Action packed realism - Kodak

2 Cover Story 3
Cover Story
Dudley feels very lucky to be able to work
with Shetty. "Although the film is a result of a
complete teamwork, I must say that my
director gave me the full freedom to do the
camera work very much on my own lines. I
went according to the script, but at every
point my director was very open to all my
suggestions which he considered seriously."
Singham is complete action no doubt, but
within the framework of action there is a love
story as well. The town in which Bajirao
Singham (essayed by Ajay Devgn) works, a
beautiful girl Kavya (Kaajal Aggarwal) comes
to visit her grandparents from Goa. She is
mesmerised by the hero's courage and valour,
and falls in love with him. To portray the
romantic scenes in these sequences, Dudley
used a colorful visual look which is totally
different from the general raw and earthy look
of the rest of the film. "For Kaajal I used a soft
look, a very soft light and no sunlight casting
directly harsh rays on her face," says the DoP.
"Even for Ajay to set the tone of the romance,
I shot in soft light."
“Kodak is able
to show the people
the hard work put in.
We are happy we
got associated with
this brand.”
Dudley has been using Kodak stock for all his
films - Golmaal 3, All the Best and now
Singham. He says, "We used a high speed
camera for the action sequences. We shot
using a 1,000 frames high speed camera for
which we asked for special magazine – a
1,000 feet roll specially ordered from Kodak."
Regarding the lighting of the film, which is a
main point of interest in an action-packed film
such as Singham, Dudley says, "I used lighting
which really depended on the kind of scene I
was shooting and the mood of the scene. In
some parts I used low key lighting to enhance
the drama of the situation. In others I have
exploited the play between light and shade. In
most of the action sequences we shot lots and
Photo Credits: Avinash Gupta Photo Credits: Avinash Gupta Photo Credits: Avinash Gupta
lots of high speed shots where I have a plenty of low angle shots to make
the visuals look really menacing. I wanted to create a dramatic look,
hence the low angles. Throughout the film I have used Kodak Vision3
200T-5213 for outdoors and Kodak Vision3 500T-5219 for indoors. For
me creating the right kind of black is very important, and that is where
Kodak really comes in a big way."
This is a film where an important part of the story is located in Goa. The
hero, Bajirao Singham is promoted from his post of sub-inspector and
posted in Goa, which is the main base of action for the corrupt criminal
don whom he is fighting against. The don is determined to finish off the
police officer, and the officer is determined to fight him out. Even in this
changed atmosphere reeling with crime, Goa with all its wonderful
Singham
Photo Credits: Avinash Gupta
"Kodak gives me satisfaction.”
I love Kodak, it gives me great satisfaction. It gives me contrast,
colors and black with details. And it's fantastic for its latitude, you
can go more than 2 stops over exposure and there is no problem.
I have used Kodak Vision3 200T-5213 for outdoors and Kodak
Vision3 500T-5219 for indoors. In the romantic sequences
I have used soft lighting other than that I have only used
contrast lighting. Everything I did came out so well because
I was using Kodak. Because I am using Kodak I do not need
special filters, I do not use them at all.
For me, Kodak Vision3 500T-5219 is quite good for black details
in indoors. Kodak Vision3 200T-5213 for outdoors gives me
what I want in terms of contrast level and color and blacks.
I like 200T Kodak stock very much. We have lots of
twilight shots in the film where I used 500T as well.
“In Singham the director and I
went for a raw, realistic look.
We have used ninety percent real locations.
Most of the film used a raw and earthy look.
Only in the romantic and song sequences we
have used a soft, colorful look.”
Photo Credits: Avinash Gupta