5 things you didn’t know about the Pre-production of ‘500 & 5’

Well, it all has to be in 5's right? So...here they are...

1. The thematic core of ‘500 & 5’ was conceived one frustrated evening, in December 2010. Obviously, this frustration was a result of long, tiring periods of our ideological/philosophical ramblings about all things under the sun, especially creating a film independently and that too about money.
2. Initially, since we planned on this being a low-budget, independent film/s(it still is), we figured we’d hardly cast 5 to 10 people to illustrate the story. But eventually, it turned out to be a 90-member casting coup.
3. The entire script(actually 5 scripts with a total of about 90 pages) from ‘FADE IN’ to ‘FADE TO BLACK’ was completed in 15 days (my personal best in terms of speed, coz usually I take months of research, writing and rewriting). The script was finalized and greenlit on 11^th February, 2011. Of course, the incubation process took a little longer and constant tweaking was done to the finished script till the shooting stage.

4. By early February 2011, we had started fabricating/designing and mechanically creating various equipments ourselves because we couldn’t afford to rent out from high-end production houses. With help from Youtube tutorials, local blacksmiths, carpenters and mechanical workshop technicians, Dass, Ramesh and Toot-machi over-saw and managed this entire mechanical process. We literally created Steadicams, Wheel-cam rigs, Track dolly and table-top dolly from scratch for real cheap but of awesome quality. For example, we made our Steadicam for a mere 5000 Rupees when the ‘Rental cost’ of a professional Steadicam is 10,000 Rupees per day in Chennai.

5. 500 & 5 is actually a crowd-funded film thereby reaffirming that this is a truly democratically-made film. The funding for this film was put together in exactly 9 phone calls. Though right now we can’t discuss in detail about it, we’ll share more later.

Pictures: 1. Dass testing the Camera-rig we made. 2. Our first shooting schedule in Bangalore for Adi(Me, Dass, Ramesh & Shankar). 3. Dopehouse scene with Dass holding the wheelcam rig that we created. (In it, me, Pradeep and King Sek.)

5 Updates on '500 & 5'

Yo Peeps, time for a little low-down on 500 & 5’s status quo. Things are sort of heating up again as we scuttle towards the finish line. If you’re wondering why the hell it’s taking so long to finish, we can only tell you one thing right now – that this is an Independent film project(which translates ‘You’ll have to do everything yourself’). Trust me, when I mean ‘everything’ and ‘yourself’ – I really mean it, in the dang-est sense of the words.  

1. Like already mentioned, there are 2 songs(1 of which has 3 parts) and 1 poem-track which can be considered a quasi-song if you want. We are working on the fillers (and final touches) for the 2 songs. Panam(Money) and Ganamanatho Mounam(Isn’t this silence heavy?). The poem-song is Nee Sethuki Sethuki(You sculpt...). Once those are done, the next step would be to integrate it into the final film – with the visual lockdown.
2. Getting things ready for the Censor Board Certificate application. A bunch of stuff like the Lab letter, Title certificate, NOC, completed film in the form of a DCP(Digital Cinema Package), Publicity poster clearance, etc have to be readied and submitted during application. Will detail them later.
3. Getting ready for marketing...and preparing publicity materials like Newspaper Ad, Street/City posters, Radio Ad, TV trailer and other miscellaneous online reach. We don’t know how much of it we’re gonna follow through but. Most of the posters are ready, just minor tweaks.  
4. We are thinking of some unconventional ways to reach out – going for something a little crazy and over the top. Basically, planning on the promotional campaign of 500 & 5. If you got any ideas, do give us a holler. More on this later.  
5. Currently in discussion about where and how we are going to get the film out there. As of now, we have something a little staggered in mind. I doubt if it’s gonna be a traditional release.  But until we complete the 1^st 3 steps, I don’t think we’ll get a consensus on that.

