Session 24 summary
Journey of becoming an animator
He started drawing from an early age, where he faced the challenge of drawing the hair but was inspired by the hairs drawn in cartoons, which usually had the complete portion of the hair shaded. The cartoons fascinated him with how simple the shapes were, fascinated with how drawings were moving which glued him to the T.V. Before joining design school he had started sketching on his own. He would take colours and pencils and draw in the back of notebooks a lot where he spent a lot of his energy. When pursuing further studies he was in a dilemma as he did not want to go in the medical or engineering field. But sitting in Assam he didn’t know about design education. He had joined a competition by Times of India where he won. This gave him the idea of Design schools and he first went to NIFT. Going there he saw this side of world for the first time. He studied there for one year and found out about NID which could cater to his dreams and he applied and went for the interview. Entering the campus he found a place where he belongs. The walls were bare which made him doubt if it was intentional or not and made him desperate to get into it. He took up animation, deciding not to give up on his childhood dream and found out how hard it was but the process was very fascinating. Animation is multidisciplinary, so one has to work harder as there is no easy way out.
During his time the animation industry in India only focused in broadcasting and not making animation for India. The cartoon ChotaBheem broke that barrier. This was the industry in which he wanted to enter but no one was hiring at that time. The animation shows are usually referred to as IP=Intellectual Properties. He landed up into Disney in 2013 for working on animation shows for Indian industries in collaboration with Disney as well. Acquisition IP refers to where the broadcasters would group up and telecast the shows, Original IP is where there is no need for any studio and they make shows directly for the channel. Longbir has worked with both the types of companies. Some of the works he has worked on is Vir, ChachaBhatiya and Arjun. In these he worked in development and is a collaboration. The works Laju Bhai and OyeGolu were developed by Disney and he was a part of it. After making an IP one must monetize it, for this after creating the shows Disney would telecast it when there is high peak of watching it by the kids. The TRP refers to which shows they are watching and for how long and then the sales team would sell the show to the advertisers (usually kids based) and make revenue. Longbir also had a chance to meet the Ducktales team. What he learnt from these guys is that we do not need to focus on making the animation perfect because of producing it very fast. So something quick run is hampering with the quality of the product.
Longbir’s latest project is a pre-school show and his team has managed to show 8 episodes till now. The show portrays family bonding, some stories are endearing and it is based in the Indian context.
According to Longbir a good IP needs; Research- who you are approaching with your work (targeted age group) it can be a market research, Writing- to write for those target groups it will always be crucial because it would hit them, Development- all of your team has to understand where the character comes from and it must have a human touch, Marketing-plan to reach a wider audience, target it to the right audience, Honesty- the product has to be honest and speak to the audience it was built for, Believe- believe that it will be successful, must have perseverance to wait and see it be successful. The broadcasters were originally the kings in this field but in online shows the broadcasters themselves are the creators which will change the whole game. YouTube in this matter gives the creators more freedom.
What it means to be a tribal? – According to Longbir tribal is a given word which is given by somebody therefore it has low connotation which might have meant something in the past but it doesn’t apply anymore. All of us are connected and are easily reached out. There is no need for external government agencies to help us as we can help ourselves. In the field of animation, this job profile is not for everyone and not many people appreciate this field. This notion would shatter in the near future.
About the Speaker
Longbir Ingti Kathar
Animation Film Designer
Guwahati, Assam
Longbir Ingti Kathar has done his Bachelor of Animation Film Design, Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics and Special effects from NID. He worked as an Associate Producer for Nickelodeon, Films/Animation designer for Rongbin Studios, Art Consultant for Turner International, Lead Animator for Tata Interactive Systems and Associate Executive Producer for The Walt Disney Company.
