A CELLULOID LIFE
“ With the advent of television, a new force is being given to the world. Who can tell what the power to extend vision will mean ultimately in the stream of human life?”
-David Sarnoff, President of the Radio Corporation of America.
The film industry, though generally unorganized, gives employment to a large number of people. The young get drawn to this industry mainly due to the glamour that surrounds movies and the people associated with its making, though the reality is quite different. The process of making a movie may be quite grueling and taxing and involves a lot of repetitive work, but the end product may give immense creative satisfaction to its makers and artists performing in it.
Are you film-maker material?
Is a career in film-making for you? Have a look at your check list.
You should be:
An extrovert- Because this field is mostly about people and how interact with them . gifted with insight, creativity and ability to express- Because film and television is a medium of communication. So, if people are not able to understand what you want to convey, them the whole idea behind the exercise is a waste.
A team player - because in truth, there’s no single person in a film or television production who is solely responsible for its success.
Fairly meticulous about details – anyone in production has got to be able to keep an eye on details, and not let anything slip.
An observer – make notes about people. If you get into this profession, you need to understand how minds work because anything anywhere can spark off an idea and can emerge as the theme for a film or a television serial or an ad for that matter.
Hard working, patient and preserving. You should have the determination to carry on and passion for what you are doing..
Familiar as much as possible with human emotions, impulses and reactions. As with any profession in the media, all the experience that you have helps. That’s because if you’re in films or TV, you’re in the business of communication, and you can only communicate effectively if you’re aware of how people react to certain things, how people do certain things, and so on.
You should not:
Give up easily. You’ll working for long hours with all kinds of people. At times, you’ll be away from home for long periods but you will have to take it in your stride.
A few other aspects of Film and Television
The Producer- is the person behind the scenes. Putting together a television show Involves a thousand details. From the script to the actors, from the sound to the props, who has final responsibility? He does. He’s the producer.
There are two kinds of producers...
The first is involved solely in finance. He will sit with the director and work out a budget and handover the cash. The other kind of producer is what’s known as an executive producer. He’ll be on the set while shooting is on, make sure everything that’s necessary for the shot is available. Handles all the involved in making the film (or television serial) and make sure everything is organized to the last detail and that the film or serial does not go over the budget.
Casting Director: This is the person who’s in constant touch with artists of different calibers and styles. He’ll arrange auditions and camera tests, work out fees dates, and in the case of extras, schedules. He, therefore, must have a huge database of actors of all types that he can draw upon for a film. So, if you want to cast Shah Rukh Khan or Salman khan in your next film, you know whom to contact.
Light Technician: The lighting guy makes sure there’s enough light for the camera to pick up movements clearly, or not so bright that it reflects off the camera lens. The responsibility is a great one, particularly because you have to know and understand the quality of light. All this is important to a film, because the film needs to be as realistic as possible. If there’s poor light outside and yet the scene demands a bright sunny morning, the light technician will set up his equipment in such a way that what you see in the final film be a bright sunny morning.
Scriptwriter: The scriptwriter is the person who has actually written out the story that will be made into a film or a serial. This involves creating the characters, creating the plot, writing the dialogues and so on. He also has to be something of a visualizer because he has to see where the story is going and how it must get there. He could even adapt a favourite book for the screen. Writing screenplays is one of the highest paying jobs a writer can do. In the 1990s, Joe Esterhaus made headlines when he earned $3 million for writing the screenplay for 'Basic Instinct'.
Sound Technician: The sound guy is a very technical person. It's his job to make sure that there are no outside sounds interfering when a film is being shot, that dialogue and music is picked up clearly by the mikes and so on. He can stop the shooting when the sound goes bad. For instance, if there's a plane flying overhead during an outdoor shoot, he will hold up shooting till the plane has vanished completely. That's because his equipment is so sensitive that it will pick up sounds that even the human ear cannot hear.
Editor: Do you think the film that you see is the same as when it is shot? If you do then you are mistaken. After a film or TV serial is shot and wrapped up, the editor takes over. He has to take the huge amount of film shot at various times and various places and, working with the director, cut it down to the required length, complete with commercial or interval breaks, in a cohesive manner, so that the story flows like it should. Since films are not shot on a continuous basis (the shooting of scene 1 is not necessarily followed by the shooting of scene 2), it's the editor's job to make sure that the continuity is maintained (that scene 1 is definitely followed by scene 2). This can be difficult, because if scene 2 is shot at a different time, say at 3 p.m. while scene 1 was shot at midnight, the editor has to use his skills to make sure the lighting stays consistent (so that scene 2 is not brighter than scene 1). The editor also gets the graphics into the film (that's the opening and closing credits, the titles and so on). As someone who hasn't been involved in its production, he's in a position to see which scenes work and which don't, where the film is losing focus, what needs to be cut out because it's extraneous to the story, and so on. So, in a way, he becomes the second director ..
