FX School in 3D Artist Magazine

FX School as featured in 3D Artist magazine (UK).

Indian Lions Can(nes) Roar

Indian television advertising has come a long way since the soap commercials of yore. Made in India Ads now appeal to a more mature and internationalized audience. This is evident by from the fact that a large number of international viewers are beginning to notice, understand, appreciate and award these commercials.
A case in point is the performance of Indian TVC's at Cannes Lions. Cannes Lions are the most sought after awards in the world when it comes to advertising, and people there are sitting up to take notice. In the last 3 years, no less than 20 ads have been nominated (few have even won) prestigious Cannes Lions. Two factors have contributed to this success. one, the content and creativity of these commercials has shifted ever so slightly, so as to make sense to a global audience. and two, the execution and production quality (post production, graphics, CGI, VFX etc.) has evolved to match the best in the world.
The latter reason is particularly heartening for CGI, VFX practitioners in India as it indicates the existence of a higher playing field. It means the state of the industry is getting enhanced, and more people are making better films with richer content, better execution and far greater Visual Effects. This can only mean one thing. Life gets better if you are a VFX artist!

FX School Presents a Seminar on Fashion Photography by Vikram Bawa

FX School is proud to host Vikram Bawa - the best in Indian Fashion Photography.

Come see the magic created by its students in an exhibition of their work.

Location: FX School Art Gallery.

See You There!
Cheers!!


*(Seminar for the Advance Photography students of FX School only).

FIFA 2010 Commemorative video by FX School

FX School students celebrate their love for Football with this FIFA 2010 Video.
Enjoy!

FX School expands international footprint, partners with FXPHD

Providing students access to a truly international studio calibre training program

Mumbai, May 28, 2010: FX School enters into an exclusive partnership with FXPHD to offer the best visual effects and CG training the world has to offer, to the students of Mumbai. Through this partnership, FXPHD will bring its excellent studio calibre training to the students and FX School will add localization to what is otherwise a purely online self-learning course. FX School will provide the infrastructure and facilities that students will need to learn and practice also giving students an opportunity to capture their own footage through use of its professional studio facilities and equipments rather than use only those provided in the course. Furthermore, students whose primary language is not English will also now have easy access to this training.

Commenting on this partnership, Mr. Abhyudaya Morarka, Director, FX School said, “Our partnership with FXPHD is yet another solid step toward realizing our mission of providing the best CG – VFX edu-training in India and becoming the de facto Gold Standard in the industry.” Present at the occasion to signify this partnership is David Edgar, founder and senior management of FXPHD along with Leonard Coster, a mentor at FXPHD.

FXPHD is a vfx, production, post-production training program led by professionals which offers both application and craft-based courses. The curriculum includes courses in applications such as Nuke, Flame, Maya, Houdini, After Effects, Final Cut, Color, and more. FXPHD’s goal is to provide structured training which builds term upon term in a modular fashion. A perfect match in realizing this goal is FX School, a high-end quality institute that offers specialized education programmes in the fields of animation, visual effects, photography and digital filmmaking. Equipped with world class infrastructure and being the first institute in India to have a production-ready environment including a state-of-the-art chroma studio, fully-equipped practice labs and art rooms, FX School offers an inspirational learning environment which results in students graduating as polished, industry-ready professionals poised to start from at the top.

About FXPHD

FXPHD is a vfx, production, post-production training program led by professionals. They offer both application and craft-based courses. Their curriculum includes courses in applications such as Nuke, Flame, Maya, Houdini, After Effects, Final Cut, Color, and more. Their goal is to provide structured training which builds term upon term in a modular fashion.

Members of FXPHD -- called postgrads -- have access to the high quality footage from FXPHD shoots as well as other effects material, such as traditional 2D animation and advanced multi-pass 3D render. This allows the users to create their own composites and build shots for their reels under the instruction of FXPHD Professors. Footage ranges from NTSC and PAL all the way up to 4:4:4 1920x1080 imagery.

Over the history of FXPHD, they have grown to become the leading online subscription site for high-end post-production training. Over 90% of FXPHD’s members rate FXPHD a "brilliant" or "great" value for their money -- with the same percentage rating their course professors "great" or "exceptional".

