Thursday, April 17, 2008

Just playing games


Can you run a multi-crore business venture by just playing games? Yes, say India's gaming prodigies -- Somil Gupta and Sangam Gupta. The brothers eat games, drink games, sleep games and are set to mint millions from games!
Their company -- Trine Entertainment Ltd -- deals with high-end game development, offering a variety of 3D interactive entertainment for PCs, consoles and mobile phones. The games have unique plots based on Indian landscapes and characters from mythology.
If some of the games have real life streets of Mumbai as their landscape, some other games are based on the myths of Indian gods like Krishna, Shiva and Hanuman. According to Somil, the goal of the game is to save the future of India from all evil, including Ravan. "This, is localisation at its best, by incorporating characters and stories that we've all grown to love and cherish," says 30-year-old Somil Gupta, managing director, Trine Entertainment.
"Our first game -- 'Streets of Mumbai' -- is scheduled to be launched in by May end or early June. Racing games are one of the most popular genres for video games in India, so we decided on to develop 'Streets of Mumbai,' which is all about car racing in Mumbai," explains Somil.
Sangam has been developing his own game engine technology for past three years which is currently powering the games at Trine Game Studios.
He, along with younger brother Sangam, ventured out to do what they loved most, play around with games and more games and tap the booming market not just in India, but also in the United States and the United Kingdom.
"The potential for gaming is definitely skyrocketing," says Somil, as he shares his exciting journey of how he and his brother turned a big dream into reality.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

The potential of Indian animation industry

The success of movies like Hanuman and Bal Ganesha has made production houses realise the potential of the domestic market. The Indian animation industry is moving away from being just a back office for Hollywood studios and other international production houses. It is now creating original content for the local market. With the success of animated movies like Hanuman and Bal Ganesha, production houses and studios are realising the potential of the domestic market. Apart from animated movies, animation series on television with original content have also been garnering huge TRP ratings such as J Bole To Jadu on Nickelodeon, MAD on Pogo among others.The entertainment segment of the Indian animation industry is worth Rs 1,300 crore, says a Ficci-PwC report on the media and entertainment industry. Over the next four years the growth in domestic demand for TV/Broadcast animated content is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49.5 per cent. It is forcast the domestic market will be worth Rs 150 crore in 2008 and will touch Rs 300 crore by 2010. The launch of new channels almost everyday and the resultant desire to provide diversified and original content has made media houses look for original and localised content. The Turner Group is one such instance. Cartoon Network and Pogo — the group’s two kids’ channel — are growing at a rate of 25 per cent annually and to keep up the momentum the channel decided to acquire local content, early on. “We started acquiring local animated content in 2001. So far we have acquired 20 properties. When we launched Pogo, we felt there was a void in terms of animated content,” Monica Tata, vice-president, Advertisement Sales and Networks, Indian and South Asia, Turner International India said. The latest acquisition by the group is Chota Bheem— produced by Hyderabad-based Green Gold studios — which will be aired this summer. On the localisation strategy, Tata says: “We started by dubbing the programmes that we had in Hindi. The next level came with the introduction of Tamil and Telegu languages and then we started looking for content that would add value to the channel.” Graphiti is another firm that is bullish on the local market. Rather, it is one of the only firms which has been intent on creating original content. Agrees AK Madhavan, CEO, Crest Animation, who, having created some popular animation work in the international market, is now working on series for domestic market. Madhavan’s company is also focused on creating animated films.

Monday, March 31, 2008

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Friday, March 28, 2008

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Pritish Nandy in Rs 1800 crore deal for animation movies

Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd (PNC) has struck a Rs 1800 crore ($45 million) deal with DQ Entertainment (DQE), one of the world's leading animation and gaming production companies, to co-develop and co-produce six animation movies over the next three to four years. Announcing the deal Wednesday in DQE's Hyderabad office, PNC chairman Pritish Nandy said that both the companies would later jointly work out the budget of each of these six movies. "The movies will be in animation and live action. Each project will be announced separately and all of them shall be released globally," Nandy told IANS on phone. Last May, PNC had also signed a five-movie deal with Motion Pixel Corporation (MPC), a Florida-based animation company that has its animation studios, Estudio Flex, in Costa Rica. The PNC-MPC deal envisaged that all the five movies would be 3-D animated full-length Bollywood variety of movies with Indian and international actors. Nandy had earlier said that the first of these movies was now in the final stages of production. "DQE is a world leader in the high-end animation and film content space. The range and quality of its work has impressed us. We are delighted to associate with its talented team of 3,000 professionals," said Nandy. PNC is also exploring gaming extensions for all platforms to be co-developed with DQE, including comic book spin-offs. DQE has already collaborated with production houses in other parts of Asia, Europe and North America for 'Long Form Animation' for TV, home video and feature-length movies. Animation content produced at DQE Hyderabad facilities have been used by channels like BBC, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Cartoon Network and Disney.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Media firm to animate story on Taj Mahal