Cinematographer: Have you ogled at all those terrific locations that films usually show you? A brilliant view of America or the sunset or Aamir Khan dancing ... well, the locations are beautiful but to show them just as they are or to capture them in a more beautiful way is the work of the cameraman or what the industry has named him - the Cinematographer. The qualified cinematographer is greater than a mere cameraman. He knows and understands his equipment to such an extent that he'll be able to tell the director what his cameras can achieve in making the vision of the film real. Basically, the cinematographer translates the director's vision on a film. He works with the director to create scenes where his camera picks up long shots, close-ups and so on, all of which contribute to the impact a scene can have on the audience. A lot of cinematographers have gone on to become directors.
Choreographer: Have you ever wanted to dance like Madhuri Dixit or dreamt about dancing like Hrithik Roshan on stage, moving your body in steps that are so amazing? Well, they don't dance on their own - they have a person who teaches them those amazing steps that you always copy. A choreographer is required for the myriad songs that are necessary in Indian films. Typically, the choreographer will work with director to understand the reason why there's a song at a certain point in a film (though the trend these days seems to be to scatter songs throughout the film without any reference to the storyline). The choreographer should know and understand different kinds of dance genres from all over the world, and should have trained in dance. Some of the famous Indian film choreographers you might have heard about or who may be your idols too are Saroj Khan who choreographed the famous 'Bhumro' dance in 'Mission Kashmir', which was picturized on Preity Zinta. Then Farah Khan, who has choreographed the famous 'Chaiya Chaiya' song from 'Oil Se', filmed on Shah Rukh Khan dancing on the train.
Costume Designer: A costume designer is necessary to the film or TV production because she/he understands how the characters should be dressed. For historical or period depictions, the designer has to do a great deal of research to find out how people at different levels of society were dressed at that time and create those costumes. For futuristic films, the costume designer has to figure out what kind of clothes people are likely to wear in 3005, for instance, and create those. For example, 'Lagaan' had a costume designer who had to design clothes for the villagers set around the independence period.
Set Designer: The set designer, also known as the art director, is a very vital part of production because she/he is the person who creates the actual physical surroundings of the characters. If the scene is set in a slum, the set designer will have to make a slum, if it's a fancy nightclub, the set designer will create a nightclub. When it comes to Indian films, you'll find that a lot of sets are ready-made, particularly at large studios such as Mumbai's Film City, where you stumble across temples, railway stations, log cabins and so on, that you can hire and use (which may explain why certain scenes look so familiar in different films). These days, there are films where an entire set is designed and built to give the film the right feel. For example, the whole set lor 'Devdas'was designed and built to give it that period feel of opulence
Music Director: The music director works with the director to create the music for the film/television serial. This comprises not only music for songs,
but also background music for various scenes in the film. Those amazing songs that you tap your feet to, sing along with the actors, some emotional, some wacky, some devotional, some romantic, expressing such emotions that it gives the movie a totally different feel. These days there are films like 'Kaun' and 'Bhoot', which work entirely due to their background score. Music has become an important aspect of television too. You have serials like 'Kyun ki Saans bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' having a set of songs in between the serial, and care has to be taken for the composition of the title songs, as now they have become an important part of the serials itself. Music directors like Jatin-Lalit, Nadeem-Shravan late R.o. Burman, Anu Malik are some famous music directors
Fight Master/Stunt Director: The amazing stunts that Akshay Kumar performs or Sunil Shetty's ability to
fight with so many people singlehandedly, is nothing but the efforts of the stunt director that have made it possible. The fight master or stunt director creates the fight scenes or stunts necessary. While a lot of stunts you see on screen are clearly masterpieces of editing, a lot are physically performed and the people doing them are directed by the fight master or stunt director. These days, stunts and fights are revolutionized by using special effects. 'Matrix' is a good example of this.
'Raja Harishchandra'; made by Dadasaheb Phalke and released in 1913, was the first Indian-made feature film (3700 feet long).
Remixed India
It was RD. Burman, fondly called Panchamda, who brought grooviness into Hindi film music,
ushering in the era of electronic rock, and providing Hindi film music a whole new 'happening' sound. His hip and energetic youthful compositions proved extremely popular from the late 1960s till the early 1980s, providing much of the music that defines the reputation of singers like Asha Bhonsle and Kishore Kumar.
