Showing posts with label Beyond the Soul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beyond the Soul. Show all posts

Monday, August 31, 2009

Film Processing Laboratory and Library

Though we had to study the theoretical aspects of film processing, only after we actually started filming that we understood the intricacies of the chemical process and how it affects the density of the negative etc. Of course the man who was most helpful to me there was Raman Nair (Editing 1966 Batch), the younger brother of Film Archives P.K.Nair. For reasons unknown, after completing the editing course he had been working in the film processing laboratory. Years later we were associated in the Malayalam film "AEKAKINI" directed by G.S.Panikkar.

The Library at the Institute was one of the finest in India with regard to books on Cinema and collection of journals. Many a hours were spent in the library reading the latest issues of Sight and Sound, American Cinematographer etc. It was there that I became deeply attached to the American Cinematographer magazine that for many years I continued reading it to keep up with the latest technologies in Cinematography. After leaving the Institute , I was in Madras working in films. I became a member of the American library where I used to visit often to borrow books on cinema as well as to read the latest issue of AC magazine. The air-conditioned comfort of the library in the scorching summer months at Madras and the proximity of the drive-in-woodlands hotel was an added attraction. Later on when I could afford it I became a subscriber and continued reading it to update on the emerging technologies.

It was a great joy that an interview of mine was published in that great magazine when I did an English film BEYOND THE SOUL Directed by Rajeev Anchal. Please click HERE to read the interview published in September 2002 issue of American Cinematographer Magazine.

The Library at the Institute had played a major part in my film education shared only by the National Film Archives. I think most of the Institute Alumni will definitely agree that the Library and the Film Archives had contributed much to their film education.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

An OSCAR for the INSTITUTE ?

The countdown has begun for the Oscar Awards and Millions of Indians are hopefully waiting for the final announcement for the sake of Two Indian Nominees A.R.Rahman and Resul Pookutty who are slated to win the coveted Award! Already they have won the BAFATA Awards - the British equivalant of the Oscar for Danny Boyle's film Slumdog Millionaire.


Our prayers and well wishes are for both of them and especially to Resul who is our own boy - an Institutewallah!

Though he was my junior we met for the first time during the filming of the English film "BEYOND THE SOUL" Directed by Rajeev Anchal. It seems that as Resul is also from the Anchal neighbourhood he was picked up for the job. Any how it was our first meeting and instantly we became friends. I was really amazed at his patience and dedication to his craft as he minutely analyzed the various sounds into its components and recorded them effectively. After a long time I was shooting a Sync sound on location film ( far from the confines of the Studio floors!) and it was really nice to know the intricacies of live recording in such a noisy atmosphere of our country. The trolleys, cranes, HMI ballasts, paper frames, gels, generators all create their own levels of noises.

The first thing he did was to order out the catering unit to a far off place. He had an assortment of sound proofing rugs carpets etc to dampen the noises at source. He used various types of mikes placed at strategic places and also had an expert boom man to follow the actors. After the shot was taken it was his turn to call for silence on the sets and to record the ambience sounds both in mono and stereo. Altogether we had a nice time working at Trivandrum for that film.

We still keep in touch with each other through e-mails and I just missed meeting him last month while he was in Trivandrum for a felicitation function as I was away on a location shooting.

Listening Resul's Recordings at "BEYOND THE SOUL" Location !


I, along with Millions of Indians wish him and Rahman
Good Luck at The OSCARS!