BEST COLLEGE EXPERIENCE

The film, including its pre and post production, was made in just one day

Out of the several memorable college experiences that I have had throughout my two and a half years at Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication, the one which will always remain exceptional would be working on a 3 minute short film with a super talented team of three of my batch mates.

My team consisted of Delzad Hiwale, Shashwat Shriwastava and Swaraj Shriwastava. It was called “End Game”. The film was written and directed by Delzad. Swaraj was the cinematographer and editor. I was given the responsibility of production and Shashwat was to handle sound design. The film, including its pre and post production, was made in just one day. A scientific fiction movie. In just 24 hours. Let that sink in.

During the pre-production stage, we would be up all night to make the story board. The project was a challenge as we wanted to achieve a futuristic look for the film. The costume seemed really tough to make as we wanted to make it look like a cyborg cop. To arrange for the costume and props, we wandered at various dunk yards, factory stores etc. On the night of the shoot when I wore the costume with an LED light on my eyebrow, it felt boiling hot and in between the shots even pained.

A lot of difficulties came our way. When you are a student, making independent movies with friends, schedules are cramped and budgets are really short. But that is where all the real fun lies. Taking all the difficulties and turning them into advantages at the end of the day. It is never easy, but then again, no one said that making movies would be easy. Had it been easy, everyone would have done it. Where would the fun be in that?

My whole point is that these disruptions in the path of making a movie help one grow personally and professionally.

Making this film was truly an unforgettable experience and I really enjoyed working with all my teammates, who in the process became great friends of mine.  

Article by: Shivam Verma (Batch of 2018)

Photo by: Shivam Verma (Batch of 2018)