Animated Ramayana

52-year-old Prapas Cholsaranon is about to release a new movie ? an animated version of the Ramayana called "Yak" (Giant). He talks with the Bangkok Post?s Kong Rithdee about his project.

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52-year-old Prapas Cholsaranon is about to release a new movie –  an animated version of the Ramayana called "Yak" (Giant). The Bangkok Post's Kong Rithdee talked to him recently and here is part of their conversation. You can read the story in full here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/arts-and-culture/film/313006/epic-leap

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Epic Leap

Kong Rithdee

Prapas Cholsaranon and a model of the lead character.

"Look at the colour of mural paintings in temples," says Prapas, sounding as if he was sharing a secret. "The tone is warm, slightly orange, with a touch of gold. I try to transport that into Yak. The tone of the film is red-orange, and since it's about tin robots, it works as rust colour as well. But not gold. Gold will be too bright, too much.

"In all, it's very Asian. It smells Asian. I don't know where we'll fit in in the world where we have Pixar on the one hand and Hayao Miyazaki's hand-drawn animation on the other. But we have cultural, historical, and intellectual resources to develop our animation," he smiles. "We'll see where we can go from here."

Yak, a 2D re-interpretation of Ramayana, which will be released both in Thai and English on Oct 4, is riding a positive hype generated by the lustrous, flowing quality of the film's animation that's not inferior, or imperceptibly so, than Hollywood exports.

With the monkeys and ogres and angels of antediluvian India replaced by tin robots wandering an imaginary wasteland looking for its maker, the film is Ramayana meet Wizard of Oz at a crossroads in Thailand. It sounds brave and slightly off-the-mark, and Prapas embraces that challenge, suggesting that he wishes to test the capacity of his first animation as a true global product. At Cannes Film Market this May, the early version was shown to selected groups of international distributors, and a few territories, including Russia, have already picked up the rights of the film.

''I read the original text by Valamiki, the sage who wrote Ramayana, that says how the story in Ramayana can happen every day everywhere – and it clicked,'' Prapas says. ''We don't have to do a literal narrative about Lord Ram, Hanuman, Tosakan [the 10-faced demon Ravana] and the abduction of Sita. We can tell a story about good and evil – the evil outside and inside oneself. The main character, a giant green robot called Uncle Kiew, is a new version of Tosakan. He has only one face, but really, the message about finding out who you are plays nicely with our understanding that this guy should have 10 faces.

''I thought about robots because you can play with them. You can knock them about, you can hit their heads, you can throw them around a little bit, and it won't look violent. We create a world in this film – but it's a world governed by a certain logic, and it's a world that has the cultural details of Thailand. I can't answer you what the ''Thainess'' in the film is – but I guess it's already there. Even the way we understand Ramayana is a Thai way.

''For me the animation is a new tool, a new paintbrush for artists,'' he continues. ''We have likay, we have Thai dance, we have shadow play – and now we have this computer-generated movie. The story we're telling –  about friendship and self-actualisation  has been told countless times before in literature and poetry, so now we're trying to tell it, enhance it, with this new means.''

