Photos from the outdoor set

(Photos by Vinod Balakrishnan)
Sreejith

Director and DP

Balu

Some frame grabs

Flights, Buses and Rental cars

I was in Los Angeles the past 3 days working on the music video with Sudesh. It was supposed to be a 2 day trip and I booked my flight tickets accordingly. But it turned out that there was more to be done. So I cancelled my return flight and bought bus tickets for the next day. The bus station was a bit crowded and I did not want to risk damaging my camera or laptop stuffing them along with other baggage. So at 9:40 pm, on the phone, I booked a rental car to San Jose. The only problem was that the rental place closes at 10:00. Thanks to Sudesh and his GPS, we reached the place at 10:03 right when they locked up the front doors.

I drove all the way back, taking naps in between and eventually reaching home. (Of course they reopened the door and gave me the rental car). Except a train ticket (or a boat) , I had paid for all the other means of travel in USA. Funny.

So officially the first Kanmani music video is done except for some minor color correction. I cant wait to release it.

The creative process

Most of us know this. Our left and right brain work differently. Left focuses on logic, organization, analysis, rationalization etc. Where the right brain operates on intuition, synthesis, imagination etc. Left brain thinks in smaller segments where the right deals it as a whole. So is creativity a right brain thing.

Here is my take on it. Neither side by itself will lend to creative results. Many times, you have to force yourself to start creating something. And sooner or later you are flying in high gear. Its like kick starting your right brain into action and you need your left brain to do that. If you wait to be in the right mood to create something, chances are.. you are not doing much. So use your left brain, do our planning, reading, listening and most importantly deciding to do something. Then enjoy that ride.

When I sit down to make a song, I start thinking about the tempo, mood, scale etc. Then I would lay a very basic rhythm and shruthi track. Then I would pick some instruments and start playing some tunes. By this time, the right brain is awake and listening to what Mr Left is doing. And at some point, something clicks and Mr Right jumps in. At this point, I lose track of time. The task at hand is the only thing. Everything else is secondary. And at some point I have to go to sleep.

When I wake up the next day and listen to last day's work the results are often good and I am surprise how it came to be. Mr Left Brain takes over now to do the fine tuning.

A news reporter asked Steven Spielberg how he was able to create such masterpieces. Among his answer, one line he said stuck with me. He said, "I don't question the creative process." Very true. Creativity just happens. You only have to decide to do it.

High standards

When I called "wrap" Last Saturday, deep inside I knew that not everything I wanted in the music video was shot. This fear was confirmed when I laid out what we shot to the song time line. A few critical things were things were really missing. Sudesh was back in LA. Balu was busy at work and I wasn't sure if Suman would be available. Anyways, I called Sudesh and explained the situation to him. My solution was .. maybe Balu and I could try and do the shooting here in the Bay Area. Not the right solution but a possible one. It would probably wont match with Sudesh's work so far. But with out those shots, the video would tank. For voluntary work, reshoot is a dreaded word.

Phone calls happened, schedules and arrangements were made and in the end, we finished the scenes today. Sudesh and family drove up about 6 hours to shoot the scene at the San Luis Reservoir. Divya, Suman and I drove down to the location. We shot for about 2 and a half hours. We were done by around 8:30. For Sudesh and family they had a long 6 hour drive back home.



Why would we do such a crazy thing? This is Sudesh's idea of perfection. When it comes to work, there are no compromises. And for the work on this album, there hasn't been any compromise (its debatable;-) But I have no regrets). It was all worth it.

Its fun and very satisfying working with people who have high standards like this. It stretches you. Makes you take a different look at a situation that once you thought were not solvable. It also tells you that when you are working towards your dream, taking an extra mile is not a luxury but a necessity.

I'll be on my way to LA tomorrow to finish the editing. If you don't see that many updates, you will know why. But I'll definitely try to give you some juice about it.

