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.

Shoot shoot shoot...

The call time for the day was set at 8 am. None of was woke up early enough to make it in time. On top of that the blog posts were all pending. Plus, the proceedings of the previous day were all very fresh in our minds. Soumee was unable to focus. She said the verbal brawl with Sreecheta last night got to her. I was a little groggy from all the sleep deprivation. I had to direct the dialogue sequence today I got the same sunken feeling in the pit of my stomach. I missed breakfast. So I got myself some sandwiches. I did not know when Mr. Tanmay came and sat next to us. I suddenly realise his presence and was embarrassed. I felt like as if was letting people down. Out of the guilt of not being decisive, I ask him what should we do now. He says its my call to make. Today I am the boss.

The Dean walks in all of a sudden. He had never met Mr. Tanmay. The Dean wanted to talk to him in private. They head to his office. Before Mr. Tanmay leaves he tells me I am supposed to shoot today. What the hell am I doing, feeling all stupid. Kirti and Jubaraj head out to fetch the camera. Jubaraj was my cameraman, Kirti was the sound recordist. We head to the studio. The empty set was kind of a jolt. Not waiting for any of my instructions, they all stared placing the props. It was already past 12. I was had to decide. I had to direct. But first I had to direct myself.

I tell them we should be finished with the propping by 2. And we'll roll the camera by 2.30. Ashok & Sumana were my actors. But I had not given them their lines yet. None of them had taken a look at the script even once. Because I was too embarrassed to make anyone read my script.

We were all at the department by 9 am. Mainak had written an open letter to Mr. Tanmay. We knew after reading it something was going to happen. One thing that caught my attention was the fact that the condemnation Mainak's blog (http://35mlfilms.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/an-open-letter-to-tanmay-agarwal/) puts Mr. Tanmay in, stating that he wants us to promote his website. This very same thing was brought up to me by an inebriated professor of ours, through a late night call last night.

Mr. Tanmay was there. Jubaraj had already written a reply (https://feelsnicetoberude.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/dear-mainak-an-open-letter/) to Mainak's letter,on top of the blog post for the previous day.

As the workshop progresses, we come closer to shooting the dialogue exercise. We are supposed to shoot it in the set that we had constructed a couple of weeks ago. The set was erected on a 80 ft. by 40 ft. studio floor.

We have become pretty punctual. We are all on time most of the time as far as coming for the morning session is concerned. And no one is complaining about working till late in the night. At times it becomes difficult to finish the blog by 10 am in the morning. But Mr. Tanmay lets us finish it before we start the next session. His inputs are not limited to the technicalities of the camera. He also talks of the way we are constructing sentences, and our use of words. He pointed out later in the day that Ashok uses very less words. Ashok is a guy who speaks very less. He is from Manipur. He speaks only in Poula (his mother tongue) and English, that too with an accent. I have seldom had a long conversation with him. And he writes short blogs - http://ashokveilou.blogspot.com/. But Ashok chooses his words very wisely. He does not have a huge stock of words that some of us have. But he thinks before he speaks. And what he says is simple and profound.

Jubaraj on the other hand uses jargons - https://feelsnicetoberude.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/day-6-terse-also-means-brief-jubaraj-j-barua/. He speaks very fast, body constantly fidgeting. Not that he does not have depth in his thoughts. I know that because he is someone I talk to a lot. But I am never surprised when people find him snobbish.

Soumee is quite fond of writing - http://blogsoumee.blogspot.in/2015/02/step-by-step.html. Writing is like a therapy to her. She is well capable of giving her thoughts proper words. Sumana (http://sumanabarman.blogspot.com/2015/02/digging-deep_2.html) on the other hand is not as vivid as Soumee. But she does not need too many words to make sense. I attribute this quality of hers to her laziness in general. Jokes apart...

We are all there in the department on time. But most of us have not finished their blogs. We all keep at it. Mr. Tanmay waits for us while we finish it off. We then move to the Classroom Theater. Jubaraj had made a video blog out of the video he had shot throughout the day - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq2R7xkErB8. We watch it and Mr. Tanmay asks us what could have been done better. I look at Jubaraj and think of all the effort he has put in to make that, the late night effort on the editing system. It is a commendable effort he has put. But one has to always seek out the scope of improvement.

We were also given the schedule for the shoot. I am supposed to shoot the very first day, the 5th of Feb. Jubaraj is supposed to be my cameraman and Kirti will be looking after the sound recording. It is a sync sound exercise.

