RajatGhosh Editorial Photographer

almost died last night

2012-02-12T23:22:00.000-08:00

thought I was at the end of the rope of life , n the angel was here to claim me as hers ;)

no no it was just gas, but I was sure for a while I was on the way to heaven, n it was painful as hell, Pudin hara to the rescue,

just so u all know , if there is a heart attack which is what I had presumed was happening , well there will be sweating and then the pain will move from the chest to the back and towards shoulder ;)

so if that ain't happening , u are just getting a attack of gas, thanx to greasy food.

art of online Production

2012-02-07T23:18:00.000-08:00

As a Producer one should strive to get value, not just be a line producer, but work towards getting projects off the ground too

One needs to be aware where tax incentives are, where what kind of deals are available, to add value as a producer.

Always form a LLC a shell company for all your production.

To get incentives one has to set up a business in that particular city / state or country

_{Produce placement is when}some products are given to be used in the movie for free

Branded entertainment is when there is talking about it, they pay money for it.

Viz- mini cooper in the movie, the Italian job

ATL BTL

2012-01-31T23:53:00.000-08:00

Above the line : director story right , writer , Producer, Lead talents , people who work before the start of the film

Below the line : all else. I.e Production , Post Production , Other ( Publicity, legal, insurance, completion bond, contingency )

Whats you looking for ?

2012-01-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

The obsession with phones and image making

Life in CAlifornia

2012-01-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

Life in CAlifornia - is sweet : the light is sweeter, Just Look and the images are there

the choice is always ours

2012-01-17T10:36:00.001-08:00

Milwaukee

2012-01-10T08:16:00.001-08:00

and then how can I forget Milwaukee, what a lovely art museum, truly inspiring , on the banks of the michigan lake, which itself is a huge lake, n a lovely site

Detroit

2012-01-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

Detroit:

Contrary to what one thinks, it’s a lovely lovely place

Laid back and still busy

Beauty in nature at every corner a real pleasure to be at

this picture will make you agree am sure :)

happy new year 2012

2012-01-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Thank u inspite of the slip

2011-12-29T15:51:00.000-08:00

As Rajat was on a branch of a tree Looking through the camera, and running on a branch on a icy evening he went into the Monona lake,WI, but not before the picture above was clicked, thank u to the power that be for keeping me balanced as one ran and managed to make this image before crashing into the lake yup looking down u will se the exact point where b its of rajat's mark still lives, in the lake.

the 1st image on this page has color thanx to use of a polariser filter.

san francisco

2011-12-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

San Francisco , the city of my love draws me to her again, do notice the "dutch tilt" :)

life goes on

2011-12-12T05:55:00.000-08:00

winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days, Dec 21st

Time goes on, as One works more and more

been a good 15 days of non stop shooting and learning

interesting day yesterday ,

was on a set where was commended on my calm presence which kept a unit at odds together ,

n the same day got smashed in by a car ( a old german lady driver trying to go around me ) :( oh well

n then of course had a bit of a match up with the landlord flying into a rage, ( was so sudden , that I was more in - oh the poor sod , look old age catching up, as he becomes into a beast and losing control over his seances) anyway here I am happily working on another film, helping with camera, and operating too :)

everything together makes me more certain

being CALM, and KEEPNG CONTROL over ones mental faculty is no mean feat :))

special effects

2011-12-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

Special effects:

They are done by

Live action

In camera:

By using model miniature’s

Compositing stills

Painting

By in camera matting (where a part of the frame is taped off, n film is exposed, n then the other part is taped off, n that portion which was previously not exposed is exposed (like a double exposure)

By process projection – camera runs in sync with rear projection, often used for travelling shots.

Post - production

Computer manipulation

Image animation

CGI

Compositing

By in camera matting ( where a part of the frame is taped off, n film is exposed, n then the other part is taped off, n that portion which was previously not exposed is exposed ( like a double exposure)

Low budget movie needs more preproduction as we are trying to lock in all the details before we go in to shoot

If you are using a wide-angle lens or a long lens , if you fill in the frame they both have the same depth of field

Note :

if using video : Green is better color

Red screen is better for glass

Blue screen is great as it is spectrally high.

