Creature animation is a complex task that involves a fair amount of technology and creativity to bring characters to life. Elements such as details in the eyes, shadows, fur simulations, fluid movements and skin need to be perfectly crafted in order to have a convincing and photorealistic final output that passes the acid test of public scrutiny. While there have been CGI creatures in Indian cinema which were indistinguishable from the real animals, we have been treated to the ones that just didn’t pass muster with the audiences.
Pegged as a VFX spectacle by many, Kalank has its own detractors when it comes to CGI sequences. While the overall movie spanned over world-class visual effects and landscapes, there is one sequence that stuck out like a sore thumb, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of beholders.
CGI Bull fight scene in Kalank had landed in the eye of storm, leading netizens and memers to call out its glaring artificiality. When AnimationXpress had spoken to the now-defunct FluiidMask Studio about the infamous scene, they had cited colour grading as the main cause of the debacle. Understandably so, one can work round the clock to create a marvellous CG character but the process of colour grading can still botch up the imagery especially when it is done in another studio facility. Therefore, it is ideal that the grading gets done in the same studio where the VFX supervisors are able to oversee the process.
Bahubali franchise which is lauded for its VFX quotient had also attempted a rather unpleasing bullfight scene that drew flak for its inadequacies. While the entire movie is an absolute treat to watch, it’s the bull scene that looks manifestly off and rather incomplete. Neither is there any fur work properly executed nor is there any photorealistic effect to make the animal less phony.
Down south, depicting the age-old tradition of Jallikattu in the movie Ilami’s attempt at the bullfight scene has proved how creating the complex imagery of bull-taming isn’t a piece of cake. The bull looks jarringly distinguishable from reality as the men interact with it in the grappling sequence.
Given the bull-fight depictions across the Indian movie landscape, there is indeed a lot of learnings to absorb and the ground to cover. With improved artistry, technological improvements, requisite budgets and the profusion of OTT giving way to high-quality VFX, we wonder if filmmakers are feeling bullish about the bulls yet?