Kirti's Shoot

Kirti had given me certain responsibilities related to the art and props. Soumee had asked me the previous day to help her out with the lighting. We have begun to function much better as a team. I could clearly figure out what I used to miss out on earlier. I quickly shared the work on art and props among me, Jubaraj & Himel. After I had done my part started speaking to Soumee about the lights. It was a scene set in the morning. a young couple were having breakfast.

I put up a 1K right across the window to, not at too great a height. A shaft of morning sunlight spread across the room, up to the wall behind the breakfast table. The rest of the room was still dark. I looked up. The set did not have any roof. The daylight that bounces off the roof uniformly all across the room could only be done by hanging a schemer. But we were losing a lot of time. For the rest of the room I tried bouncing lights off the walls, and thermocol reflectors. I made sure the light stands were all out of the camera's sight.

We covered most of the shots at a comfortable pace. No one felt disengaged. There was enough to do for all of us. Jubaraj was recording sound today. Ashok & Sumana were acting. Himel even pushed the trolley, that too with Soumee on it!!!

Kirti had thought of a track shot, which she kept for the very end. That was the most challenging part for me. The shot would expose the whole room, even the bedroom that can be seen through the door to it. I had lit separately for all the shots, keeping in mind only two things; f/5.6, and the lighting continuity. I took it up as a challenge. I created a similar patch of sun for the bedroom; a 1K outside the window exactly at the same distance, height and angle as the one for the living room. And bounced a dinky off a thermocol reflector. But for the living room, I got desperate. I put two 1K's on two ends of the tracks. One bouncing in through left, the other through right. Mr. Tanmay, who was then busy in a conversation with the HOD of the Dept. of Cinematography, called me up. I looked back at the room. The morning sun was in Sumana's face. Good I thought. Mr. Tanmay pointed out Ashok could not be seperated from the background. I shamelessly told him I never thought of it. He reminded me, "Backlight..."

I was lost in thought. How would I come up with the backlight for Ashok? I can't place a light on that side of the room. Mr. Tanmay reminded me, "Cat walk..." I asked the light boy to get up on the cat walk. I passed him a dinky. It was too bright. A couple of nets. Voila!!

Hari's Shoot

We had decided to turn up on time. In spite of how much we despise whet they did. The decision was in light of the interactions on the previous days. It was partly self righteousness. No matter how distant, detached and stupid they act, we will not be at fault. Another name that was given to it was letting go of our egos. I saw extreme self pity in both. I went anyways.

Hari was supposed to direct, but he took it upon himself to fetch the equipments. It never happened that way till now. Others would come up to offer help in these matters. Everyone was happy to take away as much bodily hardships from the director. If he would have asked, anyone of us would be happy to do it. But he went his own way. Hari finally arrived on set about an hour later, that to with the wong tripod base plate.

It was discovered just before the shot was to be taken. Sreecheta being the cinematographer, I offered her assistance. She agreed. She could not mount the camera on the tripod. Not being surprised at that, I tried verbal instructions to help her out. I finally could not help taking the camera in my own hands. I discovered it had a different base plate. Ashok and Kirti went back to get the correct tripod.

Upon Hari's arrival we asked him what changes in the setting he wanted. We got it done. Everything was in place except for the lights. Mr. Chandan, mentor for the day, asked Hari some simple and direct questions. Most of them had two choices. Bright, or dark. Deep focus, or shallow. I found it funny and dissappointing. Because there was no discourse taken on the decisions made. I began cherishing the very previous day when Kirti, while directing, and Soumee, being the cameraman, gave me the liberty of lighting it up the way I wanted.

It was a night scene. Two 1K's were placed outside the window, to simulate the lights from neon lamps on the street. For the whole living room, a 2K was placed on the cat walk, in one corner. Most of the practical lights we had put to use previously were never switched on.

