Ishu Patel
Encyclopedia
Ishu Patel is an animation film director/producer and educator. Over a period of twenty-five years at the National Film Board of Canada
he developed animation techniques and styles to support his themes and vision.
, Ahmedabad
, Gujarat, a design school created by the Government of India
under the auspices of the well known textile industrialist family of Gautam and Gira Sarabhai, and based on the recommendations and ideals of Ray and Charles Eames. During these early years of faculty training, a stream of extraordinary international experts was invited to the National Institute of Design
for periods of work and faculty training: Ray and Charles Eames; Buckminster Fuller
; Architects Louis Khan and Otto Frie; Furniture Designer George Nakashima
; Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson
; Typographer and Designer Adrian Frutiger
; Graphic Designers Armin Hoffman, Bob Gill
and Ivan Chermayeff; Textile Designers Helena Parhentupa and Alexander Girard
; Children's book writer and illustrator Leo Lioni and Animator Gulio Gianini and many others. During this time Ishu Patel worked closely with Armin Hoffman, Bob Gill
, Adrian Frutiger
, Henri Cartier-Bresson
, Charles and Ray Eames
, Leo Lionni, and Gulio Gianini.
Through a Ford Foundation
Grant provided to the National Institute of Design
, Ishu Patel finished his post graduate studies in Graphic Design under Armin Hoffman at the Allgemaine Gewerbschule in Basel
, Switzerland
. He returned to the National Institute of Design
where he taught and became Head of Visual Communications.
Scholarship brought Ishu Patel to the National Film Board of Canada
to study animation filmmaking for a year, and in 1972 he joined the NFB. For twenty-five years under the NFB mandate Ishu Patel produced and directed personal animated films, and mentored young filmmakers. There he developed several notable techniques: the technique of multiple passes and variable exposures he employed for the abstract film Perspectrum; the under-lit plasticene technique used in Afterlife and Top Priority; under-lit pin holes with multiple passes developed for the film Paradise; and the procedures for moving thousands of tiny beads under an ever zooming camera as in Bead Game
.
He co-produced animation with NHK
of Japan
and Channel Four of Britain
, and contributed many French language segments to Sesame Street
for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
. His many international awards include the British Academy Award, two Oscar nominations, the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival
. He is particularly known for his 1977 film Bead Game which was nominated for an Academy Award.
, Korea
, Japan
and USA. During those years he returned regularly to the National Institute of Design
in India
to train young animators and assist in formulating the animation program.
After leaving the NFB in 1998 he conducted student workshops at the Kaywon School of Art and Design, and the Animation Academy of South Korea in Seoul
.
In 1998 Ishu Patel joined the University of Southern California
, School of Cinema and Television, Department of Animation and Digital Arts,in Los Angeles, becoming a Tenured Professor. http://anim.usc.edu/about_history.html
He returned to his studio in Canada where he took on animation projects of personal interest, and continued mentoring young faculty and developing curricula. He undertook an analysis of the Zee Institute of Creative Arts Animation Program and Curriculum, in Mumbai
, India
, conducting a two month series of Master Classes at the ZICA Schools in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkatta.
In 2006 Ishu Patel conducted a series of lectures and seminars geared for the animation industry rather than the animation schools of India, in Bangalore
, Delhi
and Mumbai
, sponsored by the National Institute of Design
with a Master Class for the animation students of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
.
Since then he has been invited to conduct Master Classes at Bezalal Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem and the University of Buffalo Media Arts Program.
Divine Fate:
Paradise/Paradis:
Top Priority:
Afterlife:
Bead Game
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
he developed animation techniques and styles to support his themes and vision.
Background
Ishu Patel was born in the State of Gujarat, India. He received his B.F.A. from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S.University of Baroda, Gujarat. He was among the first cohort of faculty trainees hired at the newly formed National Institute of DesignNational Institute of Design
The article for the postgraduate campus can be found at National Institute of Design Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design BangaloreNational Institute of Design is a design school in India. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and...
, Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, Gujarat, a design school created by the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
under the auspices of the well known textile industrialist family of Gautam and Gira Sarabhai, and based on the recommendations and ideals of Ray and Charles Eames. During these early years of faculty training, a stream of extraordinary international experts was invited to the National Institute of Design
National Institute of Design
The article for the postgraduate campus can be found at National Institute of Design Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design BangaloreNational Institute of Design is a design school in India. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and...
for periods of work and faculty training: Ray and Charles Eames; Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
; Architects Louis Khan and Otto Frie; Furniture Designer George Nakashima
George Nakashima
George Katsutoshi NakashimaGeorge Katsutoshi NakashimaGeorge Katsutoshi Nakashima( was a Japanese-American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker who was one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a father of the American craft movement...
; Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography...
