Name : Anicipate
About : We are a motion and visual design studio based out of Bengaluru. Our approach is always the same, in that it’s never the same. We start by listening, and shape a design driven process, with our clients as partners every step of the way. Each project results in a hand-crafted visual experience.
Location : Bengaluru, Kolkata
Projects : Microsoft Hindi Diwas, NLU Child Sex Abuse PSA, Sanskara School, American Express, JSW Paints, and more.
1. What are the current trends you’re seeing in the Indian Animation space?
It’s an exciting time to be the animation industry in India. With the world becoming smaller, and medium of video dominating the marketing communication space, there is a lot of work to be done. However, it’s a mad, mad world out there!
On one hand, there is a steadily rising demand for original Indian content, given how platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and more are evolving. This is music to the ears of an animation film-maker, who up until now, pretty much relied on advertising for their bread, butter and jam.
On the other hand, with the boom of UI/UX and technology, there is a conscious recognition of how animation plays a role in user experiences. This applies to almost every digital product that’s made today – websites, mobile apps, web-apps, etc. You can see how apps like Uber, Housing.com, and Cred are setting themselves apart with beautiful animation. Hence, motion designers who are tech-savvy, and can whip up quick explainer videos on the side, are in great demand as well. Not to mention people who are comfortable with AR, VR, and so on.
2. What are the challenges in this ecosystem?
I feel that the industry is moving really fast, and it is almost impossible to keep oneself updated in terms of skill set. However, the secret sauce is the storytelling. If you are a good visual storyteller, everything else eventually falls in place. Today people are creating animation in Virtual Reality, as well as paper and pencil. To flourish, one needs to have a strong foundation to understand the common thread between all these skills, and what sets them apart as well.
Animation education can address this, but it will be gradual. There are baby steps being taken all over the country.As a studio, we have been observing that while the demand for animation is increasing, the timelines and budgets provided for projects are DRASTICALLY decreasing. As a result, there’s either sub-standard work being churned out, or there are frequent burnouts (it happens to me as well). This is due to a combination of many reasons – delayed payments, delayed timelines, unprofessional attitudes, financial and tax-related concerns, and so on. For a person who just wants to sit and draw/make art for a living, that’s a lot of STRESS!
While we have made our peace with all these things in our own way, we always wonder when will studios like Ordinary Folk, Giant Ant, Oddfellows, flourish in India. Hence, we have immense respect for studios like Ghost Animation, Totem Creative, Plankton, Eunoians, Aadar VFX, and so on, who are making a mark in this mad, mad world that is Indian Animation!
3. What’s one message you’d like to share with the aspiring enthusiasts?
Stay hungry, stay curious! We cannot emphasize that enough. The minute you stop asking questions, and lose the zeal for learning, that’s it. Take advantage of the small world and reach out to the studios and people you look up to. You will be surprised how many people are willing to help.
Understand the basics – try and get a strong foundation on how and why visual communication works – it will help you deconstruct all the crazy work happening around you, into simple, digestible pieces. Don’t be intimidated by all that.
Finally, be a good person. Animation is a team effort, and while you don’t have to be Mr./Mrs. Popular, or everybody’s best friend, it is essential to be able to communicate clearly, and have mutual respect for your fellow team members. It will take you a long way!
