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There was an auto-rickshaw strike the other day. The government wants them to change their mechanical fare meters into fancy electronic ones. So the union decided to flex its muscles. Suddenly the streets were empty of thousands of noisy gnats. My car driving friends were very happy they said they should be a permanent ban on them. But the people (like me) who are dependent on them were in a real fix. I saw people on the streets jostling with each other for that rare taxi.
I had this meeting with a big corporate film company. I had to go some faraway place to meet them. I tired in vain to borrow some transport from my friends. So finally, I decided to get a radio Cab (they are quite efficient). I told the driver to take me there and to bring me back.
So I arrived at my meeting on …

Many years ago Raj Kapoor and Padmini had danced on the song Begani Shaadi mein Abdullah Deewana. Song was very much part of the film and Raj Kapoor and Padmini were not mere imported material in the film but they were leading man and woman of the film.

Helen used to be there in the films to dance on one or two songs and people used to enjoy and appreciate her songs and dances but her dances also looked part of the films.

It has not been unusual thing to bring big stars to appear in guest roles. Mostly in these cameos they play themselves on the screen and sometimes they play small roles also but then films can not be promoted on the basis of these small guest appearances. These guest appearances have been like bonus material for audiences. They …

iView Author: Prabhu Jhingran
(Lucknow, India)

Email :
mediamantra2000 [at] gmail [dot] com

The Practical Illustrated Media Handbook : Film & Cinematography

At the outset, we should not hesitate to admit that in several regions of our country, the standard of imparting media education is far from being satisfactory. The rush of young people towards the media-print or electronic, has led to the mushroom growth of institutes of journalism and mass communication. Their brochures make big claims and the fee is even bigger. Most of these institutes not only lack the basic infrastructure but also the faculty of teachers with professional background and practical experience. The show limps on with the help of part timers the result is that when the students find a job, they are also surprised to find that they were not told things which they should have been told for smoothly performing the day to day professional …

I chanced upon this site a few weeks back and to say its been a great find would be an understatement, especially after what i found today…

Thanks to wonderdude Mike Goedecko..

Everything you have ever wanted to know about the RED ONE CAMERA. We try to answer the questions before you end up on the set wasting valuable production time. Many thanks to Indie Rentals, the best place to rent the RED CAMERA.

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The Buzz — PFC is powered by your submissions. Send in your news, tips, scoops, hot topics

……the words stayed with me, for long. Does it happen like this ? Emotionally troubled while mixing the film…do you get so much involved…even during mixing the film…..i had heard something like this for the first time. Could not believe it. And was he talking about the same film ? Gandhi My Father. When i met Resul Pookutty (do check out his filmography here to know his range), he was busy mixing saawariya for the dvd. He told me that generally people take the film print copy for the dvd as well. But there are only few who take the trouble to change things for the dvd so that you get the best sound even in your home theatre. you change some technical specifications also, i dont remember now. He did the same for Black’s dvd and now for saawariya. Because Sanjay Leela Bhansali wants it. He is …

Hi Folks,

When I had completed my debut script and started to call on the production houses (actually two), got a favorable response right away based on the concept, and then the script (cause I am confident of that part). However, when talk of the actors came up, one of them suggested names like Priyanka, Hrithik, Abhay….now I don’t want to sound full of myself and I can’t say that the script made it in front of them, but actually I declined there and then. This whole, “guaranteed return on actors,” or “x sells and y does not,” to me is like total HOGWASH, of people (including filmmakers from the Mumbai system), who ”claim” to know it all. Well my question to them is “then why do you make so many flops?” if you have “mastered the crystal bowl?”

And here is my counter argument(s):
A …

Movie making is not easy, man. Making the PFCOne movie is a big lesson to many armchair critics here including me who wax eloquently on where a movie worked, where it didn’t, blah blah blah…I made a couple of movies which are now listed among the entries. It was my first time that I ever attempted making a movie of any kind (excluding random home movies) and it was great fun.

Writing the script is the easy part. That is, once you have the idea or the inspiration for it. Otherwise it’s tough as hell. And writing a script is not something that you can will yourself to do, especially for me, even if it had to last only a minute. If it doesn’t come to you, you can’t help it. Agree?

But how does one write for a minute? I wrote a page of stuff and then tried to imagine all …

Once upon a time in India, radios, or transistors as they were called, were the primary mode of entertainment, and Binaca1 was the “most loved toothpaste” all over the country, or at least, the Hindi speaking parts of it.

