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LESSONSFROMTHEEXPERTS
TRANSCENDING TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS
SETTING OFF ON HIS CAREER PATH WITH COMMERCIALS, SEJAL SHAH IS A RELATIVE NEWCOMER TO FEATURE FILMS
After a formal technical education in electronic cinematography under the
guidance of Mr A.S. Kanal, it was television that first attracted Shah. “That was because television was the in-thing then. I have never had formal training in cinematography. To me, cinematography is all about the understanding of what light could do and what it couldn’t do. Reading has also helped me a lot.”
On his foray into advertising, Shah expresses his gratitude to two people in particular, Roy Barreto and Anand Iyer.
“Roy Barreto is my friend from school. When I approached him with my showreel comprising video, television promos and a little docu-drama that I had done on Gandhiji, he offered me a public service film, which I sponsored and shot. He was extremely pleased with that. Soon after that, 10 to 15 more commercials came my way.”
Shah has done more than 200 commercials, including for major brands such as Indian Oil, Sprit, Royal Stag, Hyundai and Nokia, but he says he still finds commercials, challenging and experimental.”
Drawing parallels between films and advertising, he says advertising is much more professional. “When shooting commercials, there is absolutely no second chance. It has to be the best from the off. Every- thing is precise, planned and executed up to date - unlike filmmaking.”
His debut feature, Silence Please, was based on match fixing. The film was made by Sanjay Srinivas, an MBA student from Bangalore.
“Soon after that, another very interesting film came my way. Two chaps, Mrudul Tuslsidas and Vinay Subramaniam, were planning a film and looking out for a cinematogra- pher for Missed Call which played at many festivals. The film was very
close to my heart as the camera played an important role in the film with the subject matter revolving very much around it.”
“When the offer for London Dreams came along, I was hooked. Till then, I had been turning down a lot of films but this one’s subject appealed to me. I made a little document based on the storyline and showed it to the director. He was quite happy and the project took off from there.”
A self-proclaimed fan of Fujifilm, the cinematographer never hesitates to shower praise on the stock’s versatility. “I am a huge lover of Fujfilm. To me it is by far the best stock. I have been a long patron of Fujfilm for its effectiveness in handling blacks, which I don’t find in any other competitive stocks. Also, my comfort factor with Fujifilm has been extraordinary and I would like to continue with that as long as cinematography allows me to be part of this profession.”
Terming the new ETERNA Vivid stocks as “colour reproductive,” he says the series got a soft-look image that takes the audience to a different world. “While the old ETERNA stocks gives a more polished and classy look, the new ETERNA Vivids give you colours without any DI process and brings out the best pictures in your overall canvas, totally seamlessly.”
“I used ETERNA Vivid 250D for my current film Bodyguard, which has lots of exteriors and interiors. I really like exposing film under normal natural conditions and I am not one for pumping in artificial light.
“To me, cinematography has to be inspired and real, unless it is fantasy. I have always used natural light to my advantage. I would definitely use the ETERNA Vivid 250D in both indoor and outdoor sit- uations because it holds onto the
latitude. I have pushed the stock by two or three stops under extreme conditions. It has held onto the image, held onto the blacks and held onto the colours. What more could you ask for?
“The ETERNA Vivid 250D inter- cuts seamlessly with ETERNA Vivid 500T. I wasn’t expecting it but when you finally see it, it looks beautiful. The ETERNA series gives you very natural tones, which are real and can be believed. Yes, I really love working with Fujifilm stocks.”
Listing his priorities, Shah emphasises that the primary focus
THREEINDIAN CINEMATOGRAPHERS RAVI KCHANDRAN R VELRAJ AND SEJAL SHAH
FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE • THE MAGAZINE • EXPOSURE • 31
should always be script. “The script is the hero. It is the thing that drives the business of filmmaking. If you don’t have a really well written, good script, your film will not work even though you might have the biggest names in Bollywood.”
“Every cinematographer wants to make his own colour palette. Cinematography is about framing and imagery. To me, it is painting with light, about getting the right moments and understanding what the camera can do for the film.”
TALKABOUT THEIRWORKWITH FUJIFILMSTOCKS
Photos: DP Ravi K Chandran (top left), DP R Velraj (inset left), DP Sejal Shah (above right)