PROUD MOMENT FOR MAAC CHOWRINGHEE

We are proud to announce Abhishek Shaw of Maac Chowringhee worked in movies as Jr. Compositor with Redchillies won Best VFX Award in Filmfare Award 2017 for the movie “FAN”, Abhishek and his team had worked hard to achieve this path.

It is indeed a dream come true for Abhishek. Heartiest Congratulation from entire team of Maac Chowringhee.

So still you are thinking if you can also achieve it or not? Confused weather to get a Career in VFX or not?

Just follow your dream and hold the hands of Maac Chowringhee get yourself the best VFX training and there will never be any looking back. Maac Chowringhee is the best VFX training institute in Kolkata.

Take the first step towards success rest leave it on us we will groom your career. Give us your 100% hardwork, rest success will follow you .

Taking right career decision at right time is important. Just follow your passion. Any confusion don’t hesitate to talk to our counselling team, they will guide you.

Maac Chowringhee organise Master Class from time to time . We just had a free seminar held at Maac Chowringhee premises for all the student aspire to make a career in VFX . The topic was to Discover the Magic of VFX.

It was a great success students from different parts of Kolkata attended the session. Our specialised faculty team took the session focusing the hidden world of VFX and what effect one can create out of the VFX, training.

What we guys watch on television and movies are all extravagant effects and implementation of VFX that holds our attention.

VFX has spread in advertisement, daily soaps, in short in electronic media. VFX Industry is growing this is the right time to hit the market, so if you are planning the same do not hesitate to connect with us.

We are just a phone call away   +91 9836321595

SATYAJIT RAY- INTRODUCED SPECIAL EFFECTS IN BENGALI COMEDY MOVIES

In the history of Indian cinema Satyajit Ray’s name is written in GOLDEN WORDS. When we are talking about Vfx ,special effects and Animation, we can proudly announce the name of —-Satyajit Ray.

The legend was born in north Calcutta on May 2, 1921. He graduated from Calcutta University with honors in Economics.

While still at school and college Ray became a fan of western film, and classical music. He studied art at Shantinekatan.

Ray was a profolic writer and the strength and distinction of his films derive from the screenplays he wrote himself. He had a reputation for being ingenuously creative with the limitation of modest budget and scant equipments.

In his time line when technology was not so upgraded and fast he shows use of special  effects in his film “PAROSH PATHOR”, “GOOPI GAYEN BAGHA BAYEN”, “HIRAK RAJAR DESHE”.He was one of those rare geniuses of India who won a number of laurels from abroad as well as his own country .

In today’s blog we are going to talk about his first fantasy adventure comedy film “GOOPI GAYEN BAGHA BAYEN”- In 1961 Ray directed one best fantasy featured film “Goopi Gayen Bagha Bayen” based on a story of his  grandfather Upendra Kishor Roy Chowdhury.

The film is the first film of the series , followed by a couple of squeals-“Hirak Rajar Deshe “ “Goopi Bagha Fire Elo” written by Ray later on was directed by his son Sandip Ray.

STORY-The film was based upon two funny characters Goopy who was a singer but he has a cracked voice and by his bad voice he wants to impress the people of his village Amloki.

Persuaded by the village elders to sing song for the king, and he does so and is driven out from his village on donkey for waking the king by his terrible singing, exiled into a forest.

There he meets Bagha another exile from the nearby village Haritaki sent to forest. In his case due to playing drum badly he gets this punishment.

They start singing and drumming, initially to scare off a roaring tiger. While they are completely voyaged in, they attract a group of ghost, who are fascinated by their music .The King of Ghosts grants them three boons.

->They can get food and cloth whenever they needed by clapping their two hands.

-> They gain the ability to hold in awe and they became motionless with their music.

-> With the help of magic slipper they could go anywhere they want.

They travelled to Shundi where the king appointed them as the court singer. The king Halla was the long last brother of Shundi, and being poisoned with magic potion that makes him evil.Halla king was manipulated by his self centered prime minister, and they decided to attack Shundi.Goopi and Bagha travelled to Halla for preventing the attack, but they got captured and lost their magic slipper.

Somehow using the trick they manage to escape. They reached the ground where the soldiers are preparing for battle. They started singing and drumming. They captured the king of Halla and reunite him with the king of Shundi.Goopi Bagha marry the daughters of the two kings.

Live action Camera- While capturing the clapping scene Ray used a unique technology of camera. He placed two actors on a 8 ft high bamboo roof and set the camera in ground and instruct them to jump in front of camera.

When the entire process was going on the camera film was set to play in a opposite direction. After all completed they play the film in right way direction and the jump reflects as they are lifting and vanished off.

Ray used trick photography while shooting the the last song “aye ayere aye monda mithai hari hari” where the earthen sweet pots are coming from the sky and the soldiers are catching the pot and having the sweets.

He used color lab work as well as fine photographic knowledge and timing for doing this. one thing we must say which was the most pivotal sequence of the movie-the six and half minutes dance by the ghost’s .

He used a specified classical dance form of South India, which used 12 musical instruments of which he selected only four instruments. He deliberately avoided melody. The dance culminates with the four classes positioned vertically with the priests at the bottom, and the common people at the top, in contrast with the traditional class hierarchy.

Ray imagined the cast system upside down in reaction to the evolving nature of power.

