Isn't It Iyeronic?

The Break-Up

2010-01-08T17:18:00.001+05:30

Jhan! Jhan! Jhan!

2009-11-09T13:08:00.003+05:30

Hot Pipe!

2009-11-09T13:07:00.002+05:30

Say Cheese!

2009-10-14T18:08:00.002+05:30

Smooch-stache

2009-09-22T16:09:00.001+05:30

No Hat, No Service

2009-09-21T17:06:00.005+05:30

Why Didn't I Floss?

2009-09-21T16:29:00.001+05:30

Obese Butterfly

2009-09-18T19:11:00.005+05:30

Turnip Man

2009-09-15T17:27:00.005+05:30

Storky

2009-08-27T13:24:00.006+05:30

Propelled Pachyderm

2009-08-24T17:23:00.000+05:30

Lucky Duck

2009-08-10T11:22:00.003+05:30

Bird Flip

2009-08-09T18:30:00.002+05:30

Mickey Moose

2009-08-08T17:48:00.002+05:30

88

2009-08-07T17:47:00.002+05:30

Rhino Dino

2009-08-06T14:43:00.000+05:30

Frog Doing YMCA

2009-08-03T18:56:00.002+05:30

Walk Like An Egyptian Bodybuilder

2009-08-02T16:44:00.002+05:30

Bunny Slipper

2009-08-01T18:51:00.002+05:30

Holey Cow!

2009-07-31T21:02:00.003+05:30

Whip It!

2009-07-29T22:40:00.003+05:30

Live Long And Prosper

2009-05-21T19:11:00.002+05:30

Neat-o's

2009-05-11T20:11:00.000+05:30

Angry School Kid

2009-05-04T12:17:00.001+05:30

Ouch

2009-04-12T15:59:00.002+05:30

"I Ate Shreyas R. Krishnan."

2009-04-10T16:11:00.011+05:30

UPDATE: You can see more pictures and words about Shreyas' predip on her blog here:

http://shreyasrkrishnan.blogspot.com/2009/04/predip.html

___________________________________________________

Shreyas did the posters and headers for the combined pre-diploma display (predip) that I'd put up at the end of my 4th year in 2007. Which reminds me, I still have to upload pictures from that display. Anyway, I thought I would reciprocate since it is now Shreyas' turn to put her predip up. I made this series based on a random thought I had. There are some repeats and modifications due to time constraints.

The first image is a mock-up I used to get Shreyas' approval.

The second is the poster (we printed it in different colors).

After that are a series of labels/headers which describe the various courses Shreyas undertook at NID and on her exchange programme.

The last blank one is for her retrospective look-back on the last four years.

As usual, click on the pictures to enlarge. Enjoy!

PS - The creature came to be called Custard after the poem by Ogden Nash.

Ya-Ya

2009-04-06T18:45:00.000+05:30

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

2009-03-23T19:00:00.003+05:30

Pappu Postman

2009-02-13T12:37:00.002+05:30

I'll Be Home For Christmas

2009-02-05T17:25:00.000+05:30

LUCK BY CHANCE: Beginner's Luck?

2009-02-01T14:40:00.004+05:30

As a filmmaker (or perhaps a filmmaker-to-be), I often find myself thinking more about the process of filmmaking itself as opposed to what that process should be used to present. Such is the case with Zoya Akhtar's debut film, Luck By Chance. "Write what you know" they say and it feels that she's tried to do exactly that.

Hot on the heels of the last Excel Productions film, Rock On!!, Luck By Chance marks the entry of Farhan Akhtar's sister into the world of films and it's the world of films that she decides to deal with. And rather than offering us a soup or salad to whet or appetites, she gets right into things with a thali-full of delights.

The set-up of the film is efficient and the title sequence is one of the most poignant tributes to Indian cinema that I've seen in some time. We instantly know that we will be covering a lot of ground. The plot-lines are many and varied: There's Sona Mishra's (Konkona Sen Sharma) struggle to become an established first tier heroine; there's Romy Rolly's (Rishi Kapoor) struggle to make a blockbuster film while balancing the airs of uppity celebrities; there's Zaffar Khan's (Hrithik Roshan) struggle to maintain some semblance of a normal life amidst extreme adulation and fame; there's Neena Wallia's (Dimple Kapadia) struggle to make sure her daughter follows in her footsteps and becomes a big star; and at the forefront is Vikram Jaisingh's (Farhan Akhtar) struggle to tie all of these plotlines together while he treats every other character as a rung on the ladder to the top.

Most of the peformances are top-notch. Rishi Kapoor is completely over-the-top, Dimple Kapadia is super scary and Hrithik Roshan stands out as the straight man amidst all the hijinks. Zoya Akhtar peppers the narrative with minor characters, many a celebrity character and observations on the nature of the industry. While these references are whizzing past with every scene, one minor complaint is that instead of being the perceptive views of an insider they pander to the cliches that one associates with Bollywood. But that's a relatively unimportant issue when we see how much is dealt with.

It's a wonder that the script is able to handle all of these threads (and many more) to weave a rich tapestry of the "Hindi Film Industry". In spite of moments of confusion, we are treated to everything from the corporate side of Bollywood to the dedication of theatre actors to their muse. And while it's commendable that all of this manages to stay coherent, it does make us lose track of who or what we should be following.

