We talk about the work of actors and directors in films. However, we rarely remember the person who works the hardest behind the scenes. We are talking about the cinematographer. It transforms the story into a moving film.
It is not easy to shoot an entire film with heavy camera handling, scene visualization and understanding the director's vision. In a way, he can be called an artist behind the camera. Cinematographer is also called DOP (Director of Photography).
In the new episode of Reel to Real we will talk about cinematography. For this we spoke to renowned cinematographers Asim Bajaj and Kabir Lal. Both also told some interesting things related to film making.
He said that many film stars show great interest in cinematography. They pay special attention to camera angles, focus and lighting. Akshay Kumar is one actor who does not like shooting at night. He films all his sequences in daylight.
Senior actor Dharmendra pays special attention to lighting. They start yelling at the cinematographer if the lighting on set goes a little wrong.
Sometimes night sequences have to be shot during the day Many actors do not shoot at night. In such a situation the night sequences also have to be shot during the day. Here the role of cinematographer increases. Here the scene is shot in such a way that no clouds or sky are visible. This reduces the light and dark type appears on the screen. However, the work is not over even after the shooting. A night filter is also applied to the scene during post production. That's when the scene ends.
Shooting a film is not a big deal, a cinematographer needs to have knowledge of the art According to Asim Bajaj, a cinematographer should have more artistic knowledge than technical knowledge. Anyone can handle a camera. Shooting movies, taking photos or making videos is also not a big deal. Cinematographers should read literature books. Only if he has knowledge of art and literature, he will be able to recognize the eyes of the director.
What is the difference between a cinematographer and a camera operator? The person who handles the heavy camera during shooting is called camera operator. It moves the camera according to the scene. Its job is only to capture live events. The cinematographer sits off to the side and observes the focus, lighting, frame and movement of the actors. He teaches camera operator handling.
A cinematographer's team consists of 7 to 8 people. It consists of a main cameraman, a focuser and an assistant cameraman. However, this number may increase depending on the scale of the film.
Now the focus puller who is Another cameraman stands with the DOP, called the focus puller. He focuses on the object at all times. How far the object is, how far it is moving, every inch counts. If the focus puller's attention wanders even slightly here and there, the scene can be spoiled.
The biggest role of lighting in cinematography, Dharmendra used to leave the set when the lighting was bad Lighting plays a big role in cinematography. Lighting is done before the start of the film, so that the scene is clearly visible on the curtain or screen. Senior actor Dharmendra pays a lot of attention to lighting. If his face appears even slightly dark on screen, he starts yelling at the cinematographer. They stop shooting, even leave the set.
Dharmendra has acted in more than 300 films throughout his career
Ajay Devgan was in demand in the movie 'Runway-34'. There was a court room scene in the film. That said, he didn't want any kind of disturbance during the shoot. For this reason, Asim Bajaj had already started the lighting of that room three days ago. A total of 13 cameras were used to film that particular sequence. It took three days to light the 13 cameras.
Apparently, on the day of the shoot, the actors get irritated because of the lighting. Also their time is wasted. For this reason, the DOP or cinematographer does pre-lighting on set in advance.
When there was no monitor, if a mistake was made, the scene had to be re-shot Earlier there was no monitor. Everything depended on the cinematographer. Once that was shot, it could not be checked. Whether there was any mistake in the scene or not was known only at the editing table. So, during the shooting, if the cinematographer felt that the shot was not perfect, the scene had to be reshot.
Amitabh Bachchan never looks at the monitor, he trusts the work of the cinematographer Asim Bajaj worked as a cinematographer in the film 'Teen Patti' with Amitabh Bachchan and international star Ben Kingsley. While narrating the story of the shooting, he said, 'Bachchan Sahib and Sir Ben Kingsley do not have a single cent of pride or ego. He didn't even look at the monitor after the shot was over. He believes in the work of the cinematographer.
Cinematographers also risk their lives while shooting Cinematographer Kabir Lal said, 'Sunny Deol's film Hero was being shot in a snowy region of Europe. I was the DOP of that film. Had to go up high and take some shots. The ground temperature at that time was -10 degrees Celsius.
After reaching the altitude, the temperature dropped to -30 degrees Celsius. I was sitting in the helicopter and taking shots with the camera in hand. Gradually my hands and feet started freezing. I didn't even wear cold clothes. I felt like I was going to die. This was the most dangerous shoot for me.
Film 'Taal' was shot in real rain, cinematographer Subhash Ghai gets irritated Kabir Lal has worked as a cinematographer in the films of senior filmmaker Subhash Ghai. While sharing the story of the shooting of Subhash Ghai's superhit film 'Taal', he told that, Subhashji had said that we will shoot this film in real rain and storm.
We went to Khandala, a hilly area adjacent to Mumbai. Sitting there all day waiting for rain. Then we shot all the shots when it rained. There were many problems with the shooting. I thought for a moment why I didn't stop Subhash Ghaiji from doing this? I was also getting very irritated. However, after the release of the film, I understood his point. This film became a super hit. The cinematography of the film was highly praised.
An accident was narrowly avoided during the shooting of 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' An accident was narrowly avoided during the shooting of 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'. Kabir Lal said, “There is a scene in 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' where Hrithik Roshan and Ameesha Patel are stranded on an island. It took 30 days to film that one shot. The film team went to Bangkok for this.
The five of us, including the film's director Rakesh Roshan and the star cast Hrithik-Ameesha, used to board a boat and go to the island every day and then shoot there. One day when we were going for a shoot, terrible waves started to rise. There was a possibility of a cyclone. Thank goodness the boatman was smart. He immediately turned the engine to the other side, otherwise we would all have lost our lives.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