In the second half of the day, we take out Panasonic P2 cameras, they are the ones we are supposed to shoot in. Mr. Tanmay brushes up our basics on the equipments that we will be handling. Especially the tripod.

We watch Les Vacances de M. Hulot (1953, Jacques Tati). It gave a good laugh to our tired bodies.

More with the Pin Hole

Everyone reached the department by 9.45. It was a pleasant surprise for everyone to see each other put in their best. Sreecheta was there too. I did not mention her last blog post to anyone. But something told me they all had read it. Later when Mr. Tanmay asked Soumee what she thought of it, Soumee said it was just full of malice.

Sreecheta repeatedly expressed her gratitude for all of us in her blog, appreciating the fact that our actions (we had decided not to let her be a part of the workshop with the lack of commitment on her part) have opened her eyes to the light she was unable to see. Bengalis I believe are good with words when it comes to sarcasm.

The rest of us kept busy. Kirti & Jubaraj discussing aperture, ISO & shutter speed. Ashok, Mainak & Soumee editing their blog posts.

Mr. Tanmay was their at 10.30. He started talking about Mainak's blog post. I had just read the first paragraph of his blog. Mr. Tanmay blasted him off with his usual benevolence and calm demeanor in place. He found Mainak's humour pretty distasteful. Mainak always tends to derive humour from a certain mockery.

We spent the first half making a small pin hole that can be mounted in our DSLR's. We made it out of the leftover black chart paper. We cut a circle out of them that would exactly fit the lens mount of the camera. We make a pin hole exactly at the centre. We fixed the pin hole on our DSLR's, doing away with our lenses. We spent the remaining of the pre-lunch session taking pictures with it. Upon checking the metadata for the photos, the strange thing was that the aperture was mentioned as f/00, as no lens was in place, and the focal length strangely was shown as 50 mm!! I do not know the reason for that though.

Man sitting
Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800 on Cannon 600D

Anuj on the stairs.
Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800 on Cannon 600D

Saurabh
Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800 on Cannon 600D

Jubaraj with camera
Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 3200 on Cannon 600D

People in the Open Air Theatre
Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800 on Cannon 600D

Cycles of gardeners
Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800 on Cannon 600D

Trees by the path
Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800 on Cannon 600D

So, having worked with the pin hole camera, we now start on trying to achieve brighter and sharper image. In the second half we mount magnifying glasses on a structure similar to the pin hole cameras we made two days ago.

We check it out and voila!! We are able to obtain a sharper image with the magnifying glass in place. And the aperture being big the brightness is also acceptable.

We try focusing on an object in a close proximity. The magnifying glass had to be placed further away from the eye piece for a sharp image.

Looking at an object in close proximity. Sharp focus at a distance.
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800, focal length - 24mm on Cannon 60D

The image of the object in close proximity.
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800, focal length - 29mm on Cannon 60D 

As the subject goes further away, the magnifying glass has to be pulled closer to the eye piece for sharp image.

The image of an object at distance.
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/20, ISO - 800, focal length - 44mm on Cannon 60D

The focus is closer to the eye piece.
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/20, ISO - 800, focal length - 20mm on Cannon 60D

We now try and look through different sizes of the opening. With a bigger aperture, the focus is shallow, as in this case it is just in the fore ground.

Foreground in focus with a wide opening.
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/6, ISO - 1600, focal length - 48mm on Cannon 60D

With a smaller opening, the depth of the focus is greater, as in the following image both the foreground and background is in focus.

Both foreground & background in focus with a narrow opening.
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/6, ISO - 1600, focal length - 67mm on Cannon 60D

But the above observation will hold water only if done with the same lens, but a different aperture opening. As I mentioned, we had used a different lens. A mistake on our part.

So when we move towards a subject we have to keep the subject in focus by gradually pushing the magnifying glass away from the eye piece. In the following pictures, we start from a distance and keep moving closer to the subject.

At a distance from the subject, focus is closer to the eye piece.
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/10, ISO - 800, focal length - 25mm on Cannon 60D

The image has the least magnification at this distance.

The Image on the eye piece
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/10, ISO - 2000, focal length - 57mm on Cannon 60D

Moving closer...

Moving closer to the subject, focus shifts away from the eye piece
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/10, ISO - 800, focal length - 22mm on Cannon 60D

The magnification changes
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/10, ISO - 2000, focal length - 57mm on Cannon 60D

Even closer...

Very close to the subject, with the focus further away from the eye piece.
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 800, focal length - 22mm on Cannon 60D

Magnification is greatest
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/10, ISO - 2000, focal length - 36mm on Cannon 60D

We were working till 9 in the night before we called it a day.

