Camerawork

Last night we reshot the breakup scene between Drew and Liz to bring it more in line with the visual style/aim for the movie and it turned out to be a fantastic experience with spot on performances and some happy accidents. It went without a hitch and I am slightly nervous about digitizing the footage as I was the cameraman on one of the cameras. That's what the film has come down to - 2 cameras [with simon and me behind the camera] and the actors with audio being captured through the radio mics - it is as low budget as it can be.

I was slightly nervous being behind the camera because the last time I did any camerawork was in 2003 and it was a very quick and steep learning curve to be ready for this shoot. Tomorrow I'll get to know whether to kick myself or not for going down this route for the movie.

Till later,
Amit

Meltdown

Went out for a quiet dinner with Benji & Lance at an underground Korean BBQ place on Queen Street last night. It was a great eating experience and is highly recommended mainly because the BBQ is not gas run but by wood/charcoal - which gives it a different flavour. The 3 of us were the only non-koreans there and it looks like 'white' Aucklanders really haven't found this place yet. We followed up the dinner with a beer at the Belgian Beer Cafe on Vulcan lane - it was a mildly disappointing experience as their standards seem to have dipped slightly. We ended the night pretty early because I had work this morning. All in all an enjoyable night and thanks to everyone who called or emailed me their wishes - I do feel connected and alive.

Lance drinking sake while Benji cooks some meat on the BBQ

Last pickings..3 happy amigos after the meal

Sake does strange things to you

Quiet dinner

Me feeling contemplative

The Casual Dining Bar

Intersection

Empty Car Park Building

Lance trying his best gigolo impression - Benji ain't interested

Connected

A bar on Vulcan Lane

The drive back home

As far as the meltdown is concerned - it looks like it's gonna happen sometime within a year if things don't go my way with a fair few things I am involved in right now. My nightmares reflect the reality of my situation and that in itself is a worrying sign. Doing a fair assessment on how things play out with me - nothing is had easily and I always have to fight for everything, especially since not many people believe in my capabilities. My self-belief combined with stubbornness and lots of support from the family is why I am where I am today. It takes it's toll and there are times you start questioning your own belief system which inevitably leads to existential/identity crisis and I feel like I am hanging by a thread over that chasm. Hopefully I can claw my way back up. I know I am lucky to be in the place where I am but we humans never got anywhere by being content with what we have. There is always scope for improvement and there is always that elusive dream that you are chasing.

That's me for now,

Amit

Days in pictures

Rachel {one of the new flatmates} doing make up for someone

Shady

Karyn, Valerie & Geoff at lunch during the workshop

Justin, Peter, Zane, Tom & Leanne sharing stories

Karyn explaining something as Michael and me look on

Later,
Amit

Fish in a Barrel

Hard to believe that a week has just flown away without a trace. It's been an incredibly busy week at work and combined with acting workshops on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and a movie related meeting on Friday - time has just disappeared.

Today was also the first day of the drama directing workshop and it was again an awesome experience just sitting in a creative space and absorbing ideas and reinforcing some of the ideas that I am already implementing with the movie. It is my second incredibly long day - yesterday I did a 14 hour day and today it is turning out to be a 17 hour day. And coming up tomorrow is another day at the directing workshop, definitely seems daunting but it is incredibly fun and a great learning process.

Next week looks equally busy at work combined with the plans to shoot a couple of scenes the following weekend for 'Moments'. I just need to keep my head down and keep working on both fronts till my upcoming holiday in India.

As far as the title of the blog is concerned - that's how I am feeling right now. Feel free to shoot me if you have some spare time. Some more LX3 pics for you and that's me signing off.

Lost in time

Construction Work

In the Shadows

Old and New but trapped in between

Brushes

Walk

Legs

Media Scrum

Under the boat

Sky Tower

Through a drive through

Farmer's Market

Decorating

Lazy Afternoon

Red

Cheerio,
Amit

P.S - I got excused from my jury duty, so that's a weight off my mind.

Workshops

The target was to have 3 workshops by the end of this week and plan to shoot 3 scenes before the end of this month. We managed to have 2 fantastic workshops today but had to postpone the third as one of the actors had a paid gig come up and it looks like we might end up shooting just 2 scenes because of the schedules of the actors involved. That's the nature of independent film making I guess - you roll with it and make the best of what comes your way. So now I have atleast 2 workshops this week and I am hoping to figure out a way to shoot a scene, so that we might still be able to achieve the original target of shooting 3 scenes before the end of the month.

Looks like a busy week coming up with the drama directing workshop on this coming weekend and the second session of business management class at work round the corner after that.

