Response to Interview Sent Through E-mail

On October the 3rd, 2012, I received an e-mail from Mr. Ronnie Chhibber that with an attached document that answered the interview questions that I had sent earlier. Bellow is the content of the attachment.

Answers to Queries by Amanda from Indonesia 

1.     What is the difficulty of working with sand animation?

Live sand animation is a new form of storytelling wherein the artist spreads sand on a smooth surface like a glass and creates images using only his hands. 

The name "Sand Animation Art" succinctly explains the medium, but does not fully articulate the wonder that it actually often provokes  in the hearts and minds of the audience.

 Remaining always in constant motion, evolving  into some thing amazing every second, Sand Animation Art involves subtle participation as we watch unique live performance art created before our very eyes, minds & hearts. This is accomplished  by using a projector & screen. Ronnie Chhibber, first sprinkles a layer of Sand on a transparent canvas ( Back light glass panel )  & then proceeds to re-create intricate, seemingly three  dimensional landscapes, symbols , figures, objects and emotional / spiritual stories. As soon as the first creation is finished, it is swept away or transformed to become something entirely new and original. Temporary renderings are completed at a really swift pace with precise and gentle hand strokes to our rising amazement. The synchronized music adds to the hypnotic effect, even when watching it on an online video, to complete the mesmerizing effect of Ronnie Chhibber’s  sand art mastery and  his  incredible creations.

Since it is self taught, there are bound to be numerous pit falls and failures but the focus and dedication to work helps achieve your aim with suitable amendments, corrections, innovations using latest technology available in the world.  I remember a case where I was not permitted to carry my sand by air and I used a combination of salt and suji to accomplice my mission and therefore came out another form of live animation using other material which are granular and similar in form like sand grains. To name a few, coffee, salt etc .  However, a lot of practice and rehearsal is required prior to a live show as almost 6000-7000 odd lines  / strokes and hand movements have to be captured and put forward in the same chronological order to create an impactful  storytelling, totally synchronize with the background music or voice over as the case may be.

2.     What is the strength and weakness of working with sand animation?

Sand art by all means is a very very strong communication tool  , where any kind of story can be told . We use it for a variety of functions , product launch, awards , anniversaries, music videos, TVC, college fests , plays , movies …. You name it and you have it !!.

Major weakness of this art is that it cannot be appreciated by a blind person and that secondly perfection has to be 100 %  during live act there is NO room for error. Thirdly it cannot be preserved except for shooting it on a film or taking a video for replay later.

3.     What do you have to be cautious about when working with sand animation?

Concentration has to be at its peak , there is Zero error syndrome during performance.

4.     How did you learn the techniques and different hand movements used in sand animation?

All that comes with a lot of experience , trial and error. Innovation is the heart of creativity in sand art , since you simultaneously using three mediums to create a picture – sand, light contrast  and colour  besides the background sounds and music are the very soul of this art .

5.     What are important things to note from your experience?

 Keep trying with new experiments and ideas to capture the attention of the audience.

6.     What tips would you give for someone who is just learning how to work with sand animation?

            (i) Ability to remain focused.

(ii) Skill in drawing and sketching.

(iii) Complete study of human, animal and plant structure, growth and form.

(iv)            A thorough study of mythologies, folk lores, fairy tales, scriptures and religious beliefs to ensure that at the right movement a correct combination of knowledge is churned to create that mesmerising movements for the audience.

(v)            The ability to come out with a strong concept line, theme and binding story is the hall mark of a good animator which only comes with maturity in age, experience and  a sound and varied knowledge base.

7.     How do you incorporate given themes into your work?

            Live sand animation has been very successfully used for product launches, exhibitions, annual award functions, sports opening and closing events, pooja ceremonies, marriage celebrations, company mergers, raising days, family fun days, x-mas and new year parties and other cultural and entertainment functions.

 

We have successfully launched trucks, cars, Bollywood actors as brand ambassador, annual conferences, awards functions, golden & diamond  jubilee anniversaries, corporate events, Religious functions and company mergers.

There is a huge unexploded market in the visual advertising field using this art. Ad makers in India are still ignorant of using this impactful tool to capture the eye balls on the visual media.

8.     How do you keep the product interesting?

Animation is basically an art of converting one object or image quickly into another as the story progresses and therefore it is extremely important for a sand animator to be creative in his thought process.  Merely drawing a series of pictures in sand does not make a good sand animator.  On the technical side there are far too many issues involving sequence of fading in and fading out, abrupt changes to slow mix off various colours of light to create the correct impact on the viewer’s mind.  There are other issues while using high definition over head cameras, projection system, screen sizes, indoor and outdoor performances, day light and dark area performances, it is not possible to get into all these details at this moment.