Now, made from home movies for you
If it has given the term ‘remote filmmaking’ or shooting from remote locations a new spin. Remote filmmaking now entails the actors, the director and the crew, all coordinating from different locations to stitch together one final product. This means the actors also get to make directorial decisions, with the director having final control on the editing table.
Overall, the idea is to not get bogged down by limitations of this new normal. A case in point is Terribly Tiny Tales (TTT). The microfiction platform has launched a series of films under Made From Home (MFH) category. The first two films – Half of My Heart and Banana Bread – have already garnered attention for their sleek filmmaking and superb performances.
“MFH was the need of the hour for us to continue telling stories responsibly through films. In March, when we began work from home, we had no idea how long it would take for us to go back on a set. We waited and watched and did our homework before writing our film, made completely remotely from our
homes. It was challenging, but incredibly satisfying. We soon realised it was possible. After the release of
Half of My Heart, we began work on Banana Bread,” shares TTT studio head, Sharanya Rajgopal. On the challenges faced during the making, Filmmaker Keyur Shah, who directed Half Of My Heart, says, “I realised I can have a hard time putting every thought into words. To be able to express correctly and clearly despite all the Internet breakage, to express what exactly needs to be done, not just for the actors but for the entire team….” Agrees the Director of Banana Bread, Srinivas Sunderrajan. “The challenges are manifold with ‘distance’ being the major one.
Filmmaking has been a social process – many minds at work, physically and mentally. You take one (physical) away and the balance gets altered. So, becoming aware of this handicap and trying to work our way around it is where one can get success in making such films under the present-day circumstances.” Asked if remote filmmaking will be the “new normal”, Shah says, “It has flaws but benefits too. It’s going to coexist, considering the amount of resources it saves. It’s another variant to filming. People will continue making the experience better, but we will go back to the best filming experiences of our lives too.” Sunderrajan is of the opinion that it’s not going to stay this way for long. “TV and ad shoots have already started with due Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place.
The ‘shooting SOPs’ is the ‘new normal’ one has to adapt to in order to survive. You can conduct meetings and workshops ‘remotely’, but live shooting will slowly find its way back,” he puts in. On creating more such films, Sharanya adds, “We plan to continue having a solid schedule of films in the coming months – films made from home as well as with small crews made on location. We are learning every day on how to keep the story at the heart of these challenging times and follow all protocols to keep the team safe.”