Guest Blogger Chirantan Das : Shooting Sankat City
Chirantan Das, (Chiru to friends, colleagues and family), is the cinematographer of Sankat City. For all your questions on cinematography, please feel free to pick Chiru’s brains. He’s one of the best in business.
I’m glad Pankaj asked me to write about Sankat City and not speak because that would have been absolutely terrifying for me.
Though the film is releasing in Cinemascope format, it was shot on Super 16. It has a certain grainy look, which adds to its grittiness.
Sankat City has a huge number of actors and an even more number of locations (most of them are real locations). It was challenging and at the same time, quite thrilling to finish the film in 29 days.
In order to give the over-the-top and freaky nature of the script a more believable dimension, Pankaj wanted the film to look as real as possible – as if no film lights had been used. Of course, I had to use lights in a lot of places but I hope the film still has a realistic look.
Much before the start of the shoot, I did some tests for stock and camera. 16SR3 was a good choice as far as camera was concerned. Out of the 3 types of stocks that were used in the film, one stock that I was a little hesitant to use was 500T- mainly because the film was to be shot on Super 16 and would be blown up to 35 Cinemascope. But when I realised how fast I’d have to shoot and how less time I’d have for lighting up, there was no choice left except to use 500T extensively. Now, looking back at it, and after seeing the results, I think, that it was a correct decision to take. Kodak 500T rocks!
Nearly every scene in the film has some comedy in it, sometimes subtle, sometimes quite blatant. Funny scenes are not supposed to affect me while shooting, since we’ve discussed them many times. But there are some scenes the actors perform so well, that I forget I’m ’shooting’. Then I remember something Pankaj told me years back, that the scene you find most hilarious while shooting, usually doesn’t get quite the same response in the final film. But that still doesn’t stop me from laughing. At least I’m having fun while shooting!
One really difficult scene, that comes to my mind, is the flash-back night sequence at the bus-stop, where Mona and Guru meet for the first time. We had shot a difficult action sequence earlier. And now we had to shoot two night scenes in two different locations within three hours. The vehicles to be used in the scene all malfunctioned, including their headlights. We had laid out a long trolley, the drivers of the vehicles were just not stopping at their marks, the trolley-pusher was an amateur, the generator kept misbehaving, a couple of HMI bulbs conked-off, tempers were running high and to top it all, there was a wedding ceremony going on next door with music blaring loud; all in all, a recipe for disaster, not to mention, we had to shoot another night sequence after this in a nearby location! But, we managed it and how! ….The DI colorist says its his favourite sequence in the film. So be it.
Now, quite a few scenes in the film are long, one-shot scenes. My favourite, the one I loved shooting, and which was quite tough also, was the one in the hospital room with 5 characters. Though the room was a decent-sized one, Pankaj wanted the characters to move all around. Not only that, but the scene was choreographed in such a way that there were different groupings of characters, different framings, different positions and different movements- for the actors as well as the camera. I also had to catch some key actions at certain specific times, not to mention the expressions of the actors. And the most difficult thing was that it was a comedy scene. The camera was hand-held (we couldn’t afford a steadicam) and turning 360 degrees- not once, not twice but three times! I decided to use only overhead lights – a compromise, but a happy one when I see the sequence on screen. I would like to thank Mr. Anupam Kher for the suggestion to make the camera movement a little unsteady in order to bring out the edginess of the scene. And, it sure works!
There’s a scene in which Fillip Fattu is driving a Mercedes and Faujdaar and Suleman Supari are sitting at the back and talking. It was a moving car sequence, it was monsoon, we were unsure when our next schedule would be and Pankaj didn’t want to take the chance of us getting stuck in rain-continuity issues. His idea was to shoot the scene with a green screen background. I was not very keen on that, because putting the camera inside a moving vehicle and shooting the scene on the road, has a very different feel. I persuaded him to take a chance and shoot on location. He eventually agreed and that’s how it is finally shot. Whenever I see that scene, it always takes me back to those late night arguments in Shanghai over Old Monk and kebabs.
I’d like to mention another single-shot scene- the introduction of Gogi and Lingam. This was much simpler to shoot. At the end of the third take, though, an old man carrying a pot of water walked right into the frame from beyond. Pankaj tapped my shoulder and whispered into my ear, ‘Keep rolling!’, which I would’ve done anyway, because I’ve worked with him on many occasions and can predict that he loves the unpredictable. Manoj Pahwa and Sanjay Mishra, whom we have worked with on many occassions together, of course, continued enacting their scene to the very end.
Who was the old man with the matka? Why did we keep rolling the camera? Why did all of us- me, Pankaj, the actors, and Hemanti the editor, accommodate the unexpected gate-crasher in the scene? None of us have an answer as to why he is there in the film, but, we all know and accept, that there is no escaping him.
P.S. The (In)Famous Garbage Dump Scene-
If only I had known when I wore my shoes, that morning, that I would be throwing them away that night, I would have worn a cheaper pair.
Sankat City releases July 10th 2009. Go watch it.