That's me for now,

Amit

District 9

'District 9' turned out to be a fantastic cinematic experience. A thrilling sci-fi adventure with a clear political view of things. The performances are fantastic and the CGI is seamless and always relegated to the background - keeping the focus firmly on the story and it doesn't break pace. Once it gets going it never stops till the end and it never ran into plotholes which seem to riddle all major hollywood summer blockbusters. Definitely worth watching.

The summons in the mail box said that I am required for jury service and my first reaction was of surprise, then dismay and then relief. Surprised because I didn't know that they called people working in a media company but it turns out that you are picked at random from the electoral roll. Then it turned out to dismay when I read the details and found that you get paid $31 for half day's work [as against maybe $75-150 for half a day's work you might earn normally in whatever profession you are in] - which sucks big time as you have to take a massive paycut for a week in order to make the justice system work while the lawyers and the judges still earn the top dollars. Then i heaved a sigh of relief because the duty date was from 5th October and I am out of the country from 3rd October, so now I have to fill out an application stating why I should be excused from jury duty. So fingers crossed that the Jury Officer sees that my reason is genuine.

Revive has become one of my favorite lunch spots - mainly because it is healthy food at reasonable prices and it is one of the ways I am trying to change my eating habits and eating healthy. The thing I love about the place is that the menu changes weekly and every week I still find some dish/salad that surprises me. If you are in the city, you should definitely stop by for a visit for some yummy salads. Oh and by the way I chanced across the hot dog vendor earlier today and asked them when exactly they do set their stall up and the answer is - depends on the weather - so if it is rainy and crap weather then it is less likely that you'll find them there. The hungarian crepe was again nice tasting and very filling but I think i prefer the hungarian hot dog because the taste is simpler and more direct.

The 'Revive' salad bar

Brief walks in the city at night when it is raining can throw up some very interesting images. Here are a few of those and some more that I took today:

Watching the world walk by

Breaking free

The lonely walk home

Windows & Stairs

Man walking down Elliot Street

Line building up in front of a night club

A motionless busker

The devil may care

That's me for now,
Amit

P.S - On a random note here is a link to the transcript for the brilliant Errol Morris documentary 'The Fog of War'. The documentary is moving but the written word is even stronger.

Pics

Here are some pics - the first 3 are publicity shots I did for 'Bollocks' while the rest are me experimenting with the camera.

Peter the Metro Bunny

Friends catch up

Tense times

Random shot

Windows

Cold Steel

The Barrow

A quiet coffee

That's me,
Amit

Moments

Good chunk of my free time over the last couple of days has gone into planning workshops and shoot days/dates for 'The Moments In Between'. We had one workshop on Monday and aiming to have another 3 workshops by the end of Sunday with the aim of shooting 3 scenes by the end of this month. The aim for next month is to film atleast 6-7 scenes and the rest we film once I come back from my trip to India. Busy times!!!

In other minor tidbits - I walked down 3 days in a row to Britomart but no hot dog vendor which was slightly disappointing - I really want to try the hugarian crepe; I finally got the filters {a UV filter and a CPL filter} and LCD screen protector and an extra battery and SD card for my LX3 - so the kit is complete for now and I just need to save up to buy a wide angle lens; a surreal moment was having dinner with Kelly at the Albert Street Food court and everyone had shut their shops while we were still having dinner and we were the last ones there even though it was only like 9.30 PM.

It's going to be a very long day at work and I better get prepared for it.
Later,
Amit

Hot Dogs

A walk through Queen Street can sometimes throw some pleasant surprises like yesterday I chanced across this hot dog vendor right across Britomart station. I had a hot dog with hungarian sausage and it was fantastic - very nice taste. I went there again with Benji earlier this afternoon but the guys hadn't set up the stall today. I really wanna try some hungarian crepes there. Highly recommended if you are around the city. I personally think that Auckland needs more roadside eating joints like this where you can grab a quick and cheap bite that's also tasty and interesting. The roadside stalls generate an experience and a vibe and add to the atmosphere of the city which money can't buy, so hopefully the Auckland City council recognizes the fact and gives permission to more road side stalls to be setup.

The roadside 'Hot Dog & Crepe' stand

Drew - one of the actors in 'The Moments In Between' and also the producer of 'Bollocks' asked me if I wanted to take some publicity shots for the play on my new camera and I happily agreed as it gave me a chance to play with some more settings [especially in low light and a tight location] and also because I like helping out people who are helping me out - it is a 2 way street. I ended up watching the play again since Drew offered a free seat to me and I enjoyed it the second time around as well even though it was a different experience watching it on a closing night.

The cast of 'Bollocks' on set

On closing note - I just came across this article about Sleep Paralysis that explains one of the experiences I had during my school days when I was living in Delhi [this must've been 14-15 years ago]. I can honestly testify that it is truly terrifying experience and hard to put the fear into words and can only be measured by the fact that I can still remember that incident so clearly. Thankfully it hasn't reoccured since.

That's me for now,
Amit