MAAC, a premiere institute and a pioneer in the high-end 3D animation and VFX training, organised “100 hours” – a tech-challenge to make animated movies on road safety for the students of MAAC, pan India. A creative movie making marathon where students in teams relentlessly work and create 30 seconds of animated short movies uninterruptedly for 100 hours.
Students get expert guidance during the filmmaking process and get to work on a production pipeline from start to end which means pre-production, production, and post-production. By participating in this creative marathon of 100 hours, students get to witness a one-of-a-kind experience working towards an output of an animated short film.
The tech-challenge saw a record high participation this year, with over 130 teams (about five students per team) which is nearly 650 students who collectively created over 3900 seconds of animated movies in 100 hours. The design of this tech challenge is based on the 360 Degree Skills Advantage principle of MAAC which puts student’s skill and talent to test and evaluates their preparedness for jobs in the industry. A student through this challenge gets to experience a real-life work scenario and monitor progress in line with the time given to complete the task while using various relevant software and back-end support extended by the centres. This challenge also gives them hands-on experience of working in a professional studio-like environment making them highly skilled and workforce ready from day one.
The theme for this tech-challenge this year was ‘Road Safety’, which commenced on 24 March 2022 and concluded by the mid-day of 28 March 2022. As per government data, between 2015-2019, on an average, about 1,48,000 people per annum perished due to road accidents. Some common causes of road accidents were over speeding, lane indiscipline, jumping red lights, drunk driving, using mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts or helmets. According to the World Health Organization, Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged five-29 years. About three quarters (73 per cent) of all road traffic deaths occur among young males under the age of 25 years who are almost three times as likely to be killed in a road traffic crash as young females.
MAAC senior VP and business head Bhavika Chouhan said, “A movie is a great source to spread awareness today. While picking a theme for MAAC students for ‘100 hours – movie making marathon’ this year we wanted them to work not only on a good piece of art but also commit to a good cause. Following the road safety week, we thought it would be a great idea to put their skills to test along with giving them an opportunity to make a difference with their work.”
She further added, “We have been very vocal about how proud we are of our students. They are hardworking, creative, and ready to learn every day. The entries have been truly reflective of an excellent curriculum that the MAAC team has put in place to skill our students into excellent animators, VFX artists, game designers and so on. Congratulations to each and every one of our students on achieving such a high degree of professional skill sets and again for us everyone who completed the task within the given time and resources is a winner.”
The winners will be awarded with a cash prize, memento, and a certification of merit. Apart from these, every student participant got a certificate of participation.
MAAC believes that initiatives and platforms such as “100 hours” plays a far crucial role in not just skilling the youth, but also preparing them for a successful career in the media and entertainment industry.