2 Day Scriptwriting Workshop by Mahesh Dattani.

FX School presents the latest in its workshop series - A 2 Day Scriptwriting workshop by the eminent and extremely talented Mr. Mahesh Dattani.

Mahesh Dattani is a playwright, screen writer, filmmaker and stage director with several scripts and productions to his credit. As a writer, he has been awarded the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award in 1998. He has directed and scripted critically acclaimed films like Mango Souffle and Morning Raga.

Course outline - Screenplay writing - doing it.

The course will take you through a series of exciting exercises and
help you understand organically the tools behind the craft of writing
for the screen.

Day One

1. Story
What does story mean to you? Not through intellectual speculation but
through exercises and meditation. Discovering your own unique sense of
story - what will make your screenplay stand out.

2. Logline
Finding the right logline of your story. A logline is essential not
only to sell your story but to help you write a focused screenplay.

3. Making the logline unique
Meditating on the logline and different approaches to making it unique.

4. Character, conflict and climax
Exploring the three Cs through exercises and focusing on your logline.

5. Who, what, where, when and why
Exploring setting, action, character, time and motivation to help
unfold the action.

6. Making it all organic
How best to use the craft without actually showing it. Examples of
great screenplays.


Day Two

6. Formatting
How to format a screenplay. Industry requisites and software that helps.

7. Story boarding
How to tell your story in pictures - the medium of your art.

8. Have your story or some of it translated to a 'storyboard'

9. Review of your story.

Experts at FX School will sit in class and give you an opportunity to
pitch your story to them followed by a review.

To register, email us at dg@fxschool.in or call us on 0224235 4235

Date & Timings - 16th and 23th May, 2010 - 10:30am to 6:00pm on both the days.

Hurry! Limited Seats!!

Masterclass in Filmmaking - Learn from LSD

Dibakar Banerjee’s LSD is a Master Class for aspiring film makers. Now film making need not be a boon only for the elite, even the common man can now see film making as a great career option. Here are the four important lessons we can learn from the film:

LESSON 1: DON’T COMPETE WITH LARGE CANVASS FILMS

Firstly, Dibakar did not try to compete with a mainstream film. As Dibakar puts it “What we are trying to do with this film is actually a totally new kind of film making”. He proved a point that shooting on digital does not mean poor production quality.

Mainstream films are made at mainstream film budget i.e. over 20 crores. Not many aspiring film makers have such money to use, so they are better off choosing their subjects accordingly. Don’t attempt to make a ‘Karan Johar’ film without mounting it on that big a canvas, else it will leave you in no man’s land.

LESSON 2: MAKE LOW BUDGET AN ADVANTAGE

The amateur filmmaker never has a budget on his side. So turn it into an advantage the Dibakar way.

He says “Because of the kind of subjects that I tackle and the kind of liberty that I want to take with my film making, it is fine with me to exist in the smaller by lanes of the great industry that Bollywood is”.

The lower budget keeps his thinking focused. He thinks, and executes accordingly. He chose actors that neither dented his budget nor affected the film’s prospects.
An intelligent maker knows that if the content is hard hitting the camera would not matter be it a film camera or the low cost digital camera used in LSD. On the other hand, Dibakar effectively used the changing scenario in film production and exhibition. Over the last few years digital has made its presence felt and any amateur film maker should use the digital medium to tell a story.

Making a film on a low cost digital camera could save a film maker more than Rs 40 lacs! That’s a lot for a small film

Dibakar chose the content so that he could make the film at a shoe string budget.

LESSON 3: PLANNING WITH THE RIGHT TEAM

The effort on pre production was one of the keys to the success of most films and this film is no exception.

Any aspiring film maker must do his homework well in terms a detailed bound script, appropriate casting, rehearsals, locations, choice of technology and a team that even though may not be the best but still suits his temperament.

LESSON 4 : LOW BUDGET DOES NOT MEAN POVERTY OF BELIEF

Dibakar says “We are trying to change the rules”.

Dibakar chose to follow his own method of making a film that is off beat yet commercially viable, like all his other ventures earlier (Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky-Lucky Oye)

As reviews say “Banerjee’s cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis, armed with digital cameras has given ‘Love Sex aur Dhokha’ a gleaming, abstract beauty”.

