Lights, camera, computers

Tin cans carrying film rolls are out of fashion. As the film industry gets tech savvy, digital consoles have replaced manual machines. Aniruddha Guha takes a look at both, the new and the defunct

As Shashi Mane, the in-house editor at BR Studios, dusts an old film print before laying it up on a Steenbeck to show how it works, he’s rueful about the fact that the machine is the only one left with them. “There was a time when we had a number of these and work would be on day and night. Now this is the only one. The others have been replaced with newer digital editing tools like the Final Cut Pro.” Mane however mentions that some editors — “the old-timers” — still prefer working on the manually operated German machine, Steenbeck, which the film industry had been using since the 70s. BR Studios, therefore, retained the one, which they bought in 1984.

 The Steenbeck was replaced with computerised software, known as Avid in the late 90s and now, newer software programmes like the Final Cut Pro are used. “When editors realised around ten years back that most of the work would have to be done on an Avid, they were reluctant to accept the format,” says Omkar Bhakri who has edited
National award-winning Punjabi films Des Hoya Pardes and Shaheed-E-Mohabbat Boota Singh. The Steenbeck relied more on the perfection and talent of the editor, rather than depending on computer-assisted technology. Although he says that “the perfection achieved on a Steenbeck cannot be done so on a computer system”, he is ready to give credit to the newer, more widely used form of editing. “Once you get a hang of the software, working on it becomes much easier. Also, work is done much quicker now than the old days.”

 The old has given way to the new in every department of film production, be it editing, cinematography or sound engineering. Veteran sound recordist, Rakesh Ranjan learnt the art in FTII, Pune before graduating in 1976. All these years, he has adjusted to changes and improvements in audio consoles - the workshop of a sound engineer. “Getting accustomed to technology is part and parcel of a professional. It may take some time to get used to more fancy equipments, but in the end they only facilitate a better job.”

 After working for years on the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ machine, which involved ‘rolling’ the film manually for the purpose of sound editing, Ranjan is now very happy with the digital Harrison console. “The digital audio has been a boon for us. Earlier a production van with boxes of rolls had to be sent to various studios, where all the work was done manually. Today computers allow all that data to be carried in an 8GB drive,” says the recordist of films like Asoka, Pardes and the recently released Race.

 In cinematography, some of the innovations are revolutionary—the Helicam for instance. It was used in U Me Aur Hum, directed by Ajay Devgan. A ‘flying’ camera attached to a helicopter and operated by a remote control, the Helicam enables the cinematographer to capture images at a high altitude by maneuvering the heli-cam to achieve desired results. In this case it was Aseem Bajaj, the Director of photography (DOP) of films like Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Shabd and Chameli.

“We cinematographers can only experiment as much as our producer’s budget allows.
In a scenario where most Indian producers don’t exactly recover their money, I don’t blame my producer for not giving me top of the line equipment,” says Bajaj, who admits that though most DOPs shoot with an Arri435 today, he himself uses the more expensive Panavision camera. However, Bajaj believes that the market in India is much better today and even western countries are looking for technologies here. With film still being image capturing media, Bajaj is waiting for the entry of digital cameras, which according to him will take around five more years.

 While technicians have had to deal with newer equipment, it’s the suppliers who have had to keep themselves abreast with changes around the world. “It’s a must today,” says Vikram Mehrotra of Legend Films, which supplies equipment to film units. “I travel abroad regularly to check on the equipment used there. A good deal of research is done on the internet too, and with the best technology being used by filmmakers today, there’s no other choice but to provide it to them,” says Mehrotra, who also produced the Shah Rukh Khan starrer, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.

 BR Studios, which provide some of the best editing and audio consoles, have always had to update their editing and dubbing rooms with newer technology. The first to introduce the Rock ‘n’ Roll system, filmmaker Ravi Chopra of BR Studios, believes that audio consoles in India have improved by leaps and bounds. “When I made The Burning Train in 1980, I had to get the film’s entire sound engineered in London, because a good enough system didn’t exist in India. Today, we are able to make products that can compete with the best in the world,” he says.

 g_aniruddha@dnaindia.net