Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Essay I am working on


Motion Capture: Killing the Soul of Animation is the title. Here is my introduction, hope you see where i am going with this.

We have all loved animation for its ability to break free from the realm of the physical world. Cartoons defy every single law of physics and bend the rules of biology. And we as viewers still love them and accept them for everything they do because well, these are ‘cartoons’. If someone were to see a human perform the same crazy antics as Wile E. Coyote it would induce more horror and shock than laughter. It is a simple fact of animation. But still some studios and directors feel the need to ‘push realism’ in 3D animated movies through motion capture.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

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.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

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

Sunday, January 04, 2009

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.