Flying Low - Our New Short Film

New short film by Accessible Horizon Films
We all harbor a deep hidden desire to fly. Somewhere tucked in our dreams and fantasies, is an urge to rise up and feel free, even if it's just for a fleeting moment. And when waves rise up and crash back into the ocean, they seem to momentarily fly - a brief suspension from their larger reality.
Shot and edited in a few hours.
Concept & Execution - Stanzin Raghu
Music Courtesy - Luke Richards
http://youtu.be/3uDQwmb-dmE

Tamil Short Film 'Full Stop' - Lessons from Production

These are a few lessons we learned after we finished shooting our latest Tamil short film, 'Full Stop'. You can watch it HERE. The idea for this film came about a year ago, when we repeatedly saw unconscious alcoholics in the middle of the road, completely oblivious to the reality around them. So we thought what would happen if we did something about it. So there...we made this film for fun, to tickle our production bug. A few things we thought might be worth sharing, especially if you want to know more about the filmmaking process. Anyways...

1. Always be in touch with filmmaking, especially production. Makes you grounded to the reality of the chaotic beast that is. The last shoot we had was about 5 months ago and shooting after that gap was like a wake-up call, a reality check. We scrambled a bit to a delayed start and then got on track. So keep scripting and shooting.
2. While working with new actors, always block-rehearse(Characters’ movement and positioning in relation to each other with dialogues) before getting them in front of the camera. If your actors are new, this is very important. Otherwise, you are likely to spend more time on this during the shoot.
3. Create Storyboards…highly recommended. Unless you are extremely confident and trained in conceiving and executing shots, create storyboards.
4. Create a Shot List. That is, what shots you need in a particular scene. Say if the Lead Character touches something, you write that down and say whether it's a Close-up shot or a medium shot or a long shot. And if you can match it with the Storyboards, great, do it.
5. Stick to your Shot List. If you must improvise with extra shots, do so minimally and don’t go overboard just because you are shooting digital and have resources at your disposal. If you want extra safety shots, include that in your Shot List.
6. Find and work with people who are passionate, sincere and with a collaborative mindset. Especially those who believe in the vision of the project. While most obvious, this is something you should always be aware of.

New Tamil Short Film - 'Full' Stop

Here's our new Tamil Short film 'Full' Stop...ENjoy!
http://youtu.be/bxoy-1CBD28

Our New Short Film 'Full Stop'

Wooohooo folks…a bit of an announcement… we just wrapped up our new short film called ‘Full Stop’ which we shot last month. This time, Accessible Horizon Films in association with Yatra Multimedia will be launching the co-production in a public event in Pondicherry/Auroville. Not only that, our new film will be part of a larger Open-Air Film presentation(including the screening of 2 other short films) slash cultural(dance) event organized by Yatra Arts Foundation. More details on that later. But for now, here’s the first look Poster of ‘Full Stop’.
Context of the film: In Tamil Slang, a ‘Full’(Oru Fullu) means ‘a Full bottle of liquor’.
Having said that, Full Stop is sort of a comic caper quickie (or whatever) set in the exclusive world of Alcoholics in Tamil Nadu. So what happens when a ‘Full’, an unidentified Alcoholic and 4 mysterious women come together? Damn it Yo! You connect the dots!!!
Or just come to the show directly and bring your film-lover friends too. It’s a free event. And folks in and around Pondicherry, do get down there. The film is also a PSA made in the larger public interest of…well, you watch it.

Penned & Orchestrated by Raghu
Players – Yatra Srinivassan, Lakshmipriya Chandramouli, Earthling, Nandhini, Stella and Oshiva
Story by Earthling, Created by Ramesh Mourthy
Cinematography by Mohandass, Assistant Camera by Rajaram and Prakash Dhanagopalan
Art by Mithran and Bharath
Production Support by Yatra Team.

Venue: Yatra Arts Foundation, Near NuCreation Sports Ground/Swimming pool, Kuilapaalayam, Auroville. Call us for directions.
Date: Sunday, June 29th, 2014
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Gettin' Leh'ed!

SECMOL - Short Documentary Film - Ladakh, India
In 2012, during our 33-day backpacking trip in the Himalayas, Ladakh(of course) was an eye-opening, mind-altering drug-stop. I say mind-altering because it really was one hell of a trip to yonder-land, or should I say, a different planet altogether. And vacation is a bad word to use here, because if you are taking a trip to the Himalayas, especially Ladakh, it is an adventure that will rattle your bones(literally and figuratively) and your core. It will change the way you look at things, people and what-the-hell - life itself.
And during the stop-over there, we called up our then-new friend, Sonam Wangchuk, the revolutionary extraordinaire and a simple man with a singular vision. We didn't know much about him then, as we were wondering where really we were heading when we took the taxi to Phey, about 18 kms from Leh city. We only knew that he was the founder of SECMOL(Student's Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) which was founded in 1988 by him and a group of young Ladakhis with the aim to reform the educational system of Ladakh.
It is rumored that Sonam Wangchuk is the real-life Phunsuk Wangdu, the character played by Aamir Khan in the Hindi film, 3 Idiots. But anyways, during our stay there and our interactions with him, his team and the students, we realized that there's a lot than meets the eye. We observed that students identify themselves with their Ladakhi culture, as Ladakhis, and rarely do they associate themselves with the Pan-Indian identity. Like hell that's necessary. But well, let's get to this.