Meet Shalin Shah

I met Shalin through Suman. They are both from the same college. Shalin just graduated from Berkley University and is getting ready to go to Medical school. There is no need to mention the academic skills of people who graduate from Berkley. What surprised me was the talent that Shalin brought to the table.

Shalin is an excellent dancer. He also sings well (I have not heard him sing but I believe him when he says so). Apart from these what made him stand out was his skills as a choreographer and the energy that he brings in from of the camera. Theatrics come very natural to him. He does not strain. He is confident and very creative.

Like I said before, if not for Suman and Shalin, the Kanmani music video would have been a very different story.
(Photo Credits: Vinod Balakrishnan)

Meet Suman aka Kanmani

I've known Suman since she was a very little girl. Her parents are very close friends of ours. When all hope was lost in finding the lead girl for the lead, Divya suggested we try Suman. I was not sure because all I could think of was the child I remembered. But Suman was in college already. Boy, time flies. So I called her father and asked him. He said she was really into dance and theater. So I called Suman and she was excited about the project.

Suman is an extremely talented individual. She has excelled in her academics. Well, she was accepted by University of Berkley which is No. 1 for arts and social studies in the country. She is also a trained bharathanatyam dancer. She finished her arangetram last year. I have not seen many people as gifted as Suman. She can handle classical as well as Bollywood dances quite well. She has what I call "the grace". Its a gift. Either you have it or you don't. Anyway, the story goes that Suman had a friend called Shalin who is a great choreographer and a dancer as well. (more about Shalin later). If not for these two, the Kanmani music video would have been a whole different story. The video is shaping up so well. I can't wait to finish it.

More photos from the shoot. Part III

Arthi Muralikrishna on the set.

More photos from the shoot. Part II

In the coming days I'll keep posting frame grabs from the music video footage. It is going to be really busy and I am sure that it will cut my rants quite a bit.

Some frame grabs

These are frame grabs from the video.

Work. Work. Work.

The tilte says it all. I'll update the blog later in the day with some good stuff.

More photos from the shoot

Photos from the shoot.

A picture is worth a lot of words and i am tired. So.. here are some photos from last day's shoot:

Music Video Shooting

I missed a day of blogging and thats because I was running around trying to get the music video made. Kanmani music video is in progress.

We shot part of it today. It was a blast. The dances are spectacular. I cant wait to see the finished video.

I am so tired today. Its not a complaint. It was such a fruitful day. I'll post some of the photos when I get a chance this week. For the time being I'll post some photos that I took last week:

Promo for a tattoo parlor

Here is a showcase of my talents in After effects. There was very little video available to play with. The rest were all done using still pictures and after effects.


TO make this clip, they sent me a video of the tattoo parlor activities which included piercing. It was very painful to watch. You have no clue where all people like to pierce and puncture.

A Secret Handshake Trailer

Here is something I edited and gave music for. The movie was directed by Harsha Wardhan and produced by Sukhi Pabla.


Some of these videos are kind of dark in nature.

Something to laugh about

Here is something that I edited, added effects and gave music for. The good thing is that this was a real commericial. The bad thing is... well the commercial itself. I have nothing to do with the story or direction. So don't blame me.

That one scene where the guy is feeding the woman a drum stick is good enough to have you in splits.

Here it comes. Have a good time.

Autum In Paradise

This is an old concept trailer that I worked along with Sukhi. Enjoy. The audio quality is mediocre.

Kanmani Concept Art. More pictures

The artist is Anand. I wrote about him in the yesterday's blog.
Quite a guy.

Here are some more scans.

Meet Anand

I met Anand during my last trip to India. He is the son of a friend of my uncle. He was coming to US to do his Masters degree in Animation at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. His parents were concerned and felt relieved that we were here close by. Over the last few months I got to know Anand quite well. he is incredibly talented as an artist and an animator. You can see some of his work on his blog.

Music Video for the song Kanmani is in progress and I requested Anand to do some concept art and story boards for it. Here is a scanned copy of on of the pages. I did it at my office scanner/copier which does a poor job at scanning. I'll try to post a better copy soon.