So there you go. We’ll post up more updates after the next phase is done with. Till then, do spread the word if you want to support Independent art and film. Lots to be done. Have fun. (Pic: Our Acoustic engineer Rahmath at AH studios mixing the poem-track. Way back in the booth is our man Dass)

4 Basics before making an Indie film - Learning from ‘Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500 & 5)’ (Part 2)

(This is part 2 of the Indie filmmaking Series 'Learning from Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500 & 5). Part 1 Intro can be found here)
So you know, there’s this one time, in our lives, no actually, make that many times, where we realize there’s gotta be a line between ‘talking’ and ‘just doing it’. Many a times, we know we’ve been having this feeling of wanting to do something but never get around to it. But at some point, that ‘wanting’ to do it, turns into actually ‘doing it’ and for that to happen, especially when you’re trying to make an independent film, you need to have some basic things in place that’ll help you ‘decide’ to make that transition. Of course, like anything, there are so many other things that can tell you when you make that transition. Now coming to think of it, before we started production of Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500 & 5), we apparently had undergone these basics, without which we wouldn’t have been prepared for the next stages.

1. The 'Need' to tell the story

The word ‘Need’ is loaded. Maybe I should word it ‘desperate need’ to tell the story. I think you don’t get to that desperate stage before undergoing a lot of painful growing-up stuff. The need also stems out of a deep frustration that’s been lying within for a long time. Before getting to the need-to-tell-the-story-of-500&5 phase, I wrote other scripts spending months and even years to write apparently masterpieces that big studios would just swoop down and pick up. One of them even made it among the top 10 finalists of the IFFLA film fund development grant, but they were just sitting there, lifeless words unable to get someone to give them a soul, a form and make them into a living film. We tried getting those scripts through the gatekeepers, met up with reasonably well-known actors and did the whole nine yards thing. But something felt wrong, very very wrong. I/we spent 2-3 years getting ‘others’ to see our vision that we started losing our vision ourselves. The goal of making our film, was getting farther and farther. Then the frustration started to build up. Fuck, can’t we just keep it simple? Just freakin’ do it ourselves instead of waiting around for things to happen? Then we started talking, talking and talking…the want was becoming a need, to tell some story, any fucking story from within our sensibilities, the way we want it. Forget making masterpieces, forget star actors, forget the big monies, just tell it, damn it, let’s give the script a life! So there, we decided to tell the story about ‘money’ from a sort-of existential POV, which we’ve often talked about. The concept of money was a recurring theme in our discussions and so we made it the center of our film. Now, behind all the frustration, the seemingly wasted energies/time/efforts, came the ‘Need’, because if the desperate need is present, it will necessitate everything else, because it fulfils the question ‘why’? At that moment, we knew the need had to be addressed, no matter what. But of course, needing it and getting it have a long bridge in between them. So comes the next thing, the story.

2. The Story/Script

Do I need to state the obvious? Let’s face it. If there’s even a modicum of an evocative response to a film, it can only be attributed to its script. As any Joe Shmoe can tell you, a film is only as great as its story or more specifically the script. Everything else is secondary. The direction, cast, execution…everything. Of course, this is a highly subjective thing we’re dealing with here. But irrespective of how ‘good’ it is, it is one of the most personal stages of filmmaking considering how collaborative the entire process is. The writing process is by far the most intense experience that you can delve into without having to include anyone. The stage with total control in the otherwise chaotic filmmaking process. Considering my other feature screenplays that have taken months to write and re-write, 500 & 5 just took 15 intense days. Days and months of thought had already gone into it while the frustration was building up and when it was time to write, it all just exploded. A beautiful cathartic release. So if you have to get anywhere towards starting your film, you gotta have this part figured out. I could probably refer to millions of resources where you can find out more about the screenwriting process but personally, you really have to look within to get those words out. If you don’t connect with the story on an internal, personal level, then no amount of formulaic writing is going to help you achieve those needs.

3. The Team

One thing we realized, no matter what, the people that you are most comfortable with, are the ones you’re gonna be working with, if you’re gonna make a film(which usually takes months or years of your life). It’s not about experience or hiring union or whatever. Someone I knew used to say, “Work with people who are smarter than you” because with an ambitious vision at stake, you can’t possibly get into it thinking you’re the best brain at doing it the best way. The four of us, in our core team, knew how to do stuff, understood the process and all, but we weren’t the best at everything. Before we started production, we thought we had to hire only experienced film industry technicians and crew to get this made, because obviously this has to turn out damn good, right? And we did, but slowly things were falling apart for various reasons, mainly the comfort factor, for a project as unconventional as 500 & 5 and also, experienced doesn’t necessarily mean smarter especially with our use of more contemporary technology. For example, with a conventional film camera, you have lenses that are compatible with standard follow-focus rings that let you to easily manipulate the focus while in motion but with our use of DSLRs we didn’t have that luxury, so we had to use lenses without the follow-focus rings, which was quite a challenge. A traditionally experienced cameraman initially came on board with spiel after spiel of how he was the right man for the job but the day before shooting started, he bailed out, apparently not being to able to handle the challenges of Indie production. So within us, we had to learn stuff and ‘upgrade’ and get smarter and more adaptable people on board who understood what we were trying to do. Also, we had to resort to DIY(Do-it-yourself) filmmaking most of the time figuring out how to create things from scratch(more on that later). So basically, the point is to create a team of adaptable, understanding people(even if you’re a crew of just one or two) if you want your production to go smooth.