Left... Left... Left Right Left...

Mr. TA starts with the question, "Do you think I am late?"

I hesitantly answer, "Later than 10 o'clock."

"Who do you think is the boss here?"

"All of us..."

"If you all are bosses what have you done in the last 15 minutes?"

Somehow it has been very difficult for us to direct ourselves towards something productive. He asks us to salute him, as it seems none of us can make out of the situation. We attempted a salute, it was completely all over the place. Mr. TA points out there has to be someone whom the others follow. He pokes at out ego for not being able to obey anyone. If you want to be a good master, you have to be a good slave first. I was appointed to orchestrate this regiment. I start hesitantly. I make them stand in two rows, and in unison made them stand at ease, and then at attention. But somehow my misplaced sense of humility (about which I told him later) got in the way. Mr. TA pointed out one cannot afford to try and impress others if one wants to lead men to the warfront. I pass the baton to AV. AV was taken aback. He came in front and started the drill. He turned out incapable of running a military drill. MG took his place. Mr. TA ends the drill with the qualities of a good leader. One who has the ability to take the hard decisions.

Mr. TA showed us what he has been shooting and editing all these days (He has at different times taken out his iPAD and shot us). Mr. TA's  observations, I must say are sharp and precise. He points out to JJ how much of a show off he is. I felt bad for him. He quietly listened to Mr. TA, with a calm resignation in his eyes. I felt it would be very hard for him, but he took it upon him with an open heart. K wanted to watch the video again. She watched through the part where NSH had his voice laid over. NSH is growing in confidence each day. Good to see. He has a bad sense of humour, but he knows how to stand up for what he believes in. Every time when we are in a serious discussion, NSH makes sure he puts across what he believes in. Although his choice of words are not always smart, but he has earned every bit of the respect.

Mr. TA threw at us the challenge to meet up to the standards he reaches. We spend the rest of the day updating the blogs, and a small session where he asked us to spend the night with our cameras.

Metadata literally refers to the 'data about the data'. In terms of photography, it is the data about an image that tells us about the various camera parameters set while capturing the image. It includes information related to the F-stop, shutter speed, ISO, focal length of the lens, colour temperature, etc.

The camera I have been using for the past few months is Canon 600D. It accommodates various user friendly modes to take pictures/videos. It ranges from Manual (M) mode, which lets the user take control of all the parameters. One can use the camera in a Shutter Priority (Tv) mode, which lets the user decide the shutter speed and sets the aperture accordingly based on the camera's judgement of the exposure. The Aperture Priority (Av) mode lets the control of only the aperture opening, the shutter speed gets decided by the camera based on its understanding of the exposure. There are several other modes one can choose from depending upon ones proficiency and understanding of how photography actually works.

Whether it be film or digital sensor, one of the important parameters of image taking is the duration for which the shutter allows the light into the film/sensor. The longer the shutter stays open more the light reaching the film/sensor. It is similar to say a tumbler covered with a lid in the rain. The longer the lid stays open, the more the tumbler is filled with water. The faster the shutter speed, the less the exposure. The unit for shutter speed is in the units of time, i.e., seconds.

Another parameter that decides the amount of light reaching the film/sensor, is the size of the opening through which light has to pass. Taking the previous example, the tumbler in the rain gets filled with more water is the lid is completely removed, less filled if the lid is half closed, and absolutely empty if the lid stays on. So, greater the aperture opening, more the exposure. The aperture opening is denoted by f-stop. F-stop is the ratio between the focal length of the lens and the physical diameter of the aperture opening.

While capturing an image, the light energy falling on the film/sensor is converted into another form of energy. In case of films, the light reacts with the silver salts on it; in case of sensors, it is converted into electrical energy. So in order to get an image with proper exposure the sensitivity of the film/sensor plays a significant role. If the silver salts on the film, or the electrical voltages in the sensor are made more responsive to the light, the exposure will accordingly increase.

The digital cameras come with an exposure meter of its own. Any exposure meter can be set to a particular shutter speed and ISO in order to get the idea of the f-stop that will give us a proper overall exposure of the image. Primarily there are two kinds of exposure meters. Incident exposure meters which are usually for checking the amount of light falling on the subject. The second is reflective exposure meter, the one that digital cameras employ, which tells about the light reaching the camera. Exposure of an image is a relative term. It is always based on the discretion of the photographer. Similarly the concepts of over-exposed and under-exposed are all about relative exposures.

