Ambimama - India

While observing Twenty20 matches I use the remote efficiently. I do not even see the Ads that are new. I have commented in my previous article that Vodafone Ads are a bore. I came to know that in these Ads all characrters are done by kids and ladies and is not an animation.

I was surprised to learn that. A lengthy article on that.
If you want you can see the mail forward to me:

Zoozoo: The new brand ‘endorser’ for Vodafone
No, they aren’t animated characters. They are human beings who were made to
wear body suits. “The design of the characters is such that one gets fooled
into thinking it is animation,” shrugs Rao, which was indeed the very
illusion that had to be created. “In a sense, it is ‘live’ animation!” he
quips, referring to the fact that it was all shot live.

Prakash Varma, ad filmmaker, Nirvana Films, has directed the commercials,
and reveals that the Zoozoos were a big challenge to create. The practical
aspects of how they will move, talk, gesticulate and emote were very
important. Essentially, costume design and artwork were crucial elements.
“It took me three weeks of pre-production to understand how it will work,”
says Varma. There were two fabrics that were considered for the body suits,
and one was rejected for it had too many wrinkles and was shiny. The
wrinkles would have shown when the characters moved, thereby shattering the
illusion of animation. “So we chose the more practical, thicker fabric,”
Varma explains.

The production team divided the outfit into two parts: the body and the
head. The body part of the outfit was stuffed with foam in some places,
while the head was attached separately. To make it look bigger than a human
head, a harder material called Perspex was used, which in turn was stuffed
with foam (with scope for ventilation).

If one wishes to understand the size of this head, here’s a fact: a human
head would typically reach up to the mouth level of this giant Zoozoo head.
“We kept the hands and legs thin, which is why we cast women – and
occasionally children – wearing the costumes,” says Varma. The thin limbs,
contrasted with big bellies and a bulbous head, all add to the illusion that
these creatures are ‘smaller’ than humans. Sets were created to suit the
size of the Zoozoos.

Cinematically, this ‘size’ was a trick: the creatures look smaller than they
actually are on screen, to portray a different world of sorts. For this, the
speed of shooting was altered: Nirvana shot it in a high-speed format to
make them look the size that they do.

Furthermore, simple sets/backdrops were created and spray painted with
neutral Greys – a colour of choice so that attention isn’t diverted from the
main characters. For a supposedly ‘outdoor’ shot, even the shadow of a
Zoozoo was kept ‘live’ and not done in post production: it was painted in a
darker shade of grey on the ground. An even lighting was maintained
throughout.

There was virtually no post production work done.
The films were shot by Nirvana in Cape Town, South Africa, with the help of
a local production house there, called Platypus. Incidentally, the same
combination of people also worked on the ‘Happy to Help’ series last year.
When asked whether Cape Town is fast becoming a tourist spot for Vodafone
and Nirvana, Varma laughs, saying, “Oh no! It’s just that we are very
comfortable with the team there and know what sort of work to expect from
them.”

Nagpal adds here that the production cost had to be minimal for unveiling
such a large number of commercials. “Otherwise, our production costs would
exceed media spends,” he quips.

Creating a website and keeping track of the visitors is a big task for Webmasters. They need to use tools to analyse what interests the viewers, hit counters and watch the site for spams and ensure proper working in various browsers.
They need to use web site tracking software which will help to optimize their website, online marketing campaigns and get more visitors from search engines.
The website statistics will help them to analyse the data of the site and improve the quality and content of the site.

The Press Meet was relayed on all TV channels today at 5 pm. Confidence, team work, crisis management and carrying on the immediate work for clients by Board and other top members of Satyam team is really inspiring. OK Raju has made mistake and admitted it, but he has made us proud by making a fine team at Satyam and the image of new corporate image of success. Success was possible for many Indian IT entrepreneurs by their hard work, meeting client requirements and team work.

Satyam had gone one step ahead and met the challenge of Media and Public and patiently answered all their questions. Oracle has already said it will be with Satyam to carry on the work as usual. Panic had struck some employees and clients. But Satyam management had kept cool in crisis situation and will get the confidence back.

The hard work done for many years in a specialized area cannot be done by any MNC or Indian competitor in a day. With current job problems Satyam employees must think again!

The tendency to panic about physical discomfort and search the net for diseases and drugs is on the increase. Some of us even try to be smart even with advising the physician! We think we are the experts and forget the practical and theoretical expertise of the Medical experts.
We take for granted information on the net available is correct. The clinical diagnosis and treatment varies with the patient, history and the final mode of treatment. We tend to believe newspapers and information from the net which is dangerous leading to a state of mind to self medication. India is the place where you get over-the-counter drugs and free advice from relatives and friends.

When in acute pain we have no choice but to listen to the Medical experts who have rich knowledge, practical experience and more information on mode of treatment. God save those who think they know everything and apply the same arrogance to a click of the mouse. It is OK if they want to satisfy themselves by getting information, but to advice the Doctor is dangerous.

A 9 year old girl, Lavinashree from Madurai, TN has cleared Microsoft certified professional examination and is the youngest in World to do it.
The Microsoft exam, taken by techies for better job prospects, measures problem-solving skills and Lavinashree passed it with flying colours. By achieving this feat, she broke the record held by Arfa Karim, a ten-year-old Pakistani girl.

“Dr Kalam is a very big scientist and I want to become like him,” Lavinashree said.

When she was just three, she was listed in the Limca Book of Records for reciting all 1330 couplets of Thirukural, one of the Tamil classics.

The child prodigy’s admirers include many national leaders — from former president APJ Abdul Kalam to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi.

In fact, according to Lavinashree’s father, the Tamil Nadu government is likely to announce that they will take care of the child’s education.