Tag Archives: Indian Animators
East Meets West: Spectatorship
Audience > Style / Mode of Animation
‘We do a variety of work which is not limited to animation. A combination of live action and animation.’
Eriyat, 2015
Eriyat develops and selects the mode of animation and stylistic approach through what he views as the best fit for the brief. In this sense, spectatorship drives his studio and allows for his studio to master a variety of animation disciplines. From an industry perspective, this way of working is beneficial for advertising companies as the versatility leads to a broader set of options for how the brief could be executed.
‘It is not a conscious decision to make our films look different. But it is a conscious decision to make every story stand out differently. And, whilst selecting the style which works perfectly for the brief and story, there is also this responsibility that I don’t want to show people something that we have done before.’
Eriyat, 2015
Footnotes
Audiences – How they differ? How South Animators adapt to their audiences. Whereas Westernised animators develop a stylistic, more aesthetic approach. Do South Asian animators adapt their artistic style and mode of animation for their audiences?
East Meets West: Representation of Space
Above is a screenshot from the ‘Pixar in a Box’ series on YouTube, the scene dictates how lack of space can emulate constraint. Mr Incredible, a strong build / symbol of strength character is placed in a small cubicle. Not only is the cubicle insufficient in size for his build, the artists have further restricted his space by placing a massive pillar within it.
This scene is somewhat driven by the audience, which leans into spectatorship. We, as the audience, feel an overwhelming sense of constraint and tightness for the character. Not only is the ratio between the character and his space off kilter, we naturally compare his situation to the other characters adjacent to him, who have a sense of freedom.
Above is a screenshot from ‘Sanjay’s Super Team’, a short film about an Indian boy who idolises American super hero’s and somewhat dislikes his Father’s traditional ways. Set in the USA, it highlights the struggles of embracing culture and traditions within a Western context.
In this particular scene, there are multiple references to consider:
The distance between the two ‘worlds’ showcases disconnect or lack of connection between the two characters, although they are both strategically housed under the same roof.
In terms of body language, the two characters in this scene are deflected from each other, both are immersed in their own worlds – almost uninterested in their surroundings. Note, the Father’s posture: upright on his knees, torso erect and placed majestically on the rug at eye level with the deity. Whereas, the son’s posture is relaxed with his leg lifted, flailing almost as he glares upwards staring in admiration at his ‘deities’. From this, we can somewhat gather that the Father is regimented and govern by tradition. In comparison to his son, who shows his age – a sense of child like freedom and unbothered by structure.
For instance, the generational differences – note, the focus on the glaring television, the bright colours and scattered objects somewhat allude to youth. Whereas, on the other side of the room, it is tidy, subdued in colours and the focus is on tradition / traditional objects.
Footnotes
How space alludes to connectivity between the Western culture and South Asian culture.
Relational tension between cultures, highlights the differences.
East Meets West: Gestures
This is a screenshot from a TV advertisement which won the ‘Holland Animation Film Festival Award in 2009’, directed by Suresh Eriyat. Not only did I enjoy the style of this advert, it showcased typical gestures from South Asian cultures. This advert is a taster of the output from modern South Asian animators who are consistently delving into their culture to bring new perspectives.
Chand, D., 1764. Ashraf ‘Ali Khan. [Watercolour on Paper]. Chand, D., 1764. Mutuby, mistress of Ashraf ‘Ali Khan. [Watercolour on Paper].
For instance, this animation displays similar attributes to Indian folk art and more specifically, Bihari paintings. My thoughts are that, Suresh Eriyat wanted to reference the origins of Indian art and culture through this animation. For me, the Sulekha advert embraced various features of Chand’s watercolour paintings, which are displayed above. Chand’s muted colour palette and use of continuous horizon is translated effortlessly in Eriyat’s animated advert.
Looking at Ranade’s work, gestures come into play. The use of leather puppetry pays homage to the traditional forms of Indian animation. Like most modern Indian animators, they bring an element of culture and strategic movement. From researching this, I would like to study how body language and gestures can be synonymous with culture.
‘It is a very powerful medium. It is a very unrestricted medium, it doesn’t have any particular format you need to follow. You can tell any story, you can tell it any which way. You can do abstract things, you can do realistic things you can do all kinds of take offs. For me, that power was very interesting.’
Ranade, 2015
The Western Imprint on South Asian Animators
Glimpse of Indian Animation
Clare Weeks is said to be the ‘Pioneer of Indian Animation’. An American man who had 16 years of work with Disney was invited by the Information of Films India to set up and head the animation division in Bombay, India.
Animation in India started with Leather puppetry, but then began to look at the political side of things within India. The government recognised that animation was a tool to educate the Indian public and to also use it for their political means. For instance, animation as an educational tool was utilised for the common person to truly understand certain aspects about life through visual imagery. During the 1950’s, the majority of the Indian public were unable to read or write, therefore animation allowed people to be educated in a visual way. This form of communication showcased adverts and infographics for political propaganda, shopping, hygiene related issues and so on.
Following on from the ‘political propaganda’ era of Indian animation, during the mid 70’s, artist ‘Abid’ utilised animation in his fine art practice as displayed in the video above. This is a far stretch from the beginnings of Indian animation, however the commonality between leather puppetry and Abid’s live action / stop motion performance lies within the storytelling. However, the differences are very stark – colour comes into play and therefore the stylistic approach with composition and form is more prevalent.