My First Film
My First Film
Disability it said and one needed to say something about it in 60seconds. The people who will be watching them. Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Rajeev Menon….wow…wow..wowoww. What wow….what am I going to show….say….ok..you are dreaming of making films but do you even have a clue? Somewhere I read Robert Rodriquez said if you think you are a film maker you then you are one…. pick a camera and shoot ……that’s it….your first film and you are a film maker…donno why but actually took that advice quite seriously. I knew how to switch on a Sony-PD 150. So I could shoot, I thought. Then I download a Sony Vegas on my PC. Feverishly went thru the help guide……what the hell…but I knew and I totally believed in what RR said. I am a film maker and I am going to shoot one.
60 sec. what am I going to show…say….I had no clue. But I was sure I am not going to shoot any handicapped child. I was hell-bent on that. My film will be on them but no way I was to shoot them. OK big talks…what now…what is it going to be. My usual dum spot. The Matunga Gymkhana. Sat there on the “katta” and watched children play in whites…..some were even not as big as the bat. Somewhere at a distance I saw a couple of children play …..it was chor police or something I guess….called my PD-150 vendor and said I needed a camera…..called my friend…said I needed children….10-12…She asked me to come over to her mother’s dispensary at Chinchpokli…she knew some children.
There was a hundred year old bridge near it…I knew that was my location. My friend wanted me to meet the children….I actually did not want them to know I was shooting them…..my friend did not understand. I told her she should ask them to play games……handicapped games…..like blindmen’s buff….langdi…and dumbcharads…I’ll just shoot them….there is a certain natural joy on their faces when they play …I wanted that…..I did not want to make them conscious of my presence.
My friend did not understand. She just told them this uncle wants to make a film….do all this….I was stunned. Man what did I tell you. I then kept the camera aside and started to play with them for a while….as they sunk into their elements…..I quickly took the camera and started shooting…..whatever they did…..As they started getting comfortable with me….I did ask them to stand here and do this….run from here to there.…I wish I had though of something which was not even this wee bit cosmetic…..just random shot put together….maybe tell something around what they did….but then I had to conclude what I wanted to say thru this.
In fact I just had an idea when I was shooting as to what I am trying to say. The visuals where decided there and then….even the second half of the supers mentioned below….I just knew that I needed to relate to disability with the games we used to play as children.
What about the games?
The Supers.
Games we used to play
Maybe we do not anymore
Maybe we aren’t kids anymore
What if we had to play them all our lives?
What if there were not Timesouts and Game Overs?
Some have to play them all their lives
Some never grow up
Take them Along
Went home edited it ….I managed to make sense of the help guide of Sony Vegas….knew a bit about video formats and bit rates and stuff. Edited it…put in some music…burnt a DVD and sent it. It was screened…in fact the first film of the festival…the festival started with my film….it started as I was making my way thru the dark Anand Theatre in Chennai. Well saw my name on the big screen. Since when I wanted that….guess since the time I noticed there were something called as credits in a film….cheap thrills some might say…well I live just for that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_SMgXa-Pgo
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
Vasan, dil ko chooliya yaar… ^:)^ poignant imagery… Thank You for sharing!
seriously a nice a ad-film/film/short film/video.
hope the guys like it too.
Niiiiiiiiiice vasan
thank yaaron…i know i also carry the first effort sympathy…..anyways lets see whats in store….
omg Vasan thats really-really good yaar…i simply love it.. i mean the emotions ‘n everything its just great..
Simply great.! Not at all a sympathy. You actually inspired me to start shooting and transorm my thoughts to Camera..! What are you doing now..
hey, thanks man.right now trying to work with people whom i look upto. unfortunately they all are busy with their projects…lets see if i get lucky..
and for those who say “sala ghar pe bhaitha hai”
woh struggler hi kya jo ghar na bhaite…:)
Hey Man, what a pleasant surprise. I saw this film at the Anand Theatre in Ability Fest 2005, now I see it on PFC, it is indeed a small world. The theme of the competition was Inclusive Society… Now get camera ready as this year’s theme is Celebrating Diversity. I’ll try to post the details here once I get them.
Mail me if you can. Best of luck.
u remember….gosh! yah small world and i still dont have much to show…hhhahhaaa…the same one minute….
