Member Spotlight - Ravi Kamble Govind

This month iAnimate would like to showcase the work of former student and iAnimate alumni, Ravi Govind. Right after graduation, Ravi was hired by Kandor Graphics for their feature titled Justin. Shortly after his time there, he was hired by DreamWorks to work on their 2015 release of Penguins of Madagascar.

iA: What are you currently working on?
Since February I´ve been working in both development and production at Dreamworks India, on the upcoming "Penguins of Madagascar" feature film, with animation being entirely done at the studio here in the city of Bangalore. The movie is meant to be released in March 2015 and is a spin-off from the 2008 Nickelodeon TV series.

iA: What is the biggest thing you took away from your time at iAnimate?
The exposure to a huge variety of ways to approach, observe, understand and learn animation, and the liberty to share criticism with the whole community and the teachers. I barely felt shy of showing my own work in a very crude and early stage, because there were a lot of people like me, who looked for the same solutions and had similar problems. And the instructors had a very high level of professionalism, which you will very much have to embrace if animation is what you want to do as a lifetime career.

iA: What is the most surprising thing you have learned while in the "studio life"?
Tough question….every new project gives me new surprises. I think the most surprising would have to be the variety and amount of amazing people you can get to meet and the immense talent they can have, yet you would never hear of them because they´re not exposing themselves to the world, or are not as acknowledged as they deserve to be. Some of us love to hear about those personalities who have won awards, are great mentors, are running their own websites and are somehow constantly making themselves known through their skills, having an incredible résumé. Yet there is a whole world out there of quiet artists, who are so amazing, and have a lot to tell…and on top of that are some of the greatest and most interesting human beings you could think of.

iA: What part of the animation process do you enjoy the most?
Though for me it depends on what type of shot I get, usually I do enjoy the earliest phases of planning, blocking and getting into the character, having the challenge of a blank canvas put in front of me in order to make something happen. Its where I truly feel I'm contributing to storytelling, and where the foundation of what will bring my character to life is being set. Plus it’s also the phase where I can experiment and be more efficient in changing ideas if needed, which is always a very fascinating process to witness but can also be dangerous if it’s not under proper control from the animator.

iA: What part of the animation process do you still find to be a struggle?
Again, it really depends on what animation I'm working on, but taking my ideas to refinement and achieving a high level of technical quality, accuracy and beauty is mostly my biggest challenge. Sometimes ideas on the core can be really good, and this is the phase where you can truly lose an audience in understanding your intentions and disconnecting them from the suspension of disbelief, because either you can fall short on selling believability, or you can over polish and add too much detail… hence not retaining what´s most important in conveying a message: keeping things simple and clear.

iA: What was the biggest hurdle for you when first learning to be an animator?
To really understand what good or bad animation was, and to feel discouraged when seeing the mistakes in my animation and not being able to fix them accordingly. I've realized that learning how to do this art form takes you in two directions analogous to playing musical instruments: you can spend many years perfecting the usage of the instrument/tool and be a master at it, but if you can also stand out by thinking in terms of composing, creating and enhancing, then you can excel in the way your animation creates entertainment... I confess this hurdle still remains, but it serves me to keep me going and take it as a challenge that will make me improve.

iA: What is it like getting used to living in a new city/country?
Definitely enriching for any kind of people who want to grow as a person. It mostly has some critical difficulties at first, but if you're able to adapt and meet people then it can become a bit easier. I find it crucial in the animation world because a lot of job offers for people like me imply traveling and moving around a lot. I also believe that you really train your observation skills in life by going to live in different places, which will show through your work in unique ways.

iA: Do you feel like you have wisdom to share with aspiring animators?
I have been an animation lecturer before, and though I guess I could always help out someone with the least expected information ever, or with something I could share that he or she doesn´t know and would be interested in learning… I still believe in myself being a student at the core more than anything else, even when being a professional working in a studio. I still need to learn and go a long way before claiming myself to have any kind of "wisdom". One thing I could share, which I guess is closely coming from my own way of seeing things: always strive for the best you can in whatever you do, and the mere journey of experiences such marked objective will take you to will make all the learning and growth worthwhile if you constantly keep at it. I still look for this even when I go through really bad times or stagnation… Have goals and dreams, and most importantly enjoy the journey towards them.

iA: Where would you like this career to take you?
To the most satisfying dimensions of self expression and storytelling that I can reach, which can come in various sort of mediums, from comics to films to videogames. As long as I can use animation as my language to communicate stories and bring life to memorable characters I'll be very happy. I would love to direct some day. And surely animation is my language for that, at least for now.

iA: How has your workflow changed, let's say in the last year?
Though still working on this a lot, I've been learning how to block out a shot with the least amount of poses possible, and then building on top. This doesn't mean necessarily staying in stepped mode, which I always tended to prefer before, but now I've realised that sometimes we need to find accurate timing as early as in the planning stage, to avoid having unnecessary keys and poses and be cluttered with a lot of detail. I tend to rely on reference at times because it can give you things with spontaenity that otherwise cannot come across if doing it just from your head, though I have to say I always try my best to reinterpret the videoreference so that it can suit my character's design and proportions, and plus it with some enhanced performance and style if needed, respecting as much as I can the model and the character's personality. Ultimately what matters is the result and the intention of the animation. Lately at Dreamworks India I´ve been learning so much about animation aspects that I never used to think of before, that has really affected my way of working and presenting my work to the supervisors so I can get significant feedback earlier on, and distribute my time better to be able to either tackle more shots at a time, or have more time to polish and refine that extra 10% needed to embellish the shot.

iA: What part of film making have you learned you like the most?
Apart from the obvious one being storytelling, I really enjoy thinking and grasping a character's consciousness. I very often get in discussions with fellow colleagues or supervisors when tackling a shot and getting to know a character, and making it think or feel successfully is something so appealing yet hard to do...but the process of trying to grasp that is really very enjoyable, because you ultimately contribute to leaving a mark of believability of that character to the audience, and that would be one of the best approaches to entertainment I think. Currently I´m really happy because I´ve started to work in Character Development, which I had never done before in the past…and the process is so engaging in all these aspects I´m so fond of, that it really is teaching me a lot about how to portray a personality on screen, and how much work goes behind the scenes…even prior to entering into full-on production.

iA: What is your newest favorite food since moving to a new city/country/studio?
Very difficult question, as I really love food in general and each country/culture has its own unique touch. Last year I was really enjoying a good Gazpacho from Andalucía (Spain) almost everyday, specially in summer. Now in India I´m loving the zillions of curries and vegetarian dishes that are part of the traditional gastronomy here…yummy!! J

iA: Is there a maximum to how many hours you are able to make yourself work? (trick question of course..)
Hmmm there is but I'm not sure about it myself...will need to fully go for it and write it down one day :P

iA: What is the best thing about iAnimate?
The connection with my peers and instructors from all over the world, based on a common passion for this artform, which have helped me greatly in shaping my career and aims in many levels. I always wanted to work in highend animated films and thanks to iAnimate I had a chance to look into how people who already have achieved this dream before me thought and worked on their animations. Plus there was a huge bunch who already were professionals in feature animation or next gen games…which were really setting the bar in their assignments. The spirit of iAnimate in this regard is something I really miss and try to incorporate the best way I can in my own approach to my work.

iA: Would you recommend iAnimate to other students wanting to learn animation?
Not only to people new to animation, but specially to those who already are in the industry but want to really push their limits and grow beyond the basics, which is kind of what happened in my case. There are a lot of good educational programmes out there nowadays for animation, but if you have the time, money and energy to invest on learning how to animate for highend projects, then iAnimate is definitely a sure shot.