The Gaze- A traveling film making workshop to begin its journey from Assam from July 14th-31st
By Dipankar Sarkar | June 11, 2018
With the advent of digital technologies, there has been an enormous potential to revolutionize education, in several ways. One has access to amazing videos to understand any technology, science etc. One can speak through video across continents as well as learn, share any views, get the support through social media and host of other activities. So under such environment of accessibility, the process of film making has also been democratized because of the digital medium. Owing to which cinema is reaching everyone and people dare to experiment nowadays because it costs nothing in comparison to legacy standards and requirements of film making.
But film making is a conglomerate artistic endevour and not only dependent on technological skills but also on an equal understanding of the aesthetics. So, when Assamese filmmaker Reema Borah decided to conduct a residential film making workshop in Assam christened as 'The Gaze' she had the firm notion,'We need to focus on few very basic questions- like writing a story or a script, why do we need to tell this story or how the other hands of a filming body such as camera sound and edit will react to it. The philosophy of making a film is what we need to focus on vis-à-viscraft. Then starting a short-term workshop came to my mind.'
The workshop will be taking place from 14th-31st July 2018 in Assam and noted Assamese filmmaker Padma Shri Jahnu Barua will be advisor for the course. The mentors for the course include internationally acclaimed National Award filmmakers such as Gurvinder Singh whose Punjabi films 'Anhey Gorhey Da Daan' (2011) and 'Chauthi Koot' (2015) has not only won National film Awards but has also traveled across various International festivals around the world.
Similarly, internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker Nishtha Jain, whose 2012 documentary film 'Gulabi Gang' which had won multiple National Award, will also be one of the mentors in the workshop.
International independent filmmaker of 'Lajwanti' (2011) and 'Ashwatthama' (2017) fame Pushpendra Singh will conduct classes with the students and believes, 'Cinema as an art form is as diverse as different kind of languages and cultures. Filmmaking can also not be standardized and it varies according to the style of a filmmaker. So, I feel such workshops can open people to film making in new ways'. Following the facebook page of the course designer and coordinator- Reema Borah, one can check the names of the rest of the teachers and other relevant information regarding the workshop.
Under the adept tutelage of the mentors, the participants will undergo a rigorous twelve hours session every day. There will be theory classes as well as practicals, screening, and discussion with filmmakers. They will learn the basics of film-making encompassing the main elements of film-making like writing a script and shooting it, Camera basics- composition, light, and role of a cinematographer, art direction, and production design, aesthetics of sound, elements of film acting or how to work with actors, basics of editing. The students will also have few classes on insight into cinema history; how cinema has progressed over the years. Eminent film scholars and critique will shed light upon few special topics. At the end of the workshop, the students will make three short films in three groups. Since the beginning of the workshop, they will be guided by the mentors in terms of developing their script, developing their mise en scene, developing shooting script, workshop with actors. It is expected by Reema that after the completion the students will get an orientation to the elementary ideas of making film- different narratives of films.
The course fee is 45,000/- INR that includes the twenty days accommodation, food, teaching fee, equipment rental fee and production cost of three films and local travels. 'For a residential workshop, one needs to have a good and comfortable space where everyone can stay together, eat together, think together and learn together. Those spaces and equipment do cost a good amount of money. You know as well, filmmaking is actually a very costly medium. We can assure, the workshop will be a good value for the fee the candidates will give' comments Reema Borah as she is planning to conduct another workshop in the winters but that will be non-residential.