Posters were the only means of communication when it comes to promoting the movies. There were posters on the walls, in the train stations, in the news papers, and everywhere else. Each poster concept was meticulously designed and hand painted by one person, whose title was publicity artist. This post is to remember some of those designers who excelled in what they did - Eeshwar, Lanka Bhaskar, Ketha, Gangadhar, Dawood, Masthan, Suresh Bujji, Paani, Diwaakar, Bapu - the erstwhile masters of that extinct art!!

Eeswar
 

Kedi Number 1 (Telugu remake of Dus Numbri) starring legendary N.T.Rama Rao (NTR) was a release movie2 in this small town in A.P. And …

iView Author:
SHAILEE VYAS
(Mumbai, India)

EMAIL:
shaileepv [at] gmail.com

Ashwin’s post ‘Thoughts on writing / editing / acting / directing’ inspired me to publish the notes that i had made after my first ever film as an asst. director.

I was working for my first serial as an asst. director, when the EP of the serial had decided to make a film in Marathi. It was the last day of our shooting when i asked the EP if i could assist him on his film… and to my surprise the answer was ‘Yes, Of course’…
“But, what will i do there? i don’t know anything about film making !!”

“the same thing that you do here!!”

“write the TCR??”

“No dear …write the continuity book… don’t worry someone will teach you how to write that on floor…”

The shooting was to start in 3 …

So,

Despite almost everyone claiming to be the soothsayer and the person resonsible for the resurgance of India Independent cinema, I would like to challenge that notion that the Independent cinema never went anywhere and the studios actually vanished long ago, both the RK Studios and the Mehboob Studios, were more Film Studios as opposed to the BIG STUDIOS, which take over the entire production and distribution of film, like Pinewood in UK and the Warner, etc of LA.

That being said there are TWO things that really changed over the last decade. Firstly the economy took off and perhaps as a result of that (since business started getting easier to get created), the multiplexes came in. So more films were required, unfortunately while we have gone from no industry to industry we have become too obsessed with Theatrical numbers ignoring the LIFE BEYOND THEATRICAL and more importantly the PROFITS BEYOND THEATRICAL, …

iView Author:
Srinivas N
(Bangalore, India)

EMAIL:
Withheld

We have recently seen some posts on PFC about how typical film budgets are. As everyone knows, there is nothing “typical” in any film budget and it all depends on how much you want to spend. Of course, there are some fixed costs as in the equipment rental, lab charges, negative prices etc but again, they are all dependent on how the director decides to execute the project.

Well, I guess I don’t have to say that more the days of your shoot, the more your expenses will be. Even a dummy is aware of this fact. When you are budgeting your project, the director decides on in how many days he intends to complete his project. Once he decides on the number of days, then the approximate budget on equipment hire and daily expenses can be decided. Then …

Hi Folks,

Continuing with my “scrape the barrell” approach to see how the initial budget of $176K that I presented, can be further reduced. Just for the record, this an attempt at a TYPICAL buget, it is not MY FILM budget. That is in the $350-500K region. Also this budget is at a line item level, while taking into account the real world realities.

Further assumptions (a) Shoot in HD (b) Go for the SAG Minimums or shoot NON Union (c) Shoot in India, and in Southern Cal in USA  (d) SAG rates are per diem (e) It is now a 3 WEEK shoot (6 days a week), due to better planning (f) 95% of the shoots are outdoors or indoors in places that don’t require fresh set construction (g) 75% of the shoot is in natural light.

This then is the effect:

 a) Story         -   $ 0 (self development) - so no question of paying
b) Producers Fee -   $0  (self produced)
c) …

Hi Folks,

As a first time producer (and a writer) I am guestimating what my typical budget will look like. Of course, all you wise folks know much better, so would expect this to be challenged. This is the HIGH end of the budget…that is correct…in the next few articles I am going to go to a LOW end of the budget, without resorting to  Sanjay Guptish means of not paying people, etc. (For some side entertainment read here: http://www.mid-day.com/hitlist/2007/september/164061.htm)

Premise is to shoot in US and India. Shoot on film. 4 week (6 day week) shoot; Shooting ratio of 5:1. Shooting on Kodak EXH 500 or FUJI F-500T with Arriflex BLIV ( I really don’t give a frog’s fart on any of these acronyms and names, am merely wrting what is available for indies in the market)

Cause contrary to popular belief, Anurag Basu’s Gangster did not work because of the look, …

In the hype surrounding the controversies relating to the 53rd National Film Awards, the mention of a special jury award to FTII graduate Vibhu Puri’s Chabi Wali Pocket Watch in the Non-Feature category almost went unnoticed. Well, the fact of the matter is, most of the awards in the Non-Feature section go unnoticed by the media these days, as both channels and newspapers concentrate on the top awards in the Feature section.