; Typographer and Designer Adrian Frutiger
Adrian Frutiger
Adrian Frutiger is one of the prominent typeface designers of the 20th century, who continues to influence the direction of digital typography in the 21st century; he is best known for creating the typefaces Univers and Frutiger.-Early life:Adrian Frutiger was born in Unterseen, Canton of Bern, as...
; Graphic Designers Armin Hoffman, Bob Gill
Bob Gill (artist)
Bob Gill , American illustrator and graphic designer. He played the piano at summer resorts in the Catskill Mountains, New York, to pay his school tuition. He attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art , Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts , City College of New York...
and Ivan Chermayeff; Textile Designers Helena Parhentupa and Alexander Girard
Alexander Girard
Alexander Girard affectionately known as Sandro, was an architect and a textile designer born in New York City to an American mother from Boston and a French-Italian father. He was raised in Florence, Italy...
; Children's book writer and illustrator Leo Lioni and Animator Gulio Gianini and many others. During this time Ishu Patel worked closely with Armin Hoffman, Bob Gill
Bob Gill (artist)
Bob Gill , American illustrator and graphic designer. He played the piano at summer resorts in the Catskill Mountains, New York, to pay his school tuition. He attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art , Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts , City College of New York...
, Adrian Frutiger
Adrian Frutiger
Adrian Frutiger is one of the prominent typeface designers of the 20th century, who continues to influence the direction of digital typography in the 21st century; he is best known for creating the typefaces Univers and Frutiger.-Early life:Adrian Frutiger was born in Unterseen, Canton of Bern, as...
, Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography...
, Charles and Ray Eames
Charles and Ray Eames
Charles Ormond Eames, Jr and Bernice Alexandra "Ray" Eames were American designers, who worked in and made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film.-Charles Eames:Charles Eames, Jr was born in...
, Leo Lionni, and Gulio Gianini.
Through a Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
Grant provided to the National Institute of Design
National Institute of Design
The article for the postgraduate campus can be found at National Institute of Design Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design BangaloreNational Institute of Design is a design school in India. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and...
, Ishu Patel finished his post graduate studies in Graphic Design under Armin Hoffman at the Allgemaine Gewerbschule in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. He returned to the National Institute of Design
National Institute of Design
The article for the postgraduate campus can be found at National Institute of Design Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design BangaloreNational Institute of Design is a design school in India. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and...
where he taught and became Head of Visual Communications.
Career
A Rockefeller FoundationRockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
Scholarship brought Ishu Patel to the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
to study animation filmmaking for a year, and in 1972 he joined the NFB. For twenty-five years under the NFB mandate Ishu Patel produced and directed personal animated films, and mentored young filmmakers. There he developed several notable techniques: the technique of multiple passes and variable exposures he employed for the abstract film Perspectrum; the under-lit plasticene technique used in Afterlife and Top Priority; under-lit pin holes with multiple passes developed for the film Paradise; and the procedures for moving thousands of tiny beads under an ever zooming camera as in Bead Game
Bead Game
Bead Game is a 1977 animated short film by Ishu Patel, creating by arranging beads into the shapes of real and mythical creatures, who absorb and devour another, evolving into scenes of modern human warfare...
.
He co-produced animation with NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Channel Four of Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and contributed many French language segments to Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
. His many international awards include the British Academy Award, two Oscar nominations, the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
. He is particularly known for his 1977 film Bead Game which was nominated for an Academy Award.
Teaching
Through the Outreach Program of the NFB Ishu Patel conducted workshops with the community of Inuit artists of Cape Dorset in the Canadian Arctic, as well as with field workers in Ghana, and with students in the former YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and USA. During those years he returned regularly to the National Institute of Design
National Institute of Design
The article for the postgraduate campus can be found at National Institute of Design Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design BangaloreNational Institute of Design is a design school in India. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to train young animators and assist in formulating the animation program.
After leaving the NFB in 1998 he conducted student workshops at the Kaywon School of Art and Design, and the Animation Academy of South Korea in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
.
In 1998 Ishu Patel joined the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, School of Cinema and Television, Department of Animation and Digital Arts,in Los Angeles, becoming a Tenured Professor. http://anim.usc.edu/about_history.html
He returned to his studio in Canada where he took on animation projects of personal interest, and continued mentoring young faculty and developing curricula. He undertook an analysis of the Zee Institute of Creative Arts Animation Program and Curriculum, in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, conducting a two month series of Master Classes at the ZICA Schools in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkatta.
In 2006 Ishu Patel conducted a series of lectures and seminars geared for the animation industry rather than the animation schools of India, in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, sponsored by the National Institute of Design
National Institute of Design
The article for the postgraduate campus can be found at National Institute of Design Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design BangaloreNational Institute of Design is a design school in India. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and...
with a Master Class for the animation students of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
.
Since then he has been invited to conduct Master Classes at Bezalal Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem and the University of Buffalo Media Arts Program.
