Into the world of light and shade
K. PRADEEP
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Veteran cinematographer Vipin Dass loves to experiment with cameras.
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For a 60-day shoot, ... there will be a minimum profit of Rs. 25 lakhs if one uses the new video camera.
SHUTTERBUG: Vipin Dass is a self-taught cameraman.
It was his first independent assignment. Vipin Dass was thrilled yet nervous. Meena Kumari was a big star and she was fussy too. He knew she wouldn't be happy to pose before a rookie. And things turned out exactly as he had feared. "She was furious and made me wait the whole morning. I called my boss, Bivash Shome, and tried to explain my plight. He ordered me to come back with the photograph," the ace-cinematographer recalls of his shaky start in the world of light and shade.
"I waited till evening and finally she asked me to come in. She seemed to be in a hurry, almost as if she was bored with the whole thing. I remember asking her to pose with a thin, white shawl draped over her head before a white backdrop. She objected but finally, gave in asking me to take just one shot and push off. I did just that."
That picture came out so well that Shome sent it to Cine Advance, a film weekly.
Journey
That was the beginning of a long, adventurous journey. During this period of time, this self-taught cameraman must have looked through almost all the different makes of cameras; still and movie.
"Right from the old 8 mm ones to Movietone, to Vistavision and Cinemascope, to the cameras that are in use today, so many formats have gone by. But this is not the end. I firmly believe that we are into the digital age. From now on it is going to be the age of High Definition Television cameras. It is time film makers begin to think on the lines of these new innovations."
Yen for experimentation
Vipin Dass has always dared to experiment. Years back, he had worked with just three lenses, 16 rolls of film, shooting for nine days without artificial lights, except for a few ordinary flood lamps from a photo studio. The film `Manimuzhakkam,' by P. A. Backer, went on to win laurels, including the State award for best cinematographer.
The man who has cranked the camera for more than 200 films, including masterpieces by Padmarajan and Bharathan, does not want to become redundant. "I worked with a video camera to take a two-minute film, exposing around 200 feet of film. The results were simply fantastic. I have worked out a project detailing the costs incurred for the film cameras now in use - HD TV ones. It is interesting to note that there will be a minimum profit of Rs. 25 lakhs if one uses the new video camera for a 60-day shoot, . Since this camera does not use film, the filmmaker can save on raw stock and because of its many facilities a lot of expenses on post-production can be saved."
The blockbuster Tamil film `Thavamai Thavamirundhu,' produced and directed by Cheran was a film that was shot in this format.
"They made huge savings in the production and raked in a big profit. The makers of this film never said a word about the format in which they were making it for fear that the distributors and exhibitors would protest. They transferred it from cassette to film and released in the theatres like any other film."
Why is it that this format has not caught on?
"Maybe it is because of the stigma attached to videographers and video camera. For most people, it is still for shooting weddings. Then there are doubts about the results when beamed in theatres. In Tamil Nadu alone there are more than 45 digital theatres. These theatres are now equipped to screen both the film and new HD formatted films. And I'm sure before long this will happen in Kerala too. It takes hardly a week to transform a theatre into a digital one," says Vipin Dass, who is now principal of Satyajit Ray Film Academy in Kochi.
This maverick cinematographer, who did not work in a Malayalam film after `Purappad,' spent years with the Lamas in Tibet. He is back after a 10-year break.
"I did a couple of Kannada films. But of late I'm more involved in television serials. When director T. S. Suresh Babu approached me to work for `Kadamattathu Kathanar' I had to do a thorough study of videography before taking it up. Then I worked for `Vikramaditya' and `Krishnakripa Sagaram,'" says Vipin Dass.
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