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Q&A APOORVA GAITONDE

DIRECTOR OF

"FITTING IN"

Apoorva, you have created a very special film, which can be relatable to all those who have ever felt as outsiders from any part of the world. Could you discuss the symbolism behind choosing an elephant as the protagonist of the story?

I wanted the main protagonist to stand out from the rest of the characters. We deliberately decided to show her to be younger, naive and inexperienced to highlight her initial struggles and eventual growth in finding a place in the circus. I'm originally from India and I wanted to have a character that symbolises my culture and my roots. If you notice closely, we have taken great care in designing the characters to represent different cultures.The Elephant was inspired by an asian elephant with distinct features like a small ears, broad trunk and no tusks. The white tiger is from China and the flamingo from the Caribbean. This further emphasizes how immigrants from all over the world move to a different country for better work opportunities.

How did you go about assembling and coordinating a diverse team of artists from different parts of the world, and how did this global collaboration enhance the project, creatively and logistically?

I think the pandemic taught us that animation is a medium that works well in a digital pipeline. I was determined to have the best crew for my project. I initially reached out to alumni from grad school for the visual development part of the short. We developed a very unique style for the environment and the character design. I knew that animation would be challenging and finding the right fit to ensure that the animation feels seamless throughout the short was important to me. I was also doing this project on the side along with a full time job as a storyboard artist, so I needed to hire animators to finish the project. I worked with artists from Spain and India in addition to artists based in the US. All of the communication was done via zoom or over email. I'm really proud of having these talented members on my team who brought in their skills and were able to match the style we had in mind for the short.

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Q&A APOORVA GAITONDE

"FITTING IN"

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