4. The Technology - The DSLR Revolution

Ahh, the icing on the cake. The word is DSLR or HDLSR. If you’ve heard this term before then you’ve heard of the revolution. The digital filmmaking revolution. Obviously, this is not something we invented because it’s been around the block, and quite a bit at that. I guess we’ve just been making it more popular and not without reason. It’s an abbreviation for Digital Single-Lens Reflex. Case in point, the Canon 7D, 5D Mark II and the more recent Mark III all unleashed by Canon. Indie filmmakers including us, have lapped up these cameras like there’s no tomorrow.

Even when you have the above three, the one thing that can keep you from starting production is the technology you are going to use. Obviously, we can’t all afford 35mm film cameras or the expensive Red or the Arri Alexa cameras. Thing is, if…if…you know (or learn to figure out) how to wield these cameras, they can be a boon especially when you consider their low-cost. A camera is only as good as the person wielding it. I’d written an earlier article on the use of DSLRs from the trenches here. But the main reason to put this out is how many people don’t realize the high price-performance ratio of the DSLRs. Before we started production, we compared the Canon 7D(costs around $1800) footage to the Sony EX1(around $6000) on the big screen, and there was no contest. The 7D’s image quality was far superior to the EX1’s. That’s how we decided to go with the 7D and its cousin the 5D. But as with any new technology, we had to understand its limitations and then work it to our advantage. At such a low-cost, a filmmaker has no reason to worry about the budget of making a feature-length film. In fact, as many feature filmmakers are resorting to digital cameras, the advent of the DSLRs can only help Indie filmmakers achieve their goals.

So when you have these 4 basic things figured out, there is an ample chance that you can jump from talking about making your film to actually doing it. Of course, there’s a ton of other chaotic factors involved, but this should give you the basic understanding, or sort of foundational signs that you may be in the right track.

Learning from ‘Ayynoorum Ayynthum(500 & 5)' – Indie filmmaking Series (Part 1)

If you want to learn ‘Indie(Independent) filmmaking’, there are probably thousands of resources and millions of ways to show you how to do so. But the thing about ‘learning Indie filmmaking’ from others is in itself a paradox. Because when you make a film in the true ‘Indie’ spirit of the word, you are actually going all-out yourself without much dependency on the traditional system or…just by Doing-it(Everything)-yourself, literally. Another thing is that it’s far too unstructured and chaotic to even try to learn it all with the amount of information deluge that hurls your way. But, at any rate…there’s nothing like experiencing the puzzling thing we call life, penning your thoughts down, taking your camera, getting into the trenches, wading through the shit, smelling the stench, finding the pearl and coming out with a unique piece of work. Or at least, ‘your’ unique piece of work. So, with the culmination of ‘Ayynoorum Ayynthum(500 & 5)’ ‘round the corner, we thought we could just share our perspective of making this film the ‘Indie’ way and add to the chaos, ahem! And maybe through this process, we intend to keep track of our own doings and maybe…maybe aid in the demystification of the process of Independent filmmaking in the digital and new media age.
One primary way of looking at filmmaking is that it’s mostly about learning through experience and eventually asserting your perspective in the world. Sure there are a zillion perspectives out there, but how is yours different. Your perspective may not or need not be the ‘best’ but is it different than the remaining zillion-minus-one of them? That’s what this whole thing’s about. Seriously, for someone who considers film school to be redundant – not because they don’t teach useful stuff but because of the concept of indoctrination of what constitutes good filmmaking – I certainly think twice about sharing and receiving ‘creative’ advice with others(not that we are all above it). Because, in the few years that we’ve been independently making films, I realized one thing. How could one contain the almost cosmic nature of the filmmaking process into a few nuggets of concise writing/advice in either book form or film school form? That’s why I repeat, what many truly visionary filmmakers have shown - filmmaking, to each his/her own – I mean, in perspective(for that matter, every film has its philosophy). And that’s why I even wonder about the concept of Herzog’s Rogue film school. By that definition, isn’t it also an indoctrination of how to be a Rogue filmmaker? But I guess that’s going too far out. But the point I’m trying to make is, getting your own perspective of things without being tainted by the usual suspects.
On the flip side though, we do feel the urge to share whatever we have learnt in a sort of organic way where one doesn’t teach but merely inform so that others can make decisions based on their set of experiences and subjective realities. More so, IMO, the creative process is best when cultivated from within one’s own universe, which I guess would more effectively bring out that unique POV. I know it’s hard not to be influenced by the variety of media and consumerist onslaught that constantly tells you what you need, to be ‘successful’ or ‘famous’ or ‘rich’, because if someone feels the need to be a filmmaker that arises from the need to be ‘rich, famous and successful’ in the traditional sense of the words, then I doubt if that could lead to creating true art. So anyways, as we near the completion of our project, with the background music(Re-recording) pending, we thought we’d start putting this out. This ‘learning’ is as much a learning for us, from our trials and errors as it is for others who are looking to learn themselves. If you’re even a wee bit curious, watch out for this series, as we’ll try our best to make it a weekly column or whatever. And hey, nothing in this series is meant to be an absolute so take it with a pinch of salt. And of course, if you have anything to share or contribute please feel free to add to the discussion.