Hari had a list of around 40 shots for his script. He was planning to shoot off at least 20. I can say for sure, all of us were disinterested. I tried keeping myself engaged while assisting Sreecheta. But her whole focus was in physically moving the camera from one place to another, taking shots after shots, as Hari called out OK for the takes. She would not ask me to take charge of the camera after a shot, so that she could see what would make for a beter composition. He whole focus was only on proper camera operation. And not on finding the right place to see the things that were to unfold. After a while I asked Kirti to replace me.

Hari was also into ticking off the shots he had listed. He was not communicating with the rest of us in any way whatsoever. Hari brought along Anuj, fellow cinematography student. Anuj took care of lights, as Mr. Chandan called out to him what lights were to be placed where. He failed to keep his crew engaged. Even Sumana who was acting, found it extremely hard to keep her focus.

The funniest part of the day was when composing an over the shoulder (OTS) shot; RK, a senior student of direction, who was acting alongside Sumana, was asked to stand with his feet apart. This would help Sreecheta to compose properly for Sumana, because now both the actors were of the same height. Sumana could not avoid giggling, and RK is humourous enough to churn up one-liners for laughs.

We seven knew what was different about this shoot. It might just take some time to find the right words.

Acting all day long...

Soumee resumed her shoot. Kirti was on the sofa. Sumana, the cinematographer for the day, moved the lamp besides the sofa to light up Kirti’s face. I was growing restless to point it out that there won’t be any lighting continuity. Mr. Tanmay said let her make her own mistakes and learn. More or less that is all that we are doing right now. I was playing the part of an emotionally distant lover. Not being a trained actor, I took pride every time I was told I did well. But that happened less often as the day progressed.

It is so difficult for actors to stay focused when you have to wait between shots for hours. I recalled how my actor friends always complained about acting for films. They always said it was such a test of patience. At times one even has to wait between takes, at times for the lighting to get right, or art, etc. Moreover I could not differentiate my acting in the good takes from the bad ones. I started walking up to Soumee every time the shot got over. I would not ask anything. I would just make some gesture, and she would tell what went right and what not.

Sumana freaked me out when she asked me to change small nuances, some of which I did not even realize was happening. Put my hand a little more to the left, bend down to the laptop screen a little more, try and catch the light there; I burst out saying this is unreasonable, I can’t be standing like this. Soumee came to the rescue. She completely changed my action, and showed it herself. It was an OK take.

Post lunch Jubaraj started his shoot. Ashok was the cinematographer, Soumee was recoding the sound. I was acting again. For the first shot I had to walk with a bag, one that can be run on wheels. Ashok had to pan with the wheels, as I walk past. I walked a little slower as I came closer to the camera. With decreasing distance between me and the camera, Ashok would need to pan faster. I walked slower to make it easier on Ashok. An actor should always let the camera move with him. Jubaraj rushes to me at the end of the shot. He points out that I was not supposed to walk as slow. I was short on patience. I burst out at him about why I had walked slowly. He checked the shot with Ashok and was OK with it. I walked up to him and apologized in public.

Mr. Tanmay thought that it would now be a good idea to make us familiar with the studio lights. We spent the next hour picking up various lights, mounting them on the stands, etc. He said we could think of dramatic lighting, instead of just simulating practical lights.

Soumee's shoot

I was acting today. Soumee was directing her dialogue exercise. I was excited about my role. Kirti was my counterpart. We rehearsed our lines a few times. Soumee was happy with that. We had lit the set only with practical lights till now. Mr. Tanmaypointed out we should be proud of the lighting we had achieved, that any cinematographer would be proud of such lighting. At the same time with the advent of digital technology photography in low lights has become much easier. It is quite difficult to use studio lights to simulate every single pattern that a night lamp creates. And he threw open the challenge to any student of cinematography who thinks he/she could simulate it with precision.