So a low budget choice need not be a reason for making a bad film. If you can’t follow the rules, you change the rules. Inability to throw around money does make the vision or craft less important. It is important that the film maker believes that.

So LSD gives the industry a few lessons and maybe a new high in terms of content and film makers.

Courtesy: Accord Equips. Read the full article here

One Day Workshop on Directing Actors

The course will take you through a series of exciting exercises and help you understand organically the tools behind the craft of writing & directing actors for the screen.

The course covers the following topics.

1. Getting what you want without rejecting what you get.
2. Clarity
3. How not to prescribe emotions and why
4. The actor's temperament
5. Speaking skills/body language
6, People skills
7. Scene work
8. A director prepares.
9. Working with actors hands on.
10. Understanding scene structure from actors' point of view.

Call us on 022-42354235 to register. Hurry!! Limited Seats.

Dnyan's Gyan: A Digital Artist's Opinion

As a traditional artist who has transitioned to become a digital film maker and a digital artist, I strongly feel that if artists who have taken their formal training in fine art programs such as a degree or diploma or similar course and then enter digital film making or digital painting and upgrade their knowledge with modern electronic tools, the impact on the Indian animation industry will be immense.

Take, for instance, that in India there are over 600 private and government authorized art colleges and more then 25,000 artists are getting trained in traditional art. Every year some 2,000 artists receive their degree or diploma course certificates. I can’t help but wonder where they go?

Not everyone chooses Animation as their career. Nor does everyone paint or sculpt. Such students can make the difference between India becoming an animation super-power or yet another non-starter.

I studied art from from three different colleges:
1) Kalawishwa mahavidyalaya Sangli,(Maharashtra)
2) L.S. Raheja School of Art, Bandra, Mumbai, and
3) Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai.

As a traditional artist I have had the pleasure of interacting with many professional artists or art students from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

I have also had the good fortune to have worked with many artists in the fine arts field and in animation studios. I have even trained many traditional artists to work in the animation industry. One thing I have noticed is that due to lack of knowledge of or confidence in speaking in the english language is what prevents most art college students from using a computer. Due to this many end up “killing” the artist within. Learning to wield such tools expertly is no different than simply learning a new habit. Instead of riding a bicycle, you simply have to ride a motorcycle. Just a certain amount of training, and you would have opened up doors to a rewarding and fulfilling career you may have never before imagined!

Digital painters create the same kind of art. Only we use a computer, digital pad and digital pen and create the same effects of the mediums, with the help of softwares like Photoshop, Painter, ZBrush and many other software programs. These techniques are always used in Hollywood and Bollywood movies whether it be in 2D or 3D animation films.

Look up digital art created by leading concept designers like Dylan Cole, Dusso, Craig Mullan, Feng Zhu, Scott Robertson and you will get the confidence and you will believe.
Watch a few movies like Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, X Men, Harry Potter, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Thirteen Days and the very latest film Avatar and many more. And you will understand.

Vacation Special Foundation in Digital Media

Batches Start May 3rd 2010!!
Call 022-42354235 to register.

FX School presents Vacation Special Photography Course

Batches Start May 3rd 2010!!
Call 022-42354235 to register.

FX School students make music video for genero.tv competition - AnimationXpress

BY RAOUL LOBO

Six students of FX School with help from their faculty members have made a music video for the genro.tv competition, where contestants submit their own music videos for techno artist Moby’s song track ‘Wait for me’. The worldwide contest is based on online voting, with the students‘ video in the top three currently. Six finalists will be selected and the results will be declared on 19th April. The winning entry, in addition to becoming the official music video for ‘Wait for me’, will win a $5000 cash prize.

Read the full article here

Wait for me - FX School Team creates music video for MOBY

CGTantra Content Team caught up with the FX School Team behind the "Wait For Me" Music Video and interacted with the artistic brains for our readers -


Description: What is it to love? And lose? How far can passion go? And revenge? How does first love hold up to first betrayal? How far can a woman go when her dream turns into her worst nightmare? A musical about a broken heart, a broken dream and broken life told with haunting lyrics has the answers. But do you really want to know?

