The Director of Art and Culture in Manipur, Mrs. Sobita Devi addressed the participants of the Manipur Animation Workshop (currently taking place at the Manipur Film Development Cooperation) in the morning session, encouraging them to contribute their best efforts to the animation film project, and reassuring them that the film will find support for its completion from the Manipur Government.  She expressed enthusiasm for the project and announced that the co-directors and producer for the film have already been identified; she also urged the group to proceed to the production phase as soon as possible, with the hope that at least a minute of the film could be completed in the workshop.  This new approach is now being incorporated into the workshop, with the emphasis now on animation film production. 

Following the initial discussion and scripting session led by two young animators from the National Institute of Design, the team is now ready to finalize the script and create the storyboard for the short film “Tapta”.  They will be working to capture the essence of the story and to incorporate amusing gags to captivate the target child audience. 
Dr. R.K. Joykumar Singh (co-director of the Manipuri animation film) gave his approval for the ending of the film, omitting several lengthy scenes to allow for more time to be spent on developing the characters.  The story has plenty of potential for amusement in the chaotic scenario of misidentification and the subsequent imaginations about the appearance of the scary non-existent “Tapta”.

Participants will be referring to ancient illustrated Manipuri manuscripts for the design of the characters and it has been further suggested that two dimensional cut-out puppets can be animated using software such as Flash or Toon Boom, with hand painted backgrounds to give a painterly look.  “The Monk and the Fish” a masterpiece of 2D cel animation in the watercolour style was screened to the group to provide further inspiration for the style of the Manipur animation film.