For the first time in India, Chandigarh-based Compact Disc India Ltd (CDIL), an integrated media and entertainment company, will animate a true love story titled Eternal Love in English which will revolve around the Taj Mahal. The company has secured an animation outsourcing contract worth $15.70 million from a Los Angeles-based firm through its arm Mediaone Ventures Ltd for the film which is slated to be released in December 2009. Internationally acclaimed celebrities will be involved in this ambitious film project. The company acquired a Russian mobile gaming company — Mobsoft — for $7 million in April this year and very soon the firm will float a new company in Chandigarh. Recently, Department of Information and Technology, Madhya Pradesh, allotted five acres of industrial land to the company for setting up an animation studio at the IT Park in Bhopal. The estimated investment by the studio is Rs 57.20 crore. It has also entered into an agreement with the Rajasthan State Industrial Corporation Ltd for setting up a studio at Kath Kalwar in Jaipur. The agreement was signed at the recently-conducted Resurgent Rajasthan — Partnership Summit at Jaipur, organised by the Rajasthan government in collaboration with FICCI. The Company is hopeful of achieving a sales turnover of over Rs 103 crore this fiscal year.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Ratatouille wins animation Oscar

Six years in the making, Emeryille's Pixar Animations Studios was rewarded for its patience and determination Sunday night when "Ratatouille" came away with the Oscar as the best animated film of the year.Scripted and directed by Brad Bird, who won two Oscars for Pixar's "The Incredibles," the film is the tale of a rodent named Remy, with delicate taste buds, who by chance is let loose on a classy Parisian restaurant and succeeds in winning over the city's top food critic. In his acceptance speech, Bird backhandedly thanked his junior-high guidance counselor, whose questioning of his career choice as a filmmaker prepared him for the grilling down by Hollywood producers. But, according to many critics, the night should have been a much larger triumph for the film. Although it landed five Oscar nominations and was ranked by many critics as one of the year's best, it was never a serious contender for best picture. And its other nominations across three different disciplines -- best original screenplay, best score, best sound mixing and best sound editing -- suggested the kind of broad consensus that often results in bigger awards. Its five nominations rank as the most ever for a computer animated film, and rate second among all animated films, only surpassed by the six received by Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." That picture, done in the traditional Disney style in 1991, stands as the only animated film to ever be nominated for best picture. If not for the best animated feature category, it's safe to say "Ratatouille" would have been strongly considered for best picture. Lewis, the film's producer, is quick to point out that he has no sour grapes with the academy -- and that he's ecstatic about the five widespread nominations.
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Friday, February 22, 2008

Animation & Gaming industry in India wants income-tax breaks

The animation and gaming industry in India wants income-tax breaks on a par with software companies to produce cheaper films and compete in the Asian market. Software companies housed in software technology parks enjoy tax breaks on their export profits. Though the benefit ends in March 2009, it might be extended for 10 years, considering that the surge in the rupee has impacted their bottom lines. The animation and gaming industry is lobbying for similar tax benefits. “We have given a formal proposal to the information and broadcasting ministry seeking a tax holiday on export profits under Section 10 A of the Income-Tax Act. The finance ministry has also been kept in the loop,” said Ficci animation and gaming forum chairman and DQ Entertainment CEO Tapas Chakravarti. The industry also wants government-sponsored animation institutions, with IIT stature. “We have also asked the I&B ministry to amend the TV Broadcast Bill to promote local content on Indian television channels. This has been done in countries such as France, Japan, China, South Korea and Canada where more than 50% of TV channels’ animation broadcast consists of local content,” Mr Chakravarti said. According to a Nasscomsponsored study, Animation India 2007, India will need over 3,00,000 professionals in the content development and animation segment by 2008 to cope with the growing demand. At present, there are only 12,000 domain experts in this industry. Nasscom had also made out a case for the government to hand-hold the animation and gaming industry by providing assistance in manpower development and infrastructure. The animation market in India is estimated at $285 million and is expected to grow to around $1 billion by 2010. India is turning out to be a hub for outsourcing post production work, thanks to the growing market and lower overhead costs. According to a CII-AT Kearney study, the cost of making a full length movie in India is around $15-25 million compared to $100-125 million in the US. The industry apprehends that India may lose this advantage if it does not build a vast talent pool. ( courtesy ET)