ThanxGiving trip

2011-11-28T12:49:00.000-08:00

Went to Arizona, for thanxgiving , loads of food , and a excellent drive ,

here is a pict of the drive , the food will follow ;)

More on negotiation

2011-11-20T11:35:00.001-08:00

kids are the best negotiators

Reframing: look at the bigger picture, zoom out, n realize there is a bigger picture.

If u are fighting over a piece of pizza, zooming out u realize there are other slices they’re that u could work towards

Ask: why

Why not

What if

What would you advice

Ask open-ended questions

E.g.: don’t ask if policy can be changed, ask how can it be changed?

Ask questions on what makes the deal fair

We deal with

Stonewall

Attack

Trick

How do u deal with these?

a- Ignore the stonewall (though do test it, n then ignore it) if it is real issue the other will mention it over and over,

b- Renegotiate the stonewall as an aspiration.

When Attacked-

a- deflect attack, by ignoring the attack,

b- reframe the attack, that is not against you but against the problem at hand

c- Reframe attack, n deflect it by changing it into a joke

d- Reframe the issue at hand; let go of the past wrong, n work on the issue at hand.

Tricks

Ask clarifying questions - why? How did you get to it?

What’s your profit margin?

If they are talking too fast - be careful

Look for body language, being same as what they are saying

Make reasonable request, if they don’t agree then they are probably tricking you.

Lighting obectives in a scene

2011-11-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

Lighting Objectives

Visibility

Naturalism

Composition

Emphasize on: separation

Depth

Graphic effect

Mood- the key light sets the mood

Fill light sets the contrast ratio.

Lighting strategy

Block

LightRehearse

Tweak

Shoot

Think about where will the key light be?

What’s the source, what’s the motivation?

Decide on camera angle before you lock the look

Lighting ratio? How much contrast

Key light should ideally be exposed normal, n it establishes the mood of the shot

Ratios are like 4: 1, 8: 1, and 16: 1 so on

Background light: it sets tones, and create context for the environment, it is used solely to light the space around the subject.

Practical’s: used as motivation within the space or as a prop. Practical’s are seen in the scene that you are shooting sometimes, like lamp. Campfire

Diana

2011-11-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

Met a friend, been almost 13 yrs. since we saw the other, it was like a breath of fresh air, after years and years of just thinking of meeting up it finally happened

People we connect with, even with passage of time there is no change when we meet we pick up where we left off, n take it further, as if time never existed between us, the power of the mind it creates it all

Cinematography - 8 - 1: Films and processing

2011-11-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

Video responds better in low light, while film works better in and more forgiving while overexposed.

Contrast can be controlled at various levels

At camera level

Choice of film stock

Lighting style

Production design

Filters on camera

Digital camera setting (not raw)

Pan flasher

At lab level by:

Pre or post flashing

Push / pull processing

Special lab process

Digital manipulation

Tiffin makes Dfx filters to show how the film will look after it is processed

Basically there is no color film; it just has 3 layers of dye- couplers

So there is:

Oxidation – reduction

Color couple

Color dye

Metallic silver

Bleaching

Fixing

Bleach bypass looks like it has pastel colors, and rich blacks this is when the positive has been bleach bypassed.

If Bleachbyass is done on the negative stage, the film has bright shiny whites, almost glowing kinds, and some colors are very saturated, like red.

E.g.: amorous peros the movie.

Cross processing gives more color shift , n higher contrast.

Timing: is process of evaluating the negative scene by scene, and making the color and density adjustment in order to strike a good print.

It established printer time based on RGB values; on a 50-point scale, where 8 points equal one stop of light.

If perfect it should read: 30 - 30 - 30

Printing up (brightens) is a low number so needs to be printed up

Printing down (dark) is a higher number

Higher the number: its overexposed

Lower the number it is underexposed.

Colors and density must always balance between the 3 numbers L 30 – 30 – 30

In medicine color brightness and contrast can be manipulated more accurately

Usually a feature needs approx. 12000 feet of stock

Sleepy hollow had bleach bypass at positive stage

Amores peros had bleach bypass at negative stage

Black hawk down

Amelia

and house of flying daggers had major Di to saturate colors

more on negotiation and scripting

2011-11-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

a little child in hollywood, wonder what all he will learn to negotiate as he grows up ?