- Chirantan Das, Guest Blogger, PFC
Tags: Cinematography, Sankat City
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
one more insight of Sankat City.
10th July……
mein aa raha hoon
is it releasing in US?
Kya baat hai Chiru bhai. Its simply thrilling to know these things about making a movie, just like its thrilling to know a director’s thoughts about why he chose and shot a particular scene or a movie.
1) When two people are talking, we are shown their conversations from different angles, how is it that the frontal, back and side scenes dont reveal the other cameras or is there a technique
2) I had seen the making of “baby’s day out”. And baby scenes were shot in front of a green background. You also mention a green frame. What is that? Why does a green background help in SFX?
3) Our mobile phone cameras dont have that slow zooming in and out thing while shooting videos. Do you know any mobile phones or a camera (normal retail one) having this facility?
4) Since a feature film is a moving camera thing, is it a rule to have a moving camera all the time. Any movie has only a few moments of fixed camera sitting and quickly moves on to a different angle or becomes a zoom or a sideway moving camera scene
5) What is a cinemascope format? Does it mean that short films shot on a normal camera cannot be shown on the big screen?
6) There is a new type of camera called as red eye. What is so great about that
good insightful post……
Can’t wait for the movie. Hope it lives up to the expectations.
HAHAHA. “the drivers of the vehicles were just not stopping at their marks, the trolley-pusher was an amateur, the generator kept misbehaving, a couple of HMI bulbs conked-off, tempers were running high and to top it all, there was a wedding ceremony going on next door with music blaring loud; all in all, a recipe for disaster.”
.
it had sankat written all over it, even while shooting!
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will look out for the ‘old man carrying a pot of water. BTW is he PA’s tribute to the monk with the withered wings? i think so…
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anyways, it was wonderful to read your experience here. thanks a lot & all the best.
whatever…..i am excited to know the way u have shot…see technicals are important but er shd not be so rigid to create more thn just created already…i app you to be too honest and it will rock man..in the end its the audience who go for content…(sorry KK talking abt few)…so gr8 going
Thanks, you guys, for ur wishes! Now go tell everyone to see Sankat city on July 10th! :-)
@Vinay-
1-Usually its one camera shooting it from all three angles one after the other- so u see the complete action. Sometimes when there are multiple cameras, they are placed in such a manner that they do not show in each other’s frame.
2: sometimes when u cant shoot actors in a real location for wreason, u shoot them against a green screen.
contd-
2- …in the post-production the green colour is replaced by the image of the real b/g by computer graphics.
3-Mobiles i have no idea abt, but any handycam has the zoom function.
4-The camera can move or stand on a tripod- depends on what the director wants to show in the frame.
5-cinemascope is the format on which most theatrical releases are seen in India. We can shoot on any format, then convert it thru Digital Intermediate to be projected in cinemascope.
6- the new camera is called Red One. The specialty of this camera is that its Digital and a lot cheaper than the regular ones we have been using. Also, when it comes to the quality of the projected image, its very crisp and becoming popular.
Chirantan Sir, I have great respect for cinematographers. Your work epitomises focus to the core. Most of the good cinematographers are underrated and I feel thier work goes unnoticed most of the times. My next post on PFC would be based on this. Just my attempt to bring forward your work in this forum and make people recognize the cinematographers hard work.
I am sure you’ve done a great job. Will surely watch ‘Sabka Band Bajega’ on 10th July!!!
I have a question Sir. What type of lenses are used these days(the modern ones)? How hard is it to use steady cam? Why do you use the tape before the shot?
Questions maybe quite amatuer, but please let us know. Thank you.
Simply Chiru…
@Hansal- :-)
@Sridhar- The lenses that are used mostly these days are carl zeiss and cooke..
Its quite easy to use a steadicam (the production should be able to afford one)
The tape measurement is taken so that the actors are in focus throughout the shot.
Hello, I’m using my friend’s Panasonic HandyCam, and for sum reason, whenever we get the video, it always has a lot of noise and blurred frames in it.
So, Could you please suggest any Handycam which is
affordable and gives quality video?
Also, What’s your opinion on digital cameras which give high definition video, are they worth it?
Thanks a tonne!
@Chiru da…!!!
saw the movie just for your work….
just to remind u…. i’m one of the actors in the “koga cant save you”
hope to work with u soon!!!
keep up the good work
@ Chirantan
Thanks for the very insightful post. Have seen the film first-day last-show and LOVED IT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE i have seen in the last few years. Camera work, as u have attempted, gives a very realistic feel…and no lights could be ‘felt’ anywhere outdoors.
Just one question:
You mention 500T and it was helpful since you had little time. Can you please explain WHY it was helpful? Is it like the still-camera roll specs (400 x better than 200 x) which works well in low-light even.
Also, my personal favorite one-shot sequence was when Faujdaar threatens Guru for the first time, and he keeps running from one side of the room to another to yet another. And also the last swami-ji sequence. In fact, the camera-and-artist movements in the film reminded me of a few French Comedy films I have seen…as well as JYBD’s ‘thoda khaao thoda fenko’ sequence.