Wow, this was great. Beautiful and simple, without being too sweet or preachy. You managed to do something that many filmmakers cannot do in this short, and that is film children naturally. Great job!
brilliant, beautiful,simple,effective and touching..thought provoking..make a film now
vasan, nee kalakitte machhi, soooper da =D>
Ohh romba sooooper Vasan Bhai..loved it..especially the ending trying to show there is light at the end of the tunnel…with the use of bright white lightings….Awesome ^:)^^:)^
Gosh! did not expect this. Thanks for the support guys. Each and Everyone. Thanks a ton….
OM the ending just happened cause I don’t know to operate the camera and burnt the frame. It just fell in place on the editing and yes I did increse the brightness and contrast of the already burnt frame.
u r getting the praise u deserved Bro. Fantastic .. and u have NOT taken urself seriously as u keep saying about ‘has been’ and wannabe filmmakers ….
keep it up :-)
@ Vasan….burnt the frame….and those words..dude..i have no idea about it..can you please explain it…
Vasan,that video simply amazing.Looking forward to see more from you, bro.
OM.. first time i’ve heard that phrase too.. but i’m guessing burnt means that the shot was overexposed to light and was thus “burnt” by the light. no physical burns here.. just overexposure.. if i remember correctly, the iris on the PD-150 is tricky to control.. for someone new to the camera, it can be very easy to accidentally keep the iris open (iris controls how much light you let in thru the lens).. but in this case, it worked out really well with vasan’s crafty editing
striker…thanks man…even i would not have been able to put it better.
Striker thanks a lot man….it kinda made sense to me now…but one another question( sorry baap..i am such a novice here)…Vasan..Sony-PD 150 now is this not a handy cam? what is it..is it something like old style camera where you have a reel..etc..as of now what has been explained..my guess is yes..but i just wanted to make sure…
simple and pure.
apt title— “ode to living”
for the moment, u got immortality.
made us feel that 60 seconds , “ample” time.
when can we see your movie?
hope u get what you seek.
bless you.
I love the underlying idea and the overall light feel to the piece. Nicely done, dude.
OM, the PD-150 is a DVcam and records with DV tapes, not film reels.. and not your typical hi8 handycam.. it’s a little bigger than that.. you can learn more about it here..
http://www.dvinfo.net/sony/reports/vx2k-db.php
it’s a good, affordable high-quality camera for novice filmmakers to learn the ropes of DV filmmaking before going on to higher models like the canon XL2s
OM- it’s minDV…digital…wish films where that cheap. A miniDV tape costs Rs.125-130.[1 hour recording on each tape].and the camera can be rented for Rs.1200-1500 per day .nothing hi-fi. but quite effective for people like me who have no idea of what is lighting and stuff. The camera can pickup anytihg….u just have to place it and play around. if u know this you don’t have to rely on many people….learn a editing software.Adobe Premier or Sony Vegas or even Windows Media Maker which comes with XP.simple softwres….sony vegas has many effects and transitions for that extra kick. FREAK OUT
Ansh: What can I say. I am choked.I am trying…was never confident that I can do anything…..I’ll approach film makers I believe in and hope to assist them. I need to know more. IF I am not lucky then I’ll do anything which keeps me alive then what else….like now dream of making a film on 35mm…and show it to the world…till then U-Tube zindabad…..
Shripriya Thanks
brilliant!..i like it…bang on! gets the message across in just the right way
Vasan, one of the rules that I simply love and try to apply in everything is KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid. This one is like that. So simple and yet has so much of impact. Bahut badhiya yaar, bahut badhiya. Lage Raho Vasanbhai. Send it to some ngo’s who work for physically challenged people. May be they would like to use it somewhere.
i still remember the day when u took me 2 da location few days before u shot da film…n dat chota film which u made on the spot (woh gunaahwala)…n also woh shoot ka din…woh bachchalog ke saath mazaa aaya…yes n i still remember how da kids got camera conscious initially n u made them feel comfortable…happy 2 see da good reviews u gt…carry on
Badzaa…..sale u have that film “On the Prowl”????dhek na kidhar CD hoga….my PC crashed lost all data…including original DV capture of this Come Along too….
Phoenixnu : thanks man.
learn the tricks of the trade and stand on the crease.everything will follow.
you have an eye for details.
you are celebrating life,what else do u need!
learn to listen the voice of the GUT.
THANKS. today. i showed that CLIP to all my students and one of them tried to hide her
tears.go and win.
just now, on KBC Shahrukhan asked “what BLACK FRIDAY” refered to in ANURAG KASHYAP’S movie of the same name?now EVERYBODY knows about the movie.
Thanks Vasan and Striker…helped a lot…abhi mein bhi will make a short movie..heheh
^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^
… good start bro! All the best. Keep making small one’s like these and someday you have a big story to tell.