Good Logline: a paralyzed soldier is given an opportunity to be an alien spy, n he starts to question those who hired him: avatar

Negotiations:

a. Stone wall

b. Attack

c. Trick

Pause and say nothing

Rewind the tape- (repeat what they said)

Go to the balcony - (take a break)

More strategies

1. Stepping to the side

2. Listen actively –

a. Ack their point (but not agreeing with them)

b. Ack their feeling (e.g.-you have every right to be pissed, so would I.)

c. Offer an apology

d. Project confidence.

e. Agree without conceding

i. Agree on the weather

Ii. Agree a compromise has to be made

iii. Get a bunch of yes.

f. Acknowledge the person (go to their office)

g. Acknowledge their confidence and authority.

(Compliment them)

h. Build a working relationship.

Coverage:

Write to explain what happens in the script, should be2 pages long, + w 1 to 2 page of comment + a logline: 1 -3 sentences (best if 1 sentence)

Look for

1. Does the story have an idea, which you can say in one sentence?

2. 5 trailer moments what are they?

3. Is there an identifiable love story? Do you identify with that?

4. Is it episodic (good for TV, bad for films)?

5. Were you ahead of the script (could you predict the script)?

6. Did the writer spring a surprise (something happened which you did not presume will happen)?

7. By page 25 – 35 the big reveal should have happened (story taking a turn)

8. Is there a dialogue or scene or idea that you will not forget?

9. 3 scenes that surprised you.

All the above is the begning of coverage.

Also look for

a. Does movie open on action within page 1 – 3

b. Hero: what’s his problem, and does he come across as an underdog by page 3. (So audience will care for him)

c. How does the hero’s problem convert to need by page 7?

Eg: he is poor. Gambles by habit, n needs to win money to pay off those he owns money or will be killed.

PLOT POINT.

d. What’s the hero’s talent (he has to be good at something, very good)?

e. Meet villain by page 10, if not how can we meet him by then?

f. How has the villain created the problem for the hero before the movie began

g. How is the villa stopping the hero from fulfilling the heroes need

h. If villain and love interest is the same, it will be brilliant

i. What’s the villains talent

j. How does the villains talent put the heroes life in jeopardy

k. Do you despise the villain

l. Who is the love interest, n why do we care about it?

m. Ticking clock, what’s that, by page 25 we should know the device

n. The speed of the ticking clock should double by act 2.

o. The villain he should die 3 times

End of second act, hero should be very vulnerable, at his weakest point

riding east on green horse

2011-10-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

406 miles in 6hr, 30 minutes, with 3 pit stops.

started on sunday 1020 am from : chandler, Az to reach at 1640 at Culver city , LA.

was a fine drive, spoke to pals for at least 4 30 hrs, while I had network on the phone, sure helped me stay awake, thank u to :

sajana

hilary

kool ray

maria

diana

mansie ( hope your back is doing better now )

and yes was stopped by a mobile emigration check point on the arizona - california border, saw it for the 1st time, oh well the reign of fear I guess :)

cinematography 1-06

2011-10-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

We need great production design to do good lighting, what will you make images of, if there is nothing beautiful to look at? ( the above example has nature doing the production design )

Decide what mood we want? What do we want audience to see?

Then comes direction of lighting overall quality

Impact of color

There are only 2 kinds of sources:

SPEACTRAL (hard) point source

DIFFUSED (sort) large source

The properties of light as such are:

HARD

SOFT

ANGLE: it suggests the location / time/ mood

COLOR: context is important, n then what the color means in that context

INTENSITY: emphasis

FALL OFF EFFECT: inverse sq. law, if a light is 400fc at 10 feet. In 20 feet it will be not 200, but 100 fc

COVeRAGE: spread of light

Motivation: the light has a realistic origin

Then there is

1. Low key

2. High key

3. Graduated Tonality

When lighting:

Place key light 1^st, it defines the direction/ source / angle/ mood

Fill light is used to control the contrast of the shadow of the key light (often times from next to camera and in between the key light and the camera position.