While Vikram's story seems to be the one we should be following, a second act turn makes us wonder what we are really invested in. And while this is an interesting approach, it isn't helped by the fact that the story begins to meander and almost reduces itself to a series of gags and oh-look-it's-so-and-so-celebrity situations. Rather than building to a resounding climax, it limps it's way across the finish line to an ending that is quite brave and down-to-earth but at the same time unexpected and a tad undeserved.

In fact it's not very dissimilar to the trailer for the film. It starts as a light-hearted satire on today's Bollywood and descends into sentimentality and heavy-handedness. By trying to have the ostentatious song-and-dance sequence along with a certain cynicism, it balances along an uneven tone and one feels that Zoya Akhtar wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Having said that, I do think it's a great first effort and there is just too much in this film to leave disappointed. It's great to see an intelligent voice shine through and hopefully once Ms. Akhtar achieves the catharsis she seems to desire, she moves beyond the realm of what she knows to what she wants to know.

*** stars out of *****

Who Wants to be an Oscar Nominee?

2009-01-27T15:04:00.010+05:30

Like everyone I had been waiting eagerly for the announcement of the Oscar nominations and boy was I disappointed. I was very, very put off by the 10 nominations that Slumdog Millionaire received and let me tell you why. Although the Oscars are not definitive in any way, let's be honest here - they do hold some weight amongst the film community.

Slumdog Millionaire is by no means a great film. It is a good film but not a great one. I'm a big fan of Danny Boyle and he does great work here. But it's the script that had me tearing my hair out! Simon Beaufoy's screenplay is so convoluted, so contrived and so uneven that the fact that the film is being appreciated so much only goes to show what a great director Danny Boyle is. I am an Indian and while this rant has nothing to do with the current media buzz about Slumdog being "poverty porn" or misrepresentational, this has everything to do with Slumdog's story being devoid of common sense.

I can buy the idea of the gameshow questions framing the narrative; in fact I think it's a really good idea. But there are plot holes in this script that I could drive a space shuttle through. I understand that it's a fairytale. I understand that I have to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride. What I don't understand is that I have to watch these unbelievable characters contradict themselves and contradict logic at the same time. Would a gameshow host really be jealous of a contestant? Would said contestant be tortured for cheating as if he'd planted a bomb on the set? If the money is not so important to Jamal, does he even have to answer the question once he's found Latika? After showing us the harrowing childhood that he had can we really believe that this British-English speaking call-center employee is the same boy?

Let me confess here that I did enjoy the film. I'm just getting bothered with the hype, awards and otherwise, that is being generated around it when there are other, more deserving films around. Maybe it is a fascination with "exotic India". Maybe awards nominations are based on agendas: we have a holocaust movie, an epic life story, a political movie, a gay-rights movie, and Slumdog Millionaire. But to give this a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay over so many of the other gems we had last year is just hypocritical. Does this film really deserve to win or did it just get lucky with its lifelines?

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

2008-12-15T15:11:00.000+05:30

Quite brilliant!

WTF?!

2008-12-14T00:28:00.001+05:30

"Solid Death"

2008-12-11T00:56:00.001+05:30

Blue Bird Hero

2008-12-02T23:54:00.003+05:30

An Ode to Mr. McKay

2008-11-27T16:58:00.002+05:30

Written & Directed by: Siddharth Gautam Singh
Animation: Siddharth Gautam Singh, Rohit Iyer
Sound & Mixing: Siddharth Gautam Singh
Narration: Rohit Iyer

"Once upon a time, not so far away, lived a little frog named Mr. McKay..."

The tale of Mr. McKay, a fashion-conscious frog who loves to party!

Created for Lina Tipnis' show during Lakme Fasion Week 2008.

For more info, check out Sid's blog here - http://cafesid.blogspot.com/2008/11/once-upon-time.html

X Films Poster

2008-11-26T12:27:00.004+05:30

Here's a poster I made for a screening of the final films of my junior batch in Film & Video Communication. Originally, it was going to be like an engraved tablet. But for better readability, I decided to use a scroll background.

Also, I realise that there are certain leaps of logic, like text and images appearing on the rolled up part of the scroll. But I think it looks cool... and that's what counts!

PS - The "X" is a Roman numeral, as in 10 Films, not X-rated films! :)

Tatha

2008-11-02T19:02:00.001+05:30

Roadside Romeo

2008-10-27T14:37:00.004+05:30

I saw the film a few days ago. I was going in with low expectations: I didn’t like the designs (quadripeds standing on two legs is kinda awkward), but I was still curious. Unlike many Indian “animated” features, which are sometimes more like animatics, the trailers for Roadside Romeo showed full animation and some real acting, for a change. Also I was interested in how local this film would really be.

I can’t believe I’m saying this: I actually enjoyed myself. It’s easy to make fun of this film, but when you realize it’s not trying to be more than it really is, you can’t help HAVING fun instead. The story is very cliched - a rich bratty dog named Romeo gets left on the streets of Mumbai when his family leaves for London. He befriends the street dogs, falls in love and hoodwinks the local bull dog villain (Charlie Anna, he literally steals the show).

What it lacks in terms of plot, the film makes up for with some great voice acting and insightful humour. The gags here are not translated from Hollywood, but rather from live-action Bollywood. The characters talk like stereotypes definitley, but INDIAN stereotypes, and that is (in a small way) a step forward.

