Organized with the aim of creating a platform that motivates, hones and showcases Indian animation’s stellar student talent, the annually held 24FPS Animation Awards is amongst the premier animation competitions in the country.
Currently in its 4th edition, 24FPS has been growing and evolving every year and this year, the organizers MAAC (Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics) plan to take things literally to the next level with a massive media blitz and participation from studios across the Indian animation scape.
The organizers have added 2 additional categories including student’s team (open) for non MAAC institute teams as well as Best VFX. Besides this the other categories include â€?The 24FPS Best 3D Animated Short Award and Exclusively for the Student Team, the awards are also for Best Story / Concept, Best Pre Production, Best Modeling & Texturing, Best Lighting & Cinematography, Best Film (Winner, 1st Runner Up & 2nd Runner Up)
Speaking to AnimationXpress.com, Shravni Chopra, General Manager of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) shared, “Initiated by MAAC in 2003, this event has grown over the years by leaps and bounds and is in its fourth year. Last year saw a galaxy of stars from the animation industry descend on the awards night. Among the distinguished guests were experts and delegates from such production houses and institutions as DreamWorks, Toon Boom Animation, Prana Studios, VBeing, Anirights, 2NZ Animation, Crest Animation and National Institute of Design among others.”
“This year, the event promises to be much bigger and is on the verge of establishing itself as a premier international animation festival.”
MAAC Deputy GM Jasmeet Singh shared that, “A thought that was born in 2003 as a visual effects awards for mixing live and cg actions has today grown by leaps and bounds to be a Internationally recognized Animation Awards Ceremony wherein even participants from across the boundaries have been sending entries under various categories. Every year 24fps has seen increase in entries in its team category entries. The first year in 2004 saw 7 teams compete in this one of its kind awards ceremony in India. The year after that in 2005 there was a big jump from 7 to 29 teams, which translates to a jump from 35 students to 150 students. And in the last event (Year 2005-2006) the participation shot way up to 200 students. This year there are approx. 300 students who are on their way creating animated short films which will go on judging and showcase in May next year.
Talking about the selection process, Jasmeet shared that “Various points of consideration are looked into while judging for these awards. For every category there are various issues to be looked on. For e.g. For Best Story award the judges look for Story Structure, Characterization, Story Flow (Problem Statement & Solution) etc. Similarly for all the other categories there are various such norms to be judged before zeroing on the best Film”
“Best Lighting & Cinematography (Understanding and use of film language, Understanding of camera and camera angles, Use of dialogue and scripting wherever applicable, Understanding of various moods of light etc.), Best Animation (Characterization, Use of body language / Movement, Acting Skill / Performance, Communication), Best Modeling & Texturing (Character realization in 3D, Scaling with reference to back ground designs, Final look and Appeal)”
“This year some of the films that won at 24 FPS have gone on further to win Awards at Digicon in Japan, Appolo in Singapore in addition to being showcased at various International festivals. This year too we will continue to push the winning content internationally and we welcome all aspiring short film makers whether as Individuals, as teams or as part of studios and institutes to come forth and take part” concluded Shravni.
Having a short film in the show-reel is one of the sure shot ways of impressing studios that students aspire to work with. Also for Industry professionals who have always wanted to make their own films but end up getting bogged down due to work schedules, 24FPS as well as the other Industry events being held towards encouraging this practice should motivate them and result in more and more artists and students making their own short films.