SURES KUMAR'S BLOG

Who is the author of C?

2012-02-09T03:49:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Ramu

The New Madras (in SOHO, New York)

2011-06-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

B&H Photo Video

2011-03-02T14:28:00.001-08:00

Recently had a chance to visit B&H Photo video. Its like a city full of pro lighting, binoculars, telescopes, video equipments, audio equipments, darkroom stuff, film, analog and digital cameras, computers, printers, scanners, related accessories and what not.. For a person like me, this is heaven! Buying cameras, lens, tripods, bagpacks are like buying household items in Bigbazaar / Target / any other supermarket. You select a camera, then go to the lens section, which has around 500 lens I guess.. you can try any of those lens and click pictures. then go to the tripod section try your camera with the suitable tripod. then go to the backpack area. try fitting in all that you have baught. and ya you walk out buying all accessories after trying them with your camera.

If not for any other reason, trying out diff lens in your camera really gives a clear idea on what lens fits your requirement.

Have attached few pictures of the store.

and ya I found the Sound spot speakers in action. It worked quite well.

Teaching light painting to my niece

2010-11-25T07:01:00.000-08:00

Taught Light Painting to my 11 years old niece yesterday. Was an amazing experience. She has no idea about photography so I have to draw analogy between eyes, memory, painting, writing etc to make her understand how a camera works. And explaining concepts like shutter speed and focal length etc were quite challenging. To my surprise she learned it very quickly.

After teaching any concept, she will ask me to click a pic with those settings. She learned it by seeing it working. Was interesting to observe. Remembered how we struggled in NID to learn the same concept with loads of explanations and ray diagrams :-)

These are few light paintings painted during the session.

Memories.

2010-11-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

Was cleaning some old stuffs and came across these old floppy disks, CDs and HDDs.. I have a special attachment with these stuffs. I still couldn forget the day I bought my first CD. Its a Office 2000 disk. I used to literally sit and count how many floppy disks I have to stack to compensate the data capacity of one CD. Later came Windows Me. Slowly CDs became a common thing. Those days, apart from softwares there was nothing to store which will occupy this much capacity. Movies / Songs were not quite common in CDs. The only files I could possibly generate were tally files, word files and html files saved from internet which all put togeather wont exceed even few 100 MBs. Then came mp3 songs. slowly my 4 GB HDD was full. Then I moved to 10 GB followed by 40 GB which stayed for a long time. My first Comp had 32 MB SD-RAM with which I could play only NFS II. My first customer gave an order for an PC with 64 MB RAM. Whoa! It was a day for gaming. NFS III requies a minimum of 64 MB RAM. So played NFS III for one full day. Today we have 4 GB RAMs but still I see my friends complaining "System is too slow, I think we should upgarde the RAM".

The first boot disk I created.

First CD bought for Rs. 500.

Now its all crap ! :-( (and is getting thrown away)

I have seen the shift of technology from wordstar (WS) to microsoft word. DOS to Windows 95 - cursor with program manager. Dave to Wolf 3d, Quake 3d, etc... LOGO, GWBasic, Foxpro to C, C++, VB, Java, Oracle. Lotus123 to Microsoft Excel. B/W CRT serial monitor to 14" Colour CRT monitor to 21" TFT Flat monitor. 16 MB RAM to 4 GB RAM. 300 MB HDD to 1 TB HDD.

But still I am preserving few memorable things.

Cannot forget the days without Google, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Orkut, Linkedin, YouTube, Torrents, IRCTC, CD, DVD, Blue Ray, mp4, divX, USB port, Pen Drive, Wi Fi, Bluetooth, Photoshop (to my access), DSL connection and the list goes on...

play

2010-11-08T06:33:00.001-08:00

Projection Mapping Prototype

2010-08-14T03:21:00.000-07:00

This video is a documentation of the prototype done for the course "Embedded Systems and Interaction Design" at National Institute of Design, India.

Hardware: Sharp XR-10S DLP Projector
Software: Autodesk Maya and VPT 4.1

Team members:
Sures Kumar
Promila Roychoudhury

Acknowledgments:
Khakhar Jignesh
Nagar Bhaumik
Panchal Ujjval
Pathan Arshad

FRAMEWORKS

2010-08-08T02:00:00.000-07:00

FRAMEWORKS is an interactive installation based on the principle of mixed reality, which tries to enhance the meaning of an architectural space. We tried achieving it by developing a game, where a virtual character plays with the real space, walls and depth.

This video is a documentation of the display for the course "Embedded Systems and Interaction Design" at National Institute of Design, India.

Hardware: Arduino duemilanove - ATmega168, 3 axis Accelerometer, 1 axis Gyroscope and Sharp XR-10S DLP Projector
Software: Processing 1.0 and Autodesk Maya

Team members: Sures Kumar and Promila Roychoudhury
Project co-ordinator: Jignesh Khakhar
Guide: Ujjval Panchal and Bhaumik Nagar
Electronics guidance: Arshad Pathan

Microcosm - National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar after a rainy day [HD]

2010-07-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

Location: National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar (PG Campus)
Date: July 2010
Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX1/B

VR Glove Prototype v 2 0 Ping Pong Game with Physical Boundaries

2010-07-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

This video is a documentation of the prototype "Ping Pong Game with Physical boundaries on an architectural wall" done for the course "Embedded Systems and Interaction Design" at National Institute of Design, India.

Hardware: Arduino, 3 axis Accelerometer and Gyroscope
Software: Processing 1.0

Team members: Sures Kumar and Promila Roychoudhury
Project co-ordinator: Jignesh Khakhar
Guide: Ujjval Panchal and Bhaumik Nagar
Electronics guidance: Arshad Pathan

VR Glove - Prototype v 1.0 (Navigating in 3 dimensional space)

2010-07-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

This video is a documentation of the prototype done for the course "Embedded Systems and Interaction Design" at National Institute of Design, India.

Hardware: Arduino, 3 axis Accelerometer, Gyroscope and Force Pressure Sensor (FPS)
Software: Processing 1.0

Team members: Sures Kumar and Promila Roychoudhury
Project co-ordinator: Jignesh Khakhar
Guide: Ujjval Panchal and Bhaumik Nagar
Electronics guidance: Arshad Pathan

Now Google in Erode !

2010-05-25T01:58:00.001-07:00

Yes! believe it or not.. Google has opened its new cafe named as "Google Systems" in erode, tamilnadu ;-)

Infosys Mysore Campus

2010-03-27T03:34:00.000-07:00

Recently I had a chance to visit Mysore.
Met Manikandan after a very long time and he took me to Infosys mysore campus.
I loved the campus... Here are few pics..

For more high res pics click here

Sound Design by Rajivan Ayyappan in NID, Gandhinagar (PG Campus)

2010-02-02T02:55:00.000-08:00

We had a Sound Design Workshop by Rajivan Ayyappan. We were exposed to concepts like soundscape, sound mapping etc.. In the first few days, he made us roam around the campus and near by areas to observe different kinds of sounds generated naturally. Further we were asked to collect any waste / useless material from campus and explore various possibilities of generating unique sounds from it. Initially we were trying to make sounds with patterns which were sounding good but he encouraged us to get rid of the patterns and generate sounds which are absract in nature.

In the end of the course, we did a 10 minutes performance in Bubble Square, NID Gandhinagar Campus. Even though none of the students from other departments understood what we are trying to perform, they gathered around, enjoyed and applauded.

First milestone achieved in my multitouch project :-)

2009-12-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

This video was shot when the blobs were visible for the first time after some 4-5 days of hardwork :-)

Widescreen wallpapers from crazy drawings

2009-11-29T08:25:00.000-08:00

Hi guys..
Its been a long time since I blogged..
Was involved in an animation project (link). Will put a blog post explaining that very soon..
Recently I have been learning a lot about art history and stuffs like that.. I have always wondered what all those great paintings mean and why they are valued soo much.. in short I was basically trying to learn “art appreciation”
Saw Pollock, Frida and Incognito and was truly inspired.
From my childhood, I have always been trying to replicate scenaries, potraits, cartoons etc on the name of drawing.. have never really tried to create something on my own.. in fact no one really appreciated that in my environment.. the more a potrait looks real, the more people appreciated it.. now after watching all these great artist’s works, I came to know that all these guys had their own style… I mean its very unique. Some trying to express in a new way.. some trying to create a new language and all that..
Then after long discussions with my room mate, I dedided to discover whats my style or way of expression..
One of my very good friend presented me a camel soft pastels. So started exploring by drawing crazy drawings daily… I really enjoyed this process.. had no aims as such.. no rules.. no one to impress.. I even went to the extent of pouring odomos ointment, soap and mud over the canvas.. was really awesome.. felt like a kid.. you wont believe, most of the drawings were having elements what I already know.. I mean there was hardly anything new.. felt very disappointing.. but didn give up.. kept drawing again and again.. in diff moods.. tried to express anger, passion, love, hunger, irritation etc.. was a good excersise I guess..
In the later drawings, slowly something new started popping up.. I really got excited.. but again it was very less..
Nearly after 3 weeks, now I am understanding how difficult it is to come up with a unique style in art.
Did some photoshop works on these drawings.. was real fun.. loved those bright colours.. have never really enjoyed drawing and colours like this till now.. created some widescreen wallpapers from the drawings. Have listed few of them… will keep adding.. my exploration will never end until I figure out my own style…

These are some of the original drawings from which all the above wallpapers were made.. all are drawn in camel soft pastels (something like crayons)

Garba and Durga Pooja in National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

2009-10-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here in Gujarat Navaratri is celebrated in a very grand manner. People dance every night in large gatherings. A very powerful music is played (using Indian percussion instruments). Both men and women usually wear colorful costumes while performing garba. The girls and the women wear ghaghra choli, a three-piece dress with choli on the top and ghaghra as bottom, made of cotton with beads, shells, mirrors, sitars, and embroidery work, mati, jhumkas, necklaces, bindi, bajubandh, chudas and kangans, kamarbandh, payal, and mojiris and dupatta tucked in the Gujarati manner. Boys and men wear kafni pyjamas with a kediyu - a short round kurta - above the knees and pagadi on the head with bandhini dupatta, kada, and mojiris.

