‘Pahal- The Initiative, 2D Animation short film made by Mumbai based Stalwarts Productions won the VFX Animation Award at My Mumbai Short Film Festival 2013 which was slated on 3rd October, 2013 at Ravindra Natya Mandir in Mumbai. This is a 2 minute film made in August 2013 and targets the Indian society as a whole.
AnimationXpress.com interacted with Mikil Puthran, Director of ‘Pahal- The Initiative’ and Stalwarts Productions and got to know the Making process of this Animation short film.
What is ‘Pahal- The Initiative’ all about?
The very title of the film ‘Pahal- The Initiative’ brings out a clear cut idea. This animation short film is all about bringing out a realization among people that the Handicap should also be considered as ‘a part’ of the society and not ‘apart’ from the society. Through this short film, our team has tried to show that the physically disabled individuals are also gifted with capabilities which can contribute towards the betterment of our society. But this can be possible, only if our society takes the Initiative of encouraging the disabled people by giving them the rightful opportunities along with better standard of living which can add up to their prosperity. Click Here to View the Movie
What inspired your team to base this short film on a ‘Social Awareness’ theme?
The whole idea of this film came up only after speaking to one of my very close friend who is physically handicapped too. Through an informal conversation, it opened my eyes towards the extent to which the disabled people are ignored and no one even tries to enhance their capabilities which is beyond their physical or psychological disability. Later, our team debated on the same, and decided to convert the debate points into an interesting Social Awareness short film.
What medium of Animation was used for making this film?
As this is a pure 2D Animation film, we preferred to use Traditional Animation. The Animated characters were drawn on paper first and then traced on the computer. We even used different software like Flash and After effects. Final Compositing was done using Foundry Nuke.
Why did your team specifically prefer to use Traditional Paper Animation?
Using Traditional Paper Animation brings out a direct connect to the Indian traditional animation society. Another reason of sticking on to it, is that Traditional animation improves and helps in sustaining the quality of Animation art. Animation by hand always brings in more richness to the film. We focused more on designing the traditional prop of the ‘Tri cycle’ used in India by the physically disabled people
What were the challenges faced by your team in the making of this movie?
From the Technical aspect, we didn’t face any challenge as such, but to bring out the actual emotional feel of the movie we did strive hard on the background score. It took almost half the month to finalize all the music and sound aspect for this film.
Why did your production Team prefer to make this film a silent one using music as compared to dialogues throughout the movie?
As Actions speak louder than words, we wanted our viewers to understand the storyline without any dialogues. The basic idea was to bring out a ‘Pictorial drama’ using a mild music beat with a humanity feel to it.
Can you put some light on the ‘Settings’ and ‘Color textures’ used in this film?
After working on the music, we made sure that the moods of the different scenes in this movie are conveyed through the setting and colors as well. For the scenario setting, our teams focused on bringing out the rural feel to it. Over all, it starts with a dull color tone to represent poverty and neglect. It ends with a happier color tone, which helps in showing a movement of joy and realization by the end of it.
How many team members were involved in making this Short film?
Yes, this Animation short Film wouldn’t be possible without the co-operation and hard work of the below listed people:
Bhavesh Kulal- Producer
Hemal Upadhyay and Sachin Mishra- Concept designer
Paresh Palkar and Narendra Medhe- Senior Animation Supervisors
Devendra Tripathi – Production Manager
Any future projects your studio wishes to take up?
Our team will be soon coming up with other social awareness 3D animation films concerning environment problems in the years to come.
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