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28 PRASAD EFX its journey to establish best practices. One of EFX’s leading technicians is Himakumar, Head VFX and DI. An engineering graduate, Himakumar began his career with one of his friends planning to set up a graphics division. His career path from a Graphic Designer to Team Leader, Project Manager, Technical Manager and now Head of Production – VFX and DI have been unparalleled. According to him what sets EFX apart is its capability to handle a number of very large projects simultaneously to ensure quality and timely delivery. “This combined with flawless execution and excellent client service is our main strength. Clients identify with us as one of the most trusted names in the Indian film industry,” he says. “ Kodak is a legendary brand and has great credibility. It has been consistently inventing products that have kept the cinematographers happy and I am confident they will continue to do so for a very long time to come. – SAI PRASAD Director EFX has handled VFX projects for more than 1,000 films both nationally and internationally. “The major challenge when handling international projects is to meet their standards in the specified time frame,” says Himakumar. As far as the domestic market is concerned, some projects like Krrish, Magadheera, Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, Aadukalam, Angadi Theru, Anniyan, Enthiran, Dasavatharam, et al demand more creative and innovative approaches and implementation with great attention to the finer details, according to him. According to Himakumar there are several factors which impact the overall look of the film – good selection of camera, lenses, proper lighting, so on and so forth. “To match these, a DoP must choose the stock that will contribute to the look of the film, keeping in mind the choice of lab process here,” says Himakumar. “Above all, good content inspires good work from all sides,” he adds. Elaborating on the DI process, Himakumar says, “A proper edit will make the work smoother at all the stages of DI Post.” In addition, properly handled negatives (since the scanning goes through dry gate, good and professional negative handling minimises dust and scratches), the quality of output for scanning and resolution, conforming (if the editing process has been done meticulously this part will go smoothly), colour grading – to decide the mood and feel of the film to ensure that the right atmosphere has been represented as demanded by the story line are other important steps of the DI process. “Much depends on all the inputs mentioned above. If one of the above links is not right or perfect, then the result can Digital Colour Grading “DI is fast becoming the only way to post produce films. This is due to various reasons – endless creative possibilities, flexibility while converting from different film and digital formats, ability to output to any existing and future formats are some of the reasons. – HIMAKUMAR Head VFX and DI be disastrous to the output,” he says. Film Recording is crucial to the entire process and has to be perfectly caliberated from the digital and the film lab perspective to ensure that whatever was seen in the grading is whatever will be seen in the film output. Today DI is gaining importance and is at the focus of the post process of a film. “DI is fast becoming the only way to post produce films. This is due to various reasons – endless creative possibilities, flexibility while converting from different film and digital formats, ability to output to any existing and future formats are some of the reasons,” explains Himakumar. According to him, any product will be chosen depending on the history associated with it. “And Kodak has made history with many innovations in film and naturally everybody’s choice will be Kodak. In the recent years even as people are predicting that film will fade out, Kodak still has launched new products such as the Kodak vision 3 series, which is the unique advantage of Kodak,” he adds. Film is still the only medium that can hold information and details that can cater to evolving and future technologies of post production and exhibition. There is also no doubt that film is the only medium that has archival life than any other media as of now. “We feel film negative will last for a very long time to come,” says Himakumar.
“ Kodak film stock delivers excellent grain and sharpness and true speed ratios. They also have the flexibility of long latitude. The detail or richness of colour on film is preserved. – NAVIN SARAN Sr Line Producer Sharing rare nuggets of advice Himakumar says, “right now there is no such training on DI. But, anyone can enter as a trainee in any studio and can become a successful manager or even a most wanted colourist.” If any individual is creative, dedicated, with a passion to work they will always have a good opportunity to excel in this industry according to him. For Navin Saran, Sr line producer at Prasad EFX, he just had to be in films. A Commerce graduate from Meerut, Saran was always curious to know how effects were achieved in films. He landed up in a visual effects studio to experience firsthand, the awesome art of film making and meet the magicians adding the magic to shots. Ever since then it has been a roller coaster fun ride, sometimes tense, but in all, enjoyable with EFX, Mumbai. “I have been part of many exciting projects, to pick a few is really difficult,” he says. “There have been diverse projects having extremely different creative requirements from the directors with poles apart creative sensibilities,” he adds. Saran has worked on Dhobi Ghat (Cinema73 / Aamir Khan Productions, Mumbai), Kaminey (Vishal Bhardwaj Productions, Mumbai), Right Yaa Wrong (Mukta Arts / Ikkon Pictures, Mumbai), Japanese Wife (Aparna Sen / Saregama Films Ltd.) and Arundhati (Telugu / Mallemala Entertainments, Hyderabad) to name a few. PRASAD EFX 29 1 According to him the major challenge for VFX projects lie in understanding the director’s mind and ability to read the requirements of film and then deliver VFX which carries forward the story. VFX had to be seamlessly integrated into the visuals. Kodak, he feels has a spectral sensitivity and technology to widen the palette of creative expression. “Kodak film stock delivers excellent grain and sharpness and true speed ratios. They also have the flexibility of long latitude. The detail or richness of colour on film is preserved,” says Saran. Sreenivas also a Sr. Line Producer at Prasad EFX Hyderabad, was a trainee effects artist in Chennai, when he got an offer from Prasad EFX to work with them as Visual Effects Coordinator in Chennai. “That was the “ As a pioneer and leader in the field of VFX in India, Prasad EFX has over the years faced many unique situations for all of which we have arrived at innovative solutions. This experience helps our team to arrive at solutions to every challenge. – SREENIVAS Sr Line Producer turning point in my career,” he says. He has worked for over 300 movies in the field of VFX. Some of his challenging projects include: Athadu, Krishh, A Sound of Thunder, Dam 999, Yamadonga, Arundathi, Magadheerra, Anaganaga O Deerudu and Swamy (Tamil). “VFX and DI in India have come a long way technically,” says Sreenivas. “We are able to meet Hollywood standards as seen in most of our recent movies,” he says. “As a pioneer and leader in the field of VFX in India, Prasad EFX has over the years faced many unique situations for all of which we have arrived at innovative solutions,” continues Sreenivas. “This experience helps our team to arrive at solutions to every challenge,” he adds. Some of the trends in the business today which are going to be around for a while according to him are: the use of 35mm negatives for shoot and 2 perf negatives which reduces the stock cost to the producer without losing quality. The name Prasad itself is a legendary brand in films. One of the integrated pan Indian player in this industry, delivering every service involved in film production, post production, distribution and exhibition – makes it extremely challenging to excel in all services across the entire value chain – from the simple to the most complex. But in the words of Sai Prasad, “Prasad EFX, aims to create a self-sustaining, global organisation that will be a benchmark for best practices, and will create a legacy for future generations.” I
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