All about movies
We completed out recce. It was fabulous. But the Nikon D100 doesn’t connect to the Mac. After trying, texting Farrukh Chothia who then called back suggesting a restart nothing worked and it was back to the old faithfuls: the Nikon FM2 which had 400ASA film and the Nikon F80.
There’ll be an accompanying book to Road, Movie with the same title. It’ll have photographs of your research trip. The big question looming now is: should I go digital or stay analog.
The jury is still out over whether to shoot for a book using the Nikon D70 or a Nikon with Kodak 35mm negative. I have my old Nikon FM2 with some really good lenses and a Nikon F80 with the bundle of lenses that came with it. That’s two bodies and four lenses.
Looks like I might stay with that, shoot negative and get Comart to do a drum scan of them.
On iTunes: Sunday Morning from the album “Songs About Jane” by Maroon 5
That’s the working title of our next film. Keep your eyes peeled. In the next few weeks you’ll see some photographs and more information about it.
Currently playing in iTunes: Devil Got My Woman by Skip James
Here’s a glimpse of the place where the 12 week actors workshop begins for my new movie.
Watch out for some sneak peeks here!
We’re cleaning up and getting ready for an exciting journey.
On of my favorite films: much misunderstood is the moody Black & White jewel Radio On. It haunted me when I saw it first on screen at the Indian International Film Festival, Bangalore, 1980
I didn’t realise that years later I would cross paths with Chris Petit. More on that remarkable director and writer in another blog.
But in the meanwhile here’s something from the Guardian.
More about Radio On
In British cinema history, Chris Petit’s gloomily beautiful road movie Radio On stands alone. There is no other movie like it in the national canon.
Dev Benegal writes about his only guru in cinema the legendary cameraman Subrata Mitra who died December 08, 2001. This is the article which originally appeared in the MidDay, Bombay.
2001. What a year it has been!
George Harrison, Douglas Adams, Subrata Mitra.
Subrata who? Precisely.
I’m fortunate to have met some of the masters who have made cinema what it is. I will be writing aboout some of these encounters from time to time in this blog. Some of the people whose work I admire and who will feature in this are: Subrata Mitra the legendary cameraman, Satyajit Ray the director, Walter Murch the editor and sound designer. Also in this will be the unsung heroes. The people who never get noticed in the movies but who have made an indelible mark on cinema in their small way. I’m thinking of Bhanudas Divkar the film editor, Kamat Ghanekar the great cinematographer, and of Ashok Mehta the maverick Director of Photography.
My pictures of Chris Doyle when we met in Delhi.
Here’s what Salon has to say of him:
Christopher Doyle may be the greatest cinematographer now working. The movie (Hero) is utterly gorgeous to look at but Doyle’s work is never merely “pictorial.” It always has the dramatic impetus of the scene in mind. He is a master of lighting, shading, hues and precise yet subtle camera movement and is one of the least fussy masters imaginable.
When I sent this to Chris, he responded, “I blush.”
Chris Doyle- Carried Away. Photograph ? Dev Benegal 2004
On my way to meet Walter Murch, where he was conducting a ten day workshop at the Film & Television Institute (FTII) here’s what was in front of our car.
Amazing what one comes across in Bombay. The city has this crazy energy which most filmmakers seem to ignore.
Prof. Makarand Paranjape of the JNU in Delhi is taking a few of us to China in April. My film Split Wide Open will be one the films being screened. keep a watch here for pictures and updates from China.