Here in NID, Garba is celebrated in a very grand manner. The first 8 days were usual garba dances where people from different parts of Ahmedabad come and joined. Every student gets a pass to bring in 4 guests. Thus a lot of family members, friends and “friends” join the dance. People really have fun.

The last day is celebrated in a very special manner.. There is this “Diya Dance” where every student carries two diyas and dances Garba. All the lights nearby were switched off. The ambiance was amazing ! totally dark and hundreds of people dancing with lights in their hand. Heavy Mystic Music. That experience can never be shared or explained.. It can only be felt.. I am thankful and happy that I attended and was a part of it.

These are the Diya decorations in the entrance.... nearly 20-30 such installations were made..
It gave a very warm welcome to everyone..

Long distance view... (with slow shutter speed)

Durga pooja installation in NID

ICICI Bank’s online banking ________ !

2009-09-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

I had a series of bad experiences with my ICICI online bank account.. I have reset / reactivated my userid for the third time today. And every time I have to call them to their Chennai customer care from Ahmedabad. These brilliant chaps in Chennai don’t even know the no. of the Ahmedabad customer care center. The ahmedabad customer care no. given is not active now. So I have to spend FEW mins (>10mins) listening to all their musical pre recorded crap in a STD call.. Recently I called them by Friday morning 8:50 AM. I had to call and try all possibilities with that automated answering system.. Luckily after spending Rs.22 by 4 calls, I understood the system. At last one young guy pics up the call and starts talking in a sleepy way.. I was not able to follow his pronunciations… The only few words which I clearly heard were “half an hour, request” Then I asked him back, “Will my user id get activated in half an hour?” Then he said something which I didn understand at all. Then I asked him “Can you repeat… I am not able to hear you properly..” Oh my God ! I did a mistake… now I am sacred… This _____ bastard is now irritated it seems.. “SIRRRRR…. YOUU PLEASE CALL AND REQUEST AFTERRRR HALFFFF ANNNN HOURRRRRR !!!!!” He was sounding like he was trying to threaten me : - ) Then I asked.. “Oh ! I have to call you back again? Why cant you take the request now itself?” the reply goes like “SIRRRRR…. YOUU PLEASE CALL AND REQUEST AFTERRRR HALFFFF ANNNN HOURRRRRR !!!!!” then I asked in a more humble voice.. “ok, if I request after half an hour…. When will it get reset?” then he replied in a confused voice… “one day sir”.. I have to book my train ticket… Its urgent.. Now I am not sure whether after one day I will get that ticket or not. Now I have two options, either I have to go to the railways station physically and book the ticket which is a time consuming and expensive process.. or I have to use my friends account and pay them the cash… which most of them don’t prefer.. they prefer me to deposit the money in their account. So even in that case, I have to travel to the bank (both time and money involved). The entire point of having an online account for me atleast is only to book train tickets.. and for the past 2 times exactly when I book my train tickets, the online account user id will get disabled. Atleast I am happy that this time they said they will activate the same userid in a days time.. Last time they reset with a new user id and password which was completely unnecessary and then they sent that physically to my Salem address. That will take 8-9 working days.. and as I had a weekend in between, it took literally 12 days to reach my address and then someone has to read it out in phone to me. WT !!

Compared to ICICI online banking, I am much satisfied with SBI online banking. Simple but very reliable.

Visual Design Principles by Mr. Rupesh Vyas in NID Gandhinagar (PG Campus)

2009-09-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hello all, Its been a long time since I blogged. Got stuck with loads of assignments and “Garba” ! We had Visual Design Principles by Mr. Rupesh Vyas for a week. We learnt about colour and compositions. Did a lot of hands on exercises too. We also had a short intro to Typography and Semiotics. We had a visual thinking and brain storming session where we were asked to communicate only through drawings for half a day. I had great fun in communicating with the chai walas… When it came to discussion using visuals we really had a hard time. But at the end of the day I was surprised that communicating nouns and action related words were very easy when compared to words like “hi.. good morning..” “How are you?” “Bye..” etc.. We were not allowed to use numbers or any form of language during this exercise. In typography we were introduced to type face, family and classification. Then we did Typographic Amalgamations where we have to take two characters and combine them with the set of rules to bring about a good looking composition. It was challenging. The most challenging part of the assignment is that we have to portray three different characters of a person in 15 different styles from his / her name. Oh god.. It was soo difficult… but when we started playing with the letters we understand a lot of meanings involved in it. Putting hours and hours of hard work in it was worth it. Mr. Rupesh Vyas gave enough freedom to play around with our creativity and then he will comment on the work instead of telling everything as a “step by step procedure”. This made everyone to come up with something new.

Here are some of my works..

The Making shots...

Experiences with Kyoorius Design Yatra ’09 (KDY)

2009-09-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

Every thing we decide, atleast in a friends / college group starts with a “brainwashing session”. Even the same happened here… Students from arts background gave a good hype about this event. Actually I think this is the strongest form of marketing for Kyoorius guys (just kidding). No one from engineering background was ready to go initially due to many reasons. One among it was the cost involved and secondly no one knows about the speakers and bla blaa... But finally due to peer pressure, one by one started signing up. More than the regular conference, students were more interested in the workshops. They paid 500 to 1000 rupees extra for these workshops.

After registering through the website, we got a call (by the next afternoon). The Kyoorius Design Yatra Team (KDY Team) was asking for the registration confirmation and then the regular procedures followed. Later we all got an invoice via email.

The problems started from here.. One student who wanted to attend a workshop signed up for it. But they (KDY Team) said its full. Other student who signed up after this student got that workshop (how do you explain this ! ) This created a lot of disrespect to the KDY Team and few students were even completely irritated by the way the telephone calls have been answered.

Everyone paid through diff means and one student didn’t get the invoice till the last moment. When called, they were like “we will check and respond” kinds. Lots of phone calls / confusions in booking train tickets etc were going on. This student got completely pissed and decided not to attend the event.

I really don’t know how much time will it take to generate an invoice and send it via email. At the max 5 mins? They delayed it for more than 2-3 days… actually you will be surprised to hear when the invoice reached : - ) let me tell it later.

Then the next problem. We (4 students) deposited the money from a single account to their bank account. Then sent the scanned deposit receipt via email as per their request. No reply / acknowledgement from their side. (Fine… I thought they will be busy with their last min arrangements)

After 3 days someone from KDY Team calls and says “4 students haven paid the money yet”. Then again we sent the receipt to the newly mentioned email id. Then after few mins we get another call from a completely new person telling that we haven paid the money and when we mentioned that we just mailed it to kavitanomulwar@tafp.in … he is like… “its ok you please send it again to bharatgosia@tafp.in”. Then again in few mins another call.. “hey you send the receipt details to nehaltantia@tafp.in also”. In between I even asked, “cant you ask your colleague bharatgosia to forward it ?” the reply is like “you please send it as soon as possible, if you want to attend the conference”.

For gods sake.. it’s a single email with a single receipt copy. We explained this to all the people who called us. They are not even in a position to listen to what we were talking.. at last its like.. “its ok sir.. you please send that email again to bharatgosia@tafp.in"

Even that’s ok.. after a day one more new person called and asked the most dumb questions possible. Its like everyone has selected different packages. So the cost to be paid also varies. All that is clearly mentioned in our email. Moreover all these details are available in their invoice itself. The lady asks “Why is that this particular student paid extra?” I mean why will someone pay extra? either she could have referred to the invoice sent to that particular person.. or why all that.. it’s a simple guess. It’s a rounded amount 500 or 1000 extra.. its so obvious that he / she has paid for the workshops.. When I explained her this, she was like “ohhhhhh ok ok ok ok I got it…” I really felt like I am talking to a customer care person who doesn know anything about the product !

What to doooooooo ????? We have paid the money… We followed whatever was instructed to us.

At last we were all set to go.. We also successfully went to Mumbai.. Mumbai welcomed us with a huge rain. Have heard a lot about Mumbai rain.. but for the first time I experienced it.. (no words to explain!) it was pouring literally… that too the funny part was, it rained exactly from morning till afternoon and stopped after that… generally I have seen either it rains all through the day or it will start in the evening and will continue all through the night.. this rain pattern was quite new to me : - )

I stayed in Thane - Ishwari Vakhariya’s house. We got wonderful hospitality. Great food! Something which I can never forget for sure… That too all new varieties… I tasted every single dish with full excitement. Stay in their home was a real awesome experience.

There I met this wonderful gifted girl “Rucha” – Ishwari’s sister. She is doing her applied art in J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai. She has made some wonderful paintings which were soo hard to differentiate from reality. We truly got inspired by her quality of work, the amount of patience and creativity involved in it.. Was a real good inspiration to all of us..