There was a close-up of me working on a laptop. Sumana, the cameraman for the day, was not happy with the light of the laptop screen on my face. It was not bright enough. Mr. Tanmay thought it was a good opportunity to let us experience how it is to work with studio lights. I was sitting on a chair, with the laptop on a table. The table had a cane lamp. In order to simulate the laptop screen, a 300W fresnel was placed on the table right behind the laptop. It was covered with blue gel. But I found it pretty difficult to keep my eyes open

Ashok's Shoot

Ashok was shooting his dialogue exercise with Himel on the camera, and Sumana recording the sound. We all knewHimel needed help; I stepped in as the camera assistant. Ashok was running around in the set, placing props, picking up equipment. One reason I am reluctant of physically tiring myself when I am directing is because I cease to be calm. Ashok, on the other hand,was still able to be distant.

Mr. Tanmay walked in to the floor at a little past noon. Like the last two days, he started talking of things that he felt was going wrong. Ashok was conducting himself better than Sumana. We were shooting a close up of glass being filled up with liquor. He put his iPad under the glass top of the table, right under the bottle of rum and the empty glass.Mr. Tanmay’s emphasis was on making it clear what the shot was all about. One should minimize, and get rid of the unnecessary elements. We break for lunch.

Post lunch, it was a lazy start. Most of us were sleep deprived, and the afternoon meal was drawing us to a nap. Ashok stepped up. He never showed any sign of impatience. He kept at it, and soon we were back to work. I was surprised at Himel’s perseverance. He learnt quiet fast. And rolled the camera shot after shot without almost any help from me.

We moved to the last scene. It had a long dialogue, all in one single shot. Thank God for Himel it was a tripod mounted static shot. Kirti & Jubaraj pulled it off without forgetting lines in the very first take. It was all good except for the fact that the boom was in for a couple of seconds.

When we started rolling for the retakes, invariably one thing or another was going wrong. Mr. Tanmay walked in as I was changing the battery on the camera. He gauged what was happening. He calmed down the actors, made them sit, and asked them to rehearse their lines right in front of him. He slowed them down whenever Jubaraj, or Kirti hurried through their lines.

The shot is done with. Meanwhile, Mr. Tanmay, who had a camera hanging with him all day, showed us how he had kept himself busy. He had shot the construction workers at work in our campus. An actuality of the situation in a single shot, but the shot taking was such that the attention is drawn from one motif to another. Ashok and Himel wrap up the next few shots quiet soon and call it a day. We wrapped up at 5.09.

Sumana's Shoot...

Sumana was directing her dialogue sequnce. I was on the camera, Himel was recording the sound. Sumana was reworking her script when I met her last night. She said she would get back to me with the script. There was no news from her side til morning.

I met Soumee. Soumee had a talk with Sumana in the morning. Sumana needed the tea shop set up, the living room setup, and the bedroom setup. I had immediately understood that she has improvised. It is a completely different story she has thought of, probably after she woke up in the morning. I was prepared for a rushed shoot. It would be fun to shoot so many different spaces. But it would take a lot of planning, and proper effort.

When Sumana told me what she had thought of, I immediately started deciding on the shooting order. I pointed out to her which scenes she could do away with, so that we finish shooting the important ones. We quickly moved on to setting up the spaces. I had laid out a proper plan to them. There were five scenes. Sumana started working on the dialogue, quietly sitting in a corner. Ashok, Soumee and Himel were looking after the art. There was only one costume change for the characters. We would shoot three scenes first, then the costume change would happen. This gave me some time to think about the lights. I was growing greedy.

We had only practical lights at our disposal. We had moved from the working lights in the studio in my shoot, to practical lights in Himel's shoot. I was tempted to see the 2K's lined up on one side of the floor. The light boys were puzzled by the proceedings of the first two days of the shoot. They practically did not have to move. I asked them to put a kino, imitating the fluorescent light in the living room. And a 2K on the street for the neon street lamps. I had no idea what I was doing with the 2K, but I did not let others know about it.

We started rolling at 11.30. 

