The Seed
Inhouse Film
A seed, cradled in the embrace of potential, whispers tales of a destiny unknown. With tender care, we cultivate its essence, birthing not just a tree, but a legacy of dreams, where each leaf breathes the poetry of life. Within us all, the latent gardeners await, sowing seeds that dance with the promise of a flourishing world that also dreams.
At Eeksaurus, we also make films and not just dreams.
CLIENT
Inhouse
DATE
2023
DIRECTOR
Suresh Eriyat
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Nilima Eriyat
BEHIND THE SCENES
Episode 1
Dive into the animatics process for the film. After finalizing the storyboard, the animatic stage breathes life into the project in a rough form, allowing us to test emotional delivery, story confirmation, narrative flow, and message impact. This crucial pre-production step ensures confidence and clarity before moving into more time and resource-intensive production phases.
Episode 2
Go behind the scenes and explore the complexities of character design and modeling. Creating these largish, unique characters required them to look like part of a tribe while connecting to Eeksaurus, balancing sweet and cute appearances without looking monstrous (despite them being monsters). The intricate design involved careful consideration of their body projections and other features, ensuring actions didn’t overlap due to their large structure. This video provides a detailed look at our process, challenges, and solutions, offering valuable insights for anyone interested in stop motion animation.
Episode 3
Set design for the film was an intricate process. Initially, we explored various concepts like using textiles, different weavings, and embroideries to create diverse spaces. Ultimately, we chose clay for its fundamental connection to the soil that nurtures the seed. Using clay in stop motion allowed us to create a vibrant and playful world, with the texture reflecting the maker’s touch. Achieving this vision came with many challenges, which we reveal in our making-of video. We share this journey for your learning and inspiration, hoping it encourages you to tackle even more complex projects.
Episode 4
Rigging the characters presented a massive challenge. Handling different scales and ensuring smooth animation for a short two-minute stop-motion film required extreme expertise and meticulous pre-planning. The materials used played a crucial role in providing flexibility, allowing us to animate according to our animatics without compromise. Having a full set of animatics with animation is essential for understanding the types of rigs needed to achieve the desired actions. This principle applies to CGI animation as well, although it’s often more complex due to the gap between riggers and animators’ needs. When animators handle rigging themselves, it brings extra flexibility and confidence, ensuring the envisioned actions come to life seamlessly.
CREDITS
Director – Suresh Eriyat
Producer – Nilima Eriyat
Director of Photography – Suryakant Ramesh Ghorpade
Stop-Motion Director – Aman Gupta
Music Director – Sameer Uddin
Music Programming and Vocals – Sameer Uddin, Dhawal Tandon
Voices – Suresh Eriyat
Sound Design – Arun Varma (MPSE)
Sound Mixing – Biju Jose
Concept – Suresh Eriyat
Storyboards / Animatics – Adithi Krishnadas
Character Design – Adithi Krishnadas
Color Visualization – Nijin Nazeem
Concept Development – Aman Gupta, Adithi Krishnadas, Shivani Sadwelkar, Nijin Nazeem
Team Lead – Aman Gupta
Character Modelling – Sanjay Patkar
Set Building/ Prop Lead – Vishal Vijay Mhatre
Stop-Motion Animation – Aman Gupta
Stop-Motion Assistance – Sanjay Patkar, Manit Khare, Utkarsh Ashok Bankar, Maithili Desai, Pritha Mukherjee, Tansheet Bhatt
Clay Team – Aman Gupta, Gayatri Gogoi, Vishal Mhatre, Kinal Prashant Varu, Krusha Vakharia, Pritha Mukherjee, Utkarsh Ashok Bankar, Maithili Desai, Sanjay Patkar, Tansheet Bhatt, Manit Khare, Ramesh Jadhav, Milind N Potfode, Neha Makwana, Satish Gautam
Production Runner – Kalpesh Palkar
Editing – Aman Gupta
Rig Removal/ Clay Clean Up – Aman Gupta, Dhiraj Pathade, Studio V Sync
Compositing – Aman Gupta, Nilesh
Foley Editor / Recordist – Balakumar
Foley Artist – Pandiyan R
Foley Studio – Foley Crafts Studio
Accounts – Shailesh Patel, Chetan Varia
IT Support – Satish Cautam
Team Eeksaurus – Shrikant Menon, Akhil Cleetus, Pavani Atchula, Thabsheer E, Hari Prasad, Shania Symons, Kratika Sunkar, Nijin Nazeem, Ashin Munnu, Ameen Ali Shanavas, Dhiraj Pathade, Ishita A, Kalpesh Palkar, Shubhangi Salvi, Reshma Bhogvekar
Rigs Support – THESTOPMOTIONCO
Lights Support – Aputure Lights