Dreams and hopes

"What do I need to get to create my own CDs?"
Sometimes I get asked this question. Its a very valid one. I always have to answer it with a question. What is your goal and how much are you willing to spend?

If you have a decent sound card ($50 - $100), A decent mike ($50 - $100), not so bad speakers and some audio software (try them before you buy them), you can do a good job at it. It is not tough. If you listen to the song "Kali" posted here, you will know what you can do with a very cheap system.

In reality its not the recording gear that matters. Its your inner-drive. Are you willing to spend hours trying to sharpen your craft? Reading, listening, trying different types of software and burning the midnight oil. And when your dream is strong enough, you will find a way to afford the system suitable to you. Afford-ability is a product of priority.

I hope these rants provide some insight into my world. I hope it also provide hope to my readers to keep dreaming. You die when you stop dreaming. What I was afraid of the most was waking up one day and finding out that I had no dreams that I could look forward to. At any point in life, if there is no dream, there is no hope. Without hope the human spirit dies.

So I decided to go for it no matter what others might think. No matter what my past was. No matter how many years have gone by when I could have done something. No matter what the family or critics might say. Deep in my heart, I knew what I should be doing. Its a short life and if I spend it just in cubicles, its would be an awful waste.

Are there going to be challenges? You bet. Crap happens. But its better to zip through the crap and come out of it than waddling in it with self pity.

Thats enough for today.
Atomfilms is still reviewing my 6 minute short. Its taking a long time. It must be so good that they are having executive meetings on how they can fit in this high quality piece fit in with the rest of their mediocre stuff.
Of course, I am being sarcastic.

What I learned last week

Atom films is taking their own time posting the movie. I am sure it will be up in time. I will post it as soon as they approve it.

To be honest, I'm running out of things to post in this blog. The music video work is going on.

The work on the short film was very satisfying. However, looking back, there are a lot of things I learned and would have done better.

• Movie making is a team effort. If you're going to be directing, focus on that. Find other people to take care of the other things.
• If there is an issue, the producer will tell you or will take care of it for you. You don't have to worry for him.
• If you don't like something, make sure you correct it or you will not like what you get to edit.
• 2 takes for a shot is way too less. Do more takes. More angles. Try a less and more intense version of the same scene. Its expensive to go back and re-shoot.
  
• Use a script/storyboard supervisor.
• If you're not going to dub or do ADR later, do the sound properly. Get a good boom mic.
• Practice what you're going to tell your actors about a scene before hand. Is your communication clear?
  

There are also a bunch of things I am proud of.

• We did it. While most people just talk about it, we did it. In a shoe string budget.
• Every one involved, gave 100% to it.
• The final product turned out to be an excellent quality production in terms of acting, camera, lighting and music (and of course the writing and direction).
  
• Directing a movie felt right. There was no nervousness. Only excitement.
• There was focus right from the moment we decided to do the movie to the day the film was completed.
• I am proud of Sukhi, Sudesh, Balu, Amy, Robert and Bijan. Great team players.

SO that wraps up today's blog. I just hope that by tomorrow Atom films will get their act together. Or I'll have to discover another rant. I might just make up something..

Ninte Maathram : Lyrics

The short film is not up yet. Atom films take their own time to So I thought I'll post the lyrics of another song. This one was a tough nut to crack. I was so happy to have finished it.

The song is beautifully rendered by Madhu Balakrishnan. Its quite touching.

Click on the lyrics for bigger font.

Shortfilm "BROKEN" uploaded

However, it is not online yet. I uploaded the finished film to atomfilms.com . They will go through an approval process to post it. I am not sure how long it is going to take. I hope it is quick.

The film is named "BROKEN" and is 6 minutes long. The story is told in reverse. Remember that or you will go "What the?" after watching the movie. More than the story told, there is a lot of untold story that you can learn from the short. Its all left to the viewers.

I'll post the video as soon as the link is up. Thanks for waiting.

Meet Sudesh Balan

This one is long time due. I kept postponing this because I felt that I wouldn't be able to give it justice by rushing. Yet I find myself today trying to update my blog in a rush. Fortunately for me, Sudesh's new site is up. Which sums up who he is. Click here.

I met Sudesh through Balu. He was in Illinois at that time. We talked on the phone a few times and I was happy when I learned that Sudesh was going to come down to Los Angeles. Sudesh just finished his Masters in Film Making from Souther Illinois University, Carbondale. This course is equivalent to a PhD and immediately qualifies him to an Assistant Professor post in any University that teaches film.

After talking with him a few times on the phone a few times, I made a trip to LA 3 weeks ago. My primary goal was to meet Sudesh. To start the beginning of a working relationship. He turned out to be a very warm person that makes you so comfortable that you cant wait to start sharing your war, victory and failure stories with him. I've had a great time working with Sudesh in the past month. I have learned quite a bit from him about film making, work flow and the general though process that goes behind creative work.
Sudesh was the Director of Photography for my short film. While working onthe film, he has stretched me a bit and I like it that way. He has encouraged me to go one step ahead of that impulsive idea that just popped into my mind and not to accept it as the finale. He is a perfectionist. A trait that an artist cannot live without. Especially for a cinematographer.

When you see the short film posted on Sunday, you will realize the quality of this work.

Music for the short film

Music. It can bring you joy. It can also make you queasy.

The music for my short film "Broken" will not make you jump with joy. I can guarantee that. The theme itself is quite disturbing. I tried to give it a dark melody based score. But that did not work at all. First of all there is no time to establish a theme using music. So I scratched all that and worked on something sinister.

Here it is.
When you see the film, you'll know how much it gels in with the theme.

Working with Manjari

(Back to the album details for today. Short film is still under construction).

The song Kadal is actually a younger sister of the song Venal. While composing Venal there were so many tunes left over that I decided to make another song out of it. How ever, I tried my best to keep them as distinct as possible.

The song's track was done by Arthi. My goal was to get Ms Sujatha to sing it. I called her up and tentatively booked a date. However, a week before my trip Sujatha was down with flu and lost her voice. There was no sign of immediate recovery. My brother suggested Manjari. He played some of her songs and I was sold. I called up Manjari and booked the same day as I was going to record Vidhu Prathap in Trivandrum.

I met Manjari first at the restaurant along with Vidhu and others. She was cool. Her mother was a very nice lady. There was some confusion about the timing of the recording. I let Vidhu and Manjari sort it out. One thing I noticed quickly about Manjari was the way she gets into the core of the song. She is incredibly talented. Except for one or two suggestions here and there, she did it all herself. Listened to the track and rendered it in her own style. I just observed. Manjari's sound does not need too much digital processing to make it sound good. I used absolutely no pitch correction. All I had to do was, clean up the unwanted takes, give some equalizations and there I have the finished vocal track. No wonder she is Ilaiya Raja's favorite singer in Malayalam.

The still think that the lyrics of the song.. especially the second half of it is very very.. dry. If possible.. I will re-write and re-record it. Like I said before.. I am a perfectionist. Its a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Stills from the short film

Some stills from the short film:

Meet Balu

I met Balu aka Balagopal Ambalakkat via a mutual friend. I was trying to do a feature film and was looking for a "camera person". We met at a coffee shop, chatted for a few hours and I felt lucky to have known this man. In the past year Balu and I have had a great time working on stuff. We've done several location hunt. Shooting for music videos and figuring out stuff.

Balu has an eye for color and composition. I don't have to say much about his work because you can check his pictures out at http://studio-visualfx.com.

One thing I admire about Balu is the dedication he brings in. He has jumped into ice cold water in Lake Tahoe to shoot scenes with Franco. Last week or the shots, he was waiting outside holding a light for a couple of hours alone (see the photo above). And he cuts the tension sometimes with comments that he makes unintentionally.

We're planning to take some classes in film making as soon as I come back from India.