I started from Ishwari’s house in Thane and reached a place called “Mulund Check Naka (west)”, which is the separator of Thane from Mumbai. The Auto Rickshaws which are running in Thane can’t enter the Mumbai premises due to some legal issues. Thus we got to get down and take a new auto (in that heavy rain). So I got down.

I had three options. Either I can take a taxi or auto or bus.

Obviously I didn’t take taxi as I thought it will be beyond my budget. I didn’t take bus because I have to find the nearby bus stand and even if I find it.. it will take time.. I hardly had some 1 hour for the conference to start.

I am almost wet by now : - ) no place to stand in that road. And here comes the real problem.
I chose to take an auto rickshaw. There are some 50-100 auto rickshaws coming in line in that road. There are some 100 people standing on the side of that road trying to stop those autos. Everyone comes nearby and the moment you say where to go, they will node their head and leave the place asap. What non sense ! they were literally treating us like shit.. People (Customers) are standing in the center of the road in that rain and literately begging at them to take in and they just pass by without stopping. I really got shocked to see this incident.

In Chennai when a customer is in need, generally auto guys will try to take it as an advantage and will charge him more. Here its not the case. Certain people were even ready to pay more, but the auto was not stopping. Even I asked many people around on whats happening.. no one had a clue… only few people (who are lucky) will get picked up by an auto. God only knows what was happening there…

Later when I was talking to one of the girl from the conference, even she told getting an auto takes atleast ½ hour in Mumbai. Its not that easy it seems : - )

Whats happening ? We keep hearing about unemployment and poverty.

I am seeing people in trouble and are willing to pay any amount to travel in emergency and no one is there to take them. Its even ok if they don’t take.. but atleast they can tell the reason na.. some 100 auto passed by and I am stopping all the 100 autos and bending down and asking in that heavy rain and they don’t even bother to reply me. I felt really irritated from inside. After half an hour try.. I gave up… I called Ishwari to ask for a suggestion. She suggested me to take a bus. Thus I walked to the nearest bus stand and took a bus.. I think it took another one hour to reach the place in that traffic.

At last I reached some 1/2 hour late as the conference itself started some 1 hour late.

We had Rob Wagemans from Concrete Architectural Associates, Markus Pretnar from 3Deluxe, Jacob van Rijs from MVRDV, Ole Bouman from Netherlands Architecture Institute, Ross Lovegrove, Raphael van Amerongen from Merkx Girod, Arno Twight & Jim Smith from QuA, Hugo Van Den Bos from Koeweiden Postma, Priya Paul from Park Hotels, Willem Woudenberg from Edenspiekermann, Shanoo Bhatia from Eureka Moment Design, Ben Terrett from Really Interesting Group, Rodney Fitch from Fitch, Paul Hughes from LAVA, Michael Wolff from Michael Wolff and Company, Jochem Leegstra from ...,staat, Richard van der Laken from De Designpolitie, Anthony Lopez from Lopez Design, Raphael Grignani from Nokia and Barry Schwarz & Koen Van Ovoorde from Addikt.

When I stepped into the conference hall, Ross Lovegrove was showing his works.. he showed his water bottle design, watch and a stair case in his studio. All his work were almost perfect (99.999%). He loves and achieves this one thing called perfection. Personally I felt his designs to be quite hypothetical. But it had a lot of creativity in it.

I liked Addikt’s work the best… Personality wise.. I liked Michael and Anthony. Michael has this powerful voice and the way he puts his stories were truly amazing.. reminds me of Steve Job’s speech in Stanford.

I liked the ambiance in Renaissance conference hall, Mumbai. The best part is.. when I saw the same work of Addikt in my laptop after coming back, I am not getting that “feel”. Its not just about the big screen and amazing sound.. ambiance really matters… and I liked it there !

My friends had a very bad experience with the event management people regarding workshops.. that spoiled the good feeling that we gained for the past 3 days. It is still to be sorted out.. if it doesn get resolved, I will come up with the next post : - )

This is the most funniest part. The conference is over and we all came back to Ahmedabad. If you remember, one student who got completely pissed off and didn attend the conference... her invoice reached :-)

To conclude.. I will say that a conference like Kyoorius with such amazing speakers can be organized in a much better way. For example proto.in - a startup conference was conducted 10 times better than Kyoorous by a very small team. I am not comparing in terms of quality. I am comparing in terms of organization etc.. and the lack of screening the crowd made the conference a quite unsuccessful one from my point of view. Apart from that, I enjoyed, got inspired and learned a lot from Kyoorous Design Yatra ‘09

A much better view has been shared by one of my most respected friend Mayukhini. Click here to read her view.

Official Website of Kyoorous DesignYatra '09 (Kyoorius Exchange)

(ADM) Apparel and Design Management's Colour and Composition Display @ NID, Ahmedabad

2009-08-29T13:19:00.001-07:00

Application of Visual Design Principles in Indian Cinematography for the movie "Boys"

2009-08-29T00:53:00.001-07:00

We learnt a lot about visual design principles. here are few good shots from the movie "Boys" by Shankar. Cinematography is done by Ravi K. Chandran

Ergonomics in NID Gandhinagar by Dr. Prabir Mukhopadhyay

2009-08-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

We had two weeks of Ergonomics course by Dr. Prabir Mukhopadhyay. It’s the most basic and compulsory course that any designer should undergo. For those who have no clue on what is Ergonomics is all about, According to The International Ergonomics association, Ergonomics (or human factors) is defined as the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.

In UK / India its called as Ergonomics and in the US its called as Human Factors. It’s a simple naming problem. Basically they both are one and the same.

According to the discussion in class, Ergonomics is an interplay between Man, Machine and the Environment. Thus its an system level concept.

Ergonomics is divided into two categories:
• Physical Ergonomics
• Cognitive Ergonomics

Physical Ergonomics:
Under physical ergonomics we are concerned about the machine fitting into the human hand / leg / body physically. Thus measurements come into play. We need to know the extremes of human anatomical dimensions to decide each and every dimension for any desired product. No worry. People have already done enough work in this. Most of the data available are from the US thus we followed an Indian Authored book which has a collection of Indian anatomical values. These data are called Anthropometric Data. The best example will be like.. If you want to design a remote for television, it should be holdable by a huge variety of population. so one should know the minimum and the maximum inner diameter of a closed palm to decide on the dimension of that remote. Thus they have collected data from a wide population and have tabulated very neatly in the form of percentile. For making the measuring and considering procedure simple they have considered something called as “landmarks” in our body. It is nothing but any elevation or depression in our body.

For the first two days we played around with this data. We had huge confusions in what to select and what to avoid. Actually after having the data, things become more complicated. If you fix a display height considering a shorter person, a taller person may have to bend down badly to operate it. Thus decided upon a single value was a very tough exercise.

While deciding on the dimension we have to consider one thing for sure. Its called the “Take Of Point” (TOP). Its like… If you are deciding the height of a door, you have to consider the taller person’s height because shorter person can obviously pass through it. So “Clearance” becomes the concern here. If you are deciding the height of placement of the electric switch, you have to consider the shorter person’s height because taller person can obviously reach it. So “Access” becomes the concern here.

Thus keeping Clearance and Access in mind we have to decide the TOP and then worry on how to make life comfortable for the other people. The exercise was really good. We all were imagining a man standing and doing something. Sometimes with a tape measuring and fighting for a measurement among the group.

Then each group (3 members) were given with a project of redesigning any product which will have a display control ergonomically. We selected Treadmill as our product. As the user runs / walks in a Treadmill the amount of Antroprometric calculations to be made for it is too high and a lot of relaxation (dynamicity) has to be provided as the entire body is dynamic.

Before designing any product we have to consider the
• User’s profile
o Age
o Lot many parameters to consider according to the product
• Type of Task
o Precision (Elbow height is best suited. Eg. Hair cut)
o Force (Trochanter (Hip) height is best suited. Eg. Cutting Wood)
• Duration
o Less than a min
o More than a min
o More than 20 mins
• Work Wear

Then he spoke about the “Product Schematics”. Its like some products speak on its own. (Eg. Domestc knife handle having 4 curves on one side directs the user to hold that knife in that direction)

There are different zones in Physical Ergonomics:
• Primary (Space occupied when you stand straight and close your hands)
• Secondary (Space occupied when you stand straight and stretch your hands)
• Tertiary (Space occupied when you stand and bend in any direction)

There are two types of seating arrangements:
• Socio Fugal (No eye to eye contact. Eg. Public Places like railways staion)
• Socio Petal (Direct eye to eye contact. Eg. Restuarants)

Cognitive Ergonomics:
• Human Characteristics
o Will Forget
o Cant learn a lot to operate the product
• Mental Model
o Will expect a feedback (Eg. “Your files have been deleted” in Windows OS)
o Will expect a Reconfirmation (Eg. “Are you sure you want to delete?” in Windows OS)
o Always Curious

Then he spoke about the various stages of “Information Processing” in humans when handling any product.
1. Sensation
2. Perception
3. Cognition
4. Decision Making
5. Action Function
In this above said stages, only in stage 1,2,4 and 5 Ergonomics can be applied to improvise. Nothing can be done in Stage 3 - Cognition.

