DEADLINE post-it stop motion

Saw a really cool stop motion animation video today by a student from SCAD. Also interesting to check out is the making of the animation.

Mickey interviewed me

Mickey Mak:
Yeah I heard about Savannah Congrats!

yash gupta:
thanks man

Mickey Mak:
Hoe did it happend?

yash gupta:
how?

Mickey Mak:
yes!

yash gupta:
I applied for SCAD. I sent them a portfolio

Mickey Mak:
ok
but does it mean you won't have to pay for school at all?

yash gupta:
even though my cousin told me they don't offer scholarships
I found out in feb that they do.
no, I will still be paying a huge amount
but this is the first time ever I've been given any scholarship

Mickey Mak:

Did u tell ur fam?
Mickey Mak:

they must be super excited
yash gupta:
:
i told my dad.
yash gupta:
:
he didn't sound excited
yash gupta:
:
but hey, dad's like me. controls his emotions very well
Mickey Mak:
:
So you're moving to the US. You lucky bastard. You know you're living my dream right?
yash gupta:
:
he's a cancerian too
yash gupta:
:
:D
Mickey Mak:
:
lol
yash gupta:
:
he wasn't too shaken when I told him I didn't get into sheridan either
Mickey Mak:

ah so u didn't get into sheridan
Mickey Mak:

but You're still happy right?
Mickey Mak:

I mean Savannah! Excellent school too
yash gupta:

yes, definitely
yash gupta:

I didn't tell my family this, I don't think I ever will..
Mickey Mak:

I guess youre dad is not too fond of the idea of you changing places
yash gupta:

probably
Mickey Mak:

Just curious from which school did u get an answer first?
yash gupta:

sheridan first told me I scored a . on my portfolio
yash gupta:

and today I heard from SCAD
Mickey Mak:

WOW
Mickey Mak:

Heart attack!
yash gupta:

no.
Mickey Mak:

when did you apply to Savannah?
yash gupta:

I had set up my family for this, told them before my result that i didn't work very hard, I only started working on it after I came back from phoenix
yash gupta:

february
yash gupta:

after I got back from phoenix
yash gupta:

after I got back from phoenix, I was so charged up! I worked my butt off on the portfolio. I didn't eat properly, slept as little as I could, didn't play squash....
yash gupta:

my parents won't know that.
Mickey Mak:

No body deserves it better than you man
yash gupta:

I don't know about that...
yash gupta:

:) thanks tho
Mickey Mak:

I'm very curious about something. How does it feel to have been rejected times by Sheridan? I don't know if I would have been able to take it.
yash gupta:

feels like they are such jerks
yash gupta:

I've seen their system, and it's Flawed, with a bold F!
Mickey Mak:

really how so
yash gupta:

I know this guy kyle, who is a really fine artist. I've seen him work on his portfolio for months!
yash gupta:

probably all year long, way longer than I have
yash gupta:

(this year)
yash gupta:

and he didn't get in either
yash gupta:

people who have gotten s and s on their sheet, suddenly get a in a arbit category somewhere.
Mickey Mak:

Wow
Mickey Mak:

I'm really happy for you man
yash gupta:

my classmates, who saw me work, are like, . is not bad for weeks of work
yash gupta:

LOL
Mickey Mak:

Now that you've got a ticket it in can you honestly say that Animation is still you passion? your dream?
yash gupta:

Hernando, who I started going to for review, critique of my work,
yash gupta:

was very encouraging too...
yash gupta:

"if you improved so much in month, you can definitely make it in next year!"
yash gupta:

ofcourse I can!
Mickey Mak:

Sorry
Mickey Mak:

you were saying
Mickey Mak:

?
Mickey Mak:

Now that you've got a ticket it in can you honestly say that Animation is still you passion? your dream?
yash gupta:

sorry what/
Mickey Mak:

i disconnected
yash gupta:

-> ofcourse I can.
Mickey Mak:

Now that you've got a ticket it in can you honestly say that Animation is still you passion? your dream?
yash gupta:

again?
Mickey Mak:

Oh you said " Of course"
Mickey Mak:

sorry lol
Mickey Mak:

so what now?
Mickey Mak:

how much is Savannah comparaed to Sheridan. I know Animation at sheridan is about K/ yr
Mickey Mak:

?
yash gupta:

yeah, SCAD will be k
yash gupta:

but not such a big difference anymore.
Mickey Mak:

I hear that the US is looking forward to attract Int Student considering the economic climate. More $ for them
yash gupta:

yeah
Mickey Mak:

So what's you plan now? Know anybody in Atlanta?
yash gupta:

nope. and I'm going to join the savannah campus
yash gupta:

well, not off the top of my head..
yash gupta:

but if I tried.. I could find a distant relative, or a friend of a relative.. relative of friend...
yash gupta:

LOL
Mickey Mak:

Honestly now that you're experience Canada and a little bit of the US which do you like best?
Mickey Mak:

?
Mickey Mak:

??????????
yash gupta:

I like it where I have friends
yash gupta:

I like it where I have family
Mickey Mak:

What does this mean? You like Canada, India, and America equally?
Mickey Mak:

Am I keeping you away from something?
yash gupta:

I just got distracted
yash gupta:

there are things I'd like to get going on..
yash gupta:

but to answer that question, I don't think I can say yet
yash gupta:

I've only lived in USA for less than a month
yash gupta:

in different places
yash gupta:

out of it all, phoenix seemed the most to be my kind of place.
Mickey Mak:

just so you know living in a country is at least months
Mickey Mak:

you were on vacation
Mickey Mak:

lol
yash gupta:

would definitely like to stay in phoenix more
yash gupta:

San francisco, the city, the people, seemed cold. distant
yash gupta:

Mansfield Ohio, was a small town.. countryside.. worse than oakville
yash gupta:

Toronto, seems cool. but again, I haven't lived there
yash gupta:

akola, pune, I'd be like, "fucking don't make me live there!"
yash gupta:

atleast until they come out of the dark ages
Mickey Mak:

worse than Oakville I didn't know that existed
Mickey Mak:

lol
yash gupta:

hehe
yash gupta:

you could drive for a few minutes before you see any traffic lights!
yash gupta:

doesn't sound so bad in that sentence..
Mickey Mak:

when you look back from when you first came to Sheridan. DO you have any regrets (This sounds like an intervew lol)
yash gupta:

I didn't exaggerate it
yash gupta:

could I go ahead and put it on my blog?
Mickey Mak:

sure
Mickey Mak:

lol
yash gupta:

I wouldn't have met so many great friends if I didn't come to sheridan.
yash gupta:

we wouldn't be talking if I hadn't come to sheridan. so yeah, I would regret not coming to sheridan most of all!
Mickey Mak:

But I mean do you regret not applying to SCAD after you first Sheridan rejection?
yash gupta:

uh.. yeah, a little bit maybe. I think I should have pursued SCAD like I did sheridan.
yash gupta:

but wait.. maybe after my nd rejection
yash gupta:

my first rejection was no even my best attempt
Mickey Mak:

True
yash gupta:

I was SO BAD back then.
Mickey Mak:

So this is new adventure for you. Are you gonna miss Canada?
yash gupta:

I was talking to friends about coming back to canada for christmas.
yash gupta:

:)
yash gupta:

I didn't tell you about the adventures we had out in the snowstorm!
yash gupta:

or did I?
Mickey Mak:

I don't think so

Slumdog Millionaire

Twitterverse had been buzzing about this movie for a few weeks now. And I couldn't hold myself any longer. When I realized that I won't be able to download a good print of the movie off the internet anytime soon, I decided to look up which theaters it was playing in. I asked (who else?) Doni to go with me, and he (reluctantly) agreed even though He'd rather go watch Valkyrie.

I am going to describe and rave about the movie extensively here,(if you want the plot, go to IMDB) and I might unwittingly post some spoilers. So people who haven't seen the movie, proceed with caution. I will, however, try to color the spoilers blue so that it blends in with the background.

Let's first talk about the crew. There are very few Indian people involved in the making of this movie apart from the cast. Actually even the Actor who Plays 18 year old Jamal, Dev Patel, isn't Indian. He's from U.K. His parents were born in Kenya (Thanks @kg86 ) The Director of the movie is Danny Boyle (British) and Co-Director in India was Loveleen Tandan (Indian). None of the producers are Indian, Not Screenplay, not cinematography(which was beautiful, BTW) Production Design, set decoration, costume design, Makeup, sound department, Visual effects... The list goes on.. without Indian names. Still, the movie feels very Indian, and true to reality. I can't think of any other movie which has portrayed India without any embellishment making it more glamorous or more gritty than it actually is.

