Raja Rajveer Rajyana - The Design of My Cinematography

8/6/2019 Raja Rajveer Rajyana - The Design of My Cinematography

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THE DESIGN AND STYLE OF MY CINEMATOGRAPHY

The look of a film isnt something you think up.

Its something you you'd dreamup.Thats the core of my approach to Cinematography.I cant summarize my philosophy of filmmaking in a few words... It takes alifetime to understand what it is all about. Different types of films require

different approaches from the kind of shooting style to the technical style.After-all Technology is as fickle as Fashion. It changes our way of working,the way we look at scenes... It even changes our dreams

What I tended to do when shootingfor SHANTI SENA is - I justunderexposed it a little bit, becausewith a film like SHANTI SENA youwant a grainier look because of the

terrain than a film set in a differentlocation. So you have to be aware ofyour surroundings and know whatkind of look you want for your movie.Due to Budget constraints when wecouldnt hire a Crane, I perchedmyself on the highest Water-tower inthe region (over 6000 ft). The shots I

got from there were spectacular.


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(SCENE OF OUR HEROS LOST IN THE BLAZING DESERT)

I remember the time when in myschool days I used to walk intopainting stores and gaze intovarious reproductions of the worksof the famous painters.One of my favorites was the Dutch

artist, Johannes Vermeer. He wasmy God of Naturalism in the "Art ofLight and Shade". I came across aPainting of a maidservant pouringmilk... painted in 1660. A paintingof soft, subdued, absolutelyBEAUTIFUL light.I must have stood by it for half anhour and walked around and

looked at it, and went away andcame back to it.This seriously affected my conceptof how the light should look.

I give credit to Johannes Vermeer for my style of detailed naturalisticlighting that corresponds to the details in nature and its relationship to otherobjects in the environment.


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THE ROMANTIC SCENES IN SHANTI-SENA

I wanted an epic quality with a sortof surreal beauty.

The design called for a soft look. Ilooked for soft lights, avoidedfrontal lighting and shot in side orback light -- but mainly Iinnovated. Its difficult to controlsoft light it just goes and fills theplaces you dont want it to. I usedCones made of rolled-upcardboard, light dimmers, and

black wooden 4X4 frames tocontour the light.I started out with Pastel shadessuch as Lee#152 and Lee#107, Awhitish-milk tone was achieved byLee#103 (Straw)

I went in for Reflected light and BounceTHROUGH faintly tinted Gels, andlighting through skin-colored silks.

There is a certain logic to lighting. You want to make your lights to comefrom recognizable sources like street lamps or the moon shining through awindow. The direction, intensity and color of light have to be accurate.At the same time the screenplays requires you to light in a certain way for

aesthetic purposes.I draw my lighting concept of a given scene by studying the natural light inthe scene itself, and then I build up on that.The result was that I began to light the scenes very much like practicallocations. Using 100 watt bulbs, Mercury vapor lamps (UGH..! Verydifficult to control) and augmented with very strong HMI bounce lights.

Lighting is an art form and I use it for dramatic reinforcement.

Artistry is more important to a Cinematographer and Director than meretechnical expertise. Thats what Cinema is all about, it should not only beentertaining but it should lead you to thinking and feeling and responding.


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My job is to find the point where the two purposes interact.Therefore I light in "Bits and Pieces" matching the natural sky light to the

reflected light. Often this comes down to using smoke and hangingdiffusion to mask the Sun.(Fog was added in the shot above to help light up the background, theactors were bathed in soft incandescent lighting.)

Then as the story begins to twist into a macabre saga of repressed

emotions and frustrations, the lighting becomes more expressionistic.The hues change gradually from Pastel to Primary.


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The fill light decreases and the angleof the Key becomes lower, creatinglonger shadows with very deep blacks.The emotional value of a scene isdetermined by how colors would relateto one another, not just by one coloralone. As the darker side of thecharacters is revealed the filmbecomes gritty and darker.