The film has been written and directed by former (failed) Bollywood actor, Jugal Hansraj, and he actually does a good job of balancing comedy with interesting characters. The animation was done by Tata Elxsi - http://www.tataelxsi.com/ - and while character design and art direction do take a back seat, the animation itself is pretty good, without a hint of motion capture.

I’m pretty sure that by having Disney involved in this, the standards have definitely been raised. Made over a two-and-a-half year period, it seems to have come along pretty quickly.
My only hope is that this film, while bordering on mediocre, opens up avenues for better big-budget animated features here in India.

I know this has kind of turned into a mini-review I’ll just finish by saying, if you’re a Bollywood fan - go see it. Otherwise a lot of the in-jokes will fly past.

Jesus H. Christ!

2008-08-02T18:01:00.000+05:30

Octopussy

2008-07-29T19:24:00.000+05:30

Let's dance!

2008-07-29T15:50:00.000+05:30

Moka at work...

2008-07-28T17:22:00.001+05:30

Bunny

2008-07-09T09:31:00.001+05:30

Rani Bonkeshwari Strikes Gold at the 2008 Promax|BDA Design Awards!!!

2008-06-19T11:20:00.004+05:30

Rani Bonkeshwari won the "Best Student Project" award at the 2008 Promax|BDA Design Awards held in New York yesterday!

http://www.promaxbda.org/awards.asp?n=08bdadesign

Check out Page 12 below!

BDA Design Awards winners - Upload a Document to Scribd

And you can watch the spot again here-

Rani Bonkeshwari from Rohit Iyer on Vimeo.

Film Junkie...

2008-06-17T12:54:00.003+05:30

I'm one too!

More over here:

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/16/votd-film-junkie/#more-12158

IYERCAST #1: In conversation with Shweta Bhatnagar

2008-06-05T15:30:00.011+05:30

Alright, this is my first attempt at a podcast. This is an interview I did for the next issue of our college magazine, VOICEBOX. But that never panned out, so I thought I’d upload it on my blog for all to hear.

The interview is with Shweta Bhatnagar, an NID animation senior who currently works with WETA Digital in New Zealand. We talk about how she started in animation; how WETA happened; the projects she worked on; her future aspirations and a lot more.

Keep in mind that this interview happened a while ago (December 13th, 2006, to be exact). Also bear with the poor audio quality - this was recorded in the BMW (Behind the Metal Workshop), the NID canteen.

Finally, thanks to Ranjan for introducing me to Shweta and for lending me his audio recorder, and to Nitin Patel for his company. Enjoy!

Listen Now:

Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Busy...

2008-06-04T17:32:00.002+05:30

I found this excerpt from Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer's The Phantom Tollbooth (which, by the way, I've never read). But I very faintly remembered seeing the animated adaptation as a child and although I couldn't even remember the name, thanks to the internet I didn't have to. Ironically enough, this excerpt describes my day almost perfectly.

"Well, if you can't laugh or think, what can you do?" asked Milo.

"Anything as long as it's nothing, and everything as long as it isn't anything," explained another.

"There's lots to do; we have a very busy schedule-

"At 8 o'clock we get up, and then we spend

"From 8 to 9 daydreaming.

"From 9 to 9:30 we take our early midmorning nap.

"From 9:30 to 10:30 we dawdle and delay.

"From 10:30 to 11:30 we take our late early morning nap.

"From ll:00 to 12:00 we bide our time and then eat lunch.

"From l:00 to 2:00 we linger and loiter.

"From 2:00 to 2:30 we take our early afternoon nap.

"From 2:30 to 3:30 we put off for tomorrow what we could have done today.

"From 3:30 to 4:00 we take our early late afternoon nap.

"From 4:00 to 5:00 we loaf and lounge until dinner.

"From 6:00 to 7:00 we dillydally.

"From 7:00 to 8:00 we take our early evening nap, and then for an hour before we go to bed at 9:00 we waste time.

"As you can see, that leaves almost no time for brooding, lagging, plodding, or procrastinating, and if we stopped to think or laugh, we'd never get nothing done."

"You mean you'd never get anything done," corrected Milo.

"We don't want to get anything done," snapped another angrily; "we want to get nothing done, and we can do that without your help."

"You see," continued another in a more conciliatory tone, "it's really quite strenuous doing nothing all day, so once a week we take a holiday and go nowhere, which was just where we were going when you came along. Would you care to join us?"

"I might as well," thought Milo; "that's where I seem to be going anyway."

Anonymity

2008-05-31T11:31:00.001+05:30

hi, my name is wren-underscore-86 and i am an internet-aholic.

HI WREN-UNDERSCORE-86!!!

i’ve been online for two-and-a-half weeks now...

GOOD FOR YOU, WREN-UNDERSCORE-86!!!

no, no... that’s not good. in fact, this is the longest i’ve been online ever.

in fact, it’s the longest i’ve been anything.

WREN-UNDERSCORE-86, YOU’RE AN INSPIRATION TO US ALL!!!

try to understand this – i am trying to break free... but, i can’t stop typing!

CLAP!!! CLAP!!! CLAP!!!

don’t applaud me, you morons! this isn’t something to celebrate! i’m fucking trapped!