The movie starts off with amazing editing cutting from the shots of Jamal Malik sitting on the set of KBC and being interrogated/tortured by the police. One can easily assume the KBC part is the flashback and police torture is the present. On KBC, Anil Kapoor makes fun of Jamal's profession, a call center assistant. Calls him a Chai walla. I don't think either of the hosts(SRK or Big B) of the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire would do such a thing and have the audience laughing at the contestant's expense. (That was for "Kamzor Kadi Kaun"). Something that one might find a little awkward in the beginning is hearing the actors speak 'hinglish'. Dev Patel's accent is not very Indian, (because he's british and he doesn't speak hindi) like the other Indian actors. Which can be explained by the plot(He worked at a call center and probably picked it up there.)

The police wants to know how he got all the answers right on KBC. How did he cheat. Did he have a wire? did someone give him all the answers? Jamal stays calm and composed despite the torture, and tells the cops he just knew all the answers. Then we go into the flashback of his life, which the movie is really about. The scene of the kids playing cricket at the airport immediately brought a smile to my face. Everything was shot/portrayed so 'honestly'.. the cops coming to shoo them away, all the kids running for their lives through the slum 'gully's and rooftops. The background music that is playing during this song is amazing. I got home and immediately downloaded the soundtrack of the movie. I marvel the way they shot the chases so smoothly through the slums. And after all that, it was all really beautiful too.

All the scenes in even the dirtiest, grittiest places, the mumbai slums, red light area, shores of the Yamuna river in Agra etc. are so beautifully composed, that you are in awe of them at all times. The events in his life are the key to the answers to the questions on the show. But the first question, anybody could answer. And has a very perky light hearted story attached to it. Of how he got Amitabh Bacchan's autograph. The second one however, turns the movie right around, and you get to see the dark side of life. As his mother is killed by a mob of hindus in the communal riots.

Some things, having lived in India, and watching the news everyday, hearing the grown-ups talk, one just gets to know about the life of these kids in the slums and on the streets.. so when I saw a van with 'orphanage' written on it, I could predict where the movie was going. But I hope for people who didn't know this dark underbelly of Mumbai, this was a pretty involving twisted plot. I was really glad that Salim does the right thing and they make a run for it, to escape the people from the orphanage who were making them beg for money.

And the rollercoaster ride continues, the movie takes an upbeat pace again. With M.I.A. song 'Paper Planes' playing while the kids earn money hawking stuff in the trains, travelling on the train tops, between two compartments, etc. The scene where they try to steal passenger's food is hilarious yet scary. Then they are in Agra, posing as tourist guides. Again, I believe people who don't know the history of Taj Mahal missed out on a few laugh out loud moments as Jamal screws up and tells the foreign tourists fake stories about Taj Mahal and everything related to it. You don't feel anything's wrong even when the kids are shown stealing money, or back in mumbai now, working at a hotel, re-sealing mineral water bottles..

At one point, I actually felt that the life of these kids is SO BADASS! I wished I had a childhood like that. Because even though they did get into a little bit of trouble, they always came around. They drink, they walk into a red light area, they rescue their old friend Latika... but here comes the disturbing part again.. Elder brother Salim is carrying a gun. And he shoots the orphanage owner! Then meets up with the gangster/don of their slum. I guess we all knew the big brother was the type.

Here on, the movie doesn't hit you in the face as much.. Because no more slum shots, Jamal is working in a call center, his brother is a rich gangster, And Latika lives in a nice house with the Gangster of the slum(I can't remember his name) He goes to meet her, and sees her condition, here is when the movie takes a little romantic turn. Jamal finally tells Latika he loves her. The scenes in VT again bring back the little hustle and bustle and life of mumbai back into the film.

We also see in the later half how the host himself gives Jamal an answer, but his guts tell him to not to listen to the host. And he answers the question correctly. That's what drives Anil kapoor to turn him in to the cops. The news channels are buzzing about this. And all of India is shown glued to their tv sets.. I remember it really used to be like that back when KBC first came on air. Because the biggest prize in 'Kaun Banega Cororepati' is the highest prize in the world in terms of standard of living. The difference from living in a slum to winning 2 crore rupees, is unfathomable!

