Film School in India

Film 4 - The Great Rickshaw Race

solareyes — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 23:28:00 GMT

The Great Rickshaw Race

The idea for this movie flashed in my head during a late night excursion home on a three wheeled rickshaw with my from Sonam. It was pitch dark in the late night after a fresh rain. Unsafe by any standards. A car made a uturn without seeing our rickshaw. Our driver was alert and pulled a hard 180 turn. We got up on two wheels and I though for sure we would topple over. The driver pulled us out of it and continued pedalling us home. I admired his skill and hard pedalling. A perfect image on which I could base my fiction “The great rickshaw race.”

Everyone loves a great race. When an announcement for a rickshaw race is nailed to a tree at the local chai hangout, three characters from diverse backgrounds begin to prepare in their own uniqe ways. The race brings out the conflicts, drama, and human emotions of each driver as they pedal their hearts out to win the grand prize…a new Rickshaw, and more importantly the fame of being the fastest rickshaw driver in the neighborhood.

The first challenge of making this movie was getting permission for using the neighborhood streets for a racetrack. I finally had my friend, Sudesh, work his magic with the neighborhood chief. There is a subtle art of persuasion and relationship building here in India. I am watching the professionals in action whenever I can. The first trick is speaking the language of the officials in charge. The second is figuring out who you may know in common. The third is having some sort of treat (booze, money, cigarrettes ready). My friend worked all his tricks and we finally got permission. He even gave us two security gaurds to help manage the crowds. The second challenge was the heat. Yet the neighborhood has a nice park and many trees so we were able to continue working for 8 hours. I had rented six rickshaws and coordinating them all to the scene was time consuming. Yet when I Yelled, “Silence on the set” everything seemed to fall into place and the race was on. My camera man rode on a rickshaw and took action shots from the front, side and back. We broke a few spokes on the wheels but fortunately no more damage was done. Our female lead, dressed as a boy, rode the rickshaw wonderfully for the first time. When we sped the racers up by 250 percent in the editing room, it was almost believable. In the end, “The great rickshaw race” won best short film and due to the collaboration between the sound, light, camera and acting teams, I won best Director.

What a great finish to the three month production/direction and tv journalism course at the Asian Academy of Film and Television. http://aaft.com/

Film 3 - Karmic Death

solareyes — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 23:26:00 GMT

Karmic Death

Sonam Phonjur is also a Bhutanese Director who has spent many years of his life living on the edge of pleasure and pain, legal and illegal. His story is about two friends who roam the streets, feeling free in their daring acts of theivery, drug selling, and defying death. The karmic cycle is hard on them both and the streets provide the rough landings that the two friends could not avoid.

During the making of this movie, we encountered many problems. The first was power. Shooting at the local billiards/snooker hall was a constant challenge. First the power went out so we had to rig up our generator and shoot in the heat. Sweat poured from every crew members brain. The actors did a great job with their dance scene in a drunken flurry. So many wads of money were displayed in the movie that the owners of the billiards hall decided we should pay more money for the rental of their space. The director was forced to pay out 4 times as much was originally bargained for.

The next problem came during the chase sequences. Sonam had left his props, a bag of marijuana, knives, and a photo in the car of his actors. Someone stole the bag while he was shooting a scene. Everyone had to scramble around to replace the props. During these movies we are only given 8 hours to shoot so this was a particularly nerve wracking problem.

In the end the movie was completed and the two friends lay tragically dead, victims of their own adventure.

Film 2 - Fall from Grace

solareyes — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 23:23:00 GMT

Fall from Grace – A fable of a Sadhu and a moment of weakness

Tshering Penjoor is a Director from Bhutan. His story is of a wandering Sadhu who has taken vows of celibacy, abstinence from alcohol and a pledge not to kill. His disciplined life comes crumbling down when he enters a village and is tricked by a woman to have a sip of wine.

Making this movie in a narrow village that many would describe as a slum, was a challenge due to the sheer number of people who flocked to the scene. When we arrived at the predetermined apartment in the heart of the village, there were 30 women, men and children curiously watching us unload our equipment from the van. Within a few minutes there were 110 people, Looking over balconies, standing on roof tops and crowding the narrow street where we were getting ready to shoot our first scene. When Tshering yelled, “Silence on the set”, we had to clear 230 people from the view of the camera. As the chief assistant director, my job was to coordinate crowd control. We placed crew members on all four sides of the shoot and held back the masses of villagers as best we could. There wasn’t much we could do about the giant water buffallo who broke through the crowds, pulling large wagons of sand or lumber, guided by fire eyed drivers snapping their whips on the backs of the great beasts. Nor could we stop the motorcycle drivers who honked and drove forward through the crowds, more interested in seeing the action from the center, then obeying our requests for silence. Our local contact who was providing his apartment as a base for our shoot, helped clear the streets of his uncles, cousins, nephews and great grandparents. When a drunk wandered through he began beating him and forced him to flee the village. The shooting continued for eight hours. In the end the Sadhu drank some wine, killed the goat and slept with the woman. The crew of 19 packed up and left the village. The only thing lost was the grace of the Sadhu.