Holding the tiger by the tail - 500 & 5

It's been a little over a year since we started 500 & 5 and guess what, it's not over yet. I mean, it is but it is not. In a lot of ways, we have come through a lot, done a million things, interacted with a gazillion people, met with next to impossible hurdles and stuff. But it's not completely over yet. The beast has only become bigger and more monstrous than ever...and as they say 'the last few miles are the hardest'. Well, tell me about it! The moment we started 500 & 5 in an unconventional way, we knew we caught the tiger by its tail. And till now, haven't really had a single moment to release it. Of course, we've been doing several other things but the thought of it, holding it and needing to wait until the right moment is ever present. So we're biding our time and are trying to figure out the next steps in the process. Until then, I guess it's gonna be one adrenalin-inducing trip. We try to stay calm as the tiger is struggling to break free and go berserk, but can't let it out, yet. Restraint, action and then release. Almost zen-like in mode.

THE FILMMAKING PROCESS!! JIGSAW PIECE No:5

The seed sown for stimulation of the thought process..within..the purpose of each piece..or is it that the purpose wanting to realize itself..through the design??

HDSLR Canon 7D, 5D - From the trenches

Here are a few observations about the HDSLRs Canon 7D and 5D, based on experiences on-location from our indie production. Though this is all very basic and already known information from various forums and DPs and pro-HDSLR users, we thought it might be good to share our views on these. Though we were initially skeptical about them, once we started work, we realized it is one of the best options for independent filmmakers, especially when you are going low-budget and/or experimental.

Pros

•           Excellent Image quality(2K resolution) that looks like film (even Hollywood productions have been using the 7D/5D footage)
•           Small, easily maneuverable in small spaces and can remain without being noticed
•           Works very well in low light situations
•           Big screen compatibility - Footage can be projected on big screens. This was a big question we had. So we tested the 7D and EX1 footage simultaneously at Real Image Media technologies, Chennai. The 7D stood up very well in comparison.
•           Easy learning curve
•           Camera accessories are relatively light-weight and can be made ourselves if we follow some Do-It-Yourself methods. We made our own dollies(track and tabletop), steadicams and the wheel cam rig, with help from youtube videos and the collective internet knowledge.

Cons

•           Not very conducive for fast motion or action shots. You can, but you have to be selective about it.
•      Slow panning also causes choppiness.
•           Limited Lens setup but this will slowly change with a lot of new lenses(CP2) coming up. But again, they are expensive.
•           Follow focus is very difficult considering the lenses that are compatible.
•      Slow motion in full HD1920*1080 resolution is not recommended.
•      When shooting outdoors, exposure has to be controlled consciously. Of course, this applies for any camera but with digital, take extra care. 