Himel's Shoot

We were in the set the whole day. Himel was directing his dialogue exercise, Kirti on the camera, I was recording the sound. It was going at a snail’s pace. We managed only two shots before lunch. Mr. Tanmay’s absence was being felt. Himel seemed utterly confused. I tried pacifying him. I tried eradicating the confusions in Kirti & Himel’s discussions. But at times I felt I was intervening too much.

Kirti seemed very confused at one point. She ended up going for retakes that were not at all needed. None of us pointed it out. Himel did not take charge of the situation either. She admits later that she was confused about what she wanted. I was on the verge of panicking. I tried remembering how Mr. Tanmay talked sense to me yesterday. But I was unable to do the same with him.

We break for lunch. I ask Himel to write his shots. He wrote it down, and I tell him the confusions persistent in his writing. He writes again, this time they are precise actions but still complicated. I put some more pointers to what would help it be simpler. While having lunch, I tell him if I were you I would have done it this way. Himel agrees at once. I start feeling sick about myself. I felt I have meddled with his thought process. I call up Mr. Tanmay. We needed that indomitable spirit that he inculcates. He said he will take another half an hour to reach. I told myself, “Half an hour, just hold on. Focus on just the next shot.”

Back on the floor, I try and bridge up the conversation between Himel and Kirti. Himel puts the next shot just as I had told him in the lunch. “Soumita gulps down a glass of water as Sounak hands her a napkin to wipe the blood.” Himel steps back and stands in the corner, letting Kirti call the shot. Kirti was still unsure of how she would frame it. I ‘intervene with her natural flow of thoughts’ and lead her on to compose a pretty tight frame. I place the boom near Soumee, who was the onscreen Soumita. Soumee tells me Mr. Tanmay has been here for quite a while. I look up around the cat-walk, I see the tall figure standing in one corner. It was all dark, but I could still make out the shape of his hair.

The shot goes well for me. But Kirti was not happy with it. Himel does not say anything. As Kirti goes for the second take, I desperately control my urge to point it out to Kirti that she is buying time as she is not sure. But I refrain. I remind myself that Mr. Tanmay is already on the floor, and I can ease up a bit. I look up again. This time I only see the tip of a burning cigarette.

A few more retakes go on. Kirti changed the camera positions for a few of them, and asked Jubaraj, playing onscreen Sounak, to stand differently for the rest of them. I could not see any logic in it, still I kept quiet.

In between shots Jubaraj takes out his phone and calls Mr. Tanmay. The familiar ringtone sounds much louder in the silent studio. Soumee breaks into laughter. Mr. Tanmay asks Himel to come up to where he was.

Himel directs the next take from up there. Kirti still not happy with it wants to go for another take. Mr. Tanmay asks Kirti and Soumee (playing Soumita) to change places. Almost all of us give a confused look. They change places. Soumee sets up the camera, Kirti is made to bleed (it was just a make up!!). They go for the shot.

Next, Kirti is asked to come up to the cat walk. Himel comes down. Soumee becomes the actress again, and Sumana takes over the camera. I was silently observing all this ruckus, with the boom mic in my hand. Himel comes down and takes over. The shot is taken.

We all wait patiently after the shot is done. We could hear the reverberations of the quiet conversation Kirti was having with Mr. Tanmay. Kirti lets out a laughter of relief. They both come down. I am an admirer of people who do not give up, who see hope even in desperate times. But I am even more fascinated by people who can inspire, put others in comfort. Mr. Tanmay does exactly that, by the sheer power of his words. All through the last 10 minutes I see the unease in us disappear. Mr. Tanmay's presence somehow reassures us that there is always enough time.

The very third day when Mainak, Jubaraj & Sreecheta pointed out that we had not learnt anything in the lighting & lensing workshop in the last two days, Mr. Tanmay asked why are we in such a hurry. I quietly calculated, he is right. I panic only because I always feel short on time.

We finish the shoot at 6.30 in the evening. I felt pretty bad. Although the seven of us think that we completely believe in what Mr. Tanmay says, but we have not yet been able to practice that on our on. We are pretty clueless on our own.