ganguly's short films have received 3 international awards and have been screened in over 20 countries. He has also served on the faculty of the National Institute of Design. Presently, as Director, Special Projects at Toonz Animation India, he is primarily involved in the development of original animation content and creative direction. He also makes time to teach specialized Courses in Visual Communication and conduct animation and creativity workshops for children.

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: The renowned Bengali director started off as an ad filmmaker. He has been able to mark a niche for himself in the film industry with a highly succesful debut venture 'Anuranan'.

Arijit Dutta: Managing Director, Priya Entertainment, he operated at the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association as its youngest president. Of late, he has also ventured into acting and done films with directors like Gautam Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Raja Sen, Rituparno Ghosh and Anjan Dutt.

Bickram Ghosh: Noted percussionist and tabla maestro, Mr. Bickram Ghosh needs no introduction. He figures prominently amongst the best in the world and is very passionate about encouraging the development of passion and creativity.

Dr. Madhuja Mukherjee: Faculty member at Jadavpur University film studies department and has also taught at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. Her research interests are in the fields of Indian Films with a particularly of the independence era. She is also an enthusiastic film maker.

The inaugural address was given by Mr. Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, the noted film scholar, and professor, Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He stressed on the growing importance of animation even in the live-action films and praised the effort to bring together all those who are passionate about this medium of story-telling to share a forum such as TASK. Mr. Mukhopadhyay also unveiled the logo of TASK which was revealed to the audience through a short piece of Claymation as the awe-struck audience burst out in appreciation of the effort.


Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ramesh Ruia, the president of the society said that TASK was the first initiative of this kind in eastern India and a long awaited enterprise which would help provide a platform to ideas that emanate from the coffee houses and addas. The Eastern Region of India has always been a store house of talent and creativity – it is time to nurture this talent and put it in its right place on the world map.

The society also took this opportunity to announce the G. D. Salarpuria Foundation Annual Scholarship in Animation for Rs. 25,000/- to be awarded to deserving students of this region to make it a little easier for them to pursue their dreams.


With the launch of its website, www.taskindia.org, TASK also announced the animation film competition “KOL-Katha”- to be held in the first quarter of 2009. The competition is open to all story tellers who want to use animation as a medium of expression, the details of which will be available on the website.

The highlight of the programme was an interactive session on the art of animation by Mr. Sekhar Mukherjee called “Every Picture Tells a Story”. Sekharda’s perspectives gave the audience much to think about. The animation films screened by him enlightened the audience about the limitless possibilities in animation. He explained that TASK was to ensure that through many such workshops, seminars, festivals and competitions dedicated to animation, animation students across the eastern region were to be educated about the innumerable ways in which an animation film could be made.

Prosenjit Ganguly though absent from the event due to hectic schedules, sent in his best wishes through email:

“Hello Kolkata!

Animation has put it's best foot forward in the land of Goopy and Bagha! The land that has been showering us with the best of creative treats, has long deserved an initiative of this kind. The first rhymes you learn to utter, are nonsense verses of Abol Tabol, the first vernacular you read are creations of the World Poet, and the first film that grabs you, has ghosts dancing to Mridangam beats! There is no reason why a language as unique as animation should not flow in the veins of 'generations' that have grown up on these amazing joyrides of fantasy! This city has a responsibility to continue delivering the goods to the present and forthcoming generations. It is a challenge. Because the standards that have been set are so high!
TASK promises to bring the buzzing movie minds together, to reflect, share and grow into true descendants of this land's unparalleled art heritage. We look forward to an extremely educative, entertaining and engrossing line up of activities that would set higher standards for storytellers, craftsmen and musicians of this medium. We look forward to be able to introspect, critique and encourage each other on this brand new platform!
I invite every film loving citizen to pass the word around: The Animation Society of Kolkata is here! Get cracking!

Needless to say, the other Advisory Board members who couldn’t make it also wished TASK well.
But the icing on the cake was the rush to collect membership forms after the event drew to a close. It was indeed heart warming to see the long queues of animation enthusiasts outside the auditorium which translated into only one realization- the hard work to unite the animation lovers of Kolkata had already begun to pay off!!!

Looking forward to bigger crowds and even better events under the banner of TASK in the near future…