TRAPPED!!! TRAPPED!!! TRAPPED!!!

i should’ve never clicked the link! i shouldn’t have! i did it against my better judgement... internet-aholics anonymous, my ass!

THANK YOU FOR USING WWW.IA.COM. YOUR FREE ACCOUNT HAS EXPIRED.

what the fuck?

YOU ARE NOW BEING CHARGED DIRECTLY FROM YOUR ACCOUNT...

what the fuck?!!!

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO CONTINUE PLEASE CLICK--

wtf?!!

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

omfg!!!

An Accident...

2008-05-21T15:43:00.002+05:30

Sunday is for Church

2008-05-18T21:43:00.003+05:30

Today I went to church for the first time (Other than Christmas mass in 2004-05 and some random visit in Karnataka while sightseeing) and attended a sermon with Dhaneesh.

It was... interesting. Ironically, when I went in, I thought of a movie I finally caught up with this year, The Passion of the Christ, and the priest happened to talk about it during his sermon.

I also goofed up pretty much of the time when it came to the whole getting up-sitting down-bow-getting up routine.

I wouldn't mind going again. And next time, when I go in, I'll think of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (no blasphemy intended).

My New Lapto... er... "Mobile Workstation"!

2008-05-15T11:11:00.007+05:30

Hello out there!

I haven't posted in a long time (this is kind of apologetic is common behavior amongst most bloggers I've noticed - probably best to avoid it from now on).

A few days ago I finally got the new laptop that I'd ordered - the DELL PRECISION M6300. It's a monster of a machine and it's actually referred to as a "mobile workstation":

The Precision is very, VERY powerful. The speed of my work has suddenly shot up on this. I'm sure a lot of people working on Hi-Definition digital graphics would know what I'm talking about when I say that technology can be a big limiting factor when it comes to creativity.

On my old PC, the render times for previews themselves would make me edgy and impatient. And rather than trying out all the options and variables that I had in mind, I'd settle on the first or second test simply because I didn't want to wait for another long render.

No such problems here. This baby has a 2.4 GHz Intel Pentiun Core 2 Duo CPU, 4 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M graphics card. It really screams. Add to that the fact that I have mobility and access to the wireless connection all around campus ensures faster work and more blog posts in the near future!

Let me take a final moment to say goodbye to my old desktop PC. I had it for three years and we had some really good times. So... goodbye desktop; hello "mobile workstation"!

Prince Achmed Poster

2008-04-16T01:43:00.004+05:30

A poster I made for an NID Film Club screening:

A line test a day keeps the doctor away...

2008-04-06T00:50:00.009+05:30

I've decided to re-learn and refresh my animation skills and what better way to do so than animating some simple tests every now and then?

BLACK HOLE by Charles Burns

2008-03-15T02:27:00.003+05:30

I haven't posted in quite a while. So I thought I'd get the blogging juices flowing again with a brief book review.

As you've probably come to expect from me, the book in question is a graphic novel (can't go beyond picture books these days - I've spoiled myself!) called BLACK HOLE by Charles Burns. I read this quite some time back and I really, really enjoyed it.

The book is about a group of teenagers in a small town in America who start spreading a strange STD which has different symptoms for different people. The approach that Burns takes is a heady combination of teenage angst, suspense, sex and horror. That's one formula that can never go wrong.

I especially related to one of the main characters, Chris (a girl in this case) on whom the effect of the disease is that she sheds her skin just as a snake does, at regular intervals.

There's an in-depth analysis of the book here. I totally recommend this book for it's wonderfully stark black-and-white art and the story which is top-notch. I recently heard a rumor that the book might be adapted into a film by none other than David Fincher himself. Frankly, I think this is a bad idea and I hope nothing transpires. The art of the book is integral to the story and the medium is perfectly suited for this tale.

Speaking of the art, I was surprised to notice similar looking artwork in one of the films from the Fear[s] of the Dark trailer. And surprise, surprise... that particular short has been directed by Charles Burns. It's very interesting to see his style applied in an animated format.

Saturday Sketch

2008-01-19T23:57:00.001+05:30

I'm at home on vacation and I took my WACOM Bamboo along. I decided to try out Corel Painter. Here's an initial, if somewhat default sort of sketch. Hopefully there's better stuff to come.

Bonkeshwari reviewed on Wet Paint

2008-01-10T04:20:00.000+05:30

Hot on the heels of the Cartoon Brew post, Bonkeshwari has gained a positive review on the animation blog that I discovered today, known as Wet Paint. You can read the review here:

http://wetpaintblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/bollywood/

If you think I'm plugging this for all it's worth... then you're right!

Rani Bonkeshwari got Brewed!

2008-01-08T20:33:00.000+05:30

Cartoon Brew, like Drawn!, is a site I visit almost everyday for news and inspiration. I decided to send in Rani Bonkeshwari in the hopes that they would post it, and guess what? They did!

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/advertising/rani-bonkeshwari-by-rohit-iyer#comments

I'm very, very happy and I'd like to thank those guys for considering this.

Of course I'd also like to thank Manuscrypts who runs the Brantings blog for reviewing this first, over here:

http://brantings.blogspot.com/2007/12/of-content-being-king.html

I'm on cloud nine!

Agent Smit

2008-01-08T03:45:00.000+05:30

Click for bigger image!