Film 1 - Bella Maria

solareyes — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 17:45:00 GMT

The day began early. The lead actress, Selma Francis, rolled up to the men's hostel in a rickshaw at 7:15. The Director, Mohamad Zaine Hassan from Malaysia, and Me, Assistant Director, got on the rickshaw and we slowly made our way to the Asian Film Academy. The plan was to spend an hour with the lead actors practicing their Salsa moves for the dance scene. We opened the studio, turned on the soundtrack and we're about to begin...when the power went out. The studio was dark and we were sweating buckets at 8 in the morning. This is a common occurence in Noida and Delhi. The politicians know this is a major problem for this exploding region and they make big promises that the power will be improved "tomorrow". As most intelligent people know, there is no tomorrow. And the power cuts continue. Director's must overcome all obstacles to get their movies made. After wasting thirty minutes in the dark, the power came back on and the production continued in it's own slow Indian pace.

You may wonder how many people it takes to make a movie. I've always taken the streamlined crew. Not the case in India. It takes at least 6 to perform the necessary duties, and another 10 to stand around as assistants, supervisors and curious onlookers. The director in India must control these crowds or all is lost. It is my firm belief in only having one director. In India everyone wants to be the director. Zanie is a bit too nice and he allowed our supervisor to butt in a few too many times. I could have stepped in as the Assistant Director and told him to back off, but I let Zanie take his own path. I filmed the entire production with my hand held camera so Zanie can remember his day for ever.

We proceeded to shoot the Latin dance scene. Selma is a young 19 year old actress from the Seychelles. She is talented, sexy, charismatic and can dance. The male actor is a young body builder who had never danced before in his life. Wow. How we pulled the dance scene off, I'll never know. At least he had the lusty look in his face for the close up shots. We managed to teach him some dips and spins but he looked like a stiff Muscle Man, not a slick Latin dancer. Oh well..the movie moved along to a few outdoor locations. Transportation is an issue in India. The vans are not really vans. They are closets on wheels and in the heat of the day it is not much fun to squeeze 8 people inside while the other dozen or so wait for the van to return. This is India. Patience comes or you leave. I'm still here.

Nine hours later we were racing the sun to get our last rooftop scenes shot. Our director, Zanie, was finally getting pissed off at the supervisor who kept telling him he only had 10 minutes left of the deadline. The Academy gives us nine hours to shoot or you have to pay and extra 2,000 rupees. So many things are out of the Director's control. Time being a prime example.

We finished the last scene in the dark, packed up our gear and waited an hour for the suitcase on wheels to take multiple trips back to the Academy. Zanie and I got dropped off at a local restaurant where we let the edginess of the day soften with every beer.

Stay tuned for the next three movies to be made this week.

Left Hand

solareyes — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 00:37:00 GMT

Whatever I thought I knew about India seems to be irrevelent, backwards, and maybe even misled. After three weeks here I am still mystified by the duty of the left hand. I had the image in my mind that you always eat with your right hand and use it for the occasional shaking of hands. The left hand was meant to be kept as the sacred wiper of the anus. So if this is true why do all my colleagues keep offering me their right or left hand to shake, at any angle, at any location, even in the restroom? What is going on? Am I shaking dirty hands? Do people use toilet paper? I have not figured out this mystery. And I have been keenly observing people's eating strategies. Unless my vision is skewed, I have seen people eating with both hands. I suppose I should ask one of my friends to explain this phenomen to me, because learning by trial and error is rather ridiculous.

Some toilets have toilet paper, most do not (our hostel does not). So what to do? At the hostel I have managed to time my bathroom visits with a shower. That way I am sure to clean with soap and leave clean and pure. I haven't figure out how to use the little container and water near the toilet. It's probably a simple matter but at this point I have settled for a post toilet shower.

As for the toilets away from the hostel and wihtout the full shower option...I have experimented with the hose method. There is a tube connected to a water source and at the spout end is a metal nozzle shaped like an L. One day I thought, "What the hell...who needs toilet paper when you can clean yourself with a spout of water." I placed the tube in what I thought was the right place, and turned on the faucet. The pressure and volume of water caught me by surprise. My angle was not right and the water came jetting up and out, not cleaning my anus, but rather shooting all over the bathroom stalls through my legs. Fortunately there was some toilet paper and I was able to complete the job in a familiar manner. My next visit to the same toilet proved much more successfull and I felt the joy of water aimed correctly and had no need for paper. And my left hand remained clean! Except for the millions of germs of course that I touch everyday. Washing my hands has become the most important thing I do, especially after typing on this cyber cafe keyboard. How many Indians use their left hand for both cleaning their anus and typing? I'm scared to answer this question. I will, however, update you when I fully discover the mysteries of the Left Hand. Until then, I will continue experimenting with hoses, showers, toilet paper and cringe when my colleagues offer me a left handed shake.