=d>=d>=d>=d>
@ Ravptor bhai…what happened to Sekhar kammula thingy? still waiting on that man…kuch karo yaar.bande ko leke aao yahan
Honest and effective! Congratulations vasan. Keep going and don’t stop. good luck, god bless
Vasan, any scripts in mind ? where are you located . and let me know how much does PD150 cost ?
Hey Vasan,
Hope u remember me dude! It IS a small world ain’t it! Good to see ur film here again. Stumbled upon this site only now. And sheer luck brought me to this page dude. If u still cant remember I’m the guy who made the “credits” flick in the same fest..Yaad aya?
Narain dey!….Big List…..small Film….i sure remember you..and your film….loved it..amazing….man how are you?In Mumbai? Great to see you here
Rajni – Scripts only in mind…thinking of a few things long way to go. And a Pd-150 to buy costs 1.5lacs but they have stopped production..maybe in the second hand gray market for a 80k-lac or so. PD-170 is available. for 1.7 to 1.8 lacs. thats a good camera too. Goo Shoot…….
Vasan Thanks.Thats a huge amount
but will try to figure out in the market as I desperately plan to buy one. So are you into this fulltime ? You never told me where you belong to
i am from mumbai, matunga
Truly great. Even i have heard the same thing somewhere that if u want to become a director, take the camera and shoot. I have never really done that. but, congrats man. It was simple pure and just truly touching. Good luck
He he he, I was looking at a Film School website earlier, and they actually had written on their site that their teaching philosophy is “Shoot now and ask questions later”.
I like that idea, but I wonder if the parent who is about to invest thousands of dollars into kiddo’s education would feel the same
yingchuk and t!…..i am no expert but feel if one wants to make a film just go ahead. about film schools i don’t feel the need to be in one in this age where all possible info is available …have a story shoot it….and to learn watch films…what else….or make the rounds join a director…save money…you will anyways need it for your struggle.
One thing I found funny about the slogan – if you should shoot first and ask questions later, why pay money for it!!!
I only know one person who went to film school, and he is now a wine broker.
I am spending a lot of time working with US Film Schools as my big project for the film festival this year is to create lasting relationships/partnerships with different schools in order to support up and coming filmmakers and get them industry exposure, while also giving the schools another avenue to get exposure for their student’s films.
Someday soon I plan to write about the issues/problems I have with film schools. I am learning a lot about the programs, and most of them seem to have one major flaw that hurts, not helps students…
Vasan,
the most touching frame (apart from the visuals)
is your thought, to capture natural bliss on their faces,”i was stunned”.
man. you really care about people and this very thought is being refelected in your film.
do not waste time,you have lots to attain.
Illa machi. Me in Chennai..Kya karoon yaar BE keeps me chained to the city man! Looks like ur goin gr8 guns!
Brilliant idea. Brilliant execution.
All the best for your future films Vasan.
I am glad I have a way to keep track of your progress >-)
We are waitng for your Second film.
Vasan Bhai, I must say that’s very inspiring work… in fact, you’ve inspired me.. you’ve forced me to think about how I can sit here and call myself a filmmaker when I’m not out there doing just that, making films. I’m just dreaming of it.
Vasan bhai, you’ve acted as a wake up call for people like me.
I have everything and yet something was missing. Something very important.
I graduated from Film/TV Production almost 6 years ago.
Because I make wedding videos I’ve got Sony DVCams and an Avid DV Edit suite at home.
I’ve even got friends who are willing to give me their time, efforts and talent to make a short film.
So what was missing?
Motivation.
And now I feel that, after reading Machchar’s suicide story (don’t worry, won’t steal it) and your vivid telling of the thought process behind this very unique, touching film, I’ve got the inspiration that I was lacking.
For that I want to thank you guys and PFC.
Vasan: ^:)^
Salute your creativity! It was wonderful to get a peek into your mind and how you made the movie. While we can notice the first-timer lapses, this is damn good for a first film! Don’t lose heart at any time; you have the potential to make it big!
thanks man….trying…trying to keep my chin up and my head high….thanks again….all this does keep me going
Good video pal. Waiting for your next one. I liked the idea and it’s not preachy but touched my senses. I could see how difficult it is, to take this video with children. I use blue/violet mid-tones using sony vegas, in all my home videos. The effect is much better that way!
Cheap thills? Well I think life is all about these thrills. Cool work vasan.
Be well
Swaroop