The digital cameras come with various pre-defined picture styles for the user to choose from. It basically provides an inbuilt operation of the camera software to automatically decide upon the brightness, contrast and sharpness of the image. Usually a lot of photographers prefer to set their own picture styles. The less the inbuilt software interferes with the image one takes, the more authentic it stays.

The camera that we use has to be told which colour is to be treated as white. Under different lighting conditions, the camera interprets the colours differently. So it needs to be set accordingly.

White balance for tungsten light. Aperture - f/4.5, Shutter speed - 1/60, ISO - 1600 on Cannon 600D

White balance for fluorescent light. Aperture - f/4.5, Shutter speed - 1/60, ISO - 1600 on Cannon 600D

The quality of an image being captured is determined by several factors. Resolution of an image is the

Latitude a very similar concept and is the limit to which we can overexpose and underexpose the sensor and still achieve an acceptable result. Higher the latitude better the image quality.

Color depth is the number of bits per pixel of a certain color. How much information is stored in a certain color pixel is indicated by the color depth. A 1 bit color would mean monochrome – 2^1 = 2 colors while a 8 bit color would mean 2^8 = 256 colors in the RGB palette. More information would obviously translate to better image reproduction – better image quality. A picture size is an absolute value while resolution is the number of pixels per inch. A histogram represents the exposure levels of the subject that is photographed. RAW is a file format in which there is no processing done and hence detailing can be properly done on a raw image in post production. A raw image has all the minimal processed data to be worked out thus. In the same way a JPEG is a file format but then is a compressed file and a processed file that is lower in size and has a lower dynamic range than what is possible with a RAW image. The color depth is also reduced in a JPEG.

Motion picture photography comprises of taking a number of still pictures in a short time and playing them back one after another in order to give an impression of motion. The number of still shots taken per second is known as the frame rate. As a standard, movies are projected at 24 frames per second. The ratio between the height and the width of an image is known as the aspect ratio.

More Pin Holes

I had not yet published my blog. Some of it I had written while travelling in the bus. I finished it as soon as I reached campus. I let everyone know through a mail that my blog is finished. The mail was sent at eight minutes past ten. I met SB standing outside the class. She tells me rest of us were having a heated argument in the class. I go inside the class. HK does not have a blog at all. JJ didn’t write because he was busy with his own work. And MG expressed his disgust over it through the blog. The extended pre-lunch session was centered around three of us expressing their disgust. They felt violated, annihilated, and manhandled. The situation supposedly imposed by Mr. TA was taking away their right to free will. I am still trying to figure out, pondering over it all through the weekend, how three simple rules, which we ourselves agreed upon, could lead up to such a ruckus. Those three rules were just to put to test our punctuality, commitment and team spirit.

Mr. TA was standing at the coffee shop observing us all the while, without letting us know that we were being watched. Most of us mistook it as a lapse on his part. The few of us standing outside finishing their last breath of smoke rush in seeing Mr. TA strolling in towards the department. My eyes met his in greeting. His hands waved at me, stopping me on my way in. Mr. TA managed to stall SouB as well. He points out the last blog was published at 10.30. It was 10.30 in the morning. We start the session. HK kept quite for better part of the session. JJ expressed his anguish. He spoke of Mr. TA's methods getting to him. JJ spoke of how he has called up his mother and told her how life in campus is bugging him down. How this workshop is eating up his freedom. He got upset and drunk on it last night (although he drinks almost every day!!). JJ said he has a problem with authority. And he can't take the intrusions of a structure. Mr. TA raises his hand, "...stop." JJ was taken aback. He tries to resume. Mr. TA, "When I raise my hand like this, you stop. Can you respect that." Mr. TA pokes JJ, and talks about the big fat ego that is getting in the way. It is pretty difficult to recall the actual sequence of the conversation, but SD bursts out. Her questions are not being answered. Mr. TA enquires what questions are bothering her. SD, after a pause of surprise, puts her question in intelligent words, "If the eye has a variable focal length, how come the angle of view does not change?" Mr. TA keeps quite. MG calmly puts his points, "We are losing valuable time. Two days wasted just like that." I could not contain my urge to speak. "I believe this is important. More than the technicalities of the camera, it is about getting people to act together. Don't you guys see." I went on,"I want to be a practicing film maker. I want to practice it every day. This is an exercise, something that is going to make us grow fit. I want to be fit for shooting and editing every day." JJ engages himself to the completion of his blog, not trying to hide his displeasure over it. HK starts on his blog without any protest. Mr. TA and a few others go out.

