It was a much awaited day for students of India’s Largest Digital Media Academy.Accomplished Animation Film Maker Vaibhav Kumaresh graced Creative Multimedia’s 14th anniversary extravaganza as the Chief Guest and swept budding animation students through the production pipeline in a marathon 3-hour presentation peppered with insights, facts, tips, techniques and everything that a wannabe Animation Artist would love to know about crafting films.
The enlightening session was preceded by the customary address by the CEO of Creative Multimedia Group, Raja Sekhar Buggaveeti. Raja Sekhar welcomed the gathering and proudly introduced the Chief Guest to the students. Reiterating Creative Multimedia’s commitment to imparting world-class, outcome-driven education, he stated proudly that it had fortified its leadership position by bagging the ‘Best Digital Media Academy in India Award recently at Delhi. Reflecting on the coveted recognition, he exclaimed:“This honor once again acknowledges our reputation as the finest destination in India for Animation, VFX, Web and Graphics education. We have been setting the standards in the industry, every since our inception with a string of revolutionary initiatives and powerful value-additions aimed at enhancing employability of career aspirants. The results have been nothing short of spectacular: our students have been attracting top honours at several Animation film/digital art festivals besides emerging as the most sought-after talent in the industry. Our record-crushing placement results in 2010 and 2011 demonstrate the trust that top industry recruiters have in our world-class training and career prep programs.”
Later, Mr. Vaibhav Kumaresh launched DNA Inc’s latest 3D Animation short film ‘Frog’s Day Out’. DNA Inc. is the talent incubation arm of Creative Multimedia and is devoted to grooming studio-ready Animation Artists. Congratulating the team on the brilliant effort, he exclaimed: “I am particularly impressed with the lighting and ‘look & feel’ of the film.” He went on to engage students in an enlightening presentation on the practical aspects of Animation, that stretched all the way up to lunch hour.
He screened his best works including commercials, promos and channel ID’s for Vodafone, Amaron Batteries, Clinic Plus, Everyday 360 LED, Sagar Cements, MTV, Nickelodeon, Pogo and Channel V. The OOGA BOOGA promo on cricket for Neo Sports had students in splits. Vaibhav screened the Bulaadi commercial and used it as a case study to explain the process of Stop Motion Animation. The presentation turned out to be a rare opportunity for students as the master craftsman took them on a steep learning curve, introducing them along the way to processes and concepts such as Exposure sheets, Animatics, Doodles, Ladders and Blocking techniques.
“You have to be a carpenter, a tailor, a painter and everything as you have to create an entire world” he said, as he went about educating students on the frame-by-frame process of puppet/clay animation. He encouraged students to keep sketching and said:“this is the most important exercise if you are in the animation business. It’s the best way to keep your observation active. Sketch whatever you see and don’t copy from books. Develop your own natural style.”
The post-lunch session witnessed another enlightening presentation on the art and practice of Animation by Praveen Kilaru of Rhythm and Hues India. Screening some of the best works of the studio, Praveen dissected the production pipeline and dealt at length on each stage of the workflow to give students a near-real picture of the techniques adopted by leading studios to put together an Animation film.
Late in the evening, K.K. Senthil Kumar, the cinematographer for widely acclaimed VFX-driven Telugu films as Arundhati, Magadheera and EEGA arrived to a standing ovation. Fresh from the mega success of ‘EEGA’, a blockbuster film that exploited VFX to the core, he was invited as a special guest to speak on the art of VFX for the benefit of students. Adopting an unconventional method of sharing his knowledge, he avoided the formal presentation route and chose to engage students with an interactive Q&A session. And it worked brilliantly as students eagerly competed with each other to shoot their questions and clear nagging doubts on the incredible VFX of the film ‘EEGA’.
He responded with ease and alacrity to a range of VFX-related doubts. The session, though unstructured, gave students, a ringside view of VFX as an art and helped them understand the behind-the-scenes of VFX in today’s movies. Senthil wrapped up his session by congratulating Mr. Raja Sekhar for pushing the limits of excellence and helping Creative Multimedia to stay on the top for 14 years.
In between all these enlightening sessions was a rocking medley of entertainment. The prestigious Prodigi Awards instituted by Creative Multimedia and aimed at honouring outstanding student talent were presented to the winners by Raja Sekhar, Vaibhav and Senthil.
A humdinger of a promo showcasing Pixel FX’s advanced CG capabilities was launched by K.K. Senthil Kumar to a deafening applause. The promo was crafted using advanced and complicated ‘live-action and VFX integration techniques’. The promo team included 35 CG Artists trained at Creative Multimedia and recruited by Pixel FX to work on its film projects. Pixel FX is the Animation and VFX arm of the Creative Multimedia Group and is busy working on a range of projects including Animated TV commercials, Gaming and VFX for Telugu films.
Raja Sekhar presented mementoes to Vaibhav Kumaresh and Senthil as a mark of respect to them and thanked everyone for gracing the celebrations.
Prior to the celebrations, on the occasion of the 14th Anniversary and as part of its social responsibility initiatives, Creative Multimedia, in association with Red Cross Society, organized a Blood Donation Camp at its academy on Thursday, the 19th of July, 2012. With over 200 volunteers including students and staff, it turned out to be one of the largest blood donation camps conducted at any Digital Media Academy in India.