This short profile documentary film was shot in 2012 as a way of bringing to light the result of the efforts of Sonam, who has created waves in educational and cultural reform. We filmed this during our 1 week stay at SECMOL, volunteering for them, teaching Ladakhi students and culturally exchanging ideas and basically having a great time with them.
A couple of changes to the above film:
1. Rebecca should have been labelled Volunteer Advisor/Instructor instead of Co-founder as labelled above.
2. The volunteers for ice-skating are from various countries in the world as opposed to just US or Canada, as mentioned above.
Camera provided by Subheer from Always Outbound.
Created and presented by us, yours truly, the Accessible Horizon Films team.

Human Element - Short film based on a true story

A little over 2 years ago, a little incident happened to one of our team. And we thought why not make something out of it. That's how this short film came into being. Anyways, here it is...

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.

500 & 5 - Latest project from Accessible Horizon Films

'500 & 5' is a 2-hour feature-length ensemble of 5 Short films in a series created by Accessible Horizon Films. It is an alternative, experimental and independent project in Tamil.

Synopsis: A 500-rupee currency bill. 5 characters. Their ...trysts with it.

The Shorts in order...
1. Adiyaalukku Podiyaal (The Goon's Stooge)
2. Mr.Adi...Director Adi?
3. Number Sollunga (Number Please)
4. Jenny's Shadow
5. Agni Kunjondru Kandein (I found a spark of fire)
More posters comin' up soon.
Check out our websites - www.AccessibleHorizonFilms.com
and www.500n5themovie.com

Launching '500 & 5'

Accessible Horizon Films unveils 500 & 5 - a feature-length ensemble of 5 short films. 

Synopsis - A 500 Rupee currency bill. 5 characters. Their trysts with it.

Corridor Noir

Shot in progress - as seen through the tripod. Setting the mood.

Ok been there done that...next?

What do you do when you reach a point in time which you’ve been wanting to for a long time? So much so that you think, ‘I’m gonna burst my lungs out in pure inhalator-y bliss?’ when you reach there. Do you actually scream out in ecstasy? Do you run around naked like Archimedes when he hit upon the discovery and yelled Eureka? Do you feel like the shaken, corked-up champagne which has just gotten its liberation? I mean, do you ‘really’ feel the exhilaration?
ORRRRR…do you feel a transcendent moment where everything seems sublime & ethereal and experience a quiet sense of ‘It had to happen and now I’m here’ and not really feel the way you thought you would feel? Now that we have completed a process, one that has been pending for a long time, I am left wondering in a state of intermediate high as to what one should feel. Anyways, here’s a tiny glimpse of what’s yet to come. No points for guessing who this is.

Amidst the calm...

I've never wanted someone so bad (ok wisecracks, you know what I mean). I even had a dream a couple of nights back - a faceless but somehow intense 'Jenny' came up to me and said "oh you still haven't found her, you poor, languishing insomniac? Lemme put you out of your misery...yes...I'll be HER". Ok, fine, she didn't exactly say that but you get the drift. While we brood over Jenny's so-close-yet-so-far predicament, lemme put out something to show a sign of activity. This is in Palavedu, Periya Annan's headquarters.

Casting Call - Jenny!! Where are you???

Casting Call - Alternative Tamil Short Film (Chennai/Pondicherry)

We are casting for a key female character 'Jenny' in her early t0 mid-20s to play an extreme character. Interested folks can contact the number in the poster. (Orig. pic courtesy Google.)

Grinding Halt

I guess I spoke too fast last week. We suddenly find ourselves coming to a screeching halt in our production. All because of you --- > JENNY, JENNY --- WHERE ART THOU?

Cosmic Conspiracy - Production still

Sometimes I wonder what really makes things happen in the cosmos. I mean, how does a thought become a creation…through a series of seemingly chaotic, difficult and sometimes impossible stages? Here, in Bangalore, we just finished our shooting schedule surmounting a sequence of things that weren't in place. The people aligned, the location aligned, the process of shooting itself aligned, the flow, the vibe, the energy, literally everything came into alignment. The shoot went quite well, with the adrenalin pumping and everything. Who do we acknowledge apart from the people? I guess it's needless to say. It's also strange that some other things happened too but let's leave it for later. Here's a glimpse of what happened.

A morsel from the cauldron

I know we haven't been updating anything from the 'making of' process. As expected, the going got very crazy and we are still figuring out our next schedule. But here's a little morsel out of the production cauldron. This is a tree that we shot one of our scenes from, in Palavedu village, a little away from Avadi. This is from the 'Social Worker's' story.

Short Film - Chasm in Time

One of our short films made almost 2 years back.
Synopsis: When the subjective realities of the materialistic world and the war-torn world meet, the only visible consequence is the chasm between them. When three friends 'accidentally' meet a super-market employee, he is not what he seems.
Cast: Cornelio Abella, Karthik Srinivasan, Joey Mintz, Kymm Walker.

Warrant Balaw - Law made simple!

We are governed by laws but we do not know what law is; we do not know about our privileges and duties and so we are made to live with suffering, not knowing how to live peacefully.Pleading in courts of law is as easy as having discussion with members of the family says WARRANT BALA a simple, honest human being who has been helping the common man for the past 10 years and making him aware of the legal system through his knowledge (from his own experience) and books NETHIYAI THEDI series. You can read about his efforts from his blog...
http://warrantbala.blogspot.com/

Chasm in Time at the MIAAC film festival

Finally 'Chasm in Time' is having its premiere at the MIAAC film festival in NYC.
Venue: The Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th street, bet 5th and 6th Ave, Thursday, November 12th, 2009, 12 p.m (precedes feature film Air India 182)

Trailer of Chasm in Time

Trailer of our recent short film 'Chasm in Time'. Updates about its premiere will soon follow. Cast Cornelio Abella, Joey Mintz, Karthik Srinivasan, Kymm Walker.