SD's temper was oozing, even more so when it was met by the calm demeanour that Mr. TA maintained. K, SouB, MG, JJ, SD and me were still in class. SD, with her eyes reddening, lips pressing into each other, and voice trembling under the stress of the agitation, blamed us of cornering her. I found it useless to talk to her. MG started putting forth his calm calculations, "It has been two and a half days. What have we learned about camera at all?" I walk out of the class without answering. How does one quantify knowledge

The tired bodies showed melancholy, and trust evaporated in the madness, that was supposed to have some method in it. The session ends an hour later than the usual lunch break. The sourness was left unchecked. In the middle of all this, the office attendant brought in the attendance sheet. He was taken aback by the agitated crowd of 10. Mr. TA, calm as always, said in a firm voice, “They’ll all be here for the whole day. I’ll sign, just fill up the boxes.” I was shaken by his belief. But I had to see how he pulls it off. There was some more news. HK is going off to his home. His family has built a house. It’s his house warming party. How is it supposed to work then? Most of us express our unwillingness to let him go. JJ leaves it upon him to decide.

The post-lunch session starts. JJ does not show up. I express my interest in talking to him. He is my friend, and I want to listen to how he feels. Talk to him and make him feel good. Mr. Tanmay advices to just listen. And not say anything. I go out to look for him. Our campus is 42 acres. I am without my cellphone. I tried to remember how we would look out for heart-broken friends in school who would go into hiding just so that they be missed and seeked out for. I come out of the class and look around. I take hesitant steps towards the campus gates. He is not in the vicinity. I turn around and I see him walking towards the library. I catch up with him and sit beside him without saying anything. He starts pouring his heart out. He talks of how hard he is trying to shoot a short story on his own. How hard it is for him to focus on both of it at the same time. How important it is for him to make the most of the time he is spending in film school. I quietly sit through all he had to say. JJ continues, saying how he knows it is important what Mr. TA is trying to put to practice. But it just isn't a good time for him to waste days like this. I silently run in my head how right Mr. TA was to say that we are all too impatient. We are all behaving as if we are utterly short on time. And that we all want to reach some place that we don't have any idea about.

I was expecting this question even before JJ popped it out, "He sent you to get me in the class, isn't it?" I look away and smile. I see K coming in from a distance. Somehow I was not surprised. She joins in. JJ pops up the same question to her. She smiled the same embarrassing smile as me. MG comes in a little later. The conversation becomes lighter, and humorous. We walk to the coffee shop. A while later we see the whole class coming out. And JJ makes up his mood to join in the class.

In the last two hours we pick up the pin hole cameras we made for ourselves. And that too all 10 of us, as Mr. TA had foretold to the office attendant. What follows are our discovery of the pin  hole camera:

A pin hole camera with one single hole, gives an image which is both laterally and vertically inverted.

A Pin Hole Camera with a single opening
Aperture - f/2.8, Shutter - 1/50, ISO - 1600, 50mm on Cannon 600D

The source of light - Tungsten bulb
Aperture - f/9, Shutter - 1/200, ISO - 100, 79mm on Cannon 60D

The inverted image of the lit tungsten filament
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/20, ISO - 1000, 106mm on Cannon 60D

This is also aptly demonstrated by the fact that as the camera moves to one direction, the image follows that very direction till it runs out. In case a photographic camera pans to the left, we see the objects in the image move to the right. It is as if one is moving in one direction as the objects around him go past him/her. But in case of an inverted image, e.g., images on mirror which are always inverted, the image moves right as the object in front of it also moves right. This is demonstrated in the video that follows.

As in the previous blog which was about the construction of the pin hole camera, we had put a hood at the viewing end of the camera.

The hood at the viewing end
Aperture - f/2.8, Shutter - 1/50, ISO - 1600, 41mm on Cannon 600D

The purpose of the hood is to let us see the image being formed with enough clarity. Removing the hood dims the image with all the ambient light in place.

Image on the eye piece without the hood
Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/80, ISO - 2000, 55mm on Cannon 1200D

When placing the hood over the eye piece, one has to be concerned with the length of the hood. The viewer should be at the minimum reading distance to be able to make out the image properly. Ideally the reading distance is considered to be around 25 cms. So placing our eyes too close to the eye piece makes it difficult for us to make out a clear image.

So, the light entering the camera through the pin hole is what forms the image. But all through our observation we have been able to only see the bright sources of light in the camera.

