Equipment Used: Canon EOS 1300D Camera, Wide Lens.
Shoot Details: The aim of the shoot was to capture popular religious landmarks found Chennai. These shots in the music video are directly related to some of the lyrics that speak about the diversity of Chennai, with specific mention to the numerous religions found in large populations.
Learning Experience: During this shoot, I learnt more about the importance of permits and how different locations have different rules regarding filming in the area. For example, filming outside particular religious landmarks was prohibited and I had the experience of looking for others that allowed videography of their beautiful exteriors for the music video.
Lyrics and Storyboard for Reference:
“Church-u pakkam azhaga irrukum”
(“it’s beautiful around the Churches”)
“Dinam naalu velaiyum Mosque-u pakkam prayer-u”
(“Morning, Noon and Evening, you can hear prayers from the Mosque”)
Ford vs Ferrari is a Drama/Sport film of 2 hours and 32 minutes released in 2019. Directed by James Mangold, the film makes use of excellent casting (Christian Bale and Matt Damon) and is distributed by 20th Century Fox. This film was released late August in the Telluride Film Festival and was released in the United States on 15th November.
The plot is based on true events and characters, circling the lives of automotive visionary Carroll Shelby and his driver Ken Miles. Our batch of A Level Media studies decided to watch this film to develop our understanding on the following:
1)Narrative- After learning about various methods of depicting a narrative and analyzing a few media products using theories I have researched (Including Todorov’s Narrative theory, Binary Oppositions, Barthes’ codes, etc.) I decided that watching this film and analyzing its narrative structure or interesting methods of depicting a narrative that is based on a true story along with my peers would be a fruitful experience.
This film followed a linear narrative stream for the most part, addressing each event as it came historically. However, narrative style and structure was made more entertaining for viewers as establishment sequences of all significant characters were implemented artistically- for example, Shelby’s appointment with the doctor along with his history can be seen in the beginning of the film. It then moves on to establish Ken Miles with a very iconic sequence (A fight where he throws a wrench- the latter becomes a symbol at the very end of the movie, tying the film’s narrative up nicely.) and continues with the rest of the plot until a pinnacle is reached at the end of the Le Mans race. After this, the film provides closure using an interaction between Shelby and Ken’s family to portray acceptance of Ken Miles’ death.
2)Representation- The film depicted historically significant people in the car racing and manufacture industry, including people from various cultural backgrounds or from different nations. As a film describing true events, the film is expected to have a realistic flavor to it. Representation of the history of the characters and authentically maintaining their original traits (For example, Shelby’s attitude towards his heart valve issue).
Personally, I feel that representation in this film also contributed towards audience perception in a more cultural sense. For example, the casting choice of a popular English actor to play the British protagonist in the film was a way to accurately imitate the original Ken Miles. Similarly, the Italian language is displayed to an extent when scenes with Enzo Ferrari or the Ferrari team interact with each other- an effective method of representation as Italian actors (Remo Girone as Enzo Ferrari, etc) were cast for the film. As a viewer that appreciates these details and choice in cast, this film is a sets a good example.
To conclude, this film allowed for a wonderful viewing experience, enabling its audience to relate with circumstance and emotions felt by a lot of the characters. The film had this sense of equilibrium or balance when it came to showing audiences all the important perspectives; for example, while the film was titled Ford V Ferrari and Ferrari played a crucial role opposing Ford in the overall plot, the most significant opposition I observed during the film was that between Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles and Leo Beebe.
Shoot Details: The aim of the shoot was to film local youth playing popular sports as this is a common occurrence seen throughout the week, typically in mornings and evenings. Chennai’s youth finds themselves playing football or cricket barefoot on the streets or practicing hard for state Kabaddi tournaments with their teams in the blazing sun. This spirit of enjoyment, camaraderie and sportsmanship the citizens of Chennai boast is something I wanted to capture in my music video, Endhan Madras. On this day, I was also hoping to get other shots I had drawn that I was able to find in the area I shot at, including water being filled in a plastic pot, etc, as part of sequences focussing on the water crisis.
