Action packed realism - Kodak

12 Mumbai 13
Chennai
As a DoP he prefers film much more than digital. He says, "I definitely prefer film over digital as we
get better output regarding sharpness and depth."
It is quite clear that Saha works in a kind of market where there are so many challenges to his
profession. Regarding this he had to say, "In less time, I have to give best results and that too in low
budget, but I put all my efforts to give a good quality output."
When he was an assistant cameraman he says he learnt a lot from the directors he worked with but
now he works entirely on his own, drawing from his own past experiences in films.
The concept and attitude to the lighting of a scene is distinctive in him. He said regarding lighting,
"During the night scenes I try to use light and shade and during the day scenes I match indoor and
outdoor light and prefer the light from the windows. As there is less time, the younger generation
wants to complete 7 to 8 scenes in a day so they do not concentrate more on the lighting part. I
would advise them not to neglect it, as it is one of the most important aspects of camera work to
create an impact during a particular scene." His emphasis on lighting shows his skill and originality
as an expert DoP, because lighting indeed is the most important and interesting part of a DoP's
repertoire of the visual tools he uses to create an exciting piece of cinema.
For day time outdoors, I use 100ASA and 200ASA, 200ASA and 500ASA both for the mix
As a veteran DoP Saha has this to say to the upcoming DoPs of tomorrow, "They must concentrate
on the lighting of a scene. They should be able to perfect lighting, framing along with learning the
varied uses of Kodak negatives."
As a final message to the film lovers of today and tomorrow, when different ways of seeing a film
through you tube, internet or even mobile viewing is happening, Saha had this to say :
"Anything may come but films would always remain. In a year, 1,000 films are being made and that
too on film and not on digital. I strongly believe that Kodak is the company which has best quality
films and does not even have nearest competitors, let alone the question of surviving in the market."
His current projects are Aisa Fasli Nanachi Taang and Dholki cha Talawar and some other as yet
untitled films.
"Kodak is one of my
basic necessities at work.”
light during the indoor shoot and 500ASA for night exterior and dusk and twilight.
I mostly prefer to work between 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the morning and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the
evening. Kodak is one of my basic necessities at work. It has good technical color tone
clarity and has all colors available which no other product has. When the weather is bad,
even if it is cloudy, Kodak always gives me the best results. While shooting I concentrate on
the lighting of a scene very much. During night scenes I try to use light and shade and during
day scenes I match indoor and outdoor light and prefer the light from the windows. I like
light and shade photography more and my source of inspiration is my guru V.K. Murthy.
Hailing from the lush, green town of
Tenkasi at the foothills of Western
Ghats in Tamilnadu, cinematographer
Krishnasamy's stint with colors
started at an early age. The young,
lanky Krishnasamy who loves to
capture the beauty of 'real' colors
through his work believes growing up in
the lap of nature helped him to
understand the nuances of
cinematography like lighting, colors
and the art of arresting the exact
expressions, much better.
Film
Loyalist
"I grew up in Tenkasi of Tirunelveli district
of Tamilnadu. My childhood revolved around
the marvellous beauty of Western Ghats till I
moved to Chennai for further studies. I was
left with two career options after I finished my
schooling. My father hoped I would choose
engineering, but it was my cousin Senthil
Kumar, who introduced me to the art of
cinematography. It fascinated me and I landed
in cinematography course at Film and
Television Institute of Tamilnadu (previously
called Adyar Film Institute) for a three year
programme," he says.
The three year course at the famous film
institute which earlier produced legendary
actors like Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi served as
the best training ground for Krishnasamy.
"The days at the institute not just
taught us about cinematography
but made us fully aware that
making cinema is an art. The
training was tremendous,
t h r e w i n l o t o f
challenges and the
emphasis was on
s h a p i n g u p
students as real
professionals,"
he says.
Even before he graduated, Krishnasamy
assisted the team of cinematographer
Saravanan. "In my final year, cinematographer
Saravanan was shooting for the film Vallarasu
in our institute campus. My senior Vetri was
assisting him and he introduced me to
Saravanan. I later went ahead working with
Saravanan for the films such as Madurai,
Thirupaachi, Pammal K Sambandham, etc," he
says. Krishnasamy after working for various
films in South Indian film industry later joined
his batchmate Ayanaka Bose and worked for
Hindi films such as Main Aisa Hi Hoon, Umaaro
Jaan, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Tashan and so on.
"Each and every cinematographer has his own
style. The first lesson I learnt is to catch
absolute facial expressions and always show
hero and heroine in beautiful angles, even in a
fight scene."
After assisting senior cinematographers for
v a r i o u s f i l m s , K r i s h n a s a m y t u r n e d
independent cinematographer with Tamil film
Pattalam in the year 2009. The story of
Pattalam revolves around the school children
in their adolescence and teachers guiding
them through petty fights. Krishnasamy
explains the real challenge came up while
shooting the climax scene of the film, an
annual day song with lots of children dancing
on the stage. "The art director came up with a
colorful set which has rare colors - peacock
blue, fern green, flame red, mauve etc and
there was a huge crowd of children dancing. I
went in for 500T stock, shot it for three days
with two cameras and needless to say, the
song was runaway hit for the
spectacular visuals.”