Design Ergonomics:
1. Scenario Building
2. Target user
3. User Study
4. Task Analysis
5. Concept generation
6. Prototype
7. Test
8. Final Product

Then while improvising our product we were supposed to do something called “Hierarchical Task Analysis” (HTA). Its like… mentioning every single action by the user with the product in sequence. Then all possible combinations with the logical and functional flow. A flowchart would give a more clear picture.

Then we have to do “Drury's Matrix”. This is like we have to put all the Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) in one column and then fill the other columns which include (Knowledge Required, Feedback Present ? (in what form), Potential Problems, Design Directions). The main advantage of doing this is that you know what kind of knowledge is required by the user to operate / do each and every task separately. Same way whether the feedback will be there or not. If no, then why not? This kind of questions will surely arise. Basically its to analyze the entire system step by step. The potential problems in each stage. In case of a mobile phone, while speaking, “Call End” button being pressed without user’s knowledge could be a potential problem. Then what kind of Design Direction can you come up with to solve this particular issue. Thus when you list the problems separately, there is no change of missing any problems while designing your product.

While designing the layout for any control display we can to consider the following in sequence:
1. Sequence of operation
2. Frequency of operation
3. Importance

A Quadrant Test should be done to decide which button can be placed where. Quadrant Test means, the interface / control panel will be divided into 4 quadrants and the user will be asked like… “where do you like to have the “call” button”… this input is not directly taken.. but this will be given more importance as this involves the mental model of the user.

“Mental model” is nothing but what the user already knows. (Eg. All mobiles have some what similar keypad. Because users mental model is built that way. New mobile interface cant force the users to learn everything again. So going by the mental model is very important)

“Stereotype” is the mindset which people carry / learn from their environment. (Eg. Switching on the power switch - down pressed in India, etc.. )

When going for Direct User Observations, we have to observe:
• Posture
• Repetitive movements
• Time taken for completion of a set task

More than all the above said theoretical knowledge, it all comes down to logic in the end. We can do anything but with a universally acceptable logic (with reference if possible). This makes the job very difficult. If you are asked to design a remote, you will say let the power on/off button be on the right top with red colour and 1 cm dia. But you should be able to answer why on the right top quadrant, why red colour, why 1 cm dia? Knowing a lot of Jargons might help a bit to communicate with the same field experts or convince the client.

Finally according to me, Ergonomics (Human Factors) is all about reasoning the logic behind every single parameter considered in a product development cycle.

If free do read this post by Siddharth Mankad...

When we really want to achieve something on a given short time… We stop complaining...

2009-08-23T12:52:00.001-07:00

We the NID Gandhinagar team are supposed to play a theme song in monsoon fiesta as a part of the competition between the four teams. It started by 9:30 am when our composer wakes up and remembers that she has to come up with a song before evening 4. Which means she has to come up with a suitable lyrics, tune, chords, right team and then call the team and practice the song. As nautanki happened just the day before and students were practicing for dance till 5 in the morning. Almost everyone was sleeping. But she has no time. Then she finds a place to record (AV Studio). The bus will leave by 4pm and so she has to give the final version recorded on or before 4. I got a call by 2:45 asking to help in recording. I initially thought I am called to help in recording the voice over for the dance. When I came to know that we are going to record one full song.. I was like.. totally shocked.. that too in 1 hours time..

Then we started with guitar. Sound forge and Nuendo were the softwares available in the recording studio. I have used sound forge before but have never worked with Nuendo. More than all.. There was no professional recording microphone available in studio. Only a typical mic which comes with headphones was available. We were like… shit man! But no other way.. we don’t have time to go to paldi studio for recording . We connected the Guitar to the stranger (mini amp) and then mic was kept next to it. Obviously we had lots of noise. We were trying all possible noise filters in sound forge and Nuendo but no hope. Then Pranjal changed the connecting chord and it was much better..

We recorded the guitar track first. Mayukhini was not sure which part of the song has to be completed first. Everyone was in a hurry. I had my dance in the night so have to go to room to change. So even I was in full hurry… Mayukhini was dictating the chords lively to Austin when he was playing it. It was awesome to see that.

Everyone there had this one thing called “confidence” and more than all, the enthusiasm to complete it somehow.. the recording went on.. 3 different guitar tracks were recorded. We didn’t realize that all 3 had different tempo as it was recorded separately. Then we came to the lead track. It also went well as Mayukhini itself sang it.. She has got a really amazing voice.. a voice with real expression. Although I didn understand a single word in the entire song. I felt the energy in it.

We started the chorus recording. It was a complete chaos. All were singing in different pitches.. Singing different notes with different timings.. Its not anyone’s fault.. its just that they didn have time to practice. Even then they picked it up very fast. In the 2nd or 3rd try they are all set to record. The mic cable was soo short that I have to get up and move all the chairs so that they can come near and sing on the mic.

This was when we realized that the tempo in all 3 guitar tracks were different. [We all looked at each other]. Now we can’t record it again as Austin has already left to paldi… Then we managed to adjust with it. Chorus was good.. but mic didn pick up the sound well. Too much gain was increased to make the chorus audible. Reverb was also applied to few tracks.

Then we thought why not add the drums.. Now the time is around 4. Almost every left. Only Mayukhini, Prabs simran, me and Pranjal were left. We thought we will take a laptop to the music room and record the drums track and bring it here. Pranjal needed the reference track for tempo and to play the fills at the right time. So I tried exporting the audio track from Nuendo. This is when we realized that its not working ! Initially I had no clue on how to do it because when I click on the “export mixdown track” nothing basically happens. I tried contacting Maruthi.. Then I realized that he has just left to US and was not online too… at last we have to call a sound engineer and he gave us all live instructions over phone. As per his instructions, I checked all the driver settings. But still it no use. Then we called Viral bhai. No hope again.
So we played the entire song from Nuendo and recorded in sound forge again in a single track and transferred it into a mp3 player. But when playing the drums, mp3 players volume was not audible :-( By then Pranjal had brought the drums to AV Lab itself. The room is just 6x6 where hardly 4-5 can stand. Now we have drums in it :-)

We all are totally out of our mind. Time is ticking. Its around 6 now.. We are fully pumped and energized and irritated to the core.. Suddenly we found a proper head phone with a long cable and then we used it to give the reference track directly from desktop. We started recording the drums.

I did volume leveling and reverb addition on the fly… its like there is no time to play the song again and again. People were practicing chorus behind with full volume. Sometime Pranjal was playing drums. In this atmosphere I did volume leveling in real time. We had time just to play each track once after recording for checking. Volume leveling is done while playing only..
Mayukhini went to room and brought her laptop. But when Nuendo started there was an error. The same error which we got in the studio’s desktop. “An unexpected error” it seems… Shit ! we were highly irritated. Pranjal suggested that we will carry the entire desktop to paldi and play it from it directly.

Then I thought I will try in my laptop. Pranjal went to take the car. I ran to my room to take my laptop and put on my dance costume. I spent hardy 2 mins in my room. I was wearing dress and packing my laptop simultaneously. When I brought my laptop we thought of copying the working files to pen drive to play it from my laptop or Mayukhini’s laptop. We were not able to find the working files folder location. I searched all the tabs in the options dialog box. We were in such urgency that my hands were shaking literally. Searching and searching and searching for a long time… at last I saw the “save project in different folder” option in the file menu.. I was like.. shit ! its there on the very first “file menu” and I didn see it for such a long time.. instead I was searching for the working file location in program files/Nuendo’s folder and documents and settings folder and all…

Then, started copying the working files to pendrive. “5 mins remaining” for a very long time.. Standard windows effect… then we connected an external HDD and transferred. Installed Nuendo from a different setup file in Mayukhini’s laptop. But when tried to open Nuendo and export, we got the same error. “An unexpected error”

Then we thought we will try in my laptop on the move. So we all boarded the car and then opened my laptop. Installed Nuendo and opened the project. Car was driven very fast and we 3 were sitting in the back seat with language on our laps. Was really funny to place a laptop and work. I was struggling to even touch my touchpad. We exported the final track at last successfully.

Oye haaaa heeee huuuu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [everyone in car was shouting]
Mayukhini wanted to listen to the final song once.. Then she realized that the last I min is not there in the final output. Everyone in car were like… “Shit ! Fuck man!”

Again we opened Nuendo.. again “an unexpected error !” same like Mayukhini’s laptop.
I tried restarting the OS. Even tried reinstalled the software. It took atleast 10 mins to reinstall the software. We hardly had few mins. Basically no hope at this point. Even when the vehicle reached there.. me and Mayukhini were like “Pranjal…. can we try for 2 more mins..? ”

Then we went and sat on a bench and started trying again and again in different methods. We didn shutdown the OS because we were not sure whether Nuendo will open if we close it once.. We sat next to the sound mixer and put the laptop in power. Mayukhini who was just standing next to me was suddenly missing… then I found her sitting on the stage stairs holding her head, I was like.. “Are you fine.. ?” then she says… “no no I am very nervous..was praying to god.. atleast now allow us to play without any interruptions…”

We both were really like… no words to explain those emotions… Then the turn comes and we played the song. Initially the volume was bit low and bass was high but after half the song passed, it was perfect and the harmony part sounded awesome.

Our song was the only song with voice and own composition. All other team’s were just fruity loop works.. that too mostly readymade loops put together.

While playing I suddenly noticed that the in-out slider was kept in the middle of our song.. Shit ! I was literally shocked… the song would have stopped in between abruptly in the middle.. then I changed it when the song was playing.. I was soo scared that the software might get hanged again if I move the cursor.

