My first short film - exist

Exist was my first short film as a Director. This was my third project at film school were we had to make a silent film as part of our Continuity Exercise. I had written and posted the story in my blog a while ago. I just finished re editing the film and also added background music. We shot the film using a Sony HDV camera, the whole shoot was completed in one day.

I have to thank my cast Manoj Leonal Jahson and Mayank Gupta. Thanks to Rakesh Rawat my cinematographer, was amazed to see him climb up a tree not thinking twice about his own safety to shoot an overhead shot. As its a very slow paced film, I did bug my editor to death to get exactly what I wanted. Thanks Akruti Roa for putting up with my constant nagging while editing. Also thanks to all the people who helped me in making this film.

This film is dedicated to my dear friend Manoj Krishnamoorthy, will always look back at those memorable days and remember him smiling.

Hope the film is worth your time.

Cheers

Pradeep Kumar

An open Letter to all the Haters :-)

Facebook in one of the main platforms through which people exist. The active ones, these are the people who share anything and everything on social media. The second group are people who are occasionally active and the final group are your purist voyeurs, they just log in to see what others do. We all know to which category we exactly belong to.
I have seen many hate mails and open letters in the blog world, people generally whining about writing styles, content. People ridiculing others for their lack of English knowledge (mine is very bad), for having opinions etc. This outraged and offended group have now taken over social media too. These people think that the Internet / Blogs / Social Networking Sites etc... are their Ancestral wealth. Sorry idiots, its not. I'm surprised to see many who take the term HOME PAGE quite literally. Wake up people it is not YOUR freaking HOME page. It is Mark Zukerberg's Home page and we all are just guests here. I have every right to say what I want to and so do you. If I get annoyed with your comments and opinions, that is primarily my problem and the simplest solution is to keep away from you.

Social Media has become the new world of entertainment where you are the star as well as the audience. It's a large scale reality show in which millions of people participate with blind faith. So If you are unhappy about others opinions and activities, get the fuck out, If not, then stop whining and start irritating :-) 

Cheers to all who live and let live. 

Cheers

Pradeep Kumar 

My Fav Dance Sequences in Cinema

Singing In The Rain

Hello Dolly - The movie is one of the best musicals ever, which had some mind blowing choreography. Directed by the master - Gene Kelly.

Anchors Aweigh

Oliver! (The Musical) (1968)

Dance with me

Gene Kelly

Grease

Mise En Scene - Mr. Vengeance

Mr. Vengeance is my latest work at film school, it's a Mise En Scene. A single take short film shot on 16mm film camera. From the first thoughts of the story to the final  screening of movie at L.V. Prasad film academy, it was an amazing experience.

The film is dedicated to my Guru - Chan Wook Park. The story is inspired from his Vengeance Trilogy. Even though I saw the third film (Lady Vengeance) after my shoot, I was amazed to see how much Chan Wook Park's work has inspired me.

The film was shot in one day. Even when your planning is near perfect, things can still go wrong. We did face few problems and at one point I seriously thought we wouldn't finish shooting the film. Thanks to my Sound Designer - Aalaap Majgavkar, Dop and a great crew, we were able to finish the shoot. I have to thank my Sound Designer specifically here, he took it to another level during post production. Even during the shoot I had a zillion things running on my mind and the one thing I totally forgot about was how the sound department were doing their job. Aalaap and his team did such a perfect job. I also have to thank all the actors - Ragav, Ashok, Nirmal, Daniel.

I had a story and a specific visual design for this film. Of course there are a million ways to shoot the same story, this is just one way. 

Hope it's worth your time.

Cheers
Pradeep Kumar

My LiL Angel - Short Film

This is one of my Film School projects - Dialog Exercise. Initially I had 3 stories but due to specific issues I came up with the 4th idea at the last moment . I just had one week for pre production, casting etc.... and I royally screwed up on planning. We somehow managed to shoot my project in the alloted 2 days with a lot of compromises and difficulties. I learnt a lot about different working styles and also about what it takes to get things done when the odds are against you. 

I have to thank a lot of people who have taught me valuable lessons. Thanks to an amazing crew and special thanks to all the actors who did a superb job without having any rehearsals.

Hope its worth your time.....

