Secret Desire – A Film with Live Actors
March 2008 was a wake up call for me.
I was too much bogged down in a hectic software project, working day and night (and weekends). I was exhausted, tired and it seemed like the artistic streak had left me.
Then a bunch of my creative friends (who were equally tired with their job-centric lives) decided to do something different and I eagerly participated. We decided to make a short film, and miraculously, things just materialized.
We completed the scripting in a week, actual shooting in two days, and editing over the next week. I have directed this film, and also contributed towards editing and camerawork.
It was the first time filming experience for most of us, but you will not believe it when you see it!
Watch ‘Secret Desire’ on youtube.
 |
 |
| Secret Desire – Part 1 | Secret Desire – Part 2 |
 |
| Making of Secret Desire |
What If … – A Claymation Film
This animation has a special place in my life. It’s completely my baby!
Right from story and script, clay modelling, sets cration, camera work, editing, choosing the background tracks and doing voice over (except the female voice overs, which were done by my wife Aparna and friend Manisha), I did everything in this movie.
One more short film, ‘Making of What If…’ is included below, which may prove even more interesting than the film itself. Have a look and decide for yourself.
Watch ‘What If…’ on youtube
 |
| What If … |
 |
 |
| Making of What If… Part 1 | Making of What If… Part 2 |
Winds of Change – A Stop-Mo with Live Actors
As a part of annual function of the software company where I work, a film competition was declared, and I jumped in to create this film.
For this film, I decided to experiment a bit. Since I had made 2 films previously – one with live actors and one using the stop motion animation technique on clay models … This time I decided to combine the two! The result was a fabulous mash up of two mediums. Because I was working on individual photos rather than a film, it was mush easier to add some ‘special effects’ and interesting backgrounds.
I processed more than 250 photos individually using the GIMP software to create this film within 2 weeks (we had finished shooting for this film within 4 hours flat!).
Watch ‘Winds of Change’ on youtube.
 |
Underwater Video of my Scuba Dive @ Lakshadweep
It was a lifelong dream of mine to do some scuba diving amongst the scenic corals of the world. I completed my PADI Scuba Diving certification course in Feb 2010 in the extremely scenic seas of the Lakshadweep islands in the India Ocean.
During one of the open water dives (which were done up to a depth of 18 meters) I filmed the dive with the help of my diving instructor Sikandar. Following is a short video essay of that dive. I filmed this dive with my Oregon Scientific 2000 Adventure camera. The camera manual specifies water resistance only up to 5 meters depth, but the camera worked surprisingly well till 18 meters depth.
Watch ‘PADI certification video’ on youtube.
|
Reach for the Sky … A Parasailing experience
I had my first wonderful Parasailing experience when I visited the town of Diveagar in Konkan as a part of an adventure camp in 2006.
Diveagar beach is a spectacular and clean site. The parasailing team attached our chutes to the back of a jeep and drove over the beach at high speed. We reached nearly 100 feet in the air.
The videos were shot with my Nikon Coolpix 4300 digital camera. The camera has a capacity to shoot low-res videos of max 40 seconds without sound! Doesn’t it sounds so primitive now? Still the information captured in those low-res videos was so interesting that I decided to make this little video of my own here. Hope you like it.
Watch ‘Reach for the Sky’ on youtube.
 |
To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before
Before you watch the following video, please note the following facts:
1. This video content was created for use as an entry into a contest within my employer company, IBM.
2. All rights to this video are owned by IBM, and I am publishing this with the express written permission of IBM.
3. This video cannot be published elsewhere / copied / reproduced without express written permission of IBM.
I work with IBM India Pvt Ltd. As IBM is celebrating this year as its centenary year, many things are happening within the organization. As a part of this celebration, a video making contest was organized by IBM for its employees. As soon as I came to know about this, I had to jump into it.
So I came up with this interesting 60 seconds video – ‘To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before’.
The philosophy I used in this video was that of the synergy between man and the machine. In the science fiction and popular culture, these two entities are always shown fighting for the domination of our dear planet. But IBM has been constantly striving to make better and smarter machines to make our lives easier.
This 1 minute video took 10 hours to make, all of it after work late in the night. I finished the script, background narrative recording and thumb nailing on night 1, followed by all other work (drawing the final images – 30 of them, editing, sound effects and final touches) on night 2. I spent the next day being a zombie (a very happy and contented zombie indeed).
