Golden Age Diary

The nail biting

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:55:52 +0530

Thank you all for the great words of encouragement you have all sent to me. Now all I can do is sit and wait ! It's frustrating as from a state of "How am I going to finish all of this in time" panic, now I have nothing to do but wait. The mind and body is so used to action and to being adrenaline induced. I wake up every morning with a start - and then do not know what t do !! Must get down to writing my next script. But the next 4 months will be spent in traveling and promoting the film. Cate, Geoffrey and Clive are busy filming , so I guess I will be doing most of the traveling ! Don't mind it, but must must must lock down my next film.

Temp Score and Real score

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 21:58:19 +0530

I am going through the last minute pains of Golden Age. As we edit the film we add what we call temp score to the edit - to impress people as the see the film in various stages of the edit. This this score is stolen from all over the place. Other movies mainly, but also from classical recordings etc. Problem is that you got so used to the temp score that it is difficult to imagine any other score to fit