College culturals brings this kind of enthusiasm. And the kind of bonding which was created among the team is really awesome. Everyone had a common goal and we all were like.. “we will do anything to achieve it..” no one is really blaming on anything or anyone.. Actually there is no time for all that. I really liked the way it all went.. these days when people are always ready to put the blame on others.. I felt very happy and satisfied from the bottom of my heart for working with Mayukhini and Pranjal especially.

I have seen many creative people. Most of them are like “I need time for this. It cant be done a day. If you need good work you have to wait.” But I always feel that whether its design or creation.. it has to done according to the clients or the situational requirements not according to the time which the creator will take. Here I saw a small team, fully energized putting all their energy in such a short time and I was happy.

A song composed, lyrics written, team formed, practiced, recorded (guitar, lead voice, chorus, drums) with a small mic, volume leveling and noise reduction done with a software which was not working properly .. All this in less than half a day…..

We had Austin on Guitar, Pranjal on Drums, Prabhsimran, Muzna and Tanushree in chorus, Mayukhini in lead voice and me in software handling.

And when we think about who really made it possible.. Off course Austin, Pranjal, Prabhsimran, Muzna, Tanushree gave the building blocks in building this beautiful house. I helped in the tools involved to build it… but the real architect who dreamt each and every beat of the building and carved it with the limited infrastructure was Mayukhini..

I am truly impressed! Hats off to you Mayukhini.

Mayukhini Pandey
NID SDM 09-11

Mani Ratnam

2009-08-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

I am a great fan of director Mani Ratnam. He is the man who revolutionized Tamil-language cinema and one of the most respected directors in all of India. Each of his films contain its own unique style, with beautifully photographed songs and unique back-lighting. However, his films contain substance as well as style. Ratnam has dealt with a wide variety of topics, from the classic Indian love story to political thrillers.

Here I am sharing some of his best works. I invite everyone to post more useful links in the comments.

Best Scenes from Kannathil Muthamittal:

Nenjil Jil Jil Song from Kannathil Muthamittal:

Very powerful shoots in Iruvar:
(Excellent back score by AR Rahman)

Mani Ratnam was born in Madras in 1956. Filmmaking was in his blood; he was the son of film producer 'Venus Gopalratnam' and his brother was G. Venkateswaran, a film distributor turned producer. Ironically, however, he studied at Madras University and received a management degree at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai, and had initially started out as a management consultant. His first film, Pallavi Anu Pallavi (1983), starring Anil Kapoor, didn't make many waves, although it won the State Award from Karnataka that year, but even though he made two films in Tamil and one in Malayalam, nothing worked for him until he broke through with Mouna Ragam (1986). Starring Revathy, the film told the tale of a woman who, although forced into an arranged marriage, chooses to maintain a platonic relationship with her husband. The film was noted for its sophisticated approach and execution of an extremely sensitive topic.

His next film, Nayakan (1987), was also arguably his greatest. A take-off on Francis Ford Coppola' legendary The Godfather (1972), it established Ratnam as the leading director of Tamil-language Cinema and won its leading actor Kamal Hassan the National Award for Best Actor. The film draws on 30 years of Tamil Nadu's celebrity images and directly played to the anti-Hindi feelings of Tamil Nadu when the protagonist, beaten up, tells the Hindi policeman in Bombay, "If I ever hit you, you will die!"

Then came the best of his early work - Agni Nakshatram (1988), Gitanjali (1989), and Anjali (1990). The first was a tale of conflict between two step-brothers. Shot with glossy camera work, the film resembled a cross between an advertisement and a music video, and set a trend for a whole new visual style in Tamil-language Cinema. The next, Gitanjali (1989), shot in Ooty to create a soft and poetic mood, was a touching love story between two terminally ill people with less than six months left. The third, Anjali (1990), about a disabled child brought back to her family with two normal children had been chosen by India to be sent to the Oscars for Best Foreign-language Film, but it did not receive a nomination. The next year saw his first, and only collaboration so far, with the Tamil superstar Rajni Kant in the film Thalapathi (1991). It also starred Mamooty, along side a host of other actor. This star studded film was a gritty tale of an orphan who grows up to become a notorious gang member in Chennai. The story was inspired by the great epic of Mahabharata.

It was Roja (1992) that made Ratnam a household name all over India. A patriotic love story set against the backdrop of Kashmiri terrorism, the film was dubbed in Hindi and became a huge national success. It enforced Ratnam as a director of style and substance, as well as proving a highly auspicious debut for the now-acclaimed music director A.R. Rahman, whom Ratnam had discovered. It helped that India's at-the-time election commissioner T. N. Seshan took the rare step of officially endorsing the film. Thiruda Thiruda (1993), a remake of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) was a misfire, but Ratnam bounced back with Bumbai (1995), a politically charged romance between a Hindu man and a Muslim woman during the1993 riots in Mumbai. The film underwent some controversy due to its slightly anti-Muslim viewpoint, but it contributed widely to the success of the film.

Continuing his political obsession, Ratnam made Iruvar (1997), based on the MGR-Karunanidhi affair, and Dil Se.. (1998), which starred superstars Manisha Koirala and Shahrukh Khan. The latter was Ratnam's first Hindi-language film. Based on the northeast Indian problem, it told the story of a radio executive and a revolutionary. It had an excellent cast, beautifully crafted scenes, and most of all one of A.R. Rahman's greatest tunes--but did not go down too well with the audience, who hailed it as a strange and confusing film that headed nowhere. However, today it is held as ahead of its time, being that it was shot pre-9/11, and is now hailed as a contemporary classic.

He returned to familiar ground with Alai Payuthey (2000), which tackled the story of a couple in love that goes through the trials and tribulations of marriage. His subsequent film, Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), which told the tale of an adopted girl meeting her terrorist mother, saw Ratnam back in form as one of the greatest storytellers in Indian Cinema. His next film, Yuva (2004), saw Ratnam return to Hindi-language cinema after six years, but in spite of some fine flourishes, the film largely failed to work. However, don't take him too lightly: he is sure to return with something new next time....

Facts:

He has never shot a single frame in a foreign locale. Every movie of his has been made within India. This, at a time when Directors need the lamest excuse to fly to USA, Europe or Australia to shoot just a song or two.

Every film he has delivered has been either extremely successful commercially or critically acclaimed. Has a penchant for making films with a well-defined theme and backdrop, but also excels at light hearted movies.

Is a vegetarian

Studied in Vidya Mandir School, Chennai

Son of veteran film distributor 'Venus Ratnam'

Brother of producer 'G. Srinivasan', producer 'G. Venkateswaranan' and producer Sethu Sriram.

He made his first movie 'Pallavi Anu Pallavi'(Kannada: 1983) without first hand experience in movie making. He approched Balu Mahendra (cinematographer, Pallavi Anu Pallavi), who was a big name in film industry and asked him to be the cinematographer for the movie. Balu asked if Mani had experience in movie making or attended a formal course in movie making or was present at a film shoot. For all the above Mani's answer was a simple 'No'! But Balu was convinced by the story and went on to make the movie which won the state award from Karnatak that year!

Most of his films have been seen in both North and South India. Up to 2000, his films were dubbed in Hindi; Alai Payuthey (2000) was remade as Saathiya (2002) and Yuva (2004) was remade as Ayitha Ezhutu (2004).

About Mani Ratnam:

Mani Ratnam (Tamil: மணி ரத்னம்) (born June 2, 1956 in Madurai, Madras State, India) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He is known for directing critically acclaimed films such as Mouna Raagam (1986), Nayagan (1987), Anjali (1990), Iruvar (1997), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Yuva (2004), and his "political trilogy" consisting of Roja (1992), Bombay (1995) and Dil Se (1998). He has won many awards,five Filmfare Awards (South), four Filmfare Awards (Hindi), and ten international film festival awards.

Personal life and education

Mani Ratnam was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India to Hindu Tamil parents. His actual name is Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam Iyer. After graduating with a degree in Commerce from Vivekananda College University of Madras and an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, he embarked on a career as a management consultant before becoming a filmmaker.

He got into film direction with the help of his late brother, film producer G. Venkateswaran. Ratnam married actress Suhasini in 1988. They have a son by name Nandhan Mani Ratnam.

Attributed with having "revolutionised" the Chennai film industry, and altering the profile of Indian national cinema, Ratnam lives in alwarpet, Chennai where he runs the production company Madras Talkies.

Career

1980s

Mani Ratnam's directorial debut was in 1983, through the Anil Kapoor starring Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi. Mani made significant headways in his first film, and also managing to persuade acclaimed director and cinematographer Balu Mahendra to serve as cinematography. The film boldly explored the nature of a relationship between young man and an elder woman. Mani's career after that remained on a lowlight as he failed to attain box office success. His following efforts were the Malayalam film Unaru (1984), which starred Mohanlal and then two Tamil films, the first being Pagal Nilavu followed by Idaya Kovil.

Finally in 1986, Mani attained commercial success in Tamil Nadu through the Tamil language romantic drama Mouna Ragam with Revathi and Mohan. The film told the story of a slight friction between a newly-wed couple, and remains famous to date as a relevant and realistic portrayal of romance among urban Tamils. Its score by Ilaiyaraaja became a huge success upon release. Mani's status elevated further a year later writing Nayagan, directing an already versatile actor of Tamil cinema, Kamal Hassan for the film, which went on to become a legendary success in the industry. The film, which tells the story of an orphaned slum dweller and his rise to top of the Mumbai underworld hierarchy, was included in TIME Magazine's All-Time 100 Greatest Movies.The story was inspired by the real life story of underworld king Varadarajan Mudaliar.

