SEPARATION – Analysis and Filmmaking Workshop

15th July to 31st August 2021_Online.

OVERVIEW :

पृथक्करण, पार्थक्य, विभाजन, विच्छेद, वियोग, विरह, विभक्ति, वियुक्ति, विप्रलंभ, भंजन…

अलगाना, बिलगाव, जुदाई… 

Distance, Departure…

Disassociation, Disjunction, Disconnection, Disunion…

Demobilization, Demolition, Disintegration, Detachment, Death…

Discard.

Divorce.

Division, Partition.

Segregation, Severance, Secession…

Break.

Fracture, Fragmentation…

Crack, Split, Smash, Splatter, Splinter!

Separate.

SEPARATION as a state of being; an interpersonal or an existential crisis; a thought process; a felt-sense, a collage of memories; touch of a time; sights, sounds and smells; sorting the self out through overwhelming emotions… to understand better – who am I?

The workshop will be conducted in 2 Phases. 

Phase 1 – Thematic Orientation and Phase 2 – Production Mentorship. 

Participants will be systematically guided to make their own short film – under the mentorship of Kamal Swaroop and other associated facilitators. 

CURRICULAR DETAILS :

In Phase 1 that is Thematic Orientation, we shall analyze Separation as a theme. We shall enquire into the psyche that bears separation and explore its cinematic construction – while referring to some of the masterpieces in cinema, alongside painting, photography, poetry and prose. 

Phase 1 will be conducted in 3 units:

Phase 1 Unit 1: SHOT BY SHOT Analysing of Asghar Farhadi’s film ‘A Separation‘, an 2012 Oscar winning Iranian masterpiece – superbly crafted, emotionally astute, raising ethical and philosophical questions. (Film will be analysed shot-by-shot, scene-by-scene alongside its original script).

Phase 1 Unit 2: Analysing excerpts from masterpieces of Cinema, Literature, Painting and Photography. Various scenarios of separation and their cinematic construction, visual appeal will be studied in this unit. Participants will be asked to share personally poignant images of separation.

Phase 1 Unit 3: Understanding the nature of music and sound and the role it can play to build up the mood and heighten emotions in films. Taking examples, analysing and appreciating sound design.

In Phase 2 participants will be ushered to embark upon their own short film productions. The production mentorship will begin with an exploration of self-surrounding-stories; followed by technical inputs for production / post-production, reviews, feedback and final film presentations. 

Phase 2 will be conducted in 6 units:

Phase 2 Unit 1: Basic Introductions and sharing of ideas on ‘Self-Surrounding and Stories’; Reflecting on the inner compositions – prompting introspection, observation, articulation. 

Phase 2 Unit 2: Developing ideas for film while understanding Idea-Concept-Plot-Story-Screenplay; Analyzing a short film and examining possibilities of short film structure. Developing synopsis for films to be made during the workshop and beginning to prepare working scripts. 

Phase 2 Unit 3: Appreciation of film editing while exploring approaches of cinematic construction. Overviewing the history of cinema through the discipline of editing. Analyzing how certain cinematic pieces were constructed, how the form evolved, can potentially evolve with creative choices of editing. 

Phase 2 Unit 4: Drafting of Scripts and Designing Production Plan. With the inputs received so far, ideating the film further in terms of a working script. Planning a production that is practically feasible. 

Phase 2 Unit 5: Production : Shooting the films as per production plan. Participants are expected to shoot their own films in locations and characters/actors accessible to them – within 4 shooting days – as per the production plan discussed earlier. 

Phase 2 Unit 6: Post- production: Editing to arrive at final film. Participants are expected to edit their own films on systems/softwares accessible to them. Those who do not have sophisticated editing systems, will be guided to edit their films on smartphones or laptops. Their production can be designed accordingly, keeping in mind a post-production workflow that is manageable. Rough cuts will be reviewed and inputs will be given for final cuts.  

At a glance: 

ONLINE INPUT DAYS: (14:30 to 18:30 IST)

15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31 July; 05, 06, 07, 08, 15 August (Total 19 days)

REVIEW DAYS: (30-45 min online slot in each review session can be chosen)

28, 29, 30 July; 02, 03, 04, 12, 13, 14, 24, 25, 26 August (Total 12 days)

OFFLINE HOMEWORK DAYS: (For preparation, production and post-production)

19 July; 01, 09, 10, 11, 16, 17,18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30 August (Total 17 days)

FINAL PRESENTATION OF FILMS_OPEN DAY_ONLINE

31 August (1 day)

PARTICIPANT PROFILE : 

Those practicing or intending to practice filmmaking, analytical psychology, philosophy, photography, poetry, painting and other artforms, those on an identity quest, self-expression enthusiasts, lovers of all kinds – please apply !   

MODE OF TEACHING: 

Online via Google Meet. Details will be shared with selected participants in time.

MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION:

English & Hindi

FULL WORKSHOP FEES:

INR 11000 : For Ex-Participants of Auroville Film Institute

INR 13500 : For Indian nationals

USD 175 : For SAARC nationals

USD 300 : For international applicants outside of SAARC.

