Karachi: There is a special kind of charm in hand-made imagery that no other form of art can capture. Whether it is a hand-woven tapestry, carefully crafted portraits or simple sketches, artificial art always leaves a lasting imprint on one’s mind. No matter how old it gets, the piece of art remains, in effect, a piece of art.
A good example of this would be Disney’s beloved fairytale, Cinderella. It has been roughly six-and-a-half decades since the troubled princess first cast its spell on viewers, but even today, its hand-drawn animation strikes a chord. This is why Usman Riaz has decided to incorporate the same technique in The Glassworker — his first animated feature film.
“Pakistan has no hand-drawn animation industry. With this film and studio, we hope to lay the foundation and support a new generation of artists,” Usman said. The venture will be produced under the banner of his brainchild business, Mano Animation Studio.
In a time wherein Computer Generated Images (CGI) are widely regarded as the way forward, Usman’s preference for a more traditional approach has raised quite a few eyebrows. Although he acknowledges that CGI has become the new frontier for film production and animation, he feels it cannot supersede the quality of hand-drawn images. “CGI is just another development in animation, and I am not against it,” shared Usman supporting his decision. “But one thing I love about hand-drawn animation is that it never looks old. If you watch Toy Story now, you will note that its textures and roads have a lot of pixelation. It looks a little obsolete. On the other hand, hand-drawn is just timeless!” he added.
The Glassworker may still be in its infancy, but the ever-creative Usman has already penned a script, which is expected to be approximately 40 to 50 minutes long. A coming-of-age story, the film follows a young boy named Vincent who is learning the art of glass-blowing from his father. As he grows older, Vincent falls in love with a frequent shop visitor. The storyline chronicles the lives of the two lovers through their formative years and how they attempt to sustain the relationship as their situations become increasingly complicated.
The script is good to go, but Usman seems to have chosen a rather unique and difficult form of animation — especially for an industry still finding its feet. However, Usman maintains that his modus operandi offers the best of both worlds. “It is not going to be anime but instead combines the Japanese animation style with that of Disney,” he said.
Unfortunately, it will take another three years for The Glassworker to see the light of day. Nonetheless, Usman has already comprised a team of animators from across the globe, including Malaysia, South Africa and Pakistan. Amongst those selected are Malaysian artist Sofia Abdullah and local animator Amir Riffat, who have worked on PewDiePie — the highest subscribed YouTube artist — before. Another team member, Rachel Wan, has previously served as the environment designer for the action-adventure video game Metal Gear Solid.
The film will also be utilizing crowd-sourced funding, although Usman clarified this was not due to a lack of finance but the desire to “engage the community” in the project. “Who knows, we may find more like-minded people or artists this way?” claimed Usman. The capital is being raised via an online public-funding platform Kickstarter. The Glassworker will also be Pakistan’s first fully-orchestrated movie, with a trailer released during a TedX session this coming week.