Read the full article here

Sapan Narula directs trailer for Justin Lassen‘s ‘Synthaesthesia‘

Sapan Narula, Head of Post production dept at FX school and free lance VFX supervisor and film maker has directed the trailer
for Justin Lassen’s Synthaesthesia 2 Disc collector’s edition of thematic scores. Lassen‘s (A multi-instrumentalist, composer, remixer and producer) Synaesthesia project combines music, story, data, and artwork in a sublime experience to transport listeners to unimaginably fantastic worlds.

Speaking to AnimationXpress.com Sapan said, “Making the
trailer was a little tricky, as all the footage involved were still images, and beautiful artworks by various artists around the world, namely Nykolai Aleksander, Philip Straub, Alex Ruiz, Kornel Ravadits, Bjorn Eiriksson and Danone Rolli. Who are already renowned in the CG industry. So giving life to the still images was the main concern for making the teaser”

After being introduced to Sapan through Nykolai and seeing his show reel, Justin was very excited and wanted something similar looking for his trailer, epic with a dark feel to it. Sapan said, “Working with Justin Lassen was really great as the first thing he said was ‘You have total creative control’ so he trusts the artist which gives us creative freedom to do the best we can. Actually that’s all what we can ask for. His music is already very inspiring and overall it was so much fun working for him.” Sapan worked alone on the project with Justin through nights going back and forth for the styles and approvals over 15 days.

With over 7 years of experience in the field of animation and visual effects, Sapan has worked on various projects with Disney, Warner Bros, DreamWorks Animation at JadooWorks and most recently, on the hugely popular Little Krishna series at Big Animation (as Compositing Supervisor) and he has also worked for Mahayoddha Ram at Pixion Studios (as VFX Supervisor) Sapan specializes in Digital Imaging and Special Effects, Photoshop and Shake being his tools of choice. He loves to create concept art for short films and commercials. Sapan has also worked as Compositing lead for the award winning short film The Bad Egg which bagged World Gold Medal at The New York Festival 2007, and numerous awards at the International Film & Video Competition, and TBS Digicon6 Awards (pan Asian CG competition) in Japan.

(courtesy animationxpress.com)

What questions should I ask to an institute before choosing one?

A] Who is the faculty? What is their experience in the industry and in teaching? Are they known in the industry?
B] Does the institute have affiliations with reputed organisations in the industry?
C] Is it using the latest technology?
D] Does it have necessary infrastructure like computers, classrooms, labs, editing studios etc.?
E] Can it help with placements?

Ask me anything

India's film industry 'to grow 50% by 2014'

Bollywood set to reverse recent shrinkage, while US entertainment market is also expanding, though at a slower rate

Read the full article by
Ben Child
guardian.co.uk.

here

One Day Basic Photography Workshop

On an ever increasing demand for learning the basic skills of good photography, FX School has once again organized a "One day Basic Photography workshop".

The workshop will be conducted by Bhavpreet Ghai, Head of the Department, Photography at FX School.

email us at contactus@fxschool.in or call us at 022 - 42354235 to register.

HURRY!! Limited Seats!

FX School Announces Intensive Foundation Courses

A WHOLE NEW MEDIUM - Dnyan's Gyan

Everything’s the same, but everything is different!

The different tools available to today’s artists include the computer screen as a canvas, digital pad as a palette and digital pen as your brush. Using these “electronic” tools you can draw, paint, and do just about everything you could with your current favorite tools, whether that be a paintbrush, a pencil, a charcoal, etc.!

Creativity exists. From cave men to film makers, carpenters to sculptors, children to painters. The challenge, and fun, is how to apply it in the world of animation filmmaking.

The fundamentals of artistic creativity never change. However, we often need someone to show us how to mould those visions and apply it in various forms – whether that be in creating a piece of fine art, commercial art, an exhibition, or a cinematic experience.

Like most normal people, painters too start drawing early on in their childhood. But when they start their formal art training, they learn to draw pretty much the same things they have been drawing all along. The only difference is, this time they learn how to analyze the basics – lighting, textures, colours and materials. After understanding the basics, in the advanced stage they start applying these concepts to every object and make each work unique.

As such, an art graduate is fully equipped with all the fundamental artistic skills required to be an excellent animation artist. With a little training support, art students can make a full and relatively easy transition into the lucrative and fulfilling world of digital painting and animation.

