The film My Friend Ganesha, released in 2007, was an animated film. In this, the character of Ganesh ji has been created with 2D animation.
Cartoon characters appearing on television are created through animation. When technology was not developed, these characters were created from sketches. Let’s take the example of Tom and Jerry.
All Tom and Jerry characters were hand drawn on paper. All actions, including getting up, sitting, running, playing, eating and drinking, were recorded on a paper. Then after staining, it was scanned. After scanning, it was copied onto a reel and finally published. It was 2D animated. Thousands of such sketches were made, and then only one scene was created.
Later, technology improved with time. After that came 3D animation. Its preparation began with the help of computers.
In the new episode of Reel to Real, we’ll talk about the process of making animated films. For this, we spoke to directors Rajeev S Ruia and Suman Deb, who have directed many animated films.
The filming of animated films takes place in 6 stages.
Screenwriting- The story of the film is written first. It mentions characters, sequences and dialogues.Character design- A work of art (sketch) of animated characters is prepared. Like what the characters will look like, what their body language will look like. This sketch was prepared for the film My Friend Ganesha.Story Boarding- In this process, the story or scenario is converted into images. Depending on the progress, a plan or a frame of each scene is prepared. An example of the story board can be seen in this image.dubbing- Voice over artists do dubbing keeping the characters in mind.Animation- After dubbing, animation work begins. In the days of 2D animation, animation was done frame by frame. The animation is created in 3D using computer software.Sound and music- After the film is made, work is done on the background music and sound. After this edition begins. The film is released after editing.
Dubbing plays the most important role in animated films. While dubbing is part of post-production, this is not the case for animated films. Here the dubbing is done first and then the entire film is made.
The dubbing of animated films is carried out using these three processes
The pre-dubbing of the animated characters is done before the film even begins shooting. The dubbing is then sent to the editing table. From there, the dubbing part is edited and sent to the animators. The animators then match this dubbing part with the characters. As the dubbing is done, the lip movements of the animated characters will also be done accordingly.
It takes 3 months to make a 20-minute animated film According to Suman, if a 20-minute Bollywood animated film has to be made, it can take 3 months. This entire process includes pre-production, production and post-production works. Whereas if it is an international project, it takes 7 to 8 months to complete.
My Friend Ganesha – The first film to show real-life and animated characters together In the film My Friend Ganesha, the character was created with live-action composite animation. It was the first film in India in which animated characters were featured alongside real-life characters. It took a year and a half to make this film.
Its director Rajiv S Ruia said, “There were a lot of difficulties in making this film. Initially, I wanted to make it not a film but a series. There was a lot of craze for television shows at that time.
There was a producer who wanted a murder mystery type film. I told him a story that he didn’t like. Then I told them the story of my friend Ganesha.
The producer liked the story, but called it a premature film. He was afraid the film would fail. Then I explained to him and said, “Sir, give me a fixed amount, I will shoot a promo first and show it to you.” After that, I shot a promo, which he really liked and that’s how my friend Ganesha became.
The film My Friend Ganesha was a failure in the cinema, but it was much appreciated on television.
Hrithik Roshan delivered the dialogue considering the pillar as a character Rajiv said that cooperation of actors is very important while making animated films.
While narrating an anecdote from the animated film ‘Main Krishna Hoon’, he said, “Hrithik Roshan had also worked in this film. There was a scene where Hrithik’s character had to talk to Lord Shri Krishna. However, the character of Shri Krishna was an animation character.
Hrithik was not able to understand how to pronounce the dialogues as there was no one in front of him. Then I placed a floor lamp in front of him. He spoke his dialogues while looking at the same pillar. Then when Hrithik saw this photo during dubbing, he was very impressed.
Hrithik was hesitant before filming this scene.
Hrithik administered 80 shots in 4-5 hours Rajiv added, “When the shooting of this film started, one day Hrithik came to me and said, tell the story of the film in its entirety in 5 minutes.” I was surprised to hear his request.
However, it is due to the blessings of Shri Krishna that I have narrated the entire story in 5 minutes. He was very happy to hear this. We had done complete preparation before starting filming with him. Our preparation was at such a level that one day we took 80 shots in 4 to 5 hours, which exceeded their expectations.
Currently, the climate around animated films is not positive, money needs to be invested Rajiv said that at present there is no positive atmosphere regarding animated films in the Hindi film industry. Large producers do not invest money in such projects. They feel that their money will be lost.
You have to watch Hollywood at least once. Animated films like The Jungle Book are made there and bring in a lot of money. The children here watch these films with great interest. I hope that the big production houses will come forward and invest more and more in animated films.
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