The first thing that you notice as you walk into the reception area of the Academy of Animation Arts and Technology (AAAT), Calcutta, is a man putting up posters. The very next second, you realise that you are facing a life-size, realistic mural — apt for an institute that teaches you to cajole the eye into believing that a series of drawings are actually a moving image.

“I had wanted to set up an animation studio in Calcutta,” says Ranjini Mukherjee, chief operating officer, AAAT. “I interviewed around 1,000 candidates but found none of them suitable. So I decided to set up an institute to teach the skills that I was looking for in the professionals I wished to employ.”

She seems to have been successful because most of those who work at her animation studio, Metaphor, which shares floor space with AAAT, are ex-students of the four-year-old institute. In fact, her faculty members are also drawn from the studio.

“You can’t be a good animator if you don’t know classical 2D animation,” opines Mukherjee. And at AAAT, all students start off with 2D or Cel animation.

If you walk into the classroom, you will see students hard at work on drawing boards lit up from behind, sketching the movements of a character between two key poses. The walls are covered with innumerable sketches of the Disney character, Tigger, that the students are working on. “These sketches, with all possible facial expressions, help us to draw the character,” says Srirupa Ghosh Dastidar, a student. “This is exactly the way people work in studios.” Evidently, she will have no trouble fitting in as soon as she starts working.

That is the aim of AAAT. As Shankar S., studio head, Metaphor, points out, “AAAT students do not need any training when they join the animation studio.”

Bill of fare

AAAT offers four programmes in animation as well as some short-term programmes for working professionals. The most comprehensive course that it offers is the recently instituted 18-month advanced diploma course in animation, which teaches students the basics of classical animation and gives them the option to specialise in either 2D or 3D animation. It costs Rs 1.30 lakh or 1.50 lakh (for 3D) depending on one’s area of specialisation. The other courses on offer are the one-year diploma course in classical animation (Rs 95,000), the one-year diploma course in digital animation (Rs 1,10,000) and the six-month certificate course in entry level animation (Rs 50,000).

However, AAAT is not affiliated to any university, nor is it recognised by the University Grants Commission of India. “In the animation business, no one looks at your certificates,” says Mukherjee. “You are tested on the job. And there, my students pass with flying colours,” she claims.

Students, on their part, seem happy with what they get. “What I enjoy about studying here is the individual attention we get,” says Pratik Naha, who has come all the way from Siliguri. “I had got through the AAAT entrance test last year. I was in my final year of graduation and the faculty encouraged me to complete my graduation before joining the institute,” he says.

The minimum qualification one needs to join a course is a Plus Two certificate. But there are exceptions. “We did accept a boy who had passed Class X but then, he was exceptionally talented and persistent,” says Mukherjee. She adds, “Usually, I insist on students having passed Class XII because I don’t think people younger than that have the patience and the maturity needed to handle animation.”

On a high

For anyone who wants to become an animator, patience is a must. That apart, one must have persistence, the ability to work hard and a commitment to the art of animation. These are the qualities AAAT looks for in aspiring students who take the entrance test.

The USP of AAAT is the exposure to the studio environment that students get. So its students fit right in at their place of work. “After the rigorous schedule in the classroom and the strict deadlines students have to meet, work is mostly a cakewalk,” says Mukherjee. She should know — she employs most of the students who pass out of AAAT. That, of course, is the other selling proposition of this institute — it guarantees placement.

AAAT does not provide students accommodation. Outstation students have to fend for themselves. Apart from a conducive learning environment and faculty members who are ready to help, the institute has a good collection of compact discs and digital video discs of animation movies.

Vital Statistics

What is it?
An institution that offers courses in animation.
Who's the Boss?
Ranjini Mukherjee.
Courses on offer?
An 18-month diploma course in animation, one-year diploma courses in classical and digital animation, and a six-month certificate course in entry level animation.
Does it have a Hostel?
No.
Where is it located?
Shrachi Tower, 4th floor,
686 Anandapur,
Calcutta-700107.
Phone: 033-30231113/4
E-mail: info@animationacademy india.com
Website: www.aaat.in

Paromita Sen