release – to make something available to the public  ออกวางตลาด, ออกวางจำหน่าย
animated – consisting of a series of drawings that are shown quickly one after another so that they look as if they are moving ภาพวาดเคลื่อนไหวได้
version – a particular form of something which varies slightly from other forms of the same thing – ชุด, เวอร์ชั่น
epic – of an event or activity that lasts a long time and is difficult or complicated  ยิ่งใหญ่
leap – a large jump;  a major achievement that has been done before การกระโดด
mural – a painting, usually a large one, done on a wall, sometimes on an outside wall of a building  จิตรกรรมฝาผนัง
tone – a shade of a colour  เฉดสี, โทนสี
touch – a small detail that is added to something in order to improve it or make it complete
a soft silver-white metal that is often mixed with other metals or used to cover them to prevent them from rusting ดีบุก
rust – the rough red substance that damages the surface of iron and steel; the colour of this substance สนิม
intellectual – connected with or using a person's ability to think in a logical way and understand things  เกี่ยวกับปัญญา
resources – things that you need to achieve something ทรัพยากรที่มีอยู่
interpretation – an explanation of the meaning or importance of something การตีความ
positive – in a good way ในทางบวก
hype – advertisements and discussion on television, radio, etc. telling the public about a product and about how good or important it is   การเผยแพร่(เกินจริง) การโฆษณา(เกินจริง)
generate – to produce ก่อให้เกิด
lustrous – soft and shining  เป็นมันเงา, เป็นมันระยับ, แวววาว
flowing – moving steadily and continuously in one direction ที่ต่อเนื่อง, ที่ราบรื่น, ที่คล่อง
inferior – not as good as someone or something else ด้อยกว่า
imperceptible – very small and therefore unable to be seen or felt; ไม่สามารถรู้สึกได้,ไม่สามารถมองเห็นได้, เล็กน้อย
export – something sold and transported to another country สินค้าออก
ogre – (in stories) a cruel and frightening giant who eats people ยักษ์กินมนุษย์เป็นอาหาร
angel – a spirit who is believed to be a servant of God เทพธิดา
antediluvian – very old or old-fashioned; before the flood that was supposed to have covered the world  เก่าแก่มาก, ก่อนสมัยน้ำท่วมโลก
replace – to put a new thing in the place of something old เลิกใช้และนำสิ่งใหม่มาใช้แทน
wander – roam; to travel from place to place without a particular direction or purpose เดินทางไปโดยไม่มีจุดหมายที่แน่นอน, ร่อนเร่
imaginary – existing only in your mind or imagination ซึ่งสมมุติขึ้น, ซึ่งไม่มีอยู่จริง
wasteland – an area of land that cannot be used or that is no longer used for building or growing things on  ที่ดินซึ่งไม่ได้ทำประโยชน์, ที่ดินที่รกร้างว่างเปล่า
crossroads – a place where two things, usually roads, meet and cross each other; at an important point in somebody's life or development ชุมทาง, สี่แยก
off-the mark – not quite right
embrace – to accept something such as a belief, idea, or way of life  ยอมรับ น้อมนำมา
challenge – something that needs a lot of skill, energy, and determination to deal with or achieve สิ่งที่ท้าทาย, การท้าทาย
capacity – the ability to do a particular thing ความสามารถ,สมรรถภาพ
global – throughout the world ทั่วโลก
distributor – a person or company that supplies goods to shops/stores, etc  ผู้ค้าส่ง,  ผู้แทนจำหน่าย, ผู้แจกจ่าย
right – something that you are legally allowed to do or have สิทธิ
original – the first of something เดิม, แบบฉบับ
sage – a very wise person คนฉลาด, นักปราชญ์
click – to suddenly become clear or understood เข้าใจขึ้นอย่างฉับพลัน
literal – exactly as what was said or written อย่างตามตัวอักษร
narrative – a description of events, especially in a story or novel เรื่องเล่า
demon – an evil spirit ปีศาจ
abduction – taking somebody away illegally, especially using force  การลักพาตัว
violent – involving or caused by physical force that is intended to hurt or kill somebody รุนแรง, ร้ายแรง, สาหัส
governed – controlled
certain – slight; noticeable, but difficult to describe บ้าง
logic – the fact of being a sensible or reasonable explanation or idea ระบบการใช้เหตุผล
countless – very many; too many to be counted มากเหลือคณานับ
literature – pieces of writing or printed information on a particular subject  งานประพันธ์, งานวรรณกรรม, งานเขียน
poetry – a piece of writing using beautiful or unusual language arranged in fixed lines that have a particular beat and often rhyme บทกวี
enhance – to improve the quality, amount or strength of something ปรับปรุง, ทำให้ดีขึ้น
means – methods; ways วิธี, วิธีการ