BananaBandy Interviews Animator Ritesh Varma!
Ritesh Varma is a 24 year old animator, film maker and screen writer. Born in Jhansi, he completed his studies from Kanpur, followed it with an animation course and then pursued his Bachelors degree in computer applications through distance program. He soon started working freelance and launched his own company called ‘Experience New.’ After which he started travelling from city to city, looking for freelance jobs. Since then, he’s been carrying all his equipment with him in a bag, it was as if he carried his studio with him. That is how he came up with ‘Studio In A Bag’, a studio which he heads with his team.
Instead of copying the west, instead of copying their style we should try to develop our own style and our own unique story. Why to ape and make our characters to look like them, why to give them a western touch with six pack abs?
Make them look like Indians, make films in hindi or your native language. You can always add English subtitles to it. Showcase your culture and be proud of it.
Hi Ritesh, so tell us what got you interested in animation and how did you follow through on it?
My enthusiasm for film making was born when I was in class 7. That was the time when my parents gifted me a camera and a computer. At that time, there was no such thing called the internet so I had a lot of time on my hands. I used to make experimental films for myself, family or friends on windows movie maker. They were mostly live action films. Soon I started watching all kinds of cinema and developed a fascination towards animated films. Though I was a big fan of animated cartoons, I had never seen them through a film-maker’s perspective.
And then came “The Polar Express.” That changed everything for me. It was so realistic and well directed. I still remember being completely mesmerized after watching it and it was that very moment that I decided that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. As soon as I finished 10th, I joined an animation course and started developing my skills. By the end of class 12, I was doing freelance work along with my course. From then till now, I have worked for various international clients and I am loving it.
Describe an average day in your life? What kind of creative tasks do you tackle daily?
It depends on the project that I am working on. Sometimes I have to change my working schedule according to the client. Usually I try to work for 8 hours a day but mostly it stretches up to 15. This includes everything from working on a project, learning something new, sketching etc. I do watch a film or short and go through some articles on film making or any other interesting topics every day.
What influences you and inspires you while designing and creating?
I am a genre-bound person. The genre of the project dictates my source of inspirations. If I am making a horror film , I will watch as many horror films as I can. I start to read about creepy things and even make some very rough doodles that may or may not be used. On the other hand if I am working on something comical, I’ll go and watch stand-up comedians.
I do not get inspired by things around me unless they are very unique or they are something I am looking for. I first develop an image of the whole thing I want to create just as the final frame on celluloid, and then come back to the starting point in order to create everything the way I had imagined with the help of references all over the internet.
What’s the best art project that you’ve seen recently?
A series of illustrations by Steve Cutts that is recently trending on Facebook and Twitter is my new favorite. I loved the concept behind them and the way he’s made those illustrations is just brilliant. Few days back, I encountered this new illustration series called “Hey Houston” and fell in love with it. The artist here has used very simple colors and drawings but just look at the framing and the scale of the shots. Woww! They are larger than life. On the other hand in terms of video I am loving “Steadfast Stanley”, a short film.
Which artists’ work do you closely follow? Has their work influenced your own personal style?
There are many. I don’t remember some of them by their name but I know them by their artworks. But here are the major ones in my list: Gris Grimly, Goro Fujita and Pascal Campion. I do follow the work of production houses too. Cartoon brew, Laika and any production that works with Tim Burton rates highly in my list. Yes their work has some influence on my personal style, but not completely. I do study their work like how they have played with the framing, the use of colours etc. and try to incorporate it in my works but in the end, my style is far different than theirs.
Alongside your animation work, you also actively sketch and doodle. Do your doodles allow you greater freedom of expression since you’re not bound by any restrictions? Do you receive from creative satisfaction through your doodles?
Doodling is the first step of my creative process. It helps me to explore more and give an idea of what the final character, environment or frame is going to look like. For an animator or a director, it’s a really handy thing if you can draw. You can yourself draw rough characters, environments, storyboards and can present your ideas to fellow art directors or cameramen. Apart from this, it’s a great way to build up the portfolio with random but great ideas in no time. It’s a great thing where you can experiment and play on the very first step.
Doodling makes me feel productive. On the other hand, they help me to develop my drawing skills. There are many times when I am soaked in a particular project and I feel exhausted, so doodling helps me to get out of that zone.
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? In terms of both work and life?
I wish I have a time machine to answer this. Jokes apart, in terms of work I see myself as a successful entrepreneur and a director with a bunch of short films and definitely a feature in the next five years. I believe the animation industry will rise in upcoming years and I see myself as one of the artists contributing in it.
In terms of life, I hope to be more wise and clear towards everything apart from animation that is important in life, like giving time to family and friends and of course, I will be very focused in making my future secure. And maybe I’ll have a beautiful and intelligent wife.
Have you ever experimented with your work and tried out a different style or medium of art? How did that turn out?
I always want people to see the difference between my new project and my previous ones. So I switch between different mediums all the time. Sometimes I go with 2D, sometimes with 3D, and sometimes even with stop motion. I even try to incorporate art from the world. My next project is inspired by Irish traditional art. They usually turn out good but sometimes I face loads of challenges while trying to get the desired output.