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Zapak Budget 2.0 will have Money Games & analysis of budget

Zapak has some serious plans for the upcoming budget. It will launch Zapak Budget 2.0 - a microsite - in association with Reliance Capital, which will have various features. There will be an analysis of budget across categories by corporate honchos and celebrities, along with video bytes on people’s budget expectations, across various categories. The visitors to ‘Zapak Budget 2.0’ will also be able to upload content on various categories. Daily winners will be announced for the best entries.A special game called ‘Game for Money’ would be featured on this site, to help visitors de-stress. In the game, players can invest his money in various options. Once done, he moves ahead with the intent of earning more money by rolling a dice. The player moves across the blocks, depending on the number which appears on the dice, each of which has a different message – e.g.- ‘Cash Theft of 10,000’, after which the player’s total worth and value of insurance is scored. The Goal is to increase the player’s net worth. And like real life, it’s Game Over when the player goes bankrupt.Simple indicators on the micro site such as What’s Hot & What’s Not, What’s expensive & what’s cheaper and Policy Changes that will impact the common man will make sure that the visitors get the information useful to them. Visitors will also be able to calculate the tax payable and even chat with a financial specialist to put their anxieties to rest and solve their queries.

Get DotAsia domian name now!

DotAsia Organisation has launched the Celebrity Pioneer Program, offering Indian celebrities the priority to register their domain name with .asia before the registrations are opened for public later this month on 20 February 2008. Early adopters of the programme include Indian cricketer Kapil Dev, pop singer Shibani Kashyap, a TV star Rakshanda Khan, 'Indian Idol' fame Rahul Vaidya, and pop singer and 'VJ' Anoushka, amidst many others.
According to Edmon Chung, CEO, DotAsia Organisation Limited, "There are more than 450 million online customers in Asia, and the .asia domain name is a gateway to reach this largest Internet market in the world. While .com ignited the ecommerce boom in the US, .eu was created for Europe. .asia is the first global top-level-domain that is headquartered in Asia and will be the platform for growth of the region. The Pioneer Domains Program focusses on building positive usage of the .asia domain which in turn drives adoption and development for the Internet community across Asia."
Shibani Kashyap added, "I own ShibaniKashyap.com but I still opted to register ShibaniKashyap.asia and Shibani.asia to secure my cyber identity and to reach out to my fans in Asia with a domain that conveys even better relevance to the region. I intend on making previews of my songs and videos available on my shibani.asia website. I really think that artists should be proactive and book their .asia domain name before anyone else grabs it."

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Govind Nihalani too starts a new Animation Film

The director talks about his animation film Kamlu with Shilpa Jamkhandikar
After almost four years, one of India’s most acclaimed film-makers is back, but don’t expect another Ardh Satya or a Dhrohkaal from firebrand director Govind Nihalani. This time round, his focus of attention is Kamlu, a baby camel, the protagonist of his new animation film.
“I have always wanted to do animation, but earlier the budgets and the technology were a constraint. Now, however, we have so many facilities at our calling that this was the time for me to jump into animation,” Nihalani says.
Kamlu, which is about a baby camel who gets lost in the desert and finds new friends in the process, is currently being given shape in an animation studio in Chennai. Nihalani says the process has been a learning experience for him. “After my 2004 release Dev, I took a break, and worked on my animation project, because I knew it would take a lot of time. I do have a few actors in mind for the films, but everything is still in its primary stages,” he adds. Things, he says have changed considerably in the last three years. (Courtsy DNAIndia)

Thursday, January 17, 2008

3D animated film Sultan:The Warrior

Watch Trailer:


Download Poster:

Rajnikanth will be seen adorning the character of a charming Hero in Sultan which is going to be an out and out action flick set up in an ancient background with a gripping storyline. The duration of the second trailer released is 1 min 43 sec. It unveils the look of Rajnikanth in the movie, the set up of the period depicted and stylization used and shows the fight sequence between Sultan and his enemies.


Original Sketches:


Karthik G, Chief Marketing Office of Ocher Studios and Executive Producer of Sultan, said, "This is the first time in Tamil Cinema that somebody has launched a trailer and used it as the starting point of the movie, otherwise in Chennai it is always some pooja or havan. We have initiated our project with teasers and trailers and that's something novel here. We have put in a lot of planning to strategically schedule the release of trailers."



Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Om Shanti Om VFX in Dhoom Tana



Mumbai based 'Redchillies.vfx' has won Bollywood's popular Screen Awards for Best Visual Effects for the Shah Rukh Khan starrer mega blockbuster 'Om Shanti Om'. The other movies nominated in the same category were Chak De! India & Taare Zameen Par.
Delighted on winning the award, Redchillies.vfx COO Keitan Yadav shared with AnimationXpress.com, "Definitely we are excited and happy after winning this award. We are being nominated for the award from last three years but have won it for the first time. Also it was an honour to be nominated for two films (also Chakde India) in the same category. Explaining the VFX shots, he said, "The movie had a retro song - 'Dhoom tana' which consisted of high-end VFX work and also, there were a lot of complex sequences which made the work varied and unique," he added.
Stage 1
The team had to locate the original footage of the films they had short listed. The three song sequences appeared in Amrapali (1966, Sunil Dutt and Vyjayantimala), Saccha Jhutha (1970, Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz) and Jay-Vijay (1977, Jeetendra and Jayashree T). Not always in the best condition, the original footage had to be scanned, carefully restored and cleaned up to the best possible quality on the computers.
Stage 2
Keeping in mind, the set of the films, the camera angles and the lighting, Deepika Padukone was shot in present dressed in similar costumes as the yesteryear actresses to further enhance that ‘70’s look. She pretended to dance with the actors by romancing an imaginary hero.
Stage 3
The original actresses, i.e. Vyjanthimala, Mumtaz and Jayashree T. were removed from the sequences. All this of course, was done with the help of the Red Chillies’ VFX (visual effects) team. Sequences where the camera was moving and the actors were in contact were specially chosen, so as to provide opportunity for Deepika to dance along with them as opposed to posing. Things to note were the eye contact between the actors, physical touch, lighting continuity, perspective matching, skin tones matching, color matching, etc.
Stage 4
Deepika’s footage was pasted in place of the actual actresses’ footage. The technical term for this is ‘compositing’. Thus, it seems that she has been locked in the same frame as legends, Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra. The song truly was a treat to watch. And now some of our wonder and amazement has been satisfied. Keitan Yadav, COO of Red Chillies VFX asserted that the idea was to give a feel of the era and is glad that they seemed to have succeeded.
He adds that “there are about 200 additional shots in the film where VFX is used like the snow-flakes in the globe, SRK and Deepika turning real and dancing in the globe, the Mother India fire sequence, Shantipriya’s death sequence and the climax sequence.”
Image Courtesy: ‘The Making of Om Shanti Om’ published by Om Books International

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Branding of 2010 Commonwealth Games


Idiom Design & Consulting, a design solutions provider, has developed the visual identity and branding for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. According to a press release, “The identity design truly embodies a global approach with the Indian spirit thus, providing inspiration for the future generation”. The logo for the Delhi Commonwealth Games was inspired by the Chakra, the national symbol of freedom, unity and power. “Spiralling upwards, the logo depicts the growth of India into a proud, vibrant nation, her billion people coming together to fulfil their true destinies.” Mr Viren Razdan, President, Idiom Design & Consulting, said, “The identity for the games is rooted and deep, on one hand, and vibrant and futuristic, on the other. Just like our nation!” (courtsy The Hindu Business Line)

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

The Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is a HUGE collection of movie information. They catalog every pertinent detail about a movie, from who was in it, to who made it, to trivia about it, to filming locations, and even where you can find reviews and fan sites on the web. The IMDb people present this information in a manner that is easy to search and access.
The IMDb started as a hobby project by an international group of movie fans(history of IMDb), essentially something by movie fans for movie fans.
IMDb creators say "We are some of our site's most hardcore users. Our managing director claims to have seen over seven thousand movies. Most of our people could write or win a movie trivia game show. One of our proposed slogans was "we just love movies." As big and intimidating as we may seem because of our millions of monthly visitors, we're just a bunch of hardcore movie fans who still can't get over the fact that we're getting paid to keep improving this tool we use so much for our own pleasure."