Cheers
Pradeep Kumar

Quotes

Funny thing is IDIOTS read this and don't make an effort to think about it. Maybe if we actually start to think it will lead to a change, hopefully for correcting our mistakes.

Napoleon........

"The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, But because of the silence of good people!" 
                 
Einstein.........

"I am thankful to all those who said NO to me Its because of them I did it myself.."
               
Abraham Lincoln.........

"If friendship is your weakest point then you are the strongest person in the world"                 
                                  
Shakespeare..........

"Laughing Faces Do Not Mean That There Is Absence Of Sorrow! But It Means That They Have The Ability To Deal With It".                                 

William Arthur.........

 "Opportunities Are Like Sunrises, If You Wait Too Long You Can Miss Them".               
                   
Shakespeare.............
           
"Coin Always Makes Sound But The Currency Notes Are Always Silent. So When Your Value Increases Keep Yourself Calm and Silent"    
                 
Dr Abdul Kalaam........

"It Is Very Easy To Defeat Someone, But It Is Very Hard To Win Some"                 
                 

Shakespeare.....

"Never Play With The Feelings Of Others Because You May Win The Game                 

 But The Risk Is That You Will Surely Lose The Person For A Life Time".                                                    

The Art of Questioning

If not for the human brains thinking power, all of us would still be sitting inside caves. So here are some random questions for which
I want to know,
I know and
I certainly don't want to know
the Answers :-)

How come we always learn more about what not to do... rather than what exactly to do?

How come the moment you start being nice to people they take you for granted?

How come some of us are so ignorant?
You tell them about their ignorance... show them ..... explain in detail about the consequences..... but still they never learn until its too late and some never learn as its very convenient to be IGNORANT.

Why are we so obsessed about ourselves, our lives, our happiness, our worries, our image, our work, our status, our love, our pain, our ...etc...

Why don't we think and care for other peoples lives and opinions?

Is there a cure for Narrow Mindedness?

Why don't people take responsibility for their actions?
Its always somebody else's fault that everything is wrong or bad, If you are in trouble constantly the problem is with you... not due to others.

How come some people find it so easy to always Bitch about others when their lives are equally or more F'd up?
I do too, My Excuse: it's a rarity, percentage matters :)

Why do some put on a show when they do know its not possible to "act for life" ?

Is there a cure for an Egoist?

When am I going to stop ranting?

More to come.......

cheers
Pradeep

(500) Days of Summer - Directed by Marc Webb

This is a Romantic Comedy which stays clear of the usual, cheesy fares which we all have been putting up with in recent times. 500 days of Summer is a realistic, funny and beautiful movie. It's one of those movies which can freak you out, it definitely did freak me out.

The movie starts with a kick ass Disclaimer :

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

-----------------------------------------------

Especially you Jenny Beckman.

-----------------------------------------------

Bitch.

It begins with the usual - boy meets girl, boy falls in love with the girl, both have a relationship which is as usual "Complicated" and the movie reaches the end. An end which is a new beginning.

There are quite a lot of things which makes the movie realistic, one of the main factors are the lead pair. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom) and Zooey Deschanel (Summer), both of them look super real compared to other Hollywood lead actors who either look too beautiful or flamboyant. Acting is never over the top, the overall subtlety goes well with the story.

I was surprised to know that this was Marc Webb's Debut. Cinematography and background score were excellent and again subtlety is the keyword.

I felt irritated with one aspect of the film and its the most important one, the screenplay. As the story is about Tom and his 500 days with Summer, the screenplay goes back and forth on these 500 days. This was confusing but half way through the movie I realized the genius of it. This irritant makes me want to watch the film again.

I believe that Love is indeed a Cliché, but (500) Days of Summer is certainly not one.

Cheers

Pradeep

HAPPY NEW YEAR :-)

Another year gone…. Another year came……

For all the right reasons..............

I hope to....Remain the same….....

I hope to.........Treat all the same….

I hope to..............Dream the same…..and 

I sure hope to...............Make a change…......

2011 can be just another year…. Or we can make it another Best Year….....

Wishing Good Health and Happiness……to you, your family and your friends……...

Cheers

Pradeep Kumar

P.S. I also hope to lie... the same… :-)