ANIMATION NEEDS BOTH:

1. Traditional tools and skills – those that you are trained to handle using a paintbrush, pencil, charcoal, pastels and different colors and different mediums in colors either on the paper, canvas or various surfaces.

2. Technical skills – using a computer to apply your traditional skills (as mentioned above) and leverage the power of the technology to take your art form and delivery speed to the next level.

A combination of these two tools will help you deliver your highly creative energy in the different disciplines within animation in a truly unique and powerful manner.


Dnyaneshwar is Art Director at FX School, and teaches courses in Digital Art. For more info on the courses, and to view Dnyan's profile, visit us at the FX School Website

Ad Filmmaking Workshop

The workshop will be conducted by Mr. Vivek Kamat, the force behind Vivek Kamat Films, a Production House to make TV Commercials.

Since it's inception in 1995, the production house has worked with International Agencies in Mumbai like Ogilvy, JWT, McCann, Grey, Publicis, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, DY & R and Lowe.

For more details on Vivek, please visit his website : www.vivekkamatfilms.com

Call us at 022 42354235 for more details...
or leave your details at www.fxschool.in/adfilmmaking

How to be Successful in Animation - Dnyan's Gyan

This is one of the biggest questions every student of fine arts faces.


I have attempted to give students an insight into the various areas important to this industry.


A) CREATIVITY – one of the key reasons you have become an artist is your ability to contribute in a fresh and unique manner. The same exact skills are required in the animation industry as well. Just look at the stunning artwork in animation films right from The Jungle Book to the more recent 'Up' and you will see the role artists play in some of the world’s best animation films.


B) TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE – today’s animation professional “draws” electronically using a tablet and pen. A tablet and pen allows you to mimic various mediums whether it be brush and paint or watercolours or charcoal or simply sketching and do so directly into the computer. Students must become comfortable using such modern tools, keep themselves updated with them, and be aware about the upcoming tools that will help them to better express their creativity.


C) PROFESSIONALISM & WORK ETHIC – while artists who are create art for themselves work from their home or studio and keep their own hours, in an animation studio one has to attend office. Your timely and regular attendance at work is one of most important factors in succeeding in the animation industry or any production environment. This is perhaps the biggest adjustment you will have to make and is a matter of setting your mind to it.


D) PATIENCE, GRIT & DETERMINATION – as with anything in life, a good dose of patience, grit, and determination are required in equal measure for true success. Just remember the age old saying – “Perseverance Breeds Success.”


E) SOFT SKILLS – your ability to blend in and collaborate with your co-workers will make your workplace a much more pleasant place to go to everyday. Another adage applies here – “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” Some of the more important soft skills to develop include: How to talk with your seniors? How to disagree with your seniors or colleagues without being rude or offensive? How to appropriately dress for work? What can and cannot be shared over e-mail? How to write professional e-mails?


F) COMMUNICATION / ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR WANTS – you will be surprised to learn that one of the biggest challenges that studios and creative directors face is to be able to make artists like yourself understand what it is that they are looking for. This is one of the key areas where FX School stands out. As part of your course, you will learn about some of the best films and directors in the international and Indian film industries. You will learn why a certain scene was shot in a particular way and what was achieved by doing so. As an artist knowledgeable in film and art studies, you will be uniquely positioned to instantly understand what the creative director is looking for and deliver solid results with minimal requirement of revisions.


Dnyaneshwar is Art Director at FX School, and teaches courses in Digital Art. For more info on the courses, and to view Dnyan's profile, visit us at the FX School Website

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Artwork by Dnyaneshwar Jagadale

Dnyaneshwar's work has been featured in 17 different exhibitions at various art galleries including the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai.
In a career spanning over 19 years Dnyan has worked with leading national and International Animation companies like Millimages in Paris and Millitoons in Chennai and Crest Communicat...ion in Mumbai. He has also been a leader in the education sphere passing on his valuable insights to students in leading art and animation institutes. He has been a lecturer at the Lalit Kala Kendra and a Professor at Whistling Woods International Limited. Over the years Dnyan has worked on numerous award winning projects including the "The Red Fox" which was awarded a BAFTA award for best Children's serial 2000.

Dnyan is Art Director at FX School, and runs the Digital Painting Course at FX School.