Want to be a filmmaker? Head to this workshop on analogue technique in Mumbai

Spend a day playing cinematographer and director at a workshop that teaches you all about analogue filmmaking

If you’re one for the slow paced life, or like working with your hands, you will enjoy the Sequences workshop, which is an introduction to shooting and developing a 16 mm celluloid film. Taking place this Saturday, the workshop will coach participants through the basic steps of analogue filmmaking in a hands-on and practical one-day format.

Simran Ankolkar, artiste and co-curator at Harkat Studios, will also facilitate the workshop which will be a mix of theory and practical learning. This includes an introduction to the nature of the medium, how to load the 16 mm film and operate the camera with various features like zoom, shutter, and aperture. The workshop will then move on to sharing prompts with each participant, allowing them a few moments to shoot their interpretation of the given theme.

Sharing the reasons behind the prompt and the name of the workshop, Ankolkar tells us that the prompts, which are disclosed only at the workshop, serve as a guideline for participants when it is their turn to shoot. Each prompt falls into a visual sequence which when put together becomes a short film. Describing it as a group exercise, she tells us, “Analogue filmmaking depends a community where others also help you take the shot, for instance, by reading the light. In the workshop, people rotate roles while others have a chance to shoot.”

The introductory session covers the basic A to Z of the medium, including guiding participants through developing the film in a dark room with premixed chemistry following a film-developing recipe from Kodak. This again is a group activity where people follow the steps and wash the film in pairs. Ankolkar likens the process to baking. The result will be developing a reversal positive film that can be run through a projector. After a day of learning, and allowing your creative juices to flow, “To see the final creation projected, is very gratifying,” Ankolkar shares.

Simran Ankolkar

“The charm of analogue filmmaking is that it is a hands-on process. You’re involved in each stage of an image coming to life, so it makes you understand the medium, the science behind it and how things react to light and chemistry. It also makes you mindful of image-making since the process is very slow. It’s both a craft and an art form,” Ankolkar signs off.
 
On: February 11, 11 am to 6 pm
At: Harkat Studios, Versova
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 2,300

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