Voluntary Contribution for Aurovilians / Newcomers

FACILITATORS’ PROFILES: 

KAMAL SWAROOP: 

“I don’t believe in sense, but nonsense. I don’t want to connect, but rather to disconnect. How can you show death in films? Nobody dies. Everybody lives. It’s all a pretense.” These words spoken by filmmaker Kamal Swaroop in an interview are an indication of the unconventional, impossible to label nature of this artist. As a journalist once described him, “His ideas are unassumingly bold, preposterously original and tend to cut against the grain almost by design.”

Swaroop is a two-time President’s award and Filmfare Award winning film, television and radio director and screenwriter. In 1974 he graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and even his student works met with unusual international acclaim. He continued with postgraduate studies at the Institute. In 1982, he assisted Sir Richard Attenborough in the filming of Gandhi. Om-Dar-B-Dar (1988) is his path breaking masterpiece. Swaroop’s career, spanning 42 years, covers a broad range of films, channel promos for Channel V India, ads and Radio Spots.

USTAD BAHAUDDIN DAGAR: 

Baha’ud’din Mohiuddin Dagar (born 1970) is the Rudra veena player and son of renowned north Indian musician Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. He plays rudra veena with the dagarbani style. He represents the 20th generation of Dagar lineage, referring to Nayak Haridas Dagar of the 16th century. Ustad Bahauddin is a representative of the eighth generation of Rudra veena players in Dagarbani dhrupad. In 2012, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest award for performing artists, conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

MADHU APSARA:

Madhu Apsara is one of the most prominent sound designers in the industry. He has a long and highly impressive list of films to his credit starting from Hawa Hawai where he worked as On Location Sound Recording to the recently acclaimed Andhadhun where he worked as Sound Designer. The Dhoom Series, Ab Tak Chappan, Ek Hasina Thi, Hazaron Khwaishen Aise… are a few of his many notable works. He is a Filmfare and National award winner. Not only an ace industry professional, he is an inspiring and much loved teacher. Currently he is teaching Sound in Film and Television Institute of India.

DEB KAMAL GANGULY:

An alumnus from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata, DebKamal Ganguly is an independent filmmaker, researcher and teacher of cinematic arts. He has taught for 08 years (2012-2020) and designed curriculum in Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune,  in the departments of Film Editing, Film Direction and Screen Studies; and as a guest faculty in National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, Flame University, Pune, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar. Ganguly’s works have been published under special curator-ship from Lowave, Paris; his video art featured in the exhibition ‘Indian Highway’ and showcased in galleries of various cities of Europe and Asia. His films done in the capacity of editor, script-writer and sound designer have been shown in competitive sections of various international festivals and received recognition, including ‘Tiger Award for Shorts’ in Rotterdam (IFFR 2007). Ganguly has presented papers in various international and national seminars and conferences on various themes related to cinema, Deleuze studies, visual art, interfaces of art practices, translation studies, collective memory, Bengal studies, Media studies, pedagogy of cinema, film editing as a discipline, immersive sound etc including CARA-CIECT conference in Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg (2018), CILECT conference in VGIK, Moscow (2019), Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater (2019). He is a participant of an international project for artistic research involving BRICS countries, being the coordinator for India (2018).

AMMBER PANDEY:

Ammber Pandey is a published poet and a novelist. He writes in Hindi and English. He has studied Philosophy in India and abroad. He got Shabda Samman in 2019 on his poetry collection called Kolahal ki Kavitayen published by Raza Foundation. He is currently working on a couple of books in Hindi and English to be published in 2021. He translates occasionally from German and French. He publishes his works in Sahitya Akademi’s, Jnanpith and other reputed journals in India and abroad. He is director at pharmaceutical manufacturing company for the last 12 years. He is thirty seven year old.

RICHA HUSHING & RRIVU LAHA:

Richa Hushing & Rrivu Laha are documentary filmmakers, both alumni of Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Richa specialized in TV Direction (2005) while Rrivu’s specialization was Cinematography (2007).  Their films are often character portraits; and portraits of indigenous communities in liminal states. ‘Nicobar, a long way…’  a documentary observing Nicobarese identity and resilience in wake of Tsunami – is one of their latest works, winning accolades internationally in anthropological and environmental film festivals. After a decade-long practice based in Mumbai, in 2017 Richa and Rrivu moved to Auroville, an international cultural township, in the south of India. In Auroville, Richa and Rrivu co-founded the ‘Auroville Film Institute’ dedicated to the ideal of cinema education, integrating world cinema and world citizenship, experimenting with a new pedagogy. Richa and Rrivu work as co-directors and curriculum designers – offering short term filmmaking courses and production oriented Masterclasses. 

CERTIFICATES:

Digital certificates of participation will be issued by Auroville Film Institute.

QUERIES:

For queries, if any, please write to: filminstitute@auroville.org.in or call / message on +91 9969879319.

NOTE:

Following Units can be subscribed separately: Click to apply