Commendable job, Chiru :-). I’m no pro at this but I thought the grainy look added character to the movie.
@uddhav- camcorders from panasonic are quite decent..you ll have to get it repaired from an authorised service center..
hi def digital cameras are basically meant for proffesiona use..
@Bhavin- Thanks..did u get a chance to see ‘koga’?
@Varun- Thanks.. You have said rightly, 500t did come handy because less time we had for light up..
@Ashu-Thanks- yes,the grains do add character to the movie..
Hi,
Isn’t it possible these days to shoot in the daytime and change them to night sequences in post production? Or are there problems / limitations with the technique?
@Nitin- its possible to shoot in the day time and convert them to night scene in post production. But there will be always certain limtation..like try and not have much daylight sky in the frame..choosing a time of the day to shoot which will be easier to convert to night..Also turning a day scene to night takes considerable ammount of time in the post..
Hi,
Is it possible to shoot a low budget movie like Sankat City using digital cameras like Sony PMW-EX3 or the Panasonic AG-HVX200? Both of these cameras can shoot 24fps at 1080p; a resolution that is almost near to 2k. I don’t know it this is for real, but someone ones told me that 16mm’s resolution comes close to that of 2k.
Was Sankat City shot on just 16mm or super 16mm?
Thanks
@Rohan- It is possible to shoot a film like Sankat City using digital cameras..The cameras that you have mentioned,unfortunately i have never used..
The camera that i have used a little bit is Red One,and im quite impressed with the result..
Sankat City was shot on super16mm..then it went through DI, and a cinemascope negative was taken out.. then all the prints were struck from this new negative..
A few Tamil films have been shot on the Red but haven’t been released yet. Kamal Hassan’s remake of A Wednesday! is one of them.
Rohan parts of Public Enemies (mostly shot on Sony F23) and S. Darko (Mostly shot on RED) were shot with the EX-1. You could shoot a feature on either camera, depending on your post-production needs. I don’t know about the HVX-200, but the EX-3 shoots 4:2:0 colorspace on the SxS cards, but it can output 4:2:2 through HD-SDI.
Chirantan, is S16 a commonly used format in India?
Tamil cinema has begun experimenting with Red but a successful 35mm print projection of it is still pending.
Kamal sir’s “Unnaipol Oruvan” is entirely shot on Red.
Parts of Cheran’s “Pokkisham” have been shot on Red.
An upcoming film called “Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru” is being shot on Red.
HVX-200 is ok if you’re finishing on video. No good for 35mm finishing. The Sony Cine-Alta F-900 has shown the best results so far. I watched the Turkish film “Three Monkeys” which was shot on the F-900 and then printed to 35mm. I watched it off a 35mm print and except for some really low-light shots, it never gave it away that it was shot on video. Of course, the film had an astounding cinematographer.
The F-900 to my knowledge has been replaced with the F-800 which is supposedly even better.
I don’t know about Super 16 in Bombay, but in the South industry, especially Tamil and Malayalam cinema, it has become very very popular after the success of Subramaniapuram. The 416s and SR3s are very tough to get a hold of. Always rented out.
Just to add, the rental costs for Red One in India and additional transfer costs are insanely high at the moment. Until those come down, it won’t be THE cheaper option.
BTW there’s a new tamil movie called Achamundu Achamundu which has just got released ( 17th July ) and its fully shot in Red.In fact it was the first tamil movie to be shot in red, the release was delayed a bit as the movie did the festival round.
Achamundu Achamundu was shot in the USA by an American DP, and post was done there too. Facilities in LA have Red nailed down far more than any other place.
We are yet to see the final product of a film shot on Red by an Indian DP, with picture post done in an Indian facility and successfully exhibited on 35.
In India, a lot of DPs are still not 100% clued in about how to light for HD and anticipate how it will show up on 35. There is also virtually no genuine HD work done even for television. So I anticipate it will be a while until we get this nailed down perfectly. We need to do a lot of testing, working closely with post houses, even technical consultants from the makers of the cameras.
Kamal sir is doing the right thing by hiring a Red specialist from the US to guide his team for Unnaipol Oruvan.
PC Sriram shot Vaanam Vasappadum on HD, though I don’t know what format. He also shot Margazhi Ragam, a concert film, with 12 Reds IIRC. I think Mumbai Express was also shot on some HD format.
G. Balaji from the Reduser forum said that Animal Logic (not sure if it is the Australia or LA branch) is doing the color timing on Unnaipol Oruvan. I’m curious to see it, though I will have to see it on a 35mm print.
Vijay, how often is HD used in India to shoot commercials or music videos? Are they still mainly shooting on film and SD?
@RaviK- well, S16 is a becoming a commonly used format in Mumbai these days, but still most feature films are shot on 35mm..In regional films s16 is used more widely..
Mr Das,
The movie was awesome, I want to know how was the experirnce of shooting in that garbage dump,managing the camera angles and all