Press Release 16 March 2012

On the penultimate day of the Animation Workshop in Manipur that has been taking place over the past three weeks, things are really coming to life.  A group of young artists and animation enthusiasts from the Meitei community based in Imphal have used the time provided by the Manipur Film Development Corporation and the facilities, including a constant power supply, to develop a folktale from their own tradition for a short animation film.  It has been a time consuming process that began with script writing and storyboarding.  The storyboard is an essential part of any animation film production as it confirms the shots that will make up the film and it also shows whether the story is getting communicated well; a storyboard looks rather like a comic book with each frame adding to the sequence of action.

Characters were designed by young Yamnam Sapha Wangam Apanthoi M. (Swam) and they have been hand painted and scanned for computer manipulation using various 2D software.  The advantage of having a team is that elements of the film can be animated simultaneously by different people.  The actions defined by setting keyframes are the rendered and passed onto the compositor, who will assemble the scenes using After Effects software.  Rahul Laishram has been working hard to assemble the multilayered scenes chosen for the trailer that the team is planning to show at the valedictory session tomorrow.  They are hoping that the Commissioner of Art and Culture, Dr. R.K. Nimai Singh will be suitable enthused at their efforts during the workshop to be able to sanction support for the completion of the short production, anticipated to take a further six months.

Visitors have been dropping in out of curiosity to see the developments for themselves. Today the team was visited by Oinam Doren, a documentary film maker from Manipur who has recently returned from Mumbai.  Doren has made a film recently “Songs of Mashangva” featuring Thangkul folk blues musician Rewben Mashangva that received the prize for best ethnographic film at the National Awards in Delhi in 2011.   
“They make so many films here in Manipur, but they are very mainstream productions with romance and action.  One film received the President’s Award recently.  It was called “Phijigi Mani” (My Only Gem).  That was a good one.  It had some romance too but the content also had depth.  It was about Manipuris who leave their home state to find work and then get married and settled outside. It made me feel quite emotional”, he admits.  Doren  has a few projects that he is working on, including a documentary that he wants to make about the headhunters of Nagaland, but it is very tough to find financial support to make artistic films and hard hitting documentaries the world over. 

The Animation Workshop in Manipur has been possible through the Government Department of Art and Culture (Manipur), the Manipur Film Development Corporation and the UK based Adivasi Arts Trust.