Early 1990s

With commercial success coming back to back, Ratnam wrote and directed Agni Natchathiram. The film was notable for use of new techniques in terms of camera framework, especially during the shoot of songs in the film. The film had a successful run in the box office. Mani later returned to familiar territory of winning critical acclaim through his next film made in Telugu, named Geethanjali. The film which starred Nagarjuna in the lead role told the story of an ill-fated couple who are both suffering from terminal diseases. Ratnam maintained a momentum of making emotional stories of undeserved people through the Raghuvaran starring Chennai release Anjali in 1990. The film told the story of an autistic child and how she changed the lives of people in colony. Mani later made another underworld-themed Tamil film with Thalapathi in 1991 starring Rajnikanth and Mammooty. With a theme of friendship between two slum kings, Thalapathi earned both critical acclaim and commercial success upon release. Thalapathi is unique in a sense that it is of the rare films with 2 climaxes. The Tamil and Telugu versions end with Mamooty's death where Rajinikanth is considered a matinee-idol. The Malayalam version ends with Rajini's death where Mamootty is based.

With Thalapathi, Mani ended his association with music director Ilaiyaraaja, bringing in debutante music director A. R. Rahman to score his Tamil epic Roja. It turned out to be Mani's greatest findings as Rahman would go on to become a musical legend on his own right in the annals of Indian cinema. Roja, a romantic film, tackled themes of terrorism in the regions of Kashmir. The film – starring Arvind Swamy and Madhoo – was released in 1992 and nominated for the Golden St. George Award at the Moscow International Film Festival and became so popular that it was dubbed into other languages and met similar success in other regions. Mani then took a more light-hearted approach with his next film – Thiruda Thiruda. Scripted by Ram Gopal Varma, the film saw the exploration of comedy action, a departure from the norm for Ratnam, and fared less well at the box office. In 1994, a retrospective of his Tamil films was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 1995, Ratnam returned to Tamil language drama. Bombay starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala told the story of a Hindu-Muslim couple in the midst of the 1993 religious Bombay riots and bombings. The film courted controversy and censorship upon release. However Bombay was well received and well appreciated by the critics. It won the Special Award from the Political Film Society.

Late 1990s

Again in 1995, Ratnam co-wrote and co-produced his wife Suhasini Mani Ratnam's directorial debut Indira. The film is a woman-centralized story, with Suhasini's cousin Anu Haasan playing the lead role. But failed to succeed at the box office. Ratnam returned to direction the following year with Iruvar, starring Mohanlal & Prakash Raj, a film that Ratnam himself considers to be his finest effort to date. Inspired by the real life story of iconic Tamil film star and politician MG Ramachandran and also current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, it was hailed critically as a fine effort in film-making, winning Best Film at the Festival of the Auteur Films in Belgrade.

Ratnam decided to charter new territories in with his next film, making his debut in Hindi language films with Dil Se. The film starred the Mumbai star Shah Rukh Khan with Manisha Koirala. Ratnam used the conflict in the north eastern states as a backdrop to tell a love story between an Indian journalist and a north eastern woman. The film was particularly famous for the song Chaiyya Chaiyya which was shot atop a moving train. Ratnam returned to Chennai based Tamil films after that and directed the romance drama Alaipayuthey (which has been remade in Hindi as "Saathiya") in 2000, starring R. Madhavan and Shalini. Alaipayuthey was a huge success both commercially and critically, as it explored post-marital problems between a young couple who married beyond their parents' consent, and also returned Ratnam's position as a box office factor.

2000–present

Ratnam's following effort, Kannathil Muthamittal saw Ratnam tackling adoption through the eyes of a Tamil refugee girl from Sri Lanka searching for her biological mother. The film was a critically lauded commercial success, winning six National Film Awards, Ratnam's second Filmfare Award South for directing, awards at the Jerusalem Film Festival and the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. In 2004, Mani made his second Hindi language effort with Yuva. The film, which tells the story of three different youths and how one incident sends their three lives on a collision course, received mixed reviews and only had an average run in the box office. Ratnam also made the film simultaneously in Tamil as Aayitha Ezhuthu. The film failed at the Tamil box office as well, but critics favored the Tamil version to the Hindi version. Ratnam also had his first heart attack during shooting for Yuva.

2007 saw Ratnam direct the Madras Talkies production Guru starring Abhishek Bachchan. It became one of 2007's biggest hits. Currently, Ratnam is working on a bilingual film being made in both Tamil and Hindi. The film has been tentatively titled Ashokavanam in Tamil andRaavan in Hindi.

Filmography

The following is the list of films directed by Mani Ratnam. Many of his films have been dubbed or remade in several languages. For many of his films, Mani Ratnam is also credited for the story, screenplay and producing:

As a Director
Year Title Language Notes
1983 Pallavi Anu Pallavi Kannada
1984 Unaru Malayalam
1985 Pagal Nilavu Tamil
1985 Idaya Kovil Tamil
1986 Mouna Raagam Tamil Won, National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.
1987 Nayagan Tamil Won three National Film Awards.
One of Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies.
1988 Agni Natchathiram Tamil
1989 Geethanjali Telugu
1990 Anjali Tamil Won, National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.
1991 Thalapathi Tamil
1992 Roja Tamil Won, National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.
Won, Filmfare Awards (South) for Best Movie and Best Director.
Won, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director.
Nominated, Golden St. George for Best Film at Moscow International Film Festival.
1993 Thiruda Thiruda Tamil
1995 Bombay Tamil Won, National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.
Won, Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie.
Won, Special Award at the Political Film Society Awards.
1997 Iruvar Tamil Won, Filmfare Best Movie Award (Tamil).
Won, Best Film at Belgrade International Film Festival.
1998 Dil Se Hindi Won, NETPAC Award (Special Mention) at Berlin International Film Festival.
2000 Alaipayuthey Tamil Remade into Hindi as Saathiya
2002 Kannathil Muthamittal Tamil Won, National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.
Won, Filmfare Awards (South) for Best Movie and Best Director.
Won, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director.
Won, Best Feature Award at Jerusalem Film Festival.
Won, ITFA Best Director Award
Won, Audience Award for Best Feature Film at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.
Won, Audience Choice Award for Narrative Competition at RiverRun International Film Festival.
Won, Best Picture at Zimbabwe International Film Festival.
Won, Audience Award, Jury Award and Special Award at Film Fest New Haven.
Won, Best International Film at Westchester Film Festival.
2004 Aayitha Ezhuthu Tamil
2004 Yuva Hindi Won, Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie
Won, Filmfare Best Screenplay Award.
Nominated, Star Screen Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay.
2007 Guru Hindi Nominated, Filmfare Best Director Award.
Nominated, Filmfare Best Movie Award.
2009 Ashokavanam Tamil Filming
2009 Raavan Hindi Filming

Non-Director

Mani Ratnam established Madras Talkies for film production during the shoot of Iruvar. All movies directed by Mani Ratnam subsequent to Iruvar have been produced through Madras Talkies. Apart from production, Mani Ratnam also has written story and screenplay for movies directed by others.

* Indira (1995) - Screenplay (Movie was directed by his wife Suhasini)
* Ghayam (1993) - Story & Screenplay (Telugu Movie)
* Chatriyan - Story & Screenplay
* Aasai (1995) - Producer
* Nerrukku Ner (1997) - Producer (Madras Talkies)
* Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001) - Story, Screenplay & Producer
* Saathiya (2002) - Screenplay (Movie is a re-make of Alaipayutahey and was directed by his assistant Shaad Ali) and Producer (Madras Talkies). Won Filmfare Best Screenplay Award for the film.
* Five Star (2003) - Producer (Madras Talkies) Directed by his assistant Susi Ganesan, this film didn't hit box office but it attain a good critical acclaim

Stage Productions

* Netru, Indru, Naalai (2006)

The Complete List:

Director:

1. Raavana (2009) (post-production)

2. Guru (2007)
... aka Gurukant (India: Telugu title)
... aka Mani Ratnam's Guru (India: English title: complete title)
3. Ayitha Ezhuthu (2004)
4. Yuva (2004)
... aka The Youth (International: English title)
... aka The Youth of the Land (UK: TV title)
5. Kannathil Muthamittal (2002)
... aka A Peck on the Cheek (USA: literal English title)
... aka Amritha (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
6. Alai Payuthey (2000)
... aka Sakhi (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Waves (International: English title)
7. Kelviyin Nayagan (2000)

8. Dil Se.. (1998)
... aka From the Heart (USA)
... aka Prema Tho (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Uyire (India: Tamil title: dubbed version)
9. Iruvar (1997)
... aka Iddaru (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka The Duo
10. Bumbai (1995)
... aka Bombay (India: English title)
... aka Bombayi (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
11. Thiruda Thiruda (1993)
... aka Chor Chor (India: Hindi title: dubbed version)
... aka Dongaa Dongaa (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Thief Thief
12. Roja (1992)
... aka Roja (India: Malayalam title) (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka The Rose (International: English title)
13. Thalapathi (1991)
... aka Dal-pati (The Leader) (India: Hindi title)
... aka The Commander (India: English title)
14. Anjali (1990) (as Mani Rathnam)

