READ MORE ABOUT AlsO fEATURED fOCUs ON - Kodak

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WORKSHOPS
catch‘em
YouNG
The Kodak Cinelab is conducted with the
purpose to inform the students about vision
products and also draw attention to the importance of film as a medium. All the
participants at the recently concluded workshop held at the Government Film & Television Institute,
Hessaraghatta, were very eager to learn to work on motion picture film emulsion. Veteran cinematographer
and Dada Saheb Phalke award winner, VK Murthy conducted the workshop and students also interacted with
National Award winning cinematographer HM Ramchandra, over the two day duration of the workshop.
Committed to interacting with the emerging film professional,
still learning the ropes, the Government Film & Television
Institute, Hessaraghatta, in association with Kodak conducted
a practical workshop for 20 students on their premises. Guest
faculty and cinematographer Chandru, moderated the entire
workshop. Veteran cinematographer and Dada Saheb Phalke
award winner, VK Murthy conducted the workshop. After
two days of basic lighting and exposure practical, the students got the
opportunity to interact with National Award winning cinematographer HM
Ramchandra who had a long interactive session with the students.
D S Roopashree set the tone of the workshop by conducting the preliminary
sessions and coordinated between the students and the experts. Interaction
with Murthy, was an invaluable part of the workshop. “The response from
the students has been extremely encouraging,” she said. This was apparent,
with ex-students from far-a-way places such as Ranchi, Bhopal and Tamil
Nadu also attending the workshop. All the participants of the workshop
were very eager to learn to work on motion picture film emulsion. This
was the second opportunity they had to expose on negative stock, and they
put it to sincere use. Shanti Sagar, a student participant of the workshop
said: “We learnt about lighting patterns and ratios, how to set lighting
Important Learnings
Film is better than digital.
Film is best for gamma correction.
Use lights according to the stock.
How to create depth by using light.
How to preserve film for the future.
– Shanti Sagar, Student
according to the stock latitude and we got an opportunity to work with film
stock. Meeting and getting to work alongside Murthy and Ramchandra was a
major advantage of the workshop. “We saw the processing lab, got to know
about the processing pattern, how the exposed film is processed in the lab and
so on,” added Sagar.
In the interactive sessions with the two veteran cinematographers,
Roopashree said that almost all the questions raised by the students were
related to understanding the negative emulsion’s exposure latitude - the
film’s light handling ability. Next was the resolution - the emulsion’s grain
structure that makes such high resolution possible, the possibilities of colour
schemes and the negative stock’s colour capture abilities.
“It was a dream to work with VK Murthy,” said Sagar. “I wish to thank
Kodak for giving us such a wonderful opportunity. Among the many things
we learnt from him the main ones were – punctuality, dedication and the
way he lights up a scene – it’s fantastic.” HM Ramchandra gave the students
lessons on natural source lighting. As a cinematographer he taught the
students to observe the natural lights in different times of the day and in
varying locations. “The discussion with HM Ramachandra helped us in
understanding grass root principles of lighting theory” said Prithvi V, a
student of the institute.
Film Rules
Though digital is growing at a rapid pace, the rate of
film usage has not decreased. The depth detail, range,
colour reproduction in the film cannot be emulated.
Film provides latitude of up to 14 stops. It is also
highly recommended for archival preservation.
– Prithvi V, Student