திரும்ப வந்துட்டேனு போய் சொல்லு !!!
There is a metaphor behind the above punch, you will know soon :) BTW, this is gonna be a bit longer post.. Keep at least 10 minutes free before you start...
Its been more than a year since I stepped in to this space. I largely focused more time on the pre production for my 3rd Tamil Short Film, Aadhi. We have launched the film 2 days ago and honestly, I never expected such heart warming reception. Before I continue, please watch the film here if you haven't watched it yet :)
I was a little upset for a while as my previous short, 2 haven't attracted larger population partly coz of the expectations set after 12AM and the overwhelming metaphors that I have used. However, i am still happy i made 2 as i learnt a lot getting in to all new departments. Later, I did thought of numerous one liners, then stopped watching movies and started reading books. Lots of books. My colleague and friend (Kishore) referred this Hollywood flick, Man from Earth written by Mr. Brixby. Absolutely my type. I nailed my plot. I ripped it from the Hollywood flick ;) I have indicated this in the initial slides in the film too.
My primary objectives are clear
I have decided to make the Indian version of predominant "Man from Earth" and as a home work, I went out wild researching on various topics like ancient world civilization, Geographical reformation, historical events, Mahabaratha as a true event, Chola empire etc.,I tried my best to learn more on the art of screen writing.
Mid Feb 2016, Balaji (joint Director of Aadhi) who was in Singapore expressed his interest to make a short (he was an award winning Indie fim maker already for Artifcle 39f) As my other friend Hari was also interested, we met in Anjappar (Little india) and after a long discussion, finalized Aadhi for which I have almost done 90% of the scripting.
We absolutely had no idea on how we gonna form the team. Balaji was still new to Singapore and dont have much of contacts. Though I can do basics of editing and cinematography, I am reluctant as I have already had stress issues during 2. We had decided to step on, so we first thought of sorting out actors first. As Hari's nature matched Aadhi's character sketch, i asked him and he wasn't sure. Balaji agreed with me and we persuaded Hari to do the lead role. The other characters Kani (Rithu - femal lead), Mohideen (Angry man) were Hari's contacts and didn't said no for our request.
Since then, Hari was part of our core execution team. My 2 hero, Vishwa was auto selected for Chris's role and I didn't bother to even check with him ;) The old female character was a big challenge. We almost planned to drop that character and smear the role with others. Mohideen came as god and found this gem (Hema Madam) for us. As no one was available and due to space constraint at home, i volunteered for Karikalan role.
We all had our first meeting at Mohideen's apartment for photo shoot. Mohideen is such a darling that he even stepped in to sponsor the whole project on top of delivering good performance. We all had a mini workshop and totally shocked by Rithu and Hema Madam's first take performance. We got confidence. On the technical side, we sought the camera man/DOP PB Raj who worked with me in 2 and he is always open for such adventures. We haven't thought much on Editing as both Balaji and Myself are comfortable with our own softwares, we have kept that as last priority. Music is obvious, Ashwath-my brother.
Two weeks later, we started the shoot, we have decided to release the first look teaser to check on audience reaction and to announce the project too. Rocking hit. Here you go...
We have hired some dolly tracks and lights. Hari managed lots on the procurement side. Mohideen once again pitched in and actively involved in all set arrangement. I would credit Hari and Mohideen for art department. I, expedited my final research work and tightened the script in parallel. My other friend Nanjupuram fame "Raagav" who was directing his first feature film, "Ticket" that time, helped me as script consultant and indicated few critical areas which dented the flow. I further worked on his and Balaji's feedback. So, final script was ready on time :)
The whole shoot schedule was absolutely grueling. Most of the team members were actually in key positions in their own organizations and busy with their personal life too with kids. I was jaw dropped to see the amount of dedication each has put in. Mohideen was more like our mother who made sure we were never hungry during the entire project. The kick off happened and we had so much fun. All the time, I was actually nervous on one side purely coz am holding up all the sweet hearts and there is a sponsor who trusts me. I always kept this at the back of my mind during the whole project.
The wrap finally happened. After working on the teaser and surfing through footages, I was pretty sure that i cant edit the film as its really really huge for my abilities. Balaji was ready but i didnt wanna load him too much just because he was nice. He actually did the first rough cut of the entire film and gave us the confidence that 'this is working' I made up my mind, copied the 100+ GB footage to a thumb drive, flied to India and handed this to my old friend Govi (who edited 12AM promo song) and narrated him the entire stuff. He agreed with smile and I came back. Its purely technologies like whatsapp, gdrive etc., kept us runnin for the rest of the time.
Music was never an issue as Ashwath is always known for being organized. Once he has his inputs, no hiccups no questions, the product will be ready on the promised date. At this time, we released the full length trailer which was again accepted well
Govi and I had numerous exchanges on the first cut for dub and finally we made one. Now, the most frusturating activity of the project ... DUBBING... we got a good mic for ourselves for dubbing. Hari and Balaji did the dubbing engineers role with almost perfection. Once again, the artists behave like they were born to perform. Dubbing ourselves was the first time for all of us. So, few mistakes.
