Animation attracts youth but still highly expensive<\/p>\n
Leo Wahyudi S, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A comical-looking tiger with red and yellow stripes is casually
\nwalking in the jungle, when he spies a cute tiny deer, playing
\ncheerfully in a clearing.<\/p>\n
The deer seems completely unaware that the tiger is nearby as
\nhe leaps cheerfully among the bushes.<\/p>\n
When the tiger bounds out of his hiding place, jaws wide open
\nin anticipation of devouring his prey, the deer realizes the
\nterrible predicament he is in.<\/p>\n
But sometimes brains are mightier than brawn.<\/p>\n
The deer fools the tiger with a quick-thinking tactic and
\nsucceeds in getting away from the starving tiger. The end.<\/p>\n
The animation showed at the workshop last weekend received a
\nhearty round of applause from the audience, who mostly laughed
\nthrough the production showed on a large portable screen.
\nHowever, despite the interesting characters and visual effects,
\nmembers of the audience said the sound was poor.<\/p>\n
\"It lacks clarity,\" groaned one.<\/p>\n
But for Febry, a second year student at Santa Ursula Junior
\nHigh School in Bumi Serpong Damai, Tangerang, the animation
\nimpressed him so much that he became obsessed with the idea of
\nbecoming a good animator.<\/p>\n
\"I'm interested in animation because it amazes me how a series
\nof drawings can make pictures move like a film,\" said the winner
\nof the drawing competition put on by Gasa Studio and TV Animation
\nin observance of National Youth Pledge Day on Oct. 28.<\/p>\n
Febry said he realized that very expensive equipment and
\nadvanced technology were needed for producing good animation.<\/p>\n
\"I have to save my money so I can afford to buy the equipment
\none day,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Animation can cost a small fortune to produce. Greg Singer, a
\nfan of animation and a columnist in Los Angeles, California, said
\nanimation was a high-risk business from an investment point of
\nview as lots of money could not guarantee that a film would be
\nentertaining and successful with a good storyline.<\/p>\n
Despite all that is involved, animation has good prospects in
\nIndonesia, said animation producer M.S. Gumelar.<\/p>\n
\"Many potential investors back away from it after realizing
\nthe overpriced equipment needed for its production,\" he said,
\nadding that this was the main problem.<\/p>\n
He praised the youths' high motivation to launch animation
\nproductions as for years releases from the United States and
\nJapan had dominated the industry here.<\/p>\n
An enthusiastic animation student, Maxmillan, 20, said he had
\nbeen learning to develop characters, modeled from American and
\nJapanese favorites, which would be able to go international.<\/p>\n
\"However, it's not that easy as we have too many ethnic groups
\nto be able to select one that could represent the whole country's
\ncharacter,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Gumelar said he had been training 30 talented animators in
\nSurabaya, Malang and Jakarta to study two-dimensional (2D)
\nanimation or 2D hybrid animation. The new technology would help
\nbeginners to reduce the excessive cost of owning animation
\nequipment.<\/p>\n
The option enables one to combine manual drawing and digital
\ntechnology, which is less expensive but quicker compared to the
\ncostly traditional way of producing animation.<\/p>\n
The more effective technology goes through the whole process
\nof making animation. It includes arranging a theme setting,
\nstoryboard, drawings, lip sync editing, coloring, special effects
\nand dubbing.<\/p>\n
\"This new process can run for only some Rp 20 million
\n(US$2,174),\" he said. The price is far cheaper than the common-
\nheld belief that a 2D production normally costs between Rp 400
\nmillion and Rp 600 million.<\/p>\n
TV commercials are the targeted market for animation
\nproduction, such as cartoons and motion graphics, as 80 percent
\nof the animation jobs are done for advertising companies.<\/p>\n
Despite the promising future, Gumelar said animation was still
\nin its beginning stages here.<\/p>\n
\"We aren't ready yet to create any marketable breakthroughs,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Gumelar collaborated with local folklore expert Kusumo Priyono
\nto produce Indonesian storyboards. He also worked together with
\nanother businessman to promote animation production for the
\nmarket.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, audiences here will some day be able to watch local
\nanimation made by new talent such as Febry and Maxmillan, and
\nperhaps their work will go on to win international recognition.<\/p>\n
Gasa Studio and TV Animation, Indonesian Folklore Development and
\nConservation Institution; Nyi Ageng Serang Building 6th floor;
\nJl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. C22, Kuningan, South Jakarta<\/p>",
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