Learning Experience: During this shoot I was able to travel through the city to find youth playing sports or practicing, and communicate with them in order to shoot them playing. I was also able to learn more about how to shoot sports with motion, especially from a considerable distance so as to not be a disturbance as the sports played were not scripted for the shoot, but were actually authentic games played that I found after scouting for the ideal subjects and sport around the city.
Lyrics and Storyboard for Reference:
The sports sequence comes as part of the anthem-like chorus of the song. However, the shot taken of water being filled, of water trucks around the city, etc are present in the video during the bridge of “Endhan Madras”:
“Periya pista edamaa irunthaalum” (“The area may be developed and full of big-shots, but…”)
“Thanni irundha dhaan vandi odum“(“The cars will only run if there’s water to spare”)
“Karuvaadu kedakkum, eri, kolam, adayuru” (“Dead fish lay, drying, in lakes and ponds in the city”)
“Kudikkara thanni konjam irruka paaru” (“Check if theres any drinking water left”)
Storyboard Used For The Shoot:
Water being filled in a potPeople playing cricket
Photos From The Shoot (All taken during Shoot):
A state team practicing KabaddiA plastic pot left to be filled with water in a polluted area Local Residents Playing Cricket
Schedule: 22nd November, 12:30 Pm to 2:30 Pm (including travel from one location to the other)
Location: Alandur
Equipment Used: Canon EOS 1300D Camera, Wide and Zoom Lens.
Shoot Details: The aim of this shoot was to film an airplane leaving from Chennai Airport in the sky, as well as a local train crossing a bridge. These shots are crucial as the lyrics mentions them while depicting the daily life of a Chennai citizen; seeing planes landing and taking off or hearing trains (metro, national, local) passing by is a daily, even hourly occurrence. These shots help establish the lifestyles of the diverse number of people living in the city, and shows viewers how they get around.
Learning Experience: This shoot allowed for me to perform research on train and plane timings, where I learnt that a plane leaves almost every 5 minutes- sometimes less. This allowed for the shoot to be done faster than expected. Trains, however, took a longer time to cross the same track and I had gained the experience of learning how to schedule shoots appropriately. I was also able to practice filming cleaner shots with the larger zoom lens; allowing for me to develop my skills as a cinematographer.
Lyrics and Storyboard for Reference:
“Mela patha flightaam, sidela paatha trainaam”
(“Look up, there’s a flight, look to the side, there’s a train”)
Equipment Used: Canon EOS 1300D Camera (Wide and Zoom lenses).
Shoot Details: The aim of this shoot was to capture footage of South-Indian Breakfast items as well as shots of other popular foods consumed in Chennai (Including Biriyani and Elai Saapadu). Other shots I decided to get today included shots of busy streets and roads to add on to the realistic depiction of the city, highlighting the contrasts found. I wanted to emphasize contrasts found within the city vividly and I felt it was a good idea to start with the food as it is a very valuable element of the culture here.
People in the city find themselves consuming various foods from various cuisines and parts of the country or world. To show this, I decided to shoot at my home itself as it would allow for me to experience controlling the mis-en-scene and set, making arrangements for traditional south-indian meals (Elai-Saapadu, eating various gravies with vegetables and rice on a banana leaf) as well as a newer, popular food item that can trace its roots back to Persia; using Arabic cooking styles (Dum Biriyani).
Learning Experience: This shoot was a time consuming one as it required travel to various locations to find the most desirable subject, keeping authenticity, permissions, etc in mind. This meant that I had to be careful about time management as the shots of the streets could only be taken around the evening (3:30 to 6:30 Pm- common time frames for crowds, traffic, children playing,etc), whereas the breakfast shots and other food shots were taken at 8:00 Am and 1:30 Pm respectively.
As the shots of the traditional meals and biriyani took place in my home, I was able to control the environment further and take my time with perfecting the shots according to my requirements. I was able to learn more about communication and organization of a shoot, as well as direction, as the set was of my own making. To develop my understanding of set work and improve my focus on aesthetics, I paid more attention to designing the food for the camera, using natural sunlight for the shoots as well as attractive angles and quality of picture.