15. Gitanjali (1989)
... aka Geethanjali (India: Malayalam title: alternative transliteration)
... aka Idhayathai Thirudathe (India: Tamil title)
16. Agni Nakshatram (1988)
... aka Gharshana (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
17. Nayakan (1987)
... aka Hero
... aka Nayakudu (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Velu-Nayakan (India: Hindi title: dubbed version)
18. Mouna Ragam (1986)
... aka A Silent Symphony
... aka Mouna Raagam (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
19. Idaya Kovil (1985)
20. Pagal Nilavu (1985)
21. Unaroo (1984)
22. Pallavi Anu Pallavi (1983)
... aka Priya O Priya (India: Tamil title)

Writer:

1. Guru (2007) (story and screenplay)
... aka Gurukant (India: Telugu title)
... aka Mani Ratnam's Guru (India: English title: complete title)
2. Ayitha Ezhuthu (2004) (writer)
3. Yuva (2004) (screenplay)
... aka The Youth (International: English title)
... aka The Youth of the Land (UK: TV title)
4. Saathiya (2002) (screenplay) (story)
5. Kannathil Muthamittal (2002) (screenplay) (story)
... aka A Peck on the Cheek (USA: literal English title)
... aka Amritha (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
6. Alai Payuthey (2000) (dialogue) (screenplay) (story)
... aka Sakhi (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Waves (International: English title)

7. Dil Se.. (1998) (screenplay) (story)
... aka From the Heart (USA)
... aka Prema Tho (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Uyire (India: Tamil title: dubbed version)
8. Iruvar (1997) (screenplay) (story)
... aka Iddaru (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka The Duo
9. Indira (Priyanka) (1996) (screenplay)
... aka Indira
10. Bumbai (1995) (screenplay) (story)
... aka Bombay (India: English title)
... aka Bombayi (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
11. Gaayam (1993) (screenplay) (story)
12. Thiruda Thiruda (1993) (writer)
... aka Chor Chor (India: Hindi title: dubbed version)
... aka Dongaa Dongaa (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Thief Thief
13. Roja (1992) (writer)
... aka Roja (India: Malayalam title) (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka The Rose (International: English title)
14. Thalapathi (1991) (screenplay) (story)
... aka Dal-pati (The Leader) (India: Hindi title)
... aka The Commander (India: English title)
15. Anjali (1990) (screenplay) (as Mani Rathnam) (story) (as Mani Rathnam)

16. Gitanjali (1989) (writer)
... aka Geethanjali (India: Malayalam title: alternative transliteration)
... aka Idhayathai Thirudathe (India: Tamil title)
17. Agni Nakshatram (1988) (writer)
... aka Gharshana (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
18. Nayakan (1987) (writer)
... aka Hero
... aka Nayakudu (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Velu-Nayakan (India: Hindi title: dubbed version)
19. Mouna Ragam (1986) (writer)
... aka A Silent Symphony
... aka Mouna Raagam (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
20. Pagal Nilavu (1985) (writer)
21. Pallavi Anu Pallavi (1983) (writer)
... aka Priya O Priya (India: Tamil title)

Producer:

1. Raavana (2009) (post-production) (producer)

2. Guru (2007) (producer)
... aka Gurukant (India: Telugu title)
... aka Mani Ratnam's Guru (India: English title: complete title)
3. Thambi (2005) (producer)
4. Ayitha Ezhuthu (2004) (producer)
5. Yuva (2004) (producer)
... aka The Youth (International: English title)
... aka The Youth of the Land (UK: TV title)
6. Saathiya (2002) (producer)
7. Kannathil Muthamittal (2002) (producer)
... aka A Peck on the Cheek (USA: literal English title)
... aka Amritha (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
8. Dum Dum Dum (2001) (producer)

9. Dil Se.. (1998) (executive producer)
... aka From the Heart (USA)
... aka Prema Tho (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Uyire (India: Tamil title: dubbed version)
10. Iruvar (1997) (producer)
... aka Iddaru (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka The Duo
11. Nerukku Ner (1997) (producer)
12. Indira (Priyanka) (1996) (producer)
... aka Indira
13. Bumbai (1995) (producer)
... aka Bombay (India: English title)
... aka Bombayi (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
14. Aasai (1995) (producer)
15. Thiruda Thiruda (1993) (producer)
... aka Chor Chor (India: Hindi title: dubbed version)
... aka Dongaa Dongaa (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Thief Thief
16. Roja (1992) (producer)
... aka Roja (India: Malayalam title) (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka The Rose (International: English title)

17. Nayakan (1987) (producer)
... aka Hero
... aka Nayakudu (India: Telugu title: dubbed version)
... aka Velu-Nayakan (India: Hindi title: dubbed version)

Thanks:

* 2000s
* 1990s

1. Maqbool (2003) (special thanks)

2. Taj Mahal (1999) (special thanks)
3. Fire (1996) (acknowledgment: "Bombay Theme" and "Ek Ho Gaye Hum Aur Tum" courtesy of)

Self:

1. Guru World Premiere in Toronto (2007) (TV) .... Himself

Archive Footage:

1. "Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai"
- Preity Zinta (2002) TV episode .... Himself

Family

* Mani's father Gopal Ratnam Iyer was a film producer.
* Mani's brother late G. Venkateswaran, popularly known as G.V. was a noted film producer.
* Mani married to actress Suhasini, niece of Kamal Haasan and they have a 17-year old son Nandan. Nandan has authored a book called The Contours of Leninism.
* Mani co-founded and co-runs the independent production company Madras Talkies along with his other brother G. Srinivasan. Srinivasan passed away in Manali on the 27th May 2007 by slipping into a gorge.

Themes

* Mani Ratnam oftens makes movies inspired by real-life events: Nayagan is loosely based on Varadarajan Mudaliar, an underworld Don in Mumbai at that time; Bombay based on the ethnic war between Hindus and Muslims in Mumbai; Iruvar based on Tamil Nadu political and cinematic icons, M.G. Ramachandran and Karunanidhi; Kannathil Muthamittal based on the Sri Lankan Civil War and Aayitha Ezhuthu on student politics. Guru was loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.
* His movies often portray strong friendship. Examples are seen from Rajni-Mammooty in Thalapathi, Surya-Siddarth in Aayitha Ezhuthu, Prasanth-Anand in Thiruda Thiruda,Mohanlal-Prakash Raj in Iruvar and Kamal-Janakaraj in Nayagan.
* He also revels in creating on screen relationship tangles like Rajni-Shobhana-Arvind Swamy in Thalapathi, Karthik-Revathi-Mohan in Mouna Ragam and Prabhu-Karthik in Agni Natchathiramand Simran-Keerthana in Kannathil Muthamittal

ManiRathnam's Movies Inspired from International Movies

* Thiruda Thiruda - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
* Aayitha Ezhuthu - Amores perros
* Nayagan - GodFather I
* Roja - Proof Of Life

Useful Links:

http://dedublog.blogspot.com/search/label/Maniratnam

My posters during dating week @ NID Gandhinagar

2009-08-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

Sures + Nikon D60 + Photoshop

2009-08-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

Design Concepts and Concerns - Week 2

2009-08-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Design Concepts and Concerns - Week 1

2009-07-29T11:18:00.001-07:00

We had “Design Concepts and Concerns” by Prof. MP Ranjan. He is one of best professors I have ever seen. We were given lectures on What is Design and its evolution etc.. Then we were given with an assignment where we have to brain storm on the given topic and categorize all the points with the relationships between them. Then we have to represent it with a help of a metaphor. The whole idea is to expose us to the process of thinking and brain storming I guess.

Prof. MP Ranjan

If you see from a biological point of view, our brain is made up of tiny brain cells called neurons. These neurons have tiny branches that reach out and connect to other neurons to form a neuron net. Each place where they connect is integrated into a thought or a memory. The brain builds up all its concepts by the law of associative memory. Ideas, thoughts and feelings are all constructed and interconnected within this neuron net. And all have a possible relationship with one another. The concept of water, for instance, is stored in this vast neuron net. But we build up the concept of water from many other different ideas. Some people have water connected to disappointment. When they think about water, they experience the memory of pain, sorrow, anger and even rage. Rage may be linked to hurt which may be linked to a specific person which then is connected back to water.
Thus in the process of brain storming, we were forced to tap all the memory, logic, thought patterns, feelings related to water. The more time we spent on it, more old memories and concepts learnt kept popping out. It’s an amazing thing to do before starting any project.
All the disciplines in PG Campus had this course, thus each group had students from all disciplines which gave us an opportunity to interact with a new set of people.

Personally this exercise (assignment) thought me how to look at the problem from the system point of view instead of viewing it from the elemental point of view. The transition which I had internally was amazing. We worked continuously day and night and the result was very good at the end. On the very next day we had our presentation. Almost everyone was dam sleepy that we could hardly listen to what was presented by others :-)

Only the first 3 days of the course is over. Still we have a long way to go. Will update those in my next post.

An environment best designed to create designers…

2009-07-25T03:33:00.000-07:00

Weather is awesome over here.. Its raining 24 x 7. Its totally different from the day I stepped into Gandhinagar. I am just loving it.. every single moment. Great people around always thinking about the next big thing. Some planning to impress their date. Some leaving for the monsoon feasta sports activities. Some sleeping after 2 weeks of non-sleepy works… some going home.. and me listening to songs and updating my blog.