Monday, January 7, 2008

Toon Boom Studio




Toon Boom Animation- 2D Animation Software



Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Animated Ambitions

The renewed interest in comic books — the sector had been dormant for some years, with the advent of cable television and 24x7 cartoon channels — started a couple of years ago. Analysts point to the growing popularity of gaming and graphic novels among older teens and young adults helping the trend spread to younger consumer groups as well. Then, in 2006, a group of non-resident Indians, in partnership with maverick entrepreneur Richard Branson, author and spiritual guru Deepak Chopra and film maker Shekhar Kapur, launched Virgin Comics to not only address the comic book market, but also tap into the Indian creative pool for the global market. While the arrival of new competition propelled the older players to rexamine their growth strategy, what finally moved them into higher gear was a change in management at both publications this year. Last month, India Book House sold Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle for an unconfirmed Rs 10 crore to ACK Media, a newly formed entertainment and education company for pre-teens and teenagers, while Geodesic Information Systems paid a similar sum for Chandamama in March. Why is everyone treating comics as such serious business? The revival is heavily influenced by the huge market potential — 300 million Indians in the 6- to 17-year age group. Granted, they’re not all likely to read comics — the 300-million figure covers all income groups and education levels — but the publishers aren’t complaining. Chandamama India CEO L Subramanyan claims that sales of the magazine (newsstand price: Rs 15) have increased from 160,000 a month to 360,000 over the past year, while ACK Media reports monthly sales of 140,000 for Tinkle (Rs 40 per issue). Virgin refuses to divulge sales numbers. Also, according to estimates by PricewaterhouseCoopers global media and entertainment outlook from 2006-10, while magazine publishing revenues in India (comics come under this category) is expected to grow at a CAGRof 13.3 per cent, revenues from home videos (CAGR 41.5 per cent), TV networks (11.2 per cent) and filmed entertainment (11.9 per cent) are also expected to deliver healthy growth rates. The global opportunity is equally big, points out Sharad Devarajan, co-founder, CEO and publisher of Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation. The market for comics and related products like merchandise and films is estimated at $40 billion (roughly Rs 160,000 crore). Japan, with its Manga books, makes up 30 per cent of the market, followed by the US and Europe. In stark contrast, India accounts for under 1 per cent. The players are determined to change that. Which is why they are planning to take comics beyond the traditional book format to not just films and television serials, but also online games, social networking sites for children and so on. ACK Media CEO and co-founder Samir Patil agrees there is a huge global audience — primarily NRIs — waiting to lap up diverse and differentiated Indian content. It plans to reach them through online services like the ACK Shop, which also sells products made by competitors such as Karadi Tales, Tulika Books and so on. Meanwhile, it is building an online base with a children-oriented website, tinkleonline: the “social networking” site allows children to earn points and exchange them for games, books and toys. Needless to say, the site also allows online shopping of ACK products. Chandamama, too, has turned to new media. Apart from uploading its stories on the Internet, it has also tied up with satellite radio service provider Worldspace to bring the Indian story telling tradition live through radio. In a couple of weeks, the company will also announce its tie-up with a national FM radio station for a weekend story-telling slot. Television and film are also part of the new focus. Chandamama has already created a story cell that will produce scripts for animation films and programmes, while ACK is exploring tie-ups with production houses that will replicate its comic storyboards on film. At present, neither ACK nor Geodesic are looking at creating new characters — they just don’t see the need. Amar Chitra Katha, for instance, published more than 400 titles over the past 40 years, while Tinkle’s characters, too, enjoy high recall levels. “It will take years for consumers to become acquainted with new characters,” points out Patil. Geodesic, too, plans to leverage its existing strengths — Chandamama reportedly has a story bank that will last 15 years. That’s not Virgin’s strategy, though. In fact, the huge dearth of new original characters is the raison d’etre for the organisation — Mickey Mouse was created in the 1920s, Batman a decade later and Spiderman in the 1960s. They still remain the most popular animation characters. The only recent addition is Pokémon, and even that is over 10 years old. “We decided to focus on India as not an outsourcing destination but as the source for new comic characters,” says Devarajan. In line with that decision, Virgin Comics are made in India, for a global audience. The company already has a 200-executive-strong studio in Bangalore and plans to set up two more across the country next year. In fact, when it comes to the beyond-books strategy, Virgin is far ahead of the other two players. In a move that will facilitate transit of its comics into Hollywood films, the company has started a Director’s Cut Comic Line series where it has associated with Hollywood directors. In this series, Hollywood directors such as Guy Ritchie, John Woo, Terry Gilliam, Shekhar Kapur, Jonathan Mostow, Ed Burns, and Nicolas Cage associate themselves with the creation of a comic title. For instance, Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper, which was released through Virgin Comics, will be adapted into a film co-produced by Warner Bros. Virgin has also tied up with two Indian production houses — UTV Motion Pictures and Studio 18 — to create Indian superheroes and horror films, respectively. The company has also entered into a partnership with Sony to develop online games on its Ramayan 3392 AD title. For the television medium, it has a partnership with Sci-Fi channel. The power of content from India is also a top draw. Gotham Chopra, chief creative officer, Virgin Comics, claims that Virgin’s titles like Virulents, The Sadhu, Ramayan 3392 AD and Devi, all part of the Shakti series, have fared as well as Director’s Cut books. “India is the biggest celebrity because of its mystery and exoticism,” he says. (courtsy:Business Standard)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Animation in music album Shaam Tanha