Another poster.

This one's for the pre-diploma display that my batchmate Smit Shah put up. Made this overnight in a few hours in Photoshop. Just a bit of photo-manipulation. His name is Smit, so the idea for the poster was kind of obvious.

I'll be putting up pics (and hopefully a video too) from MY predip (which took place in December) soon. Keep an eye out!

Vaibhav's World

2007-12-28T01:18:00.000+05:30

Click to enlarge

A poster I made for a talk with the NID alumnus and popular Indian animator, Vaibhav Kumaresh. I tried to capture Vaibhav's own bold and sketchy style. His characters Simpoo, Bhoot, Chulbuli, etc. are very well known in India as mascots for TV channels and consumer products.

Vaibhav's been having these Baatein sessions every year at NID, when he comes to take the Stop Motion Animation course.

It's true! YouTube DOES bring back childhood memories!

2007-12-10T17:59:00.001+05:30

Grin... And Bear It!

2007-11-17T04:01:00.001+05:30

I regularly read the SuperHeroHype Boards for discussions on Nolan's upcoming The Dark Knight. I also love looking at the great fan art that people post there.

After lurking for a long time, I thought I'd participate in the thread myself with a go at Ledger's joker. Here are the two versions I posted here:

The portrait was sketched and painted directly in Photoshop and the background images are not mine. I think the joker card is a Bob Kane design.

Click on the images for larger versions.

Rani Bonkeshwari

2007-11-13T18:15:00.002+05:30

She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be comin' round the mountian,
Like a gigantic, frantic fountain,
She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes!

Written by the disturbed brain of Mr. K M Ayappa, the creator of the brilliant Porok, and animated by yours truly... Isn't It Iyeronic presents the queen of pleasure, in great measure...

RANI BONKESHWARI!

UPDATE:
I've put up Rani Bonkeshwari on YouTube as well (that place seems to get more traffic). So spread the word!

Yippeee! Got a new Drawing Tablet! - THE SEQUEL!

2007-11-06T01:39:00.000+05:30

If you've been reading my blog for quite some time, you probably remember this post.

Well, the old drawing tablet was down for the count. And it was high time that I get a spiffy new one. And get one I did - the WACOM Bamboo Fun.

This thing is absolutely lovely. It really does feel like pen on paper! To celebrate, here's a quick sketch...

Apparently, I should live in...

2007-10-18T19:21:00.000+05:30

What City Should You Live In?
	You should live in New York City. America's largest city will ensure that you will blend into the crowd. You are the brooding type--introspective, creative, and eccentric--and NYC's cutting-edge, individualistic culture and ambience will appeal to you.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

On my twenty-second birthday...

2007-09-29T04:29:00.000+05:30

...I felt like a new person; I felt like doing things differently; I felt like being better, quicker, stronger; a more whole person...

...until I realized it was just gas.

rgb

2007-09-24T00:37:00.000+05:30

rgb 2007 is the first design festival in India and it's been a long time coming. Conceived and planned by the students of NID, it will be held this October on the 5th, 6th and 7th.

The student team organizing the event asked me to quickly create an intro animation (based on the logo, created by the ridiculously talented SN Rajpurohit) for the festival, and this is what I whipped up over three days and nights-

Click To Play
I made this in Maya 7.0 and rendered it with finalRender Stage-2. The idea was to get make something that looks and sounds professional and is at the same time short and quick. The really difficult part was finding the right material and render settings to get the desired look. I wanted a glass/acrylic feel to the letters. Both the letters and the camera were animated to give the feeling that the logo is forming slowly. The camera movements are very bullet time inspired and the shots were edited to sync with the music.

I really enjoyed working on this as it gave me an opportunity to get back to working with Maya and to experiment with new ideas. And given the time constraints, it was a pretty cool crash job.

I hope you like it. Do post your thoughts!

Call me a pervert...

2007-09-15T18:30:00.000+05:30

I spent yesterday illustrating Kamasutra positions, reading about three incestuous sisters and then a book called Girls.

Well, the illustrations were actually cartoons for a project.

The Three Incestuous Sisters is the strangest illustrated book I've read in a long time.

And Girls by the Luna Brothers is the strangest comic book I've read in some time.

Yes, yes... I went on another one of my regular trips to Landmark, the book store and was able to read almost two books before the store closed.

The Three Incestuous Sisters is a book unlike any other. Beautifully illustrated and through a sparse use of words to support the illustrations, it reads at one and the same time like a fairy-tale, a script, a storyboard, a book. I heartily recommend it just for it's strangeness disturbing visuals and the fairly tedious process used to illustrate them (aquatint) makes one appreciate it even more.

Girls is a comic book that at first glance seems like any other comic book. But the weird and wacky story of a small American town being attacked by a horde of naked beautiful women who were hatched in a bathroom stops looking run-of-the-mill once you flip the cover.

The Luna brothers take you on this wild ride but what really holds it all together is the central character, Ethan, a guy who has trouble understanding women and probably starts the whole mess. The great thing about the story is that it shifts quickly and easily between being funny, quirky, sexy, intriguing to downright scary. The best part is how well the story's been edited between issues - it just takes these twists and turns which will keep you on the edge of your seat. It looks and reads almost like a movie.