Slowly our Aadhi whatsapp group got busier every day. The amount of enthusiasm raised after the release of trailer. We also made a quick promo song out of montages. Hari once again stepped up and showed the mettle in him by penning the lyrics for this soothing song. Ashwath and Mahitha's voice are cherry on the cake : )
The dubbing is done, sent all the files to Govi and he did a very good job by fine trimming and sent us the complete HQ out. Job well done. I took over the editing from there. I have further trimmed down from 45+ mins to 40 and sent the final out to Ashwath and our SFX master Suresh. They only needed a week to do the magic. I started working on next gruelling work, Subtitles. More than 1000 text bits are there in the film and i always take subtitles very seriously as i always thought the purpose of film making is to reach anywhere in the world. Archana (Mrs. Hari) was instrumental in the subtitle work and ensured, we delivered this bit with utmost quality.
After couple of weeks, most of the items are ready. We did a complete review and sent final corrections to Ashwath and i further cracked my brain more on adding SFX and scene transitions. Honestly, i didnt paid good attention to scene transitions. Hari did a splendid job for end credits and title design as well. We finally got the beta version ready and my core team (Balaji and Hari) acted happy just out of good will that i shouldnt be stressed with this any more : )
We decided on the ultimate Rajni starrer Kabali's release date as our release too. This should be registered in history : ) The week before, we decided to screen this too and Rithu (our female lead) quickly jumped in and organized this in her condo. Until the night before the release, i was tensed, nervous and completely busy with final renders. The 4K render and subtitle patch is a 8 hours process. I had the final out only the morning of release. I also made this prelude combined with making videos.
The final moment has come. We had invited around 80+ guests and most of them turned up. We have already prepared our minds to get hit. We just wanted to celebrate the fact that we have completed almost half feature film with out caring how its gonna be received. We were almost in shock to see the audience clapped hard and surrounded us with all good thoughts. I never ever imagined, this will fair better than 12AM. 10K+ views and millions wishes under 24 hours of release : )
Now, scroll all the way up... be happy that you read this whole boring post and either watch the short again or share in the social network to reach more : )
References :
Movies - Man from Earth, Age of Adaline, Lucy
Books - Ponniyin Selvan, Krishna Key, Thirai Kathai Eluthuvathu Eppadi etc.,
Visited Places - Tanjore & Angkor Watt (Cambodia)
Please do like our fb page for more updates : https://www.facebook.com/aadhitamilshortfilm/
மகிழ்ச்சி !!!
There is a metaphor behind the above punch, you will know soon :) BTW, this is gonna be a bit longer post.. Keep at least 10 minutes free before you start...
Its been more than a year since I stepped in to this space. I largely focused more time on the pre production for my 3rd Tamil Short Film, Aadhi. We have launched the film 2 days ago and honestly, I never expected such heart warming reception. Before I continue, please watch the film here if you haven't watched it yet :)
Aadhi - Tamil Short Film (Eng. Subs)
I was a little upset for a while as my previous short, 2 haven't attracted larger population partly coz of the expectations set after 12AM and the overwhelming metaphors that I have used. However, i am still happy i made 2 as i learnt a lot getting in to all new departments. Later, I did thought of numerous one liners, then stopped watching movies and started reading books. Lots of books. My colleague and friend (Kishore) referred this Hollywood flick, Man from Earth written by Mr. Brixby. Absolutely my type. I nailed my plot. I ripped it from the Hollywood flick ;) I have indicated this in the initial slides in the film too.
My primary objectives are clear
- to make a film that runs more than 30 mins
- to have more than 4 active characters through out the film
- to make this as close to zero budget as possible
I have decided to make the Indian version of predominant "Man from Earth" and as a home work, I went out wild researching on various topics like ancient world civilization, Geographical reformation, historical events, Mahabaratha as a true event, Chola empire etc.,I tried my best to learn more on the art of screen writing.
Mid Feb 2016, Balaji (joint Director of Aadhi) who was in Singapore expressed his interest to make a short (he was an award winning Indie fim maker already for Artifcle 39f) As my other friend Hari was also interested, we met in Anjappar (Little india) and after a long discussion, finalized Aadhi for which I have almost done 90% of the scripting.We absolutely had no idea on how we gonna form the team. Balaji was still new to Singapore and dont have much of contacts. Though I can do basics of editing and cinematography, I am reluctant as I have already had stress issues during 2. We had decided to step on, so we first thought of sorting out actors first. As Hari's nature matched Aadhi's character sketch, i asked him and he wasn't sure. Balaji agreed with me and we persuaded Hari to do the lead role. The other characters Kani (Rithu - femal lead), Mohideen (Angry man) were Hari's contacts and didn't said no for our request.