Set light: it lights up the set, but does not touch the actors

Eg: lady from shanghai, Laura look at these movies, double life of Veronique, the showdown,

Look at the movie: the dark corner: to study lighting of different kinds.

7 kinds of lighting we can say broadly are:

1. Rembrandt

2. Frontal

3. Side

4. Broad

5. Narrow

6. Godfather (toppish)

7. Mystery (bottom)

Look for a book on lighting by miller, good reference.

Light fixtures:

Fresnel

Open face

Soft

Sealed beams- naked city was shot with this. They are like car headlights, are a bank of lights.

Special fixtures: kino flows/ led lights

Often we use Fresnel for key n soft for fill

Hmi’s are 3 ½ times more powerful then tungsten light (that’s more light is generated then heat,

Tungsten light has full color spectrum, yet they are warmer (more heat is generated) almost 80 is heat, n only 20 % is light, but a better light source till now,

LED new lights in the market, but they are more harsh light,

Other recommended movies to watch for lighting are:

The pagenflower

Hustle

Drive

The virgin spring

Mildred pierce

Revolutionary road

more business of Telivision

2011-10-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

the time is on to hit the road again, am off to arizona again maybe this week , but before I leave here is a bunch of info on the TV land. :)

For the TV market

Shows that are good to pitch for are:

Medical: stories around

Doctors

Nurses

Doctors of children

Weird doctors

Crazy addictive nurses

Cops: Detectives

Spooky detectives

CSI

Beat cops

Real cops (the wire)

Bad cops

Serial killer cops

Lawyers:

Serious lawyers

Funny lawyersJudges

Law clerks

Reality:

Investigative

Niche (pimp my ride)

Talk show

Of these 4 categories reality is non-scripted

5 are special: like animation

Children

Golf

Cooking

Single camera – shot like feature film

Multi camera is cheaper to produce; n is pre-edited as the editing happens while shooting itself.

Buyers of program are:

Networks: ABC

Nbc

Fox

Premium cable: hbo

Showtime

Netflix

Cable: amc

Tnt

Usa

Bravo

Lifetime

In film u write a script and then pitch

In TV u pitch and then once approved u write a script

TV has more money involved

In features producer and directors are main, in TV executive producer has more power

More on MOPS: film production.

2011-10-15T08:29:00.001-07:00

MOPS: currently studios / producers do not want to make movies on:

Taken, i.e. abducted, and tortured, n then the father / lover comes and revenges on the bad guys - yes there are exceptions.

Teacher stalked by student or

Student stalked by teacher.

Road trip movies.

I hated high school

Quirky movies – like rain man

Movies about hometown

One last job before retiring, n getting caught

Gods seen in clouds and tealeaf

Scattering of ashes story

Avoid

Drama

Period piece

Sport

Western

African American

Parody.

Maybe's are

Thriller

Sci-fi

Action

Horror

Comedy

Rom COM

Sexy but not too much.

Excellent subjects to go for

Sequel

4 quadrants – wmn + 25 men +25 wmn under 25 men under 25

Underlying material

Book comic play TV

Based on true events

Sequel

business of cinema -04

2011-10-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

So have u been visiting variety.com to see how the films are doing?

% Change is how much the collection has fallen from previous week.

Above 60 % drop means it’s really bad

50 – 60 % drop is acceptable

Up to 40 % is amazing (means people are talking about the film, n they keep coming back to see the movie)

Whatever the film makes when it premiers, it is assumed that 3 times of that will be the theater collection for the movie.

If a film is average collection is less then $ 5000/ screen, it will loose the screens

Usually it’s the teenagers who go to movies the 1^st week

Studios usually don’t owe Movie Theater,

If 10 million is the P and A budget, then 1^st that’s recovered, then anyone else gest there money

How to write resumes as a film business

1. It should be 1 page only

Name

Address

Ph. number

2. Work experience

3. Education experience

4. Languages you know

5. Sports (maybe)

a) Which ever is more put that 1^st

b) Font is 12 point only

c) Do not give references

Resume should be like a magazine, easy to skim through

d) Do bullet points

imdb lists who represents a director