Yunus Bukhari from Artery VFX, Navin Naveen Gupta, Executive Director & CEO, Frameboxx, Sanjay Gadhvi, Director of movie “Dhoom 1 & 2” ,Rajesh Turakhia, Managing Director, Frameboxx
Year after year, the folks at Frameboxx in this, as well as in their previous avatar have been giving India some of it‘s fresh, new and best 3D animated short films, grooming, nurturing and mentoring their students to produce the best.
Well, the news is that they have taken their 3D animation quality and overall production to new heights with this years student films which were showcased recently at a special preview for jury members and the industry which was held at Pixion‘ plush preview theater in Mumbai.
A majority of the films shown had the audience Wowed by their visual appeal as well as sound design creating an overall high end 3D experience.
The preview also marks the countdown to the Frameflixx Awards and festival slated to be held in Goa on the 16th of May for which most folks from the community are looking forward to for a double whammy with the heady combo of the animation festival plus Goaaaaah!
Some of the films such as ‘One Life‘ and ‘Tongue Twisters‘ were exceptionally notable for their stylization and treatment on top of the good 3D and sound design.
The foray into stop motion and experimental animation was an interesting one as well, and a nice beginning. The short films can be viewed on the Frameboxx YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/myframeboxx
Good news for the industry is that If one has good scripts and stories, the 3D animation talent from design and Pre pro to production to post is being well groomed and ready to start working with.
Speaking to AnimationXpress.com, Frameboxx Executive Director & CEO Navin Gupta shared, “The quality of films made by our students for the second edition of Frameflixx Awards is truly commendable. This year we have raised the quality bar of animation filmmaking on many fronts including concept, storytelling and technical finesse and have managed to achieve high production values. We have also successfully experimented with different animation mediums. It was really heartening to see the work of our students being appreciated by the industry big wigs at the screening . And the unanimous positive feedback and appreciation that we have received is amazing.”
Now let‘s hear what the Jury Members had to say, Sanjay Gadhvi, Director of Dhoom 1 & 2 and member of Frameflixx 2 Jury shared, “I was very impressed with the films that I saw at the screening starting with the experimental work and the 3D films as well. Not that I am an expert, but the quality of work seen was like watching any other animation film coming from any other part of the world. I think Frameboxx is doing a very good job by providing this platform to the students in the form of Frameflixx Awards to get recognition for their work and get encouraged. The animation space in India is still at this nascent stage as we have never had a comic book culture as such and efforts like these will help in bringing it upfront and at a stage of reckoning.”
Yunus Bukhari from Artery VFX says, “Earlier when the industry was growing there was only supply of students trained in software, more like software operators. The industry needed to give these artists secondary training on aesthetics and the art of filmmaking. But after seeing the films at the Frameflixx screening, I feel that there is no need of such secondary training any more. I have never before seen such quality films coming from any other institute in India. What Frameboxx is doing is a beautiful culmination of art and technology by nurturing faculty and creating ecosystem for students to competitively face digital challenges. Also the student films with this amazing ‘wow‘ factor has posed a challenge to the industry to step back and rethink on what they are delivering.”
Fable Farm‘s Biju Dhanapalan added, “The films were really brilliant. The quality of work shown this time is way better and superior than last year‘s Frameflixx. Students have done a really wonderful job. What I was particularly happy about was the fact that the students had stressed on the story part more than just demonstrating technical skills. Everyone was trying to tell a story. Having said that even technically the films were very good, in some shorts the lighting was brilliant and in some the animation was commendable. Such quality coming from the students‘ community is really encouraging.”
Big Animation CEO and industry stalwart Ashish Kulkarni was really happy with the quality of Frameflixx 2 films. He says, “The films have truly come of age and have set new benchmarks for student films in the Indian animation space. Noteworthy are the drastic improvements in storytelling, filmmaking, and sound and especially in rendering. It was amazing to see large number of entries in the experimental animation category as well. With so many movies being made in different animation mediums, we can say that the new generation of Indian animation professionals is ready to take on original content creation and also take the services offered by Indian animation studios to a new high.”
“I really liked the way Frameboxx has approached social themes. I particularly liked the short ‘The Stamper‘ and the render of the short ‘Tongue Twisters‘.”