Five days ago, Apotheosis a short animation film made by Pujesh Joshi and Alex Gee was featured on the front page of Vimeo. Vimeo is one of the top video-sharing websites and has eight million registered users around the world. The film was completed at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Australia in 2011 and won the best production design award in animation during the university’s graduation ceremony. Nepali Times caught up with Joshi, who lives in Australia, via email.
Nepali Times: What do you currently do in Australia?
Pujesh Joshi: I am currently working as a freelance animator in Australia. I also work in my brother's company JNR Cre8tive from time to time on animation projects for Nepal.
How was the process of ‘giving birth to’ Apotheosis?
It was good fun working on the film. The term 'Apotheosis' is referenced from Joseph Campbell's book The hero with a thousand faces which helped to spark the early ideas. We researched psychedelic experiences and human consciousness. Deriving inspirations from various visual arts, music, and books related to similar motifs, we developed our script and visual design.
How did you get into Vimeo? And how important is to be on its front page?
The day after we uploaded our film on Vimeo it was added to a few animation channels and was also liked by Vimeo staff, eventually getting our video featured. Vimeo is an exciting community of talented filmmakers and motion designers. Being featured on the front page means that our video is being watched and liked by thousands of viewers which is a great exposure.
What are your future plans ?
I would like to gain some experience working in the animation industry. I also hope to make some concept and design driven animated shorts.
Do you come to Nepal regularly? Do you plan on visiting in the near future?
I come to Nepal once in a few years. I think it’s about time now. It would be good to come again in a few months.