A video used to research on the same is linked below:
A video I used while researching for the shoots with food items.
(“We put on our clothes after eating our Dosas and leave in a flash”)
Other shots filmed appear during choruses.
Storyboard Used For The Shoot:
Photos From The Shoot (All taken during Shoot):
Traditional Banana leaf and bowl procured to hold and serve the food items Indian cuisine- food items made for the shoot
Some of the final shots:
Final set-design for the shoot- Biriyani and South-indian food eaten side by side, symbolism for diversity in Chennai. Breakfast Foods at Sangeetha Restaurant.
Location: Thoraipakkam Lake, Guindy National Park and OMR streets.
Equipment Used: Canon EOS 1300D Camera (Wide and Zoom lenses).
Shoot Details: The aim for this shoot was to capture shots of locally found birds around water bodies, deer and the shots involving local people and businesses like corner tea stores that are part of numerous Chennaites’ early morning routines. The shots involving the tea seller are used in the music video to symbolize the atmosphere of a typical morning, featuring diegetic audio of folk songs/old film songs playing in the background as people drink their morning tea or coffee, read the newspapers, etc.
Learning Experience: Capturing clear, higher quality shots with the help of a zoom lens proved to be difficult but was unavoidable and necessary for the subjects, as the animals could not be neared. However, capturing the animals in their habitats using movement and displaying them as naturally as possible were some of the aims of the shoot, which was achieved. I was able to learn more about switching lenses mid-shoot and this shoot allowed for me practice distinguishing what variety of shots require a zoom lens, what requires a wide lens, etc.
Lyrics and Storyboard for Reference:
“Sound-a marathu mela kathi paadum kuyilu”
(“The birds on the trees sing loudly”)
The other clips taken do not have references found directly in the lyrics. However, they play significant roles during the chorus and other parts of the music video.
Storyboard Used For The Shoot:
Tea-Stall/”Tea-Kaaran” at work.Birds on Trees. Deer Walking Birds On Waterbodies
Photos From The Shoot (All taken during Shoot):
Bird on a tree- Guindy National ParkSpotted Deer- Guindy National Park. Halcyon Kingfisher- Thoraipakkam LakeLocal “Tea-Kaaran”- Streets of OMR, early morning.
Location: Thirukadaiyur Temple, A few hours outside Chennai.
Equipment Used: Canon EOS 1300D Camera, Lenses.
Shoot Details: This aim of this shoot was to capture temples and other traditional events/practices for the Endhan Madras music video.
The dates scheduled for this shoot coincided with a traditional function taking place within my family that numerous people practicing Hinduism in Chennai and Tamil Nadu tend to perform. I decided to take this opportunity to get footage of the beautiful temple and of the gorgeous, intricate traditional attire worn and practices found at these events. I also wished to highlight (providing contrast of both good and negative aspects of tradition in relevance to the music video’s additional message.) the importance of water in these functions and add ambiguity and realism into the music video as the water used is not always used responsibly by the people of Tamil Nadu. The aim of this footage being used in the music video is to generate more awareness and promote better practices of water conservation.
The location for this event was a famous temple a few hours outside Chennai that is full of people from Chennai on many auspicious dates all year round to perform rituals accompanied by lavish outfits, large familial gatherings, traditional music and instrumentation, etc.
Learning Experience: Arranging for adequate lighting and quality during this shoot proved to be an issue as getting desired shots was difficult as I could not control all aspects of the event, due to the fact that it was a real event being filmed for the sake of authenticity and not a staged one. However, I was able to tackle these issues by using natural lighting and practical lighting and different angles.
Lyrics and Storyboard for Reference:
“Namma oorula theruku theru Kovil irrukum”…
(“In our city, there are temples at every corner”)…
Other shots from the shoot would be used at relevant points during the choruses.
Storyboards used during shoot:
Photos From The Shoot:
Traditional Musicians Serenading The Families Performing Religious Traditions- Taken During ShootThe Temple Location Filmed- Taken During shoot.