Here 24 x 7 something keeps happening. No matter whether its mid night 3 am or afternoon 2 pm when I step out of my room, I see students doing different stuffs. No wonder a place like this has created real designers..

Photography and Graphical User Interface Principle's Display

2009-07-24T23:46:00.000-07:00

Expecting respect without giving is not a fair way to live life !

2009-07-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

I seriously don’t understand this. Psychologically why are we soo much attached to the language we know / speak ?

In Tamil Nadu, state board syllabus does not have hindi as a primary language. It’s the government’s problem. To be more specific, it’s the problem with the politicians over there. And students have no particular need to learn hindi as its not spoken in Tamil nadu even though it’s our national language.

I am accepting that we all should know the national language. But for a person who is from the above said background, the scenario changes a bit.

If a person doesn know the language spoken by everyone, the way he / she is treated is completely different.

24 x 7 I am listening to hindi without understanding most of the things spoken. In the initially days when I stepped into north india, I had no clue what is spoken in front of me. And I am not giving any negative comments about it. Actually I am trying to learn it. But if I just talk one sentence in tamil to one of my friend from tamil nadu, people give some weird looks and say “hey hey stop that encrypted language.. ” what the hell ! They cant hear a single sentence which they cant understand, whereas I am listening to a totally new language 24 x 7. Initially I try to understand hindi when spoken by others continuously which leads to a head ache.

And sometimes when real heated up conversations / debates are going on.. (obviously its spoken in hindi) I am totally left out. I don’t get to know whats the topic of conversation. I don’t have a stand on the decisions taken. If I ask for a translation, “one sec dude… “ then the conversation in hindi continues.. Mostly people translate it after the entire conversation is over which is of no use. Most of the time, I wont know what to do, so I keep starring at them trying to figure what’s been spoken. I am not blaming anyone for this, because when they all are interested in listening to the conversation they cannot translate simultaneously. I am just narrating an experience of a student from south in north india who doesn know hindi.

People are not able to listen to a single latest tamil song for a min. They respond like “oh god.. tamil song.. change it .. “ But they are ready to listen to the same song in hindi after it gets released in hindi. To add to it, they claim that songs of movies like sathiya are first done in hindi and then copied to tamil. Then after few mins they play a very old hindi song (1980’s) and tell me that it’s a very good song. And they expect me to listen to it and enjoy it. I am trying.. and sometimes I am enjoying too.

Tamil language is mostly known with the sentence “Enna Rascala” these days as its been used in ‘Ohm Shanti Ohm’. People think that Tamil movie industry consist of only Rajinikanth, his dialogues and his styles. Tamil movie industry is also referred with “Fat heroines”. But you should also look at the actually picture. There are lots of good things happening over there. Lots of famous movies and songs have been created till now.. Many famous directors like Shankar and Mani Ratnam are from Tamil nadu. Director Mani Ratnam’s works include Roja, Guru, Dilse, Kadhalan (Hum de hai mu kab la), Mudhalvan (Nayak), Alaipayuthey (Saathiya), Bombay. I have given a list of movies which are reshoot / dubbed in hindi from tamil. I believe atleast half of them were good.

Tamil Movie	Hindi Version
Kadhalan (1994)	Hum de hai mu kab la
Chandramuki (2005)	Bool Buleya (2007)
Kuselan (2008)	Billu Barber
Roja (1992)	Roja
Mudhalvan (1999)	Nayak (2001)
Ghazhini (2005)	Ghazini (2008)
Thiruda Thiruda	Chor Chor
Alaipayuthey (2000)	Saathiya (2002)
Anniyan	Apprajith
Indian	Hindustani
Jeans	Jeans
Minnale	RHTDM
Asathal	hey baby
Pachaikili muthusaram	Train
Pookiri	Pookiri
Bombay	Bombay
Kadhal Desam	Dhuniya Dhilvalon ki
Yodha	Dharam Yodha
Minsaara Kanavu	Sapnay
Suriya Vamsam	Surya Vanjam
Charle Chaplin	Partner
Friends	Friends

I am not writing this out of frustration. I was free this weekend and just wanted to put down all that I have observed these days in Gujarat.

Thankfully due to some good friends help, these days I am getting to know the topic of conversation happening in front of me. And I am able to involve in things happening around me.

Finally, I am not asking anyone to appreciate Tamil language. At least don’t treat it like shit. Lots of things apart from good music are there from that place, language and people. Try to respect it.

Expecting respect without giving is not a fair way to live life !

Foundation day of NID PG Campus, Gandhinagar

2009-07-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

Today was National Institute of Design, PG Campus, Gandhinagar’s Foundation day. We (few juniors) got the opportunity to decorate the cake cutting place. The Colour theme was Green. We had great fun in decorating the place with the very minimum budget.

70 ways to impress your date

2009-07-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

We had a dating week where juniors will have blind date with seniors. Seniors will send gifts, put up posters etc.. Juniors will reply them the same way.. Even some were dedicating songs and videos in our shared network space. It was great fun! This happens for a week and at the end of the week they take their date for dinner. My date took me to US Pizza. The best part of this dating concept is that students show all their creativity. It motivates everyone to think creatively. The campus was decorated beautifully with colourful posters with hearts…

Here are some of them. I couldn capture all of them :-(

Few shots from Graphical User Interface (GUI) Principles class...

2009-07-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

Some of the most prominent logos from National Institute of Design

2009-07-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Freshers Party @ NID, Gandhinagar

2009-07-11T23:58:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome freshers party !
The dress code was "contradict yourself"

I went in "Virummandi" style..

Shubhi Shrivastava (my senior) presenting me a gift - a small keychain.
It was a fiber glass one with my face engraved in it.
it even had my name printed with NID logo.
One of the very memorable gift.

happens during the ramp walk ;-)

New Media Design Students

Photography Course @ NID

2009-07-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

Photography course for the past 2 weeks has changed a lot in all our mindsets. The word “photography” is always perceived with the sense of glamour. We too had that. Expectations rose to a very high extent when for every two student a semi professional digital SLR was given. We had Dr. Deepak John Mathew, Mr. Saurabh Srivastava and Mr. Maniyarasan R guiding us all the way. The aim of the this course is to help us generate visual awareness and sensitivity and enable us to make optimum use of this medium in recording and communicating ideas, activities, environment, etc.

Lots of theoretical inputs were given on the first day. Then we were sent for the outdoor shoot. Our theme was architecture. Each team (2 students) were given with an old architecture and a new architecture. We are supposed to come out with post cards at the end of the course which will have NID logo and the photographer’s name. So that it can even be sold in NIDUS – the design shop.

Initially Deepak asked us to shoot with a static ISO (200) and Lens Focal length (35mm). We are not supposed to use tripod too. Then he removed the constraints from the next day. After everyday’s shoot we used to have a very detailed discussion with Deepak, Saurabh and Mani. We spent hours in understanding all the critical comments. Almost everyone got fed up. We have to shoot the architectures in different timing of the day. (5:30 AM to 9:00PM). The architectures are located around 1 to 1 ½ hours distance from the place where we stay. So we have to get up atleast by 4 AM or 4:30 AM and will reach back to room by 11 PM. Then have to transfer the pics and do the post processing works. After all this, the only thing we hear is “reshoot”. So we became more and more cautious about each and every shot as it costs us lot of time, money and more than all our precious SLEEP. And if we bring standard angles with absolute symmetry, the comment goes like “It looks very normal.. I mean the post cards sold outside that place will have this kind of photo.. why didn you try some new angles?” and if we bring some new angles, say we tilt the view.. then the comment goes like “see the buildings are falling.. they are not in symmetry.. the point of interest is missing..” so basically we were all confused with what to shoot. It was really hectic and frustrating.

We were thought about different lighting methods in studio too. Was very exciting.. We were even given with an analog SLR camera during our architectural shoots. In analog its much more risky as we can’t even see a preview of what we shot. But the surprise factor made us very cautious about the settings like aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc.

For the past 2 weeks these were the only sentences we kept hearing.
“Reshoot. Please.. ”
“Why all this kachada here? ”
“Why don’t you try this in a diff timing? ”
“No no no.. bad timing.. ”
“Don’t you think the element of interest is missing here ? ”
“See in a picture-in-picture the element of interest is very important. ”
“I would prefer that human on this corner. ”
“I would prefer the tree bit above. ”
“No no .. focus is lost.. ”
“Bad exposure.. ”
“Is tree your theme or architecture? ”
“Why soo much sky in the pic? ”
“Why soo much land in the pic? ”
“Why is the sky soo small… would have been better if sky would have been shown bit more.. ”
“You could have tried some other angle. ”
“Go there sit and enjoy the architecture and then think how you can present them. ”
“Guys come on do some hard work.”
“How will I know this is Gandhi ashram, it can even be in Antarctica. ”
“Try to read and understand this history behind the architecture and then bring out the feeling through your pics.. you need to add more life to it guys.. ”
“I am disappointed.”

But after 2 weeks, when I look back to the pics which I shot on the first day, I can see a lot of improvement.

Then I smiled to myself.

These were few pics clicked inside the studio

Now here comes the making shots...

Photo shoot @ Champaner, Gujarat

2009-07-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

Champaner is situated 47 kms from Vadodara, The town of campaner was subjugated by Sultan Mahmud Begara in 1484 and made it his new capital. Campaner lies at the foot of Pavagadh Fort. Campaner recently identified and declared as one of the hundred endangered architectural monument of the world.

Camera used: Nikon D60 Digital SLR