In Pursuit of Creativity
There’s a big shift happening in the animation and visual effects industry. A look at how top institutes are reshaping the curriculum.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) mobile has become one of the most played games in India, crossing 100 million downloads globally. Similarly, there are popular television series and cartoons such as Chhota Bheem, Doremon, Tom and Jerry and movies such as Baahubali, Avatar,
Jungle Book and Fast and Furious that create magic on screen through animation and visual effects. The emergence of over-the-top media platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and a couple of studios doing end-toend animation jobs are the driving factors for growth in the animation segment within the media and entertainment (M&E) industry. Who are the brains behind these animation studios and what makes these hubs and their nature of work different? To go deep into this, Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), a leading educator in high-end 3D animation and visual effects recently organised their annual National Students’ Meet (NSM) in Goa bringing together more than 250 students from 25 different cities to be part of a four-day event. NSM is a platform for those aspiring to make a career in animation and visual effects industry by encouraging students to collaborate for hands-on workshops, live projects, helping them network with industry experts, and get access to real-life, fun learning experiences. A series of workshops on developing teamwork skills and art of storytelling were also conducted.
REINVENTING CURRICULUM
Innovation and technology are key in the growth of the animation and visual effects sector and MAAC is keeping pace with these industry needs. The team behind preparing the curriculum is made up of educationists and studio professionals who interact with industry experts regularly to keep track of the latest trends and requirements of the market and devise courses accordingly. For example, MAAC has introduced augmented reality (AR) in its course to help students understand the concepts
by visualising them on their smartphone screens. The institute also conducts faculty trainings regularly to streamline delivery of the content across centres all over India.
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Students wanting to pursue a career in an unconventional field such as animation and visual effects are currently growing at a fast pace. As per the Global Animation, VFX & Games Industry: Strategies, Trends
& Opportunities, 2018 report, the total value of global animation industry is projected to reach US$ 270 billion by 2020. There is a projected demand for people with skills in animation and visual effects in sectors such as virtual reality and augmented reality. And there is a wide scope ranging from education to entertainment.
Vivek Bolar, CEO, AUM Animation Studios, Mangalore, however, feels that there are challenges which students should be aware of. He says, “Students are focussed on getting jobs instead of developing skills that are needed to get that job. Animation is a great storytelling medium. The pre-requisite is not just technical know-how about the tools. The focus instead should be on the art of storytelling. The mode of storytelling also differs from print media to digital media. So, students should analyse their audience to tailor the story.” While there are a number of career options, aspirants can train to be good storyboard artists, animators, creative directors, visual effects supervisor and 3D modellers.