PRASHANT RAI cinematographer

Striking the final 35mm print of R(EVOLUTION) at Gemini Labs, Chennai.

With less than 2 days to go for sound mixing at SKYWALKER sounds, the news trickling in is that deluxe labs of US have cordially agreed to do the digital Intermediate of the film 11 Weeks at their premier digital lab facility EFILM and strike a 35mm print subsequently.

Some of the films done in the recent past by deluxe and EFILM are -

‘Inglorious Basterds’ by Quentin Tarantino, ‘Revolutionary Road’ by Sam Mendes, ‘Angels and Demons’ by Ron Howard, ‘Milk‘ by Gus Van Sant, ‘IronMan‘ by Jon Favreau, and ‘Juno‘ by Jason Reitman.

 http://www.efilm.com/filmography.php?pageID=1    (more info on EFILM’s filmography)

A memorable trip to Barrandov studio in the winters organised by Michael Gahut, my cinematography instructor. A state of the art film production facility, Barrandov is Europe’s biggest studio lot. If you are filming here you don’t need to step out anywhere else.

Of all the facilities what fascinated me the most was the hygiene of the film processing lab. Thermo sensors reading to hundredth of decimal in the tanks to maintain the accuracy of processing.

Casino Royale was being filmed at Barrandov those days. The Block behind me was where they had erected sets for interior shots. Ki Nan, self, and Teddy had a great day.

The walk back to the nearest tram station was memorable. Unfortunately, I can’t produce those jokes and songs for fear of lawsuit -My Name is ……I am no electrician!

Kinan and Teddy must have got it. Cheers guys.

Enroute to Cape Point, i came across this picturesque sight. Phaldie stopped the vehicle and I got down to take a picture. There was a man

seated at the edge of the cliff, leaning on some kind of balustrade. Phaldie, explained he is a look out for the shark fins. If he sights any, he raises an alarm so that all surfers can scurry back to the beach. No shark attacks in the recent past though.

Nothing beats the impression of a charcoal sketch for a storyboard. However, storyboard artists are few and expensive for small budget commercials and features. Softwares like Frameforge 3D studio do provide a fillip to most of us for whom sketching is just doodling matchstick caricatures on tissue papers of a coffee shop…

more on ‘Writing-Non Fiction’ page

To be frank, we didn’t realize there was anything funny while we were slogging to get ready to roll. The humour was realized over a couple of drinks in the red light bar a few nights later with my rum-buddy – Sid, the production designer.

cont…  go to filmmaking page

trying to get through a really slow connection to upload pictures of Kashmir.

refer ‘photography’ page

Srinagar greeted with a dry autumn and deserted streets. The tourists who thronged the markets and shikaras a few months back were missing. As a photographer I felt like the streets, the landscape too was barren, with a veneer of gritty yellowy dust all over compared to the lush greens three months back.

to read more click on the page – ‘11 Weeks’ – the film shoot. Part-1

Excerpts from R(EVOLUTION)-2

Later in the night the power supply tripped plunging the whole Palolem in darkness. I was sitting at the beach having drinks. A few seconds later as the eye got accustomed to the darkness I saw something inconceivable – a sight so beautiful and not photographable.

TO READ MORE CLICK ON R(EVOLUTION)-2 PAGE

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more pictures on kashmir images.