Awards:- The movie won two huge national award for Best featured film and Best Direction. This film also nominated for the Golden Bear At the Berlin Film Festival. It won 4 international THE SILVER CROSS AT ADELAIDE, Best Director At Auckland film festival, Best Film at Melbourne International Film Festival, Merit Award in Tokyo.

Just to wind up we are glad to say special effects sets in bengali movies holding hands with Ray.  The journey which had begin then has transformed with the revolution of technology that actually special effects in films has brought into in today’s era.

Interesting Facts Behind The Special Effects & VFX In “Baahubali”

Baahubali the most expensive and talked about movie of the year 2015 came into limelight due to intense performance delivered by its multi starrer cast and its world class Special Effects and VFX. The most expensive motion picture Baahubali owes its success to the team of artists of a new born studio in Hyderabad called Makuta.

Makuta was able to paint larger than life pictures of Baahubali which consisted of 90% computer generated imagery and graphics,along with around 5000 VFX shots.

The periodic drama of medieval India was portrait with gigantic kingdom of Mahishmati, with its massive landscapes , courtyard , temples , huge mountains and epic battles.

Pete Draper and his team magically created the stunning 1500 feet waterfall where Prabhas the protagonist climbs the mountain. The scene was actually shot at Athirappilly Falls in Kerala and every single was converted into a spectacular event with the help of computer graphics by Makuta.

The minimal sets of huge temples and landscapes and breathtaking war sequences were digitally extended and replaced to give it a soul.

Apart from Makuta another Hyderabad based studio Firefly Creative Studio digitally created war sequence with huge armies and animals.The bison in fight with Bhalladev was created by Kuala lumpur based Tau Films using CGI.

Rajamouli’s  Baahubali was able to nail it right because the team started its homework on special effects a year ahead. Most of Baahubali was developed in Hyderabad by local talented artists in India.

Success of Baahubali proves that India has no shortage of skilled talents. If the motion pictures give ample time and investment for post-work a profitable reap is guaranteed .

VFX is a comprehensive course comprising of all you need to build a rocking career in visual effects for films, television , news channels etc. We at MAAC Animation Kolkata provide our students with hands on experience while working in a studio like environment.

From Special Effects to Visual Effects: A Magical Journey

VFX, or visual effects, is a concept we are all familiar with in this day and age: it is the process of integrating generated or created imagery into ‘real’ or live-action footage, and is commonly used in the sphere of filmmaking to portray environments that would be dangerous, impractical, expensive or even impossible to capture on camera.

The widespread use of computers now allows for the creation of such environments digitally with a great degree of creative flexibility to produce such films as Om Shanti Om, Ra.One or Bajirao Mastani.. or, in a global context, Transformers, Avatar or Harry Potter.

Turning back in time, we find that visual effects predate the use of computer generated imagery (or CGI) or even computers by decades. In fact, the first people to use these effects in presentations and performances were – you guessed it – magicians. It’s no wonder, then, that one of the most prolific VFX studios in the world today – ILM – has the word ‘magic’ in its name!

Pinpointing an exact time for when visual effects – or special effects, as they were known back in the day – began to be used is difficult.

However, a study of film history provides some clues on how it became so popular. Optical illusions like the Pepper’s ghost were used to amaze the audiences at magic shows in the nineteenth century...Read More

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS-Behind the Scenes

Directed and co-produced by Travis Knight, Kubo and the Two Strings is a 3D stop-motion action-adventure film released in August 2016. We have discussed earlier in my blog ‘What Stop- MotionAnimation is’.

The responsibility for the production of the movie was on Laika Studios, the maker of “Coraline”, “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls”. The $60 million budget film grossed $70 million worldwide.

Kubo and the Two Strings is a story of a young boy Kubo, who is one eyed and lives with his ill mother in a cave on of a mountain.

He tells stories to the village children by magically moving the origami which operates under the music played from his shamisen (a musical instrument of Japan).

He tells the story of a samurai named Hanzo, who is actually his missing father. Kubo’s mother warns him not to stay outside after sunset else her evil sisters and his grandfather the Moon King would take his remaining eye...Read More

Facial Expression in Animation

There are two important parts of any character, it plays most vital role at the time of acting. In animation also, these two body parts gets animated the most: Face and Hands.

While talking on facial animation, stretch and squash law in principal of animation also plays a vital part.

Any expression, like laugh, anger, pain, sad, aloof, surprised, skeptical can be easily expressed without any voice-over or dialogue. From Beauty and the Beast, fierce look was a terror to scar, in the Lion King’s satanic look, all expressions are work of animators.

Why does animated character need facial expression in animation?

 Facial expression makes the animated character more appealing. If the animators do not express it properly it is not possible to bring life into the character. So to keep character more and more living and to communicate, the thought process of the same we need a proper rigged face.

How to select the right facial expression?

We need to follow what is happening to the shot and also we need to follow the breakdown of the facial actions according to the mood. We should keep in mind that the upper part of the face like the upper jaw part is squashed less, but the lower jaw stretches a lot. At the time of animating a face, this law of Stretch and Squash of 12 principles help the animators...Read More

Traditional Animation Production Process (Part 1)

Traditional Animation is a process where each of the frames is drawn manually by hand.

It is also known as classical animation or cel animation. This process of animation was followed before the concept of computer animation came into existence.

Every animated film starts with a story, which is derived from various literary sources.

Normally the stories are short and interesting, the once that could be enjoyed by people of all age groups, especially the children. The story is then developed into a script, where the story itself is written in dialogue form. From the script a detailed storyboard is prepared...Read More