Are there any funny or interesting stories related to your artwork?
There is one. Me and one of my friend participated in Jameson Empire Awards Done in sixty seconds competition. Here we have to convert a Hollywood film into a one minute remake. So we had been working on “RUSH” by Ron Howard for many days and we finally submitted it just before the deadline. We felt so relieved. The next day I received a call that informed about the deadline being extended for 2 more days!
We got so frustrated, because we hadn’t slept for the last 3 days. But the madness didn’t stop here, we decided to make another entry for this competition and we ended up making “Modern Times” by Charles Chaplin in those 2 days and submitted it again just 5-10 minutes before the deadline and guess what, there was again a 2 days extension. We threw away our laptops at that very point and went to attend a party!
The best part is , Rush never even made to the top 10 , and Modern Times won the competition after beating 130 films and was screened at The Empire Awards in London.
Which project of yours are you particularly proud of? Could you tell us a little more about it?
The project that I am really proud of is “Udaan in one minute”. It is the winner of a competition held by Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt. Ltd. Because of it I got an internship in Sikhya Entertainment and that opened for me a plethora of contacts. I met two of my core team members in that very same office. Making this short helped me in developing the skill that helps me in chopping down a 2 hour long feature into a 1 minute short. It was really a plus point while making Modern Times.
What is the best advice that you have been given?
Never join an animation course if you have even an ounce of doubt about your passion to do it.
What’s a motto or tip that really helps you with your own workflow?
Story comes first and then the art form to make it. One should really look at the story first before deciding the quality of animation you are going to do for it. Usually, the artist comes up with the medium first, like say “Tom” will do stop motion animation in his next film, and after that Tom starts writing a story. Soon he figures out that the things he was thinking of are not possible in stop motion animation, so he starts restricting himself, chopping up scenes, making things easier in story etc. And here the story collapses. The one thing that I really follow is
If your story is good and if you can direct it well then the quality of animation is a secondary thing.
Take “A Danish Poet” as an example. Its an Academy Award winning short film. The quality of animation they did can be achieved by newcomers. I am not saying that the people who made that are amateurs, its just that they wrote the story beautifully and directed it so flawlessly, that even a simple animation style made their film an Oscar Winner.
Do you believe that a formal education in animation is beneficial? Would you advise a fresher looking to enter the field to pursue a animation degree?
Yes it is not only beneficial, but I think everyone in this field should take a small course regarding it. Its very helpful to have someone teaching you basics of softwares to whom you can ask questions, someone you can reach anytime with a problem. I know there are lots of tutorials on internet regarding everything, but knowing someone personally is great. I understand no institute can teach you everything as there are endless possibilities. But the basics they cover are the foundation of the future.
My only advice to everyone who is doing a course or about to do it; no matter in what department you are doing your specialization, maybe in animation , rigging , vfx etc., just try to develop a great sense of story telling and direction. In other words “PAY ATTENTION TO PRE-PRODUCTION!”. And from pre – production, I am not talking about sketching. I am talking about concepts, about stories, about direction. If you are part of the film in any department, you must have a little sense of direction and story telling.
And also its my humble request to all the Institutes out there;
Please include a highly advanced pre-production course into your curriculum that is compulsory for every student. Only then we can expect some good films from India.
Do you believe that Indian animators are deriving enough from our culture? Should we focus more on our culture as a creative source for our work? Or should be move on from our mythological based fantasy tales to newer, original fantasy tales?
There are no special stories being written just for animation unless they have talking animals in it. We keep on chasing the quality of production houses like Pixar, Dreamworks etc. and focus very less on story or on original creative styles. And that’s why most of the animation films in India fare poorly. I am not saying that we cannot make films like them, but instead of copying their style we should try to develop our own style, try to develop our own unique story even if it is mythological, just make it amazing. Why to ape and make our characters to look like them, why to give them a western touch with six pack abs?
Make them look like Indians, make films in hindi or your native language. You can always add English subtitles to it. Show your culture but with an original story and style . And if you want to create a mythological film, just make it but direct it with a great story in hand. That will not only blow away our Indian minds, but also of everyone else’s around the world.
Quick Questions
Name a book that everybody must read?
Any art book from any animation film. Because if you don’t like reading, you can still enjoy artworks.
Name your favorite movies from all time?
Animation – Grave of the Fire Flies, Spirited Away, The wind Rises, Song of the Sea, The Jungle Book, Polar Express, Monsters Inc. Mary and Max and Waltz with Bashir.
Live action – The Truman Show, Dil Chahta Hai, Inception, Awakenings, Rush, Whiplash, Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Chronicle.
Shorts – Paths of Hate, Backwater Gospel, God of Love, A Danish Poet, The House Small Cubes, Ryan and Lila
What’s the most annoying cliché in art that you’ve observed?
Clients asking without brief – “I want to make a 2d/3d animation. What are your charges ?”
Which is the coolest project that you’ve seen on BananaBandy?
If you were not an artist then what would you be?
Someone digging up history … maybe an Archaeologist.
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