Since then, Hari was part of our core execution team. My 2 hero, Vishwa was auto selected for Chris's role and I didn't bother to even check with him ;) The old female character was a big challenge. We almost planned to drop that character and smear the role with others. Mohideen came as god and found this gem (Hema Madam) for us. As no one was available and due to space constraint at home, i volunteered for Karikalan role.
We all had our first meeting at Mohideen's apartment for photo shoot. Mohideen is such a darling that he even stepped in to sponsor the whole project on top of delivering good performance. We all had a mini workshop and totally shocked by Rithu and Hema Madam's first take performance. We got confidence. On the technical side, we sought the camera man/DOP PB Raj who worked with me in 2 and he is always open for such adventures. We haven't thought much on Editing as both Balaji and Myself are comfortable with our own softwares, we have kept that as last priority. Music is obvious, Ashwath-my brother.
Two weeks later, we started the shoot, we have decided to release the first look teaser to check on audience reaction and to announce the project too. Rocking hit. Here you go...
Aadhi - 1 Min. Teaser
The whole shoot schedule was absolutely grueling. Most of the team members were actually in key positions in their own organizations and busy with their personal life too with kids. I was jaw dropped to see the amount of dedication each has put in. Mohideen was more like our mother who made sure we were never hungry during the entire project. The kick off happened and we had so much fun. All the time, I was actually nervous on one side purely coz am holding up all the sweet hearts and there is a sponsor who trusts me. I always kept this at the back of my mind during the whole project.
The wrap finally happened. After working on the teaser and surfing through footages, I was pretty sure that i cant edit the film as its really really huge for my abilities. Balaji was ready but i didnt wanna load him too much just because he was nice. He actually did the first rough cut of the entire film and gave us the confidence that 'this is working' I made up my mind, copied the 100+ GB footage to a thumb drive, flied to India and handed this to my old friend Govi (who edited 12AM promo song) and narrated him the entire stuff. He agreed with smile and I came back. Its purely technologies like whatsapp, gdrive etc., kept us runnin for the rest of the time.
Music was never an issue as Ashwath is always known for being organized. Once he has his inputs, no hiccups no questions, the product will be ready on the promised date. At this time, we released the full length trailer which was again accepted well
Aadhi - 2 Mins. Trailer
Govi and I had numerous exchanges on the first cut for dub and finally we made one. Now, the most frusturating activity of the project ... DUBBING... we got a good mic for ourselves for dubbing. Hari and Balaji did the dubbing engineers role with almost perfection. Once again, the artists behave like they were born to perform. Dubbing ourselves was the first time for all of us. So, few mistakes.
Slowly our Aadhi whatsapp group got busier every day. The amount of enthusiasm raised after the release of trailer. We also made a quick promo song out of montages. Hari once again stepped up and showed the mettle in him by penning the lyrics for this soothing song. Ashwath and Mahitha's voice are cherry on the cake : )
Aadhi - Promo Song
The dubbing is done, sent all the files to Govi and he did a very good job by fine trimming and sent us the complete HQ out. Job well done. I took over the editing from there. I have further trimmed down from 45+ mins to 40 and sent the final out to Ashwath and our SFX master Suresh. They only needed a week to do the magic. I started working on next gruelling work, Subtitles. More than 1000 text bits are there in the film and i always take subtitles very seriously as i always thought the purpose of film making is to reach anywhere in the world. Archana (Mrs. Hari) was instrumental in the subtitle work and ensured, we delivered this bit with utmost quality.
After couple of weeks, most of the items are ready. We did a complete review and sent final corrections to Ashwath and i further cracked my brain more on adding SFX and scene transitions. Honestly, i didnt paid good attention to scene transitions. Hari did a splendid job for end credits and title design as well. We finally got the beta version ready and my core team (Balaji and Hari) acted happy just out of good will that i shouldnt be stressed with this any more : )
We decided on the ultimate Rajni starrer Kabali's release date as our release too. This should be registered in history : ) The week before, we decided to screen this too and Rithu (our female lead) quickly jumped in and organized this in her condo. Until the night before the release, i was tensed, nervous and completely busy with final renders. The 4K render and subtitle patch is a 8 hours process. I had the final out only the morning of release. I also made this prelude combined with making videos.
Aadhi - Prelude & Bloopers
The final moment has come. We had invited around 80+ guests and most of them turned up. We have already prepared our minds to get hit. We just wanted to celebrate the fact that we have completed almost half feature film with out caring how its gonna be received. We were almost in shock to see the audience clapped hard and surrounded us with all good thoughts. I never ever imagined, this will fair better than 12AM. 10K+ views and millions wishes under 24 hours of release : )
Now, scroll all the way up... be happy that you read this whole boring post and either watch the short again or share in the social network to reach more : )
References :
Movies - Man from Earth, Age of Adaline, Lucy
Books - Ponniyin Selvan, Krishna Key, Thirai Kathai Eluthuvathu Eppadi etc.,
Visited Places - Tanjore & Angkor Watt (Cambodia)
Please do like our fb page for more updates : https://www.facebook.com/aadhitamilshortfilm/
மகிழ்ச்சி !!!
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