Gear used
Lenses used – 50mm Canon(F/1.8), 85mm Zeiss(F/1.4), 100-400mm L Zoom F/4.5-5.6 Canon, 12-24mm(F/3.5-5.6) Sigma(not recommended for 5D because of vignetting), 16-35mm Canon (F/2.8), Canon 24-105mm Zoom(F/4)

Two 8 GB Sandisk Cards

Kingston Card reader
Pics: One of our Cameramen, shoots a scene with the 5D and the DIY wheel cam rig. In the 2nd pic, the 7D is pictured with the 100-400mm L Zoom Lens and the 5D with the 16-35mm lens. The actors get ready for the take.

Independent film in India - Status quo?

Yawn, we don’t need another filmmaker to rant and rave about the struggles of Independent filmmaking and how he/she braved the storm or carried the torch to create yet another ‘masterful, unique’ Indie film that not many people(except of course his/her close circle of friends) would pay to watch or even watch, do we? In other words, do Indie films in India even matter, in the larger sense of the society? We are the insanely loudest democracy in the world so much so that even the big, typically commercial studio ventures get silenced pretty soon if not for the star-frenzy or the weekend hype they manufacture. And multiply that with the differences in regional languages. I can’t help but make the comparison with the Indie film scene in the US. Of course in the US, there is quite a sense of that camaraderie through Indie magazines like Moviemaker, Filmmaker, Film comment or even DIY film sites like Indy Mogul, Video Co-pilot and programs like IFP and Tribeca AA. These agents help and guide the larger Indie community or at least seem to have a space for the outcasts. And sometimes, they lead to successful creative partnerships that could lead to getting their voices heard.

This is part of the reason why many Indian Indie filmmakers keep referring to the American independent film scene or deviants of the Hollywood system for some kind of insight. Is there a sense of an Indie community other than a few blogs that seemingly fight the good fight? Considering the already outcast status of Indie films, don’t these filmmakers need to stick together, in the sense of creating a din so loud with their films that they DEMAND to be heard and seen? Of course, even a couple of  reasonably informative web-zines(dearcinema) have only a minimal amount of posts by filmmakers that are creating something new or are off the beaten track. So to even say that we have an independent film scene would be an exaggeration, but we can think whatever we want to keep our restless souls assuaged. In that same vein when the filmmakers blame audiences for not coming out to support them, it seems like a bit overreached.

Pessimistic as it may sound but to romanticize the notion of Indie filmmaking as a way of being different for different’s sake without understanding the birth pangs would be tantamount to shooting oneself in the foot. The Indie community has almost every odd against them. So if they want to keep creating the work that they want, one has to have an unromanticized passion(if you can still call it that) towards their work or getting themselves to a place where they can at least not worry about satisfying the system or at least accept the fact that unless their work demands to be seen, they have to learn to accept the rejection. There’s this article about being a ‘nobody filmmaker’ which many filmmakers go through in their journey towards creating something meaningful. I think it’s part of the rite of passage or building character, the rejection and non-acceptance(in conventional terms) of work that you have passionately been churning, until you get that elusive ‘break’. Though I don’t completely agree that one has to bide their time to even think or aspire big.

So what do, ‘the insignificants’, ‘the nobodys’, ‘the outcasts’ category of filmmakers do in order to stay afloat, at least keep their head above water? The prime thing could be to keep churning out work that they truly believe in, at the same time and maybe(if it’s not much to ask) share a little bit of what they learnt during the process which kind of fosters a sense of support around each other. Having had a few encounters with ‘professional crew’ here, I sense a strong defensiveness about sharing what they have learnt over the years. As if teaching that to others would deprive them of their superior knowledge status and their careers. So in a way, that makes it even more compelling to do things unconventionally and hopefully result in an outcome that’s outside the box. And if there developed a forum where all things unconventional came together then that would gradually become the convention, where the Indies find the space they can work in and express the unexpressed. But as many have said before, truly ground-breaking work comes from limitations and deviations from the norm and so it is here that we learn more, from the trenches, the gutters, the filth and the stench of reality.

The above is a production still from 'Adiyaaluku Podiyal' (The Goon's stooge) where you can see our man 'Dass' wielding the Canon 7D. The rig that the 7D is mounted on, is our own, DIY, self-designed table top dolly with the stylish colors and the tripod head. Proof that the Indie spirit is alive and kicking.