But Puri’s film, coming after his earlier film Chauras Chand, shows the definite growth of a young filmmaker who is sooner than latter going to be a sensitive director in the Hindi film industry if he holds on to the ideals he has exhibited in both his films.

Chauras Chand, which was part of the Non-Feature Section of the Indian Panorama at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) a few years ago, was on Avtaar Singh …

If you’re in the entertainment industry, sooner or later you’ll find yourself to be a door-to-door salesman, albeit in various forms. And unlike most 9-to-5ers you may not have the technical qualifications on a resume to back you up, which is when it becomes even more necessary to realize the power of words. The power of conversation can hold the power to intrigue, to sell your talent and your ideas to an audience whom you may be meeting for the very first time.

An actor may try to convince a producer or director to use their talent. A writer/director may try to convince a producer that their screenplay is the best thing since sliced bread. A producer may try to do the same with his film to a distributor. Straddling the line between …

Through my brief journey over the past 7 years from a film student to a struggling assistant to an editing instructor to an advertising professional, I have had the fortune (misfortune in some cases) of having worked with a wide variety of filmmakers. Award winners, first-timers, born geniuses, born duffers, struggling actors directing to solely showcase their faces, students, film scholars with Phds, Union professionals…you name it, I’ve seen a good chunk of em. For almost 90% of these people, I worked for free. Why free? To get experience and supplement my knowledge acquired from film school. Sitting in a classroom is all great and well, but it is only through being involved in the creation of more movies will you really and truly learn more about the craft. The key word here is INVOLVED!

Let me clarify that this list is by no means an effort to sound cocky or …

Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut, Dominoes,Barista, Subway,Cafe Coffe Day–When these brands looked for franchise partners in India what was their main criteria for selection? Not the financial muscle,relevant experience,related expertise–nothing of that sort. In hospitality and leisure industry when five star or even budget properties are planned what is foremost on planners mind?And now when the retail chains like Walmart and homegrown ones like Pantaloon and Reliance are on the threshold of establishing and expanding their identity what are they actually looking for?

Giving due weightage to various financial,political,environmental and other risk parameters(that are generally taken care of ), all of them basically have three major conditions to set up their bases.. location,location and location. In ‘Where The Stars Shine Down’, Sidney Sheldon has woven a triangle love story against the backdrop of real estate business, and he talks of the most important part of any real estate investment …

Iranian filmmakers for long have thrived on their unmatched ability to reflect upon their times through the eyes of their children. Majidi is perhaps the finest examples of exploring the issue through the viewpoint of the children who live it, because they are perhaps the only ones who see the world for what it is. They don’t judge, they observe. They see it, and tell it like it is. In the same vein, “Turtles Can Fly” matches if not betters the precedent set by Iranian masters.

Set in the Iraqi-Turkish border, Bahman Ghobadi showcases the lives of Kurdish refugees during the days leading up to the US invasion and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. A young boy known across all the surrounding villages as Satellite (because of his ability to install satellite dishes), holds himself responsible for the well-being of all the orphaned children in the …

Orwell’s prediction of the horrors of 1984 would seem mellow compared to what humanity really saw. In Delhi at least, thousands were massacred, families destroyed forever, the scum of humanity exposed, as justice still remains to be served. It’s a disgusting piece of our history that our government, which still employs many of those directly responsible, chooses to conveniently bury. In that context, it is of utmost importance for us Indian’s to look at ourselves through our own personal stories, to re-live the horror we allowed into our society, and hopefully prevent that from happening in the future. “Amu” tells one such personal story.

Kaju (Konkona Sensharma) arrives in India, appearing to be the stereotypical Indian-American in search of her roots, doing the rounds of the exotic side of the country with her camcorder. Adopted at the age of three and raised in Los Angeles by her foster …

The Cheeky Guide to Instant Art-House Success

Prologue

“All Artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn how to Draw?”
– Banksy

This essay is long.
It’s highly opinioned.
It even has opinions about itself.
It’s arrogant, irreverent and generally sarcastic.
It aims to be an academic essay, but can’t be, because of the cheek.
So it aims to be cheeky.
It also aims to reason, but sometimes just runs out of patience and infers.
The sentences are much shorter and lesser complex than Baudrillard’s, so don’t complaint.
This prologue falls a little short of being a disclaimer – it’s too unapologetic.
The article is alternatively named – The Clichés of What We Know as World Cinema and of Scholarly Film Criticism and Look, I’m So Cool.

Chapter One – The Art House Cliché

“Where are the snake charmers? Where are the elephants?”
“In the zoos. Where do you keep them in London?”
- Bombay Boys

Every …