Shoot details: As the Day 3 shoot was postponed to Day 4 due to a few unavoidable circumstance in the city, both shots/sequences (beach and the auto-rickshaw) were shot today. This included shots drawn in the storyboard, such as the busses and auto-rickshaws, as well as shots of fish stalls by the beach and children with their families enjoying the beach on a sunny morning.
Learning Experience: Some other shots I was hoping to get such as horse riding along the beach and people snacking on street food would be common occurrences only during the later evening time period. To get these shots, I would have to club the shoot with the next beach shoot scheduled for November 30th.
Lyrics and Storyboard For Reference:
“2 wheeler, cycle otti povom, Share auto, MTC eri povom”
(“We ride two-wheelers and cycles, we take Share-autos and buses”)
Photos From The Shoot:
Typical Auto-Rickshaw (Taken during shoot)Bus Transport (Taken During Shoot)Fish Being Sold at the Beach (Taken during shoot) People Enjoying Besant Nagar Beach (Taken During Shoot)An Image Of Me Filming The Beach.
Today, the 9th of November was scheduled as shoot day number 3, focussing on one of the beach sequences and shots. However, due to political unrest and sudden rains, I decided not to compromise on the shots and locations and reschedule to a more favorable day (10th November). This is helpful since- as mentioned in my previous blog post- I was hoping to focus on digipaks and experimenting with them as soon as possible.
I decided to work on drafts and ideas for the digipak design and album art for the single. This artwork would go on the digipak template as well as be uploaded onto the website as promotional material.
I decided that I would create the art myself and the theme of Chennai would remain the most prominent one. I used an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil with the software Medibang to design the artwork, the first drafts and ideas of which are attached below.
The final artwork and digipak design progress will be updated in future posts concentrating on the digipak for Endhan Madras.
Above is the first idea I experimented with, where I had taken a photo from the world famous Marina Beach and added it as a background as it represents the city with a single image, is relatable to the target audience and allows for a minimalistic presentation.
However, I decided to keep making more drafts and designs as I felt this did not capture the complete essence of the music/track and did not capture the bustle or energy that the city always has. I decided that usage of more vivid colors and energetic ideas was necessary, leading me to my next design.
This second draft makes use of a bright yellow and related colors. Yellow is one of the colors associated with Chennai and its culture, it can also be found in the logo of Chennai’s cricket team, CSK or Chennai Super Kings. This version makes use of English and Tamil text for the title, linking the digipak/album art even more to the “Tanglish” song, Endhan Madras.
While I do like the draft displayed above and think it is appropriate yet simple, there were still other ideas I wanted to experiment with before settling on one design. The following addition to this series of Digipak Blogs will include completed digipak designs instead of only the front panel (as seen in images above) and will include the final digipak design.
The Music Promotion Package includes a “Digipak Design” task. At first, I was unaware that digipak was the technical term used for the case that comes with a CD- being at this level of awareness regarding digipaks and how they work, I decided to do some research before I started taking photographs or drawing (digitally) for Endhan Madras’ digipak design.
After reading through this slideshare source, I learnt that the digipak trademark is currently held by AGI Shorewood and that this disk packaging option grew popular in the 2000’s and is the successor of traditional Jewel Cases- Digipak’s grew popular thanks to record labels and artists.
To help me choose between the variants of digipak designs, I used this website as reference as it included so many options and was very clear about the specifications of each version of the Digipak.
Above is a screenshot of the website, including the one that I finally selected. My requirements for the digipak was a simple 4 panel but with provision for extra information in the form of a small card or pamphlet. Template number 3 (from the top) seemed to fit these exact requirements- 4 panels, CD On the inner right panel and a slit for information card on the inner left panel. This digipak template would perfectly complement the simplicity of the artists, the artist website, the song as well as the music video.
In following posts, I hope to allot at least one day of production for digipak design work, shoots or more research as I have close to no knowledge regarding digipaks.
A Level Media Studies Blog- Priyadarshini K 