Filmography
- Moondust
- Divine Fate
- Paradise/Paradis
- Top Priority
- AfterlifeAfterlife (animated short)Afterlife is a 1978 animated short by Ishu Patel that takes an impressionistic look at life after death. Based on recent studies, case histories and myths, the afterlife state is portrayed as a working-out of all the individual's past experiences...
- Bead GameBead GameBead Game is a 1977 animated short film by Ishu Patel, creating by arranging beads into the shapes of real and mythical creatures, who absorb and devour another, evolving into scenes of modern human warfare...
- Perspectrum
- How Death Came to EarthHow Death Came to EarthHow Death Came to Earth is a 14 minute cutout animation film by Ishu Patel produced in 1971 by the National Film Board of Canada. The film deals with an Indian myth of creation, and is notable for its trippy visual style.-References:**...
Awards
Moondust:- 2009: AWARD OF EXCELLENCE - ANIMATION, 50th Annual Illustration Exhibition, New York, USA
Divine Fate:
- 1995: UNICEF PRIZE, Ottawa International Animation Film Festival, Ottawa, CANADA
- 1995: SILVER MEDAL - ECOLOGY, Medikinale International Film Festival, Parma, ITALY
- 1994: SPECIAL DISTINCTION FOR ITS MESSAGE, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Annecy, FRANCE
Paradise/Paradis:
- 1985: OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT, 57th Annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, USA
- 1985: SILVER BEAR AWARD, 35th Berlin Film Festival, Berlin, GERMANY
- 1985: SPECIAL JURY AWARD, 25th International Animation Film Festival, Annecy, FRANCE
- 1985: FIRST PRIZE FOR THEATRICAL SHORT, Melbourne Film Festival, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
- 1985: SPECIAL AWARD BEST FILM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, 23rd International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Gijon, SPAIN
- 1985: FIRST PRIZE, 1st Los Angeles International Animation Celebration, Los Angeles, USA
Top Priority:
- 1983: BLUE RIBBON HUMAN CONCERN AWARD, 25th American Film Festival, New York, New York, USA
- 1982: BEST SHORT FILM, XXIV Seaman International De Cinema, Barcelona, SPAIN
- 1982: SPECIAL RECOGNITION OF MERIT, Los Angeles Film Exposition Filmex, Los Angeles, USA
Afterlife:
- 1979: GRAND-PRIX, 12th International Animation Film Festival, Annecy, FRANCE
- 1979: OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, London Film Festival, London, ENGLAND
- 1979: SPECIAL HONOUR, Los Angeles International Film Exposition Filmex, Los Angeles, USA
- 1978: GRAND PRIX DE MONTREAL, Festival des Films du Monde, categorie court metrage, Montreal, CANADA
- 1978: SILVER HUGO, 14th International Film Festival, Chicago, USA
- 1978: ETROG AWARD: BEST ANIMATED FILM, Canadian Film Awards, Toronto, CANADA
Bead Game
- 1978: OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT, 50th Annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, USA
- 1978: BEST SHORT FICTIONAL FILM, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, London, ENGLAND
- 1978: GOLD MEDAL, SPECIAL JURY AWARD, Greater Miami International Film Festival, Miami, USA
- 1978: AWARD OF EXCELLENCE, Film Advisory Board Inc., Los Angeles, USA
- 1978: BLUE RIBBON AWARD - VISUAL ESSAY, 20th Annual American Film Festival, New York, USA
- 1978: BEST OF CATEGORY - FILM AS ART, Pacific Association for Communication and Technology Film Festival, Honolulu, USA
- 1977: SPECIAL PRIZE FOR ANIMATION, International Documentary and Short Film Festival for Cinema and Television, Leipzig, GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Juryships
- 1985: International Jury Member, 1st International Animation Film Festival HIROSHIMA '85, Hiroshima, JAPAN
- 1987: Chairperson, International Jury, Zagreb International Animation Film Festival, Zageb, CROATIA (The Former Yugoslavia)
- 1990: International Jury Member, Bombay International Film Festival for Documentary Short and Animated Films, Bombay, INDIA
- 1995: International Jury Member, Film and Video Festival on Science, Society and Development, Trivendrum, INDIA
- 1997: International Jury Member, Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
- 2009: Chairperson, International Jury, Etiuda & Anima International Film Festival, Kracow, POLAND
Further reading
- Bendazzi, Giannalberto. "Ishu Patel." Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1996:270-271.
- Wiedemann, Julius (ed.) "Ishu Patel." Animation Now! Los Angeles: Taschen, 2004: 200-209.
External links
- Official Web Site
- Ishu Patel at the NFB Web site
- View Afterlife and Bead Game online at the National Film Board of CanadaNational Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
- Canadian Film Encyclopedia - Toronto International Film FestivalToronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, Film reference Library - "Moondust" - Animated by Ishu Patel - United AirlinesUnited AirlinesUnited Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
Commercial entitled "Moondust" - Animated by Ishu Patel.