You can read the first issue here for free!

http://www.imagecomics.com/iconline.php?title=girls_001&page=cover

I could only find the first volume (Issues 1-6) compiled in a trade paperback, but I wasn't able to finish the last issue before the store closed!

This just means I'll have to go back.

And no I'm not a perv.

VC Promos 2007

2007-09-13T01:35:00.001+05:30

Well, this post is LONG overdue.

Brief introduction - Every year, at NID, we have a festival called Monsoon Fiesta where we have three teams competing for the prize, namely VC (Visual Communication), ID (Industrial Design) and Foundation (Freshers).

Each year we make promos to promote our team and colour. Last year VC's colour was green:

This year we were white.

So here are the promos...

The first is a spoof of an old commercial:

This is our version (Directed by Sayantan, I have a cameo):

Click To Play

The other three promos are spoofs of the Get A Mac Ads. These were made by me, Vinu and Devika.

http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

And here they are. ID's played by Ayush Jain. And Tanvi Bhatia plays the lovely Foundy. Some of the jokes are quite specific, so don't worry if you don't get them.

BE VC - Poster

Click To Play

BE VC - Basketball

Click To Play

BE VC - Next Year

Click To Play

By the way, I play VC.

Profile Pic

2007-09-02T19:19:00.001+05:30

MAUS

2007-09-02T18:58:00.000+05:30

Shreyas (previously) is being quite generous when it comes to lending me books. She happens to own a brand new copy of MAUS, both part I and II. The first time I heard about MAUS was when I first read From Aargh! to Zap! by Harvey Kurtzman.

It gave me great joy to finally read the entire story almost like fulfilling something left incomplete in my childhood.

MAUS is a must read for anyone and everyone. It put into a scary context every day things that I take for granted, like ragging or "social interaction" in my college to the food I eat so comfortably.

But more than that I was able to relate most with Artie (Art Spiegelman, the author) and his difficulties in trying to tell a tale which he himself has not witnessed.

Beg, borrow (I did), or steal a copy today!

Cat on Air-Conditioner

2007-09-02T18:56:00.000+05:30

From Aargh! to Zap!

2007-09-02T18:31:00.000+05:30

From Aargh! to Zap!: Harvey Kurtzman's Visual History of the Comics is one of the many books that I happened to chance by because of the wonderful Scarborough Public Library (now the Toronto Public Library, it seems), back when I was around 8 or 9.

In those days, the library used to clear out all their old books and they would sell them to the public for peanuts. And since both of my parents were (at the time) unbiased and voracious readers, they bought almost anything and everything.

That's when I first saw From Aargh! to Zap! - a gigantisized tattered old book about the history of comics.

I suppose I didn't realize it then, bu when I look back now, I realize that it was probably one of the biggest influences early on in my life. Later every time I heard someone talking about any of the comics/comix mentioned in the book, I was able to relate and sometimes show off with a bit of trivia about it (even if I had never read the book myself).

Now, when I'm finally able to read the books I read about then, things come full circle and it all feels predestined in a weird sort of way.

Thank you, Harvey Kurtzman!

Just Like Clockwork...

2007-08-30T18:24:00.000+05:30

I just finished reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick on an overcast Thursday afternoon. This book actually belongs to Shreyas Krishnan, who unlike me, prefers to BUY books and treasure them rather than devour them sneakily in the store itself

The Invention... is a thoroughly mesmerising read as it brings together the best things about pictures and words and neither of the two are given the short end. I just love it when an author is able to blend together fact, fiction, images, words, history, cinema, characters, mystery, story, print with a dash of poignancy and make all these gears work like...

...well, clockwork!

Then again, this is probably the first time I've experienced it.

I've been SIMPSONIZED!!!

2007-08-09T15:20:00.000+05:30

http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/

The Fountain

2007-08-09T10:25:00.001+05:30

A brand new Landmark Bookstore has just opened in the outskirts of Ahmedabad in ISCON mall. My favorite thing about Landmark is the graphic novel section. My usual mission is to get in; read a book; finish before anyone wants to leave. It's very satisfying to get to read great work without having to pay for it!

Speaking of great work, yesterday I read the graphic novel version of The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky and Kent Williams. As most of you might now, I've been looking forward to the film version for a long time. But sadly, I haven't been able to see it. I did absolutely love the trailer though.

The book is great, if simply for the fact that visually it doesn't try to ape the movie. That is of course probably because they were both made parallel to each other. This is a pleasant change from the cheap comic book adaptations of movies that you usually see (most often they are comic book adaptations of movie adaptations of comics!).

The story here is being marketed as the Ultimate Director's Cut. Well, I don't know about that. But it's definitely worth a read!

My MTV Work Is On Air!

2007-07-29T16:41:00.001+05:30

UPDATE!!!

Here are UN-CUT versions of the two promos I made during my internship at MTV.

Enjoy!

_____________________________________________________________

Hey!

Finally back to posting. Coming to the point:

MTV India has a whole new look and the channel's been revamped. So has the website:

http://www.mtvindia.com/

My two promos are finally on air. One is the MTV-Vh1 CAS promo. It appears at random times so watch out for it.

The second promo is the intro for a new show on MTV called IT SUCKS! This promo appears at the start of the show, which airs at 6 pm on weekdays. You can also see it online on the same website linked above.

http://www.mtvindia.com/mtv/mymtv/shows/itsucks/

The problem is that the quality's quite bad and the promo has been CENSORED!

