My day-long stint as a Director
Thank God he fell ill… the guy who is actually directing the corporate film, that I had scripted. I am usually not this mean, but I really thank God he fell ill. Jai ho Lord CinemaIndra!!! For all filmi aspirants, being in advertising is the next best thing. Though my primary job is to take care of the writing bit, my filmi instincts are always on over-drive & that led to this opportunity.
This morning my boss got a call from the film director saying that he is unwell and wanted him to cancel / postpone the shoot. But in the times of recession, ghar aai lakshmi ko kaun laat maarta hai? (who kicks money that has come at doorstep). So my boss did what he thought best… yes, you guessed it… he put me on the job. The job of directing the shoot for one day. 8 hours (including lunch & sutta breaks). Yay.
Damn. What an adrenalin rush it was, when my boss first broke the news. I needed multiple nicotine & caffeine blasts to fall back on earth. Then once it sank in, I tried to recollect every directors blog I have read on PFC, so that I don’t come across as an ignoramus during the shoot. It worked for a while. After that I was on my own.
I reached the venue (an international school in B’lore) & saw the production truck rolling in. Cranes, trolleys, weights and other miscellany that I didnt even knew about! I orgasmed. OK, I am exaggerating, but that’s an occupational hazard yaar! Moving on, a guy from the production house gave me a list of the things that were to be shot on the particular day.
Damn, they had re-scheduled it so that all the unimportant & insignificant scenes can be handled by me & the ‘real’ director can shoot the more complicated ones. It made me squirm, but what to tell you darling, I took it in positive spirit & jumped at the opportunity with all my energy & creativity.
Thank god (again) the DoP (camerawala) Ganesh was a veteran & knew his job so effing well, that it was much more than 3/4th the job done. And I am not exaggerating this time. Hell, the shooting started & I was feeling numb & dumb. More of the latter actually. Anyways, I had decided that I will not stick to the shooting schedule & I got into my hyper-active creative mode.
First thing I did was, made friends (not fraandship) with the co-ordinator designated by the school authorities. She being a pretty female did help. Wink. Then I asked (requested / pleaded / begged) Ganesh (DoP) till he agreed, to detach the camera from the trappings. I had a strong feeling that when you are shooting with kids it would be great if it was a ‘hidden camera’ kinda shoot, to capture asli expressions of the kids.
Bad decision. It didn’t work & we ended up wasting some footage & a lot of time & energy. Now Ganesh took charge of the seemingly sinking ship. Usually during corporate film shoots I am the ‘creative supervisor’ & just go around acting busy & important. But this time was different. Had it not been for Ganesh, my boss would have thrown me out. LOL.
Now I decided to play by the game & not make a Mundu out of myself. So I let Ganesh shoot the way I had scripted and not poke my pesky nose in between. One thing I did, which fortunately worked was, I called for another camera, a more ‘handier’ version of the one that was mounted on the trolley et al. I took that almost handy cam & crept into RGV mode. Govinda Govinda.
While Ganesh was busy setting / lighting up the scene, I would go around & shoot stuff that I thought was visually arresting. I do not have any profound knowledge of camera, so I dragged an asst. around to help me with the technicalities. That was the best thing I did in the whole day. While Ganesh got the shots that were approved by the client, I got some priceless shots which I will take with me after I die.
Due to some stupid privacy policy, I cant share the footage with you guys, but I will try & describe the 5 visuals that will remain with me forever. >> A row of 6 kids sleeping, mouth half open, sheets pulled up till their chins. >> 2 innocent kids trying to look into the microscope & looking at nothing. >> Football coach, in his wierdly cute Mallu accent, barking orders & encouragement at the kiddos. >> A whole bunch of kids pretending to be meditating with closed eyes & slyly opening their’s to see if anyone else is opening theirs! >> How can I fogget this one… a splitting image of Kalki / Chanda in Dev.D, in the school uniform, adjusting her skirt!!!
Damn, I am so happy the way the day progressed. Everything worked out fine. The scheduled shots, the unscheduled ones, all of them great in their own humble way. I am not claiming to be Amol Gupte here, but I did re-live a wonderful part of my lost childhood. My school days. The best days of my life (thanks to B.Sinha Ma’m, our English teacher). The worst days of my life (thanks to Labana Sir, our Maths teacher). LOL. Senti ho gaya by god.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… interesting read. Better luck next time
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Great beginning Magik. Great opportunity. May you have many more!
Nice to read such a “light article”… well the prospects for you are heavy but just enjoyed reading your fun experience. May you have many more of these
This seemed like it was great fun – besides all your hassles though. Its awesome to see you took such a chilled out and non-chalant view on it. I’ve always wondered how it is directing children – especially because they are so instinctive.