Okay, enough disclosing the plot of the movie. I will just say, that in the end, there's finally a bollywood style song and dance sequence with the credits. Done very 70's bollywood movie style. I stayed and watched that even though I had to pee really bad. Final verdict, ***** 5 stars! Awesome movie! I love how the slums are portrayed as a very energetic, lively place instead of how people would generally look at it with pity and sorrow.

The Fray- You found me

This is a really amazing song that I relate to for some reason. I first heard this song with a LOST music video. But I downloaded it and heard it by itself.. over and over again. The lyrics are something I would like to say to somebody. And thought it would make a perfect blog entry. I would also like to quote a dialogue I heard from a television show.. "Some people hide because they just want someone to care enough to look for them."

The music video is on youtube, but cannot be embedded because it's disabled. so go here to watch it.

I found god
On the corner of first and Amistad
Where the west was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I Said where you been, he said ask anything
Where were you?
When everything was falling apart
All my days were spent by the telephone
It never rang
And all I needed was a call
That never came
To the corner of first and Amistad

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

In the end everyone ends up alone
Losing her, the only one who’s ever known
Who I am, who I’m not, who I want to be
No way to know how long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

Early morning, City breaks
I’ve been calling for years and years and years and years
And you never left me no messages
You never send me no letters
You got some kind of nerve, taking all I want

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Where were you where were you

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me
Why’d you have to wait?
To find me, to find me

George Bush Attacked In Iraq: By A Journalist's Shoes

oh, so funny!

Some people Clearly have trouble understanding wall-E

The following is a comment meant for Aayush's blog post. He said Wall-E was a pretty disappointing movie and I was outraged. I typed out this whole thing without even blinking an eye(Figuratively speaking). But his annoying comments form wouldn't let me publish it because now for about 6 times, it think that the word verification I typed is incorrect. So I say 'fuck you image verification.' I have my own place to voice my opinion and I will publish it there.

Dear Friend Aayush,

I don't know whether I should laugh and snicker or blow up with rage! I mean, I would love to say 'I told you so' about pixar not being the best at making animated movies but this is definitely one of their better movies. (Cars was one of their less than stellar movies.)

Let's see the 'other aspects' you mentioned.
The story: A completely new and original plot. Unlike the obviously cliché'd Cars story. (Actually I read the story pretty closely resembles Doc Hollywood) How do you not appreciate the creativity and imagination that went into conceiving a plot about how the human race ended up in space and a ROBOT of all things comes to the rescue while fighting another robot/computer?

Characters: Wall-E himself is one of the best characters ever conceived. He is not shallow and one dimensional. He has a very enchanting personality. And other characters also come into their own as the movie progresses. Have you seen the short Burn-E? Even that robot has a personality, he feels disappointment, shame, failure,motivation... I could go on.

Acting: are you blind? Wall-E's performance is the best ever, bar none. R2D2, ET, and numerous other robots and alien characters that I can't even name right now.

Dialogue: sure it didn't have much literal dialogues but the sounds the machines make, convey their emotions. Think back to the old charlie chaplin movies and try telling me movies have to have dialogues to be entertaining.

Agreed Ratatouille had the best 'character animation' in any movie to date. But this movie had a different set of physics to play with.. Humans were fat and jelataneous in this movie and the rest were robots who were not meant to be very elaborate machines, just functional. Similarly, the universe of cars was very different. you can't compare them to each other.

Hate me

I have to block out thoughts of you so I don't lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I'm alone
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home
There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain
An ounce of peace is all I want for you. will you never call again?
And will you never say that you love me just to put it in my face?
And will you never try to reach me? it is I that wanted space

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

I'm sober now for 3 whole months it's one accomplishment that you helped me with
The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won't touch again
In my sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I'll drive so f***ing far away that I never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

And with a sad heart I say bye to you and wave
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made
And like a baby boy I never was a man
Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand
And then I fell down yelling "Make it go away!"
Just make a smile come back and shine just like it used to be
And then she whispered "How can you do this to me?"

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you