Image of only the brightest object is seen. Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/80, ISO - 2000, 55mm on Cannon 1200D

The intensity of the light from the other surfaces/objects, that finally reaches camera through pin hole is too low for the human eye to perceive. One sees only the surfaces/objects bright enough for the human eye.

For brighter images one needs to let more light into the camera. We tried to get more light into the camera, placing two pin holes.

Pin Hole Camera with two holes. Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/20, ISO - 1600, 41mm on Cannon 1000D

Two distinct images forming from the two pin holes. Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/13, ISO - 800, 55mm on Cannon 550D

Two distinct pin holes meant two distinct images. So the possibility is that if the holes are closer, the images will be closer. We tested it out with more pin holes in our camera, precisely two more near the central one.

Pin Hole Camera with multiple holes. Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/20, ISO - 500, 79mm on Cannon 60D

Multiple images each resulting from respective pin holes. Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/6, ISO - 3200, 55mm on Cannon 550D

The three pin holes, very close to each other forms three very closely placed images. The one distant pin hole paints another separate image. So in order to get one singular bright image the pin holes have to be as close to each other as possible, as if they act as a single hole. The next step to it would obviously be to see the effect of a wider pin hole on the image.

A wider pin hole in the camera. Aperture - f/4.5, Shutter - 1/60, ISO - 1600, 18mm on Sony SLT-A58

A blurred image owing to a wider pin hole. Aperture - f/4.5, Shutter - 1/60, ISO - 6400, 18mm on Sony SLT-A58

The result of a wider pin hole being that the subsequent image is much less sharp, although the image is brighter. So, the question remains, how do we achieve a brighter image without losing any sharpness? The obvious answer that comes to my mind is to use a lens that would converge the images from multiple holes into one whole. But something tells me this is not the answer Mr. TA will agree to. Let's see.

With the advantage of ten of us making a pin hole camera for each, we tried comparing how they compare amongst. We pair up two equally long pin hole cameras of different width/diameter, and two equally wide ones of different lengths.

Two Pin hole Cameras of similar length, but different diameters. Aperture - f/4.5, Shutter - 1/60, ISO - 1600, 18mm on Sony SLT-A58

Image in Pin Hole Camera with greater width/diameter. Aperture - f/4.5, Shutter - 1/60, ISO - 1600, 18mm on Sony SLT-A58

Image in Pin Hole Camera with smaller width/diameter. Aperture - f/4.5, Shutter - 1/60, ISO - 1600, 18mm on Sony SLT-A58

The image size for the object remains same for both the wider and narrower cameras. But the image obtained in a narrower pin hole camera would be cropped as the area on which image being formed is smaller.

Two Pin hole Cameras of similar diameter, but different lengths. Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/100, ISO - 1600, 55mm on Cannon 1000D

Image in the shorter Pin Hole Camera. Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/100, ISO - 1600, 55mm on Cannon 1000D

Image in the longer Pin Hole Camera. Aperture - f/5.6, Shutter - 1/100, ISO - 1600, 55mm on Cannon 1000D

The image in the shorter pin hole camera is much smaller compared to the one in the longer pin hole camera. So the image size increases with the length of the pin hole camera.

The next thing we lay our hands on are the magnifying glasses which mysteriously lay there on Mr. TA's desk, fanning our curiosity what purpose would these serve. Some of us pick it up and explore te possibilities of macro photography.

The Pin Hole Camera without the magnifying glass in place. Aperture - f/3.5, Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 3200, 18mm on Cannon 550D

The Pin Hole Camera with the magnifying glass in place. Aperture - f/3.5, Shutter - 1/30, ISO - 3200, 18mm on Cannon 550D

Macro photography enables us to take pictures of greater magnifications. A simple magnifying glass in combination with the lenses in our cameras is good enough to serve the purpose of macro photography.

The day ended with a small discussion over two physical phenomenons of light. While travelling from one medium to another light tends to bend its path. This is attributed to the fact that light travels at different speeds in different mediums. Refraction is what makes the bottom of a water filled bucket look a little shallower. Similarly, a stick half immersed in water would look like as if it is bent at the water level. The property of refraction finds use in photography, in the fact that light entering the camera has to travel through a glass lens so that the light rays bend to converge on the image capturing medium, giving sharpness. The discussion led to the discussion over another physical property of light called diffraction. Light being a wave, behaves in certain ways when it encounters obstacles. It tends to form patterns of bright and dark patches/streaks when it has to pass through a fine slit.

Looking at the light through the pin hole!!!