CHENNAI: The room at Curioplay in Alwarpet was packed with self-professed ‘movie geeks’ and ‘movie buffs’ on Sunday for the The TEDx Napier Bridge Salon ‘Showtime — Exploring Cinema’ event.
The energy in the room was infectious as everyone settled down to watch the TED talks where some of the masters of the craft decoded their process.
Be it Andrew Stanton’s take on what makes for a compelling story or ‘Rob’ Legato, the visual effects supervisor of Titanic, recounting what went into making the iconic film or Don Levy speaking about the evolution of visual effects, the audience listened with rapt attention.
The short clippings that featured the works of filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson, and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki left the audience awestruck. It was befitting that the discussions that followed were passionate. The audience discussed their favourite scenes from movies and this set the ball rolling for a fun, engaging and enriching evening where everyone bonded over their common love for cinema.
The organisers ensured that those who attended the session offered the complete movie experience by providing popcorn, cold coffee and some cookies.One of the highlights of the programme was the interactive session with film critic, author and editor of Film Companion (South), Baradwaj Rangan. He spoke about how one could watch films better. He also shared the challenges he faces as a critic in the digital age where reviews are expected to be churned out almost immediately. He shared that the best way to watch a film is to see it for what it is and not let the pressure of what has been said by the filmmaker or actors in interviews affect you in any way. His tip, for a better experience, is to switch off the mobile phone while watching a movie. There was also a discussion on the usage of women in cinema which was followed by an interactive quiz session.
Andrew Stanton, in his talk, said the best stories are those that infuse wonder. This is true of anything. TEDx Napier Bridge Salon looks to spread an idea that is worth sharing. The session certainly managed to infuse wonder and by the end of it, everyone walked out curious and wide-eyed about the medium that manages to captivate us, and with a stack of names to add to their ‘must watch’ list that included not only foreign language films but also a number of regional films.
Showtime!
For a complete movie experience, the audience at the TEDx Napier Bridge Salon event were given popcorn, cold coffee and cookies.