An adventure of a different sort

 An adventure of a different sort
Annu Mathew

            

               My fellow students and I, of second year MCJ at the Karyavattom campus embarked on an adventure of sorts when we decided to make eighteen documentaries within a span of a mere three days.

                At first some of us thought it would be an impossible task to film so many documentaries within such a short period of time. Days of meticulous planning followed. Sudhir Shah Salam, a professional documentary maker was our project guide. He held a workshop to give us a crash course on practical documentary making. This was in addition to the classes on Television Production by our professor M. Vijayakumar. The workshop gave us newfound confidence to execute the project.

               

                Sudhir sir gave us the freedom to choose topics close to our hearts. Scripts were written, corrected and re-written until he was satisfied with the outcome.

In the midst of hectic schedule

                Finally it was shoot time and though we were making individual documentaries each of us found that the rest of our classmates were eagerly helping out in every step of the production process. We accompanied each other for shoots.

               

                Sudhir sir and the cameraman Sreekumar Jagathy were with us all the time. The rest of the production crew was our classmates. The hectic shooting began as early as 6 a.m. each morning and continued late into the night. At the end of each day we found ourselves thoroughly exhausted only to begin with renewed energy the next day.

                By the end of the third and final day of shoot we all had a good idea of what each documentary was about. Karthika C. documented the Agraharams in Thiruvanathapuram which is a symbol of our cultural heritage. Arjun M.C. was after the fascinating double-decker buses. M. Visakh focused on the abandoned waiting sheds in the city while Krishnapriya zoomed in on radio and its intimate intrusion into our lives. I, myself tried to capture the social factors influencing the dressing of women in our society while Harishma took us back to the days of yore and shot the magnificent Koyikkal Palace. Haridas K.C. brought to light the activities of the ‘108’ ambulance service and Pooja Jayan exposed the poor water management practices in our city.

                Suma K. did a personality documentary on Amal Sagar while Shijina C.V. focused on the lives of the mentally-challenged inmates of Shanti Mandiram. The environmental issues raised by granite quarries was Yadhukrishnan’s subject and Sithara Issac gave voice to the woes of the washermen community in Thiruvananthapuram. Fathima Shaan’s documentary ‘Pallikilkumundu oru katha parayan’ caught on camera an old mosque. ‘Patent Wars’ by Devaky T.K. was a revelation on why research scholars should apply for patents for their findings. Divya S. made a close look at her lens on Govt. T.T.I., Manacaud which has now been revamped into a little heaven on earth for the students.

                Meanwhile, Akhila V. Krishnan decided to document something closer to home base. Her documentary is about the Centre for Bio-Informatics of the Kerala University which has been making rapid strides under the headship of Dr. Achuth Shankar S. Nair. Beena’s frames went eloquent on the efforts of the villagers of Pirappancode who have been trying to get sanction for funds for a swimming pool of international standards for the talented swimmers in this area. The only person among the lot to highlight the plight of animals was Hridhya Menon M.K. Her ‘Bhoomiyude Avakaashikal’ is about a dog hostel at Valiyarathala and its canine inmates.

                All in all the experience was quite a rich one because we have by now a dabbled in various production processes. This first hand know-how will definitely stand us in good stead in the future.