Throughout our 107-year history, Technicolor has helped storytellers bring their visions to life through creative talent and by providing innovative technology to create awe-inspiring moments and compelling entertainment experiences.
World Creativity and Innovation Day presents an opportunity to hear what our artists have to say about Technicolor Creative Studios’ tradition of innovative design and how it inspires them to achieve their creative visions in continuously fascinating ways.
Michael Earnest, Head of Creative Operations, at Mikros Animation
Why is creative expression important to you?
Expression is essential for all living beings on earth to communicate with one another effectively. When we talk about creative expression, each of us is different in our choices, taste, preferences, and the way we respond to issues of our own ideologies and beliefs. The entire world is divided by several factors from language and culture, socioeconomically and politically. I see creative expression as a unifying factor since it can unite people based on the cause and intention. A global audience can and does respond to films, art, music, paintings, and any creative expression in a unified manner, hence it is especially important to me in the present, and it is applicable in the future as well.
How does creativity unite people?
Art can influence the entire world, irrespective of our differences. A good film with a great message can resonate positively in the entire community across the globe. There is a specific reason I am using the idea or example of a film. It is a collection of all art forms. It has a written story, music, colors, dance, action, acting, composition, and cinematography.
The individual artist/director’s/creator’s creative expressions conveyed through a film can impact society positively and negatively based on the creator’s intention. People across the globe can understand the message irrespective of their race, culture, language barriers and other differences.
So, any creative art form can unite the world as one and influence everyone’s mindset and perception. Many political leaders have taken the creative art form as a tool and made several remarkable changes in society successfully.
What was the most technically challenging project you worked on?
Star Trek: Prodigy. Prodigy is the first Star Trek series to target younger audiences and is also the franchise’s first animated series to solely use 3D animation. It follows a group of young aliens who find the USS Protostar, an abandoned starship.
What is your favourite animated character?
Jankom Pog – Jankom Pog worked as an indentured prisoner in the Tars Lemora Mining Labor Camp. He was a Tellarite male. After Dal R’El and Rok-Tahk found the U.S.S. Protostar, they recruited Jankom to be their engineer and get the ship flying. They then escaped Tars Lemora and fled for the great unknown.
Rajarajan Ramakrishnan, VFX Creative Director at MPC
What does creative expression mean to you?
For me, it is to remain consistently creative and have fun while providing an ecosystem to develop creative content. It is also to grow as a better human being and not just as a better artist.
What do you think the next big creative/technological change in the industry will be?
I believe AI, machine learning and real-time technologies will play a huge role in the VFX/CGI industry. These technological changes will enable artists to perform their roles even more efficiently and concentrate more on the creative side of things. Our job is to deliver visuals never seen before. With so much demand for original content, audiences want to be surprised and excited, so there will always be a demand to innovate and deliver work that leaves them astonished.
What was your favorite project to work on?
There are so many projects I want to pick from. I can’t highlight one show in particular. Each show is unique and special to me. But what I love is the process of creating amazing visuals to tell the story.
What was the most technically challenging project you worked on?
I am going to choose 1917, not because it was challenging on many levels, but it was such a fantastic overall experience. After starting out in this industry as a generalist, I am particularly interested in seamless invisible effects, such as seamless cuts, mixing multiple takes, and augmenting the action. 1917 is a wonderful example of seamlessly building on top of shot photography in a way that is unnoticeable to a general audience.
Rohan S Mani, Senior Artist, Animation at Technicolor Games
Why is creative expression of importance to you?
I’ve always believed that having an outlet for our ideas and emotions is necessary. It can be a medium to voice your opinion or a place where you vent out pent up feelings. It gives us stories we wouldn’t dream of which sparks new ideas.
How does creativity unite people?
Regardless of one’s background or upbringing, the desire to create is something we all share, and this is something we can all relate to. It can be a medium for us to truly understand each other when in many ways, we couldn’t. Whether it is a story about a hero or a song about love, heartfelt stories transcend boundaries and have a universal appeal that can resonate with people of all backgrounds.
What was your favorite project to work on?
My favorite project would have to be Gotham Knights, which also happens to be the most challenging project yet.
What is your favorite animated character?
My current favorite animated character would be Zagreus from the game Hades. A humorous, relatable character that must fight his fate to find his place in the world.
Shobhit Trivedi, Head of Department, Animation at MPC
How do you push creative boundaries?
I think ‘pushing creative boundaries’ is a daily challenge for every artist. Satisfaction is the end of creativity. I truly believe that ‘You are as good as your last Dailies’. So, for the artist within me, I need to be forever hungry to deliver better quality work, to live up to the expectations I have set for myself on an everyday basis. Every new show, every new shot brings new challenges, and creates a new imagination. It is that ‘imagination’ I always strive to achieve, the way my mind has perceived it. I guess this is my way to keep pushing my creative boundaries. Chasing imagination.
How are we reshaping the creative industry?
At Technicolor Creative Studios, we are harnessing the younger generation’s creativity and showing them the right way forward through The Academy. And with the years of knowledge that MPC has, we are helping our clients and reshaping the industry to tell stories in the most creative and entertaining manner possible.
