Not a love story(Trailer) is the latest flick directed by Ram Gopal Varma. This will be his 36th film as director. He has also produced another 20 odd films. He finishes them faster than most of us can make short films. Anyway this is not a post about him, its more about the film. I thought the movie was not bad, in fact it was a good watch. But the reason I thought this film deserves a post was because of some interesting techniques used in its making. I got all this information from his interviews and his blog.
The Camera
The film is entirely shot on a Canon 5D (digital) which is a DSLR camera. Canon 5D is tiny compared to the traditional 35mm film camera which is what most of the Hindi films are shot on. Not to mention it costs a fraction of the price. I believe it can be as less as 1/3rd the price. RGV shot a Telugu film(Dongala Muta) in 5 days to experiment with these digital cameras. And because he was so impressed by its flexibility and its HD output that he decided to make another feature length film in Hindi. Needless to say that a camera that small can easily be maneuvered and the possibilities with angles and movement are endless. A few other filmmakers have also started using these cameras in Hinidi cinema and many think that eventually these(Digital) will take over all cinema.
On the Set
Some more RGV madness. There was no Director of Photography(DP) in this f
ilm. Typically, the director comes up with what we call a shot-list. This is then discussed with the DP who is responsible for lighting the shots and composing the frames as per the shot list. Obviously it is an extremely important job as he directly affects what we see and a lot of the aesthetic sense comes from him. Besides he is the busiest person on a film set trying to get the lighting just right for every shot. When I heard that there was no DP on this film I was genuinely confused as to how exactly did they shoot this. Firstly RGV decided to "not do lighting;" meaning everything you see is mostly natural lighting. He hired 5 fresh film school graduates, handed them a 5D each and let them go about their way. So that means the actors do a shot with 3-5 cameras recording them without really knowing which angle will be used. I have done some filming myself and this sounds chaotic. Imagine trying to keep the crew and equipment out of the frame for all 5 cameras. Or if you did a shot and the retake was done several hours later because of a delay, the natural light is now completely different. The DP is supposed to maintain the light so that it stays consistent. Also, what kind of shot list would they work off, would they have a separate list each? But knowing how RGV likes to finish films fast I suspect this whole experiment was done to make things simpler. So instead of intricate planning which is required for multiple cameras they shot it without much detailed instruction. Which means the footage was then sorted out by the post production team as it came in. The lighting may have been handled by the 5 camera controllers themselves which would include adjusting the lights so that they work for all cameras and maintaining consistency for all the retakes. Many amatuer short films are shot like that with minimal planning. These pictures give us a good sense of how minimal the lighting arrangement was. (Almost looks like one of my student film sets :)). The entire film was shot in 20 days.
So how did the result turn out? They were able to cut it seamlessly and the lighting was not bad at all. So in a sense they succeeded in the experiment but I didn't like it. This is clearly more because of
RGV's aesthetic sense and less to do with the techniques described above. If you have watched a RGV film from the last 5-6 years you will know what I am talking about. The film has constant moving shots(not driven by action ) and fast cuts through out which I personally do not like. I have been curious about what he tries to achieve through these, it almost feels like its because he is bored doing the standard shots. I love some of the frames, but just wish he used the movement more sparingly. However that choice is subjective and may well work for others. I will need another post to discuss how his cinematography has changed over the years. Having said that, this technique is quite fascinating and could be used to reduce time required in setting up multiple shots. The conclusion that I come to is that if as a director you want to control the look of the film, this process will have to be looked over by a DP(for lighting and consistency) and then you would have to work very closely with the editor. This is because you are essentially writing the shots as you decide the cuts. If you do not do this, you will have little control on the end result which will be a product created mainly by the camera controllers and the editor; which is how I believe 'Not A Love Story' was made and intentionally so.
The Camera
The film is entirely shot on a Canon 5D (digital) which is a DSLR camera. Canon 5D is tiny compared to the traditional 35mm film camera which is what most of the Hindi films are shot on. Not to mention it costs a fraction of the price. I believe it can be as less as 1/3rd the price. RGV shot a Telugu film(Dongala Muta) in 5 days to experiment with these digital cameras. And because he was so impressed by its flexibility and its HD output that he decided to make another feature length film in Hindi. Needless to say that a camera that small can easily be maneuvered and the possibilities with angles and movement are endless. A few other filmmakers have also started using these cameras in Hinidi cinema and many think that eventually these(Digital) will take over all cinema.
On the Set
Some more RGV madness. There was no Director of Photography(DP) in this f
ilm. Typically, the director comes up with what we call a shot-list. This is then discussed with the DP who is responsible for lighting the shots and composing the frames as per the shot list. Obviously it is an extremely important job as he directly affects what we see and a lot of the aesthetic sense comes from him. Besides he is the busiest person on a film set trying to get the lighting just right for every shot. When I heard that there was no DP on this film I was genuinely confused as to how exactly did they shoot this. Firstly RGV decided to "not do lighting;" meaning everything you see is mostly natural lighting. He hired 5 fresh film school graduates, handed them a 5D each and let them go about their way. So that means the actors do a shot with 3-5 cameras recording them without really knowing which angle will be used. I have done some filming myself and this sounds chaotic. Imagine trying to keep the crew and equipment out of the frame for all 5 cameras. Or if you did a shot and the retake was done several hours later because of a delay, the natural light is now completely different. The DP is supposed to maintain the light so that it stays consistent. Also, what kind of shot list would they work off, would they have a separate list each? But knowing how RGV likes to finish films fast I suspect this whole experiment was done to make things simpler. So instead of intricate planning which is required for multiple cameras they shot it without much detailed instruction. Which means the footage was then sorted out by the post production team as it came in. The lighting may have been handled by the 5 camera controllers themselves which would include adjusting the lights so that they work for all cameras and maintaining consistency for all the retakes. Many amatuer short films are shot like that with minimal planning. These pictures give us a good sense of how minimal the lighting arrangement was. (Almost looks like one of my student film sets :)). The entire film was shot in 20 days.So how did the result turn out? They were able to cut it seamlessly and the lighting was not bad at all. So in a sense they succeeded in the experiment but I didn't like it. This is clearly more because of
RGV's aesthetic sense and less to do with the techniques described above. If you have watched a RGV film from the last 5-6 years you will know what I am talking about. The film has constant moving shots(not driven by action ) and fast cuts through out which I personally do not like. I have been curious about what he tries to achieve through these, it almost feels like its because he is bored doing the standard shots. I love some of the frames, but just wish he used the movement more sparingly. However that choice is subjective and may well work for others. I will need another post to discuss how his cinematography has changed over the years. Having said that, this technique is quite fascinating and could be used to reduce time required in setting up multiple shots. The conclusion that I come to is that if as a director you want to control the look of the film, this process will have to be looked over by a DP(for lighting and consistency) and then you would have to work very closely with the editor. This is because you are essentially writing the shots as you decide the cuts. If you do not do this, you will have little control on the end result which will be a product created mainly by the camera controllers and the editor; which is how I believe 'Not A Love Story' was made and intentionally so.
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