14.Feb.2000
Zemi One Morning
(A Love Story)
Zemi woke up one morning with only one eye open.
Normally the New Venue would bring you something bitter and cynical for Valentines Day. This time out, the Groove Chamber has created something lighthearted and whimsical, punctuated with a splash of color.
Written and Directed by
Nikhil Adnani
Music Arranged by
Alison Evans Adnani
Stills from "Zemi"
Nikhil Adnani is a research engineer by day and founder of the Groove Chamber by night. Combining his own talents with those of his friends and partners, Nikhil and the Groove Chamber have developed characters for the web like "Zemi" and "Chutney".
New Venue:
What is the appeal of digital filmmaking?
Adnani:
The fact that the tools are so simple to work with. This enables me to concentrate on the art instead of getting bogged down by the technical aspects and implementation.
New Venue:
How do you take into account the constraints of the Internet?
Adnani:
I make few compromises as far as the drawings are concerned, with very little frame reuse. The sound, on the other hand, is often sampled at 11Khz which is marginal.
New Venue:
When it comes to animation on the web, what would you like to see more of?
Adnani:
The internet is turning animation into an art form almost as accessible as a canvas and box of paints. I hope more people take advantage of this fact.
New Venue:
What technology did you use?
Adnani:
Flash 3 and a Wacom "penpartner" graphics tablet.
New Venue:
Who is Zemi?
Adnani:
I met Zemichael(Zemi) and Saeed during my first year of graduate school in Winnipeg. We spent a fair amount of time in the cafeteria drinking hot chocolate, doing very little and eventually became very good friends. It was time well spent. This little memory has both nothing and everything to do with why Zemi woke up one morning with only one eye open.
New Venue:
What is the Groove Chamber?
Adnani:
The Groove Chamber is Art for Art's sake. Art with no reason, no cause and no opinion. It has been around in my drawing books since 1994 when I worked at a laboratory here in Canada. My basement office used to be known as "The Dungeon" by my predecessors. I renamed it "The Groove Chamber". Everyone thought I was nuts. I knew it was going to be bright and colourful.
New Venue:
Where else can we see your work?
Adnani:
http://www.groovechamber.com
View this movie.
You can find out about other digital flicks in the New Venue Archives.