RD. trained under Ali Akbar Khan and entered films, assisting his father S.D. Burman. He often played the mouth organ in his father's orchestra and occasionally even composed tunes CAe Meri Topi Palat ke Aa' from Funtoosh' (1956) and 'Sar Jo tera Chakraye' from 'Pyaasa' (1957)). The songs like '0 Haseena Zulfon Wali', 'Aaja Aaja Mein Hoon Pyaar Tera', '0 Mere Son a Re Sona Re', 'Deewaana Mujhsa Nahin', were unlike anything audiences had heard before and the music of 'Tee sri Manzil' was hummed across the nation.
RD. formed a formidable team with Nasir Hussain. With 'Love Story'
(1981), RD. became the first choice for teenage love stories like 'Betaab' (1983) which owe a great deal of their success to his music. RD. also occasionally sang his own songs in a unique gravelly voice like 'Duniya Mein'. from 'Apna Desh' (1972) and 'Mehbooba, Mehbooba' from 'Sholay' (1975). It is a tribute to RD.'s genius and the timelessness of his music, that most of the soundtracks today being re-mixed in the IndiPop scene are his compositions.
Have you got these with you?
Things you need to become a director:
A beard - all great filmmakers have beards-Steven Spielberg, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Shyam Benegal Farhan Akhtar (a small goatee practically invisible, but it's there). Don't worry if you can't grow a beard, you can always borrow one. Umm ... one of those chairs- You know the collapsible ones that are made out of wood and canvas with director written on the back?
A famous film- you can make the most expensive film .. or you can make the cheapest film ...
Got all of the above
Congratulations, you are now a
FILM DIRECTOR!
In the balance
What are the good and not-50-good bits about a career in film and television? Let's see ..
The good bits:
It's a highly creative process, so there's a tremendous amount of
satisfaction after a project is complete.
You're working with a large team of people, so there's no chance of being lonely.
You make a lot of friends and useful contacts.
You're part of the glamour industry, so other people will be gazing at you in awe.
Keep in mind, however:
This business works on contacts and word of mouth, so you need to be properly networked in your field. Without a network, you have little chance of succeeding.
There is no such thing as a weekend in this profession, no chance of availing of public holidays, little chance of sleep while a film or a serial is in the production stage. So kiss your friends and family goodbye.
Glamour industry or not, there are lots of myths about being in film and television, so you'll find people slotting you into a certain stereotype which can be very annoying. Competition in this field is fierce.
World Cinema
Movies from all over the world which are worth a watch
'Pather Panchali' (Bengali) - Satyajit Ray
'Oka Orie Katha' (Telugu) Mrinal Sen
Attenborough's 'Gandhi' Girish Karnard's (Kannada) 'Vamsa Vriksha' and '$amskara'
Roberto Benigni's (Italy) 'Life is Beautiful',
Shekhar Kapoor's 'Elizabeth'
Akira Kurosawa (Japan) 'Ikiru'
'Battleship potornpkin" (Russia ) Sergei M Eisenstein.
Training required to get a job
Educational qualifications
Most of the areas in film-making are highly technical and therefore require professional training. Even for artists and directors who are basically creative people requiring inherent talent, training helps in honing the skills. No such educational qualifications are required, though you might as well get yourself a basic Bachelor's degree in any Subject because that's always helpful on your CV.
However, you'll require a degree in some discipline if you want to study at the Films and Television Institute of India, Pune, which is the best-known institute for all aspects of film and TV Production. Selection for these Courses is through an aptitude test. For those interested in cinematography, you can apply to the FTII with a Bachelor's degree in any discipline, but with
maths and physics in your Plus 2. And Sound engineering and recording al
the FTII requires a B.Sc wilh physics, electronics and maths. Check out thu courses offered by international film schools like The London Film School, etc, to get an overview about the international film scenario.
Technical skills required
Currently, there are very few institutic;>ns offering technical courses in film-making, so the best thing to do is learn on the job. Try and attach yourself to a well-known and well- respected senior technician so as to learn from him.
Workplace
The workplace is chaotic and very stressful. What you see on screen as a plush and luxurious scene is just a few pieces of wood and furniture knocked together in a makeshift manner on an actual set. The sets can get incredibly hot and sweaty because of the lights, and work can also be very tedious, because a shot may sometimes be taken up to 100 times because some little thing went wrong. On the other hand, there's a great deal of camaraderie on'the sets - everyone's part of the team including the spot boys, everyone eats together and everyone gets respect for the part they're playing in bringing out the production.
Use your contacts. Often, that's the only way. That, and luck. Your patience might be rewarded. Now that television is getting more organized as an industry, you do stand a chance of landing a job, particularly if you're from the FTII or National school of Drama. "Nowadays, with the television industry growing, people are open to hiring trainees," says television producer Ravina Kohli. "But ultimately, you have to convince them that you really, really want to work in television."
Career Launcher
(My Dream Career Series)
