Press Release 1 March 2012
The first Animation Workshop in Manipur is taking place in Imphal at the Manipur Film Development Corporation as a collaborative project between the UK based Adivasi Arts Trust and the Government of Manipur, Department of Art and Culture.
The objective of the workshop is to develop one of the popular folktales from the state into a short animation film. A group of 23 participants have been joined by two students of animation from the National Institute of Design, Rahul Laishram and Sephin Alexander, and also by Tara Douglas (the Secretary of the Adivasi Arts Trust) and the local coordination team - Beeshantam Yumnam and Satya Hijam, led by Dr. R.K. Joykumar Singh.
Two days ago the group went through a democratic process of selecting a story from fifteen options with the Meitei story “Tapta” coming out as the obvious favourite from the group. Many versions of this tale exist and it has been a lengthy process to identify the officially accepted version, documented by O Bhogeshwor in his book “Meitei Folk Tales” (first part) published in Imphal by the Manipur Stage Kala Akademi. As this original version is in the Manipuri language it needed to be translated into English by Dr. Joykumar, and now it is going through the process of adaptation for film by the animation team. This process began with script discussions which will lead to a finalized film script from which the storyboard can be drawn.
The objective of the workshop is to develop one of the popular folktales from the state into a short animation film. A group of 23 participants have been joined by two students of animation from the National Institute of Design, Rahul Laishram and Sephin Alexander, and also by Tara Douglas (the Secretary of the Adivasi Arts Trust) and the local coordination team - Beeshantam Yumnam and Satya Hijam, led by Dr. R.K. Joykumar Singh.
Two days ago the group went through a democratic process of selecting a story from fifteen options with the Meitei story “Tapta” coming out as the obvious favourite from the group. Many versions of this tale exist and it has been a lengthy process to identify the officially accepted version, documented by O Bhogeshwor in his book “Meitei Folk Tales” (first part) published in Imphal by the Manipur Stage Kala Akademi. As this original version is in the Manipuri language it needed to be translated into English by Dr. Joykumar, and now it is going through the process of adaptation for film by the animation team. This process began with script discussions which will lead to a finalized film script from which the storyboard can be drawn.
Simultaneously the talented group of participants, many of them from art college backgrounds are starting to visualize and sketch characters and scenes from the film. The artistic style and techniques for the animation production are yet to be confirmed though current discussions are pointing to a combination of hand drawn artwork and 2D software. It is also hoped that the team will be able to draw on the rich heritage of ancient illustrated manuscripts of Manipur to create an interesting look for the short film. The group are also inspired by “Sita Sings the Blues”, a feature length animation based on themes from the Ramanyana that showcases traditional Indian art styles in cut out animation. In this film the group observed that with a good script and attractive artwork the animation can be reduced without compromising the enjoyment of the film.
Click here for a video except from the discussion on adapting the traditional story "Tapta" for animation film.
Interesting one!
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