Magik mere bhai- its a small step for something very big in the coming future
so keep it going dude & do keep sharing your experiences with us!!!
Greatji Great-Keep it up!
..Meri khichad phichad samajh aayi kya?
Im in no doubt 100% sure youre gonna rock it sometime soon,especially after your effingly cool posters
Oye Magik! Magik Oye. Ban gaya director faale. Autograph Pleafe.
Kya cheez….cut piece!! Bravo meray bhaiya!!
great luck….magik…hope u carry this magic and passion ahead to the big screen……
This is just a beginning!!! I am confident enough to give myself in your hands. I know I will be safe. Hehe. Toh shuru kare hamari film???
by God, guess this is what Zoya meant when she said “Luck by Chance” – lage raho!
a great first step for a long journey of fun.
just keep the magik happening…
Magik, the best thing I read in PFC for a long long time. Especially, the bit about your going handycam mode, the skirt adjust, the Mallu teacher, all the children bit. Probably children make us so happy because they remind us of our own innocence. Hope you make your movie one day.
thatf the paffion for finema… i am too in Kaamine mode like vee after watching itf trailor pifle teen faal fe fakal bhi nahi dekhi maine ufki kafam fe… main f ko f bolta hun…
I am so glad you guys liked the post. i had tried to make it a ‘gyaan-tertainer’. i have left out a neat chunk of the ‘gyaan’ for my next post (if the real director falls ill again) LOL.
@ Vee, mere dost, mere bhai… get ready for ruk ja re bande. Have convinced ganesh to shoot it. Damn, it will be fun.
Magik- this was a great post and I really enjoyed it. Please include more such experiences from your advertising world. I am sure the admins here will not mind…
Magik…Loved your post…best of luck and I wish that your director need not fall sick for you to direct :-)
@ Shivajee Sir: OMG am frozen! thanks a million for your encouragement.
Arre wah! Congratulations! Hogayi bhoniii…Was a good read too Magik
Did u wear the director’s cap? Lolz… Let us know when the movie releases so we can look out for shots that u directed. Cheers & best lucks!
Man don’t stop now! Do a short film as earliest possible. And do sit for editing of the material you shot/directed.Eagerly Waiting for your next short film:))
@ SM: Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! boni to ho gayi… waiting for the next schedule like a maniac with pants on fire.
@ NED: Thanks for the encouragement, I am actually shooting a short film may be this or the next weekend titled – Ruk Ja Re Bande! Hyper excited yaar!
All the very best for your next opportunity… I’m sure wud land pretty soon.
@ GSS: aapke mooh mein ghee-shakkar… vodka-shodka daalke!
Bhai, Dhoni too got out for a duck in his first one-day match…keep going.
ab rukna na bande………
thanks dada. ur encouragement is really valued & cherished.
@Magik – Whr r u putup? Mum/Bang? Is baar Mum/Bang aane pe drinks on me and I will get a chance per se to get closer to my passion through u…..hahahaha…by luck ;) All the best for the next schedule mate…
@ SM: do meet me whenever u r in b’lore. maa kasam khoob jamega rang jab milenge do filmi… thanks bro! need every bit of the good wishes comin my way… u know most of the filmi journey is luck by chance! wink!!!
Wah Wah, kya article hai ?? Excellent…loved it…
Magik yaar, congrats.
your 5 visuals were very interesting. visuals sprang into mind even while reading it.
Yep..pakka..milenge..maa kasam….I was in Indira Nagar(Airport Raod) for 2 years….r u on facebook bro? Aur allah kare tumko luck hi luck de…
@ AM:Just imagine how i felt. those were goosebump moments.
@SM: I m on facebook. lemme hunt you down.
wah wah wah….congo brother, laage raho and soon another stroke of luck will shine!! cheers
@ RR: thanks bro!!! i have my fingers crossed.
Humare waha someone falls ill.. aur lagti hai..
nice post.
Just read this..great, toh ho jaa shuru, oye..ek short film ab magik…pleafe!!
The funny thing is that all biggest who’s who of any industry started off this way! So I would say that dude you are all set. This was Gawd’s hint to you that you better get your technical skills of directordom (if there’s any such thing) together! And soon! Congratulations on your debut stint (I know there have been previous times! ;) at the pro level! I hope you took the pretty teacher’s/school person’s video/pic! ;)
Great start magik! me thinks that if u concentrate on ur writing n be on lookout for such assignments its only a matter of time when ull have a break through