Click to Watch the Video
The third video of music band Agnee's self-titled debut album is making waves not only for some great music but also for the extensive use of animation in it. 2mins 04 seconds of classical animation has been incorporated in the video of 4 mins 33 seconds which intersperses seamlessly with the live footage featuring the group. A team of 30 people has worked on the animation and the job was completed in three months. It has been developed using avid, premiere, 3D max and combustion. The creative part in the animation has been done by final year students of various animation and design institutes of Pune. These youngsters were experts in cell animation. "Basically it's not about what technology we used to create content, but it's about the CONTENT itself. We wanted to give it a very retro India animated feel. The characters were finalized after a million thoughts and discussions!" stated Alok.
Added Mohan, "We had not seen any of their previous work. But they took a lot of pains on the storyboard and showed it to us with all important scenes and characters. The physical drawings looked too good as they had done great hard work. They have been successful in maintaining a balance between the band's scenes and the animated story. We feel this is a path breaking venture and we are very happy with it."

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Cadbury gorilla is voted favourite TV ad for 2007



Cadbury’s have just launched a £6.2m campaign for Dairy Milk featuring a gorilla playing the drum solo of Phil Collins’ track ‘In the Air Tonight’. The ad was written and directed by Sony Bravia ‘balls’ creative director Juan Cabral of Fallon London. Rather than wet our appeite for gorgeous tasting chocolate, the ad simply aims to entertain.Laurence Green, planning director of Fallon, “Cadbury traditionally did well-built ads for the interruption age when consumers had an implicit media deal with advertisers. In exchange for free TV they would allow us to interrupt their programmes with commercials,” says Green. “The nation has a massive soft spot for CDM and it is deeply embedded in the national psyche. For a brand that is so well known, it’s arguable whether the old style interruption advertising model is the best model for the future. So we are trying to engage more genuinely with our audience.”
The website TellyAds.com named the top 20 favourite adverts based on the number of times each clip was viewed online. Its founder, Jon Cousins, said: "There are those who say TV advertising has had its day, but a lot of people who visit our site tell us they think the ads are often better than the programmes. It's interesting to see that there have been around 4,000 new TV adverts produced this year alone. Created by the award-winning Fallon agency in London, the commercial has stimulated great interest, partly because it does not feature the product until the very end. (Guardian)

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Shekhar Kapur making Animation movie on a Cockroach

"I am making an animation film on a cockroach, called 'Very Aesthetic Cockroach'. It is the story of a cunning yet endearing cockroach, named Vicky. He has friends all over the world – in Greece, Spain, Russia, etc. " said Shekhar Kapur in a quiet excited way.
He has found out that cockroaches can survive the holocaust, and is quite kicked about it. Then he wonders why humans rule the Earth, when it rightfully belongs to the cockroaches. He has somehow managed to convince AR Rahman to be on board for this project. Titled Suitable Cockroach, the film is being worked upon by animation studio, Prana. Kapur, who is known for his story telling, is scripting the film. The story of Suitable Cockroach revolves around the most hated Asian creature - the cockroach. What's more, Kapur plans release the movie on the internet first, after which the theatrical release will follow.Speaking to Businessofcinema.com, Kapur says, “I never go by what’s being done. The new media is a fascinating medium and I would love to experiment my film on the net. I intend to release it on YouTube.com first.” About the expected returns, he adds, “Downloads are the most expected returns for a film being out on net first. I will be setting a new trend.” Kapur has been approached by some animation studios to ink film deals. He informs, “I am in talks with an animation studio called Animal Logic based in Sydney. It will be a one film deal.” This apart, he is also planning to upload all his work in relation to Paani on the net in terms of designs, pictures and blogs. When queried on the reason behind this, he says, “I want my audience to get linked with the movie, so that when they watch the film they feel that they are a part of the cast and crew. It is wonderful to communicate, I am the producer-I can do it.”