This scene required a Twilight look,so I used a Tiffen LLD filter. Its very

light but with a little bit of orange in it.I replaced the 85 filter with the LLDfilter, exposed at 125 ASA, andunderexposed one stop.You still get the blue look but the fleshtones are normal.

What you photograph is just as important as HOW you photograph it.

The amazing thing is that with multiple keys is that suddenly the facebecomes very plastic, very mobile, very expressive. Even when there is aneutral expression there is still something very alive about the facebecause of the way the light falls.

My visual thinking has its roots in Realism. But I have seen how newvisual experiments such as Music Videos can enhance our way of usinglight and color. My earlier Music videos career has a lot to do with my visualsensitivity. It gives me an enormous freedom to experiment with jump-cuts,

with clashing colors, with conflicting images which do not connect visually all these create a novel style in film-making.

Technically I like a Challenge in my work perhaps thats why I have oftenbeen accused of having a minimum ofSix difficult shots in everything I do.

I dont feel happy otherwise If its not difficult Its no fun!!

When I listen to music with my eyes closed, I perceive music as colorsandforms and space with the heartbeat providing the sense of rhythm,both inside the frame and in the editing process.


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(An example of using FORM and SPACE in the choreography of a songfor the film, shot in Rajasthan)

In one scene - an exterior, involving a crowd of 20 - 30 jawans and villagers- a fight breaks out.I was with the camera in the middle of the crowd with everyone and

everything in sharp focus.

There were people three to four feet away from the camera.Others were twenty feet away.I was using daylight when suddenly DARK storm clouds moved in.However I was able to pull a Deep-focus at T-11.

(How I did it - is a Trade secret.)

One of my personal innovations that I used here was a light source thatconsisted of two metal pipes one inside the other (something like atelescope) A 500 watt bulb was inserted into the narrower tube.By then twisting the two metal tubes in relation to each other, we adjustedthe opening of the slots, thus allowing more or less lights to come through.The color temperature and the light remained unchanged A sheet ofglass coated with Vaseline was used to soften the source. In this way


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four miniature cost-effective lights were mounted on the four edges ofthe matte-box.

There was a time when I wanted a STRAIGHT DOWN shot of the soldiersscuffling. And I had no Crane. A little ingenuity and there I was, on top ofa 35 foot ladder which was up on a Truck. With FOUR guys actuallyHolding the Ladder and me, balancing precariously, and shootingStraight-Down!

Many decisions regarding photographic techniques are dictated by theperformance of the actors. Watching rehearsals therefore is important.There are some veteran actors who use a lot of "Body-language" who do a lot of interesting things with their hands.

As a Cinematographer and Director I respect elements like that anduse these gestures and body language while framing shots.If you dont do that you are cheating the actor and you are cheating

the audience.


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One of the big problemareas was the White Sandsof Rajasthan. The locals toldme that the only time youcan get good pictures is anhour after sunrise and anhour before sunset. I foundthe morning light to be toocool, so I shot in theevening, when I could getthe long shadows that makethe sand dunes beautiful.

But in Rajasthan the evening light changes faster than you can say Action!I had to take the shot quickly before the Sun changed.Its kind of exasperating when you cant control your light at all. That BIGGaffer in the sky is handling it all for you.

I always allow the movement ofthe actors to determine themovement of the camera.I always consider Depth-of-field

and the performance of the lens.A lens has a certain stop where itperforms the best. I usually avoidusing filters in front of the lensunless its aids the scene.Because whatever you use in

front of the lens is going todowngrade the quality of theimage. With a Filter you are

getting softness at the expense ofthe clarity and the Definition of thecomposition.I believe in creating the softnessyou want with lighting whileretaining a crisp sharp image.And I believe I create the Best ofboth worlds.


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My work is not just lighting a scene but gettingintothe scene to

whatever emotional message is there.

Raja Rajveer Rajyana - The Design of My Cinematography

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