“Creative differences between artists like cinematographers and directors will always be there,” said ace cinematographer Santosh Sivan. “The important thing is to respect each others’ work and inputs,” he said. Sivan was speaking at the inauguration of a four-day conference on film appreciation at D G Vaishnav College’s Department of Visual Communication.
During his address, Sivan spoke at length about the nuances of cinematography and urged the students to be creative. Sivan also outlined the necessity of education and congratulated the department for introducing a specific course for film appreciation. “I studied cinematography at the Pune Film Institute. The main advantage of an educational institution is that it brings like minded people and people from different cultures and backgrounds together. It is very good for collaboration.”
He recollected how seeing his grandmother teach painting everyday taught him how to recreate something and still be original. He cited an anecdote that taught him how collaborations of different perspectives can create wonderful works of art. “At the start of my career, I was teaching at a school in Arunachal Pradesh. There, I saw a Gandhi statue in front of the school, but the Gandhiji there was shorter, with a longer staff and really muscular legs. It was their perception of Gandhiji,” he said.
During the session, the students also presented a short film titled ‘The Game’. The programme will be held from September 23 to 26 and will include several sessions on various aspects of filmmaking and film appreciation.