I'll be posting an UNCUT version here soon, so look out for that!

Ratatouille

2007-06-30T19:08:00.000+05:30

Possibly the most interesting character in Ratatouille, for me, is Anton Ego. The film begins and ends with him. He is also a representative of us - the audience.

How long have we craved for something to enjoy; something to love? Although we are quick to point out faults in the work that we see, it is truly a repercussion of the need to find something greater in life - something tastier.

Ratatouille is by no means perfect. I have to admit, if one gets technical, there are quite a few things that I did not like about it. But the important thing is that it strives for greatness; just like its protagonist. Remy knows that he might fail, but ultimately that doesn't mean he shouldn't express himself.

I'd like to applaud Brad Bird for making a film that is not just for "audiences", but also for critics. He has made a film that shows us, by example, that we should expect greater things from our art and our lives.

Bravo!

Poll - Do I look like this?

2007-06-22T16:51:00.000+05:30

Via Priyankar's Blog

Drawn by him too.

Garage Band

2007-06-20T14:48:00.001+05:30

Remember my not so enthusiastic review of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer?

What?

You don't remember?

Well scroll down and have a look. I'll wait for you.

Honestly, I'll wait.

Back? Good.

Well, now that you know that how thoroughly boring that outing was, I can continue. After the movie, I went to Landmark (the book store). The Landmark in Andheri, Mumbai has an amazing collection of Trade Paperback comic books, Manga, Comix and graphic novels. The best part is that you can sit and read whole books, right there in the store.

Since I had some time to kill that Sunday evening, I picked up a couple of books to read. One of them was Gipi's Garage Band and I have to say that it was quite a good read.

Garage band is a small and intimate story about four young band members who practice their music in a garage. The book touches on the differences in each of their lives and how their music brings them together and helps them express themselves.

But the most astounding thing about the book, for me, was the artwork. Gipi's line-work has the honesty of a sketchbook and at times he refuses to clean up extra lines, trials and mistakes.

The water-color palette is subdued and controlled very well throughout the book and the most poignant moments in the story come from the use of space. Gipi devotes whole pages to just depicting the sky and uses these splashes as transitions in a truly cinematic manner.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys great artwork and storytelling - the kind that tells the smaller stories with heart.

If you're still unconvinced, then you can read a preview of Garage Band here.

http://www.firstsecondbooks.net/garageBand.html

And also one for Gipi's Notes for a War Story here.

http://www.firstsecondbooks.net/warStory.html

Lucky for us, Gipi's got a blog online here.

http://giannigipi.blogspot.com/

It's in Italian, but I'm sure you won't go there just to read.

Talent Campus India 2007

2007-06-20T14:10:00.001+05:30

Check this out:

http://220.226.203.134/TCI4.html

I'd entered my first script, Above the Waves - the one I'd written in during my scriptwriting course for this workshop.

Yesterday, I got a call saying that I'd been selected. So I'll be going to Delhi this July for a 7-day workshop to interact with filmmakers from India and around!

Should be... educational.

My Aboslutely-Totally-Undeniably First Bit Of Hard-Earned Money!

2007-06-19T12:40:00.000+05:30

Do I feel giddy with glee? Do I feel like splurging? Do I want to shout to the world that I can support our economy?

Frankly - no.

But that's just me.

PS - I hope this isn't illegal or something.

Far-Too-Lame Foursome: Rise of the Sucky Sequels

2007-06-18T11:23:00.000+05:30

Well I'm not going to be in Mumbai when Ratatouille comes out (that's by far the only movie I'm sincerely "looking forward" to), so I didn't want to miss the chance to watch a movie before heading back to good 'ol "we-show-only-hindi-movies" Raipur.

Firstly, the Fantastic Four was never really a favorite. I remember picking up with one of my first Spider-Man books at a book fair when I was in elementary school (Other books in bought during that time were Punisher and Batman). Fantastic Four, to me, has always been riddled with camp and too many "inter-galactic" adventures for my simple tastes.

That said, I have to say that I absolutely loved The Incredibles, which while borrowing a LOT from Marvel's famous family of foe-fighting superheroes, was able to translate the concept on to screen with a BANG!

The story of FF2 is quite simple really: The herald of Galactus (the planet eating cosmic being),Norrin Radd (or Silver Surfer - I prefer his real name) has come to earth to prepare it for his master. The Fanatastic Four have to stop this from happening, and surprise-surprise they do. All this happens in the midst of Reed Richards and Sue Storms wedding plans.

There's nothing really wrong with Fantastic Four - it's just too simple to be interested in; a paint-by-numbers (Finally! I get to use that phrase!) picture that is very easy to forget.

The good:

Chris Evans as Johnny Storm - he can get pretty annoying, but I think his character kinda grew on me. The payoff of him using all the four powers to fight doom was quite cool.
The Silver Surfer - they pretty much got his character right. I really like the way he silently disposes of any obstacle in his path. And Doug Jones is always awesome.
Ioan Gruffud as Mr. Fantastic is also okay. But that's the whole point. I can't come up with anymore positives because everything is just "okay".

The bad:

Julian McMahon as Dr. Doom - totally not needed.
Galactus - I like the cloud, but it ain't Galactus.
Silver Surfer without his sheen is very hard to watch and not too believeable.
Lawrence Fishburne as Silver Surfer - it doesn't work.
Some of Mr. Fantastic's stretchy effects
The Surfer having weird powers and sometimes being too reminiscent of T-1ooo.

The ugly:

Jessica Alba's hair and eyes. UGLY, UGlY, UGLY.

Well, there you have it. A mediocre movie. If they make a sequel, it should be straight-to-video.

Actually - this one should've been too.

WALL*E

2007-06-16T14:38:00.000+05:30

Watch the teaser trailer here - http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/walle/

And the read the plot description here - http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/02/26/toon-tuesday-again.aspx

Rocket Science

2007-06-15T17:09:00.000+05:30

http://rocketsciencemovie.com/

Too "Little Miss Sunshine-Garden State-Napolean Dynamite-ish"?

I think so. But the trailer's got me interested anyway.

Watch all of these...

2007-06-15T16:59:00.000+05:30

...NOW!

(Click on "Video Playlist" to select)

Fun, fun, fun!!!

2007-06-13T12:42:00.000+05:30

Gun Run

Shoot everything to survive.

Play this free game now!!

Ocean's Thirteen

2007-06-11T10:40:00.000+05:30

One word - "Smooth".

Bring on Fourteen!

You've Never, "You've Never"-ed?

2007-05-24T12:39:00.000+05:30

If you're like me then you really hate it when anyone springs the endlessly pretentious, "You've never...?", in the course of a conversation.

For instance, if at the mention of say... Pavlov, you innocently ask, "Er... what's pavlov?", it's very likely that you'll be hit with the remark, "You've never heard of Pavlov?" Incidentally Pavlov could refer to anyone of several famous (usually Russian) people.

Variations on this way of showing off (with appropriate examples) are:

-"You've never been to Fiji?"
-"You haven't seen Citizen Kane?"
-"You haven't read Gone With The Wind?", quickly followed by
"You haven't WATCHED Gone With The Wind?"
-"You've never been bungee-jumping?"
-"You've never heard of Guaocamole?"

This kind of name dropping is quite irritating. I don't understand why anyone would find it hard to believe that there's a first time for everything and that no one really knows everything. I myself have had the temptation to "You've never" some people, especially when it's regarding some of the more trivial bits of general knowledge. Yet it is definitely ridiculous to assume that every person must have gone through the same education/experiences as you and therefore knows all that you know.

In fact, even the belief that this assumption exists is false. Because, ideally the "You've never?" line is the ideal opportunity to show off one's superior knowledge regarding the world.

So how do we battle this phenomenon?

Simple. We just do unto others as they do unto us. Like so:

Pretentious Prick (From now on referred to as PP): So the other day I got into an argument about Sartre's Being and Nothingness...
You: Er... Sartre?
PP: You're kidding me? You've never heard of Jean-Paul Sartre?
You: Oh, Jean-Paul Sartre? I thought you were referring to Sartre of Mignon, the hidden beast also referred to in some circles as, "The Jolly Roger".
PP: Huh?
You: Don't tell me - you've never heard of The Jolly Roger?

Walk off immediately as though you are thorougly disgusted at such a possibility.

J'aime "Paris Je T'aime"

2007-05-15T10:39:00.001+05:30

MTV Ahoy!

2007-04-28T13:57:00.000+05:30

Hey, folks!

I'll be working as an intern at MTV India in the On-Air Promotions department for the next couple of months. Working in Mumbai is exciting and challenging at the same time. Will post some new stuff as it comes along.

Isn't It Iyeronic presents "KEEDA" (Bugs/Fun)!!!

2007-04-18T02:14:00.002+05:30

A stop-motion short film about bugs who just want to party! It's a pool party in a toilet. But when a guy's gotta go, a guy's gotta go. See what the bugs do to save the day!

NOTE:

-You need to have Quicktime 7 to view the video. You can download that here.
-The sound and music are only temp (The music is from The Incredibles OST)
-The titles are going to be redesigned.
-Other than further small changes, you can consider this pretty much the final cut of the film.

Enjoy! :)

Mmmmmmm......

2007-03-24T18:55:00.001+05:30

The Science of Sleep...

2007-03-20T14:13:00.000+05:30

...is like a really long short film.

The Virtual Coke Cup

2007-03-20T14:04:00.000+05:30

300 - What a waste...

2007-03-17T02:20:00.000+05:30

...that it takes an extravagant visual treat of a politically-basic, big-budget, mega-hollywood event of a film to get people to appreciate a brilliant book that they haven't actually read and probably never will.

It's opera and I loved it. But what a waste.

UPDATE: Hmmm... could I be wrong?

The End

2007-03-15T19:50:00.000+05:30

The guy taking our course is a final year student from the Royal College of Art, named Martin Ruyant. He's French and he did his graduation at Supinfocom school in France. There he made a film with a couple of other people called, The End.

Although the visuals and animation are really good, I was much more impressed with the simple story and strong concept. Have a look below!

Starting Animation...

2007-03-13T13:56:00.000+05:30

Starting to learn Maya animation now. This is a ready-made rigged model that I'll be working with. Soon you'll be able to see some walk cycles and other animation.

3D Jack

2007-03-12T09:59:00.000+05:30

Colour reference: