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HAVING explored India and studied its historical
strengths in the arts, Patrick Dodson, director of the Swiss campus
of the College of Communications, has almost become an evangelist
of sorts for Indian creativity. He strongly believes that the time
has come for India to unleash its creativity in multimedia, the
same way it did in IT and telecommunications.
Dodson is on a month-long tour to teach multimedia
to Indian students on behalf of Artlab Madras, a training institute
in Chennai, which has tied up with the College of Communications
(of the University of Nations)—global institute with presence
in 20 different locations spread across 11 countries. He talks animatedly
about the world of possibilities in the media to students of visual
communication.
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| PATRICK DODSON feels India can successfully
productise its creative prowess for international markets |
His only words of caution for them are, “If
you don’t realise your strengths at the beginning, be it in
designing a website or a software product, you will remain just
an efficient and cost-effective media back-office. And the moment
the Philippines or China catch up with you on the cost front, you
will lose business.”
Referring to the local IT industry’s obsession
over quality and service capability, Dodson advises, “Don’t
be hell-bent on perfecting others’ inventions when you can
become an innovator yourself.”
The fact is that as far as software is concerned,
India is a back-bencher that happily develops backend codes while
blissfully ignoring product development. But this may not hold true
for multimedia, where Dodson feels the country can successfully
productise its creative prowess for international markets. According
to him, “India has developed and honed its artistic skills
in architecture, painting, theatre, music and prose for thousands
of years. I would call that a dynamic advantage in the market for
front-end innovation. You also have an excellent understanding of
English and international culture while maintaining your own strong
identities.”
But something is surely missing in India’s
educational system, Dodson reasons. “From what I understand,
most of your primary and secondary education systems are math-logic
oriented with little or no input in the areas of art, music and
creative expressions. This combined with an inherited commonwealth
‘blending in’ attitude stifles the growth of an individual—and
thus the nation.”
Dodson therefore advocates a reformation of the
way young Indians are taught about art and creativity. This means
institutes need to go beyond offering stand-alone courses—a
certificate programme on Photoshop or 3D Max—and orient students
towards the bigger picture of film or advertisements or animation.
Agrees Atul Vohra, national head of Arena Multimedia,
“Institutes that do not have the necessary means to invest
in research and developing industry-relevant curriculum offer just
stand-alone courses.” He observes that traditionally, the training
industry in general focused more on the creative side of a person;
this aimed at bringing out latent talent and transforming it to
perceptible reality. However, the industry insists that course curriculums
should include fundamentals of animation, design aesthetics, story
narration, performance skills, timing and staging. The training
programmes should also deal with subjects related to art direction,
scripting, art of animation and a good amount of real project experience.
“On the whole, there should be harmony between technology and
creativity.”
Vohra emphasises that institutes need to impart
training on the process of multimedia development lifecycles, including
project scheduling, resource allocation, quality processes and maintenance
of the projects developed. This training, he believes, can help
students plan, develop and implement multimedia projects on their
own.
He proudly points out that recently two of his
students crafted a documentary film titled Respiration—The
Noble Truth, a silent film that uses voiceover to convey its theme,
the Vipaasana concept that says breath is the only truth, and that
there is a direct relationship between respiration and thoughts.
This 19-minute, fully-animated documentary was digitally done on
computer, minus props or any shooting equipment.
Rathi Babu, chief executive officer, SAE Technology
College, adds that most institutes offer point courses in order
to contain the cost of course and additional infrastructure required
for conducting production-level courses. Also, since the institutes
are not sure of enlisting the support of the required number of
students, they tend to compromise on global requ-irements in manpower.
Babu also thinks that there is a lack of enthusiasm
among students for technology-cum-creative courses in multimedia.
He attributes this to the “conservative mindset in India on
the multimedia industry.” He says, “There are plenty of
opportunities, but we look at engineering, medicine, MCA or MBA
with a lot of respect, so all other creative disciplines fall by
the wayside. Also, the psychology of a person getting into the media
hangs loosely on hype and self-made imagery, which results in a
negative mindset.” Babu suggests making media education popular.
“We should make people aware of the opportunities, and at the
same time, put the demand-supply position factually.”
Typical to India is the trend of students giving
up their long-term prospects in the media and choosing other streams
in the job market. “They may be willing to sacrifice a more
dynamic future in the media for a call centre job,” Dodson
finds. The industry too proves myopic in its vision.
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| PATRICK DODSON feels
India can successfully productise its creative prowess for international
markets |
The Indian multimedia industry, which, in the
mid-to-late nineties, was seemingly poised for scaling new heights,
fell dramatically with the dotcom bust. The industry base itself
may not be big enough, going by Dodson’s comparison of the
animation industry in South Korea with that of India. “South
Korea has nurtured its ancient aesthetic through business models
in television, music, games, cell phone applications and the film
industry. It presently runs over 400 animation studios compared
to around 75 in India,” he says.
However, the recent revival of the IT sector
is reportedly coinciding with that of the media industry. Babu says,
“The industry did go through a massive fall, but is now restructuring.
We have close to US $14 million worth of production contracts at
the moment, and, according to a FICCI report, this year the industry’s
growth rate is more than that of the economy.”
Vohra echoes the confidence: “The improvement
in business is evident from the large overseas orders being bagged
by Indian companies such as Toonz Animation, Crest Communications,
Jadoo Works, and Color Chips.” He predicts, “The multimedia
industry is slated to be among the top revenue earners in the days
to come. A large number of multimedia and animation organisations
are opening shops, and the existing ones are upping the number of
personnel employed, signalling a great time ahead for the multimedia
professional.”
Since multimedia is being used in varied fields
including the entertainment industry, the Web and in education,
the growth in these segments should lift the job market. According
to Vohra, the entertainment industry, with a compounded annual growth
rate (CAGR) of 30 percent over the past few years, is poised to
grow to Rs 28,600 crore by 2005.
The games development industry is fast acquiring
a leading position in the multimedia industry. “Although only
a recent phenomenon here, this multi-million dollar industry with
a predicted billion-dollar future has gripped India. Last year itself
around 10 gaming companies opened shop in India. Growing at the
rate of 35 percent, it is now valued at Rs 40 crore,” Vohra
says and assures, “Interactive entertainment has definitely
arrived.”
As a consequence, the expectations of the industry
from the institutes are becoming diversified and dynamic. Dodson
feels that with the ease of use in today’s technologies, a
fertile ground can be created for blending the excellent logic skills
of Indian youth with their ancient aesthetic heritage. “This
could be the framework for developing a creative vision for their
futures, which, combined with access to technology, could create
the next generation of Indian film, print, gaming and art.”
sankar@expresscomputeronline.com
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