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Sweat beneath glitter

The American College students had the opportunity to involve themselves in filmmaking, writes T. SARAVANAN

HANDS ON EXPERIENCE Wonderstruck participants

Is filmmaking all about glitz and glitterati? It may be for the outsiders but once you watch the unit function in close quarters what lies beneath is the sweat and toil of numerous labourers. If people are lured only by the lucrative offers in the industry, again it is no fault of them. For the amount of effective man-hours spent during the production process, the sum paid in return is not that big.

These are the observations made by students of the American College, who had the opportunity to involve themselves with film making on their campus. It was an innovative programme organised by the Fourth Wall Theatre: A Drama Trust.

Titled, `Face the camera and face the life,' art-crazy students evinced keen interest in the 10-day workshop.

Well exposed

Students who have been theoretically exposed to `mass media' through courses like `film appreciation,' `theatre arts' and `journalism and mass communication,' have now moved beyond lectures, seminars and paper presentations to get a hands-on experience in film making.

"Quite a number of times we had organised drama workshops to hone the acting and other skills involved in theatre. Students' patronage for such programmes was also overwhelming. But this time we wanted to provide first hand experience to students on filmmaking," said N. Elango of Department of English, who was in charge of the programme.

It was made possible when Karu. Palaniappan, a distinguished alumnus of Department of English, who shot into fame with his debut movie, `Parthiban Kanavu,' the winner of seven State awards, preferred American College campus to shoot his next project, `Sivappathikaram.'

Magnanimous crew

"The magnanimity of the director and his crew has to be appreciated for obliging our request to involve select students in the shooting process. Initially, we planned to pick 30 students but we had to increase the number to 35 as we received an overwhelming response," he noted.

Students learnt the art of perseverance and competence from the unit as they worked from dawn to dusk, sometimes even well beyond midnight. It was a revelation of sorts as the participants watched how scenes were conceived and shots were made. They had the privilege of understanding the everyday presence, stage and screen presence and the experience of standing before the camera in a couple of scenes. There was also a learning of how a one-liner shaped into a full-fledged feature film.

They had the opportunity to learn the five Cs of cinematography — camera angle, close-up, cut, continuity and composition. Besides, the students came to know how lighting could be controlled.

"Actually, we too benefited from the workshop, as we had additional hands to work with. The students did not expect me to take classes on film technicalities. I assigned them work and they had their doubts clarified. But students had the opportunity to meet big stars in person. Only by actively involving yourself in the scheme of things you can learn the nuances, which may not happen immediately," said the director of the film Karu. Palaniappan.

It was truly an exhilarating experience for students to know how the frame was fixed and continuity maintained. Above all, they understood how the unit improvised upon the existing material on the spot.

On seeing more than 300 professionals, including stuntmen and artistes, working in perfect unison sinking all their differences, the participants understood the importance of team effort.

Wonderstruck participant K. Arun, II B.A. English student, had this to say: "We were stunned to see their management skill and how things come to life in a flash, especially, the canteen sets created by the award-winning art director Rajeevan and his team. It was near to perfection. We came to know how reflectors could be effectively used to control the glare. All these only reflect on the amount of creative thinking and meticulous planning that would have gone before coming to the shooting spot."

Fruitful interaction

Interacting with creators like Karu. Palaniappan, Rajeevan and choreographer Dinesh only helped the students learn the art of blending creativity with skill. Moreover, they had the opportunity to move with freelance and part time film artistes, of whom some had come from stage and small screen.There were retired Government employees who had entered acting with flair.

"Crowd is a big nuisance. Even a mild interruption could mar the whole arrangement. But the crew never compromised on quality and even preferred to go for one more take. Any mistake was corrected then and there. They had the patience to repeat the performance till the director was satisfied. Their tolerance level is high. It is another worthy quality one has to inculcate," an exalted B. Udayakumar, II B.A. English, another participant of the workshop, revealed. On all the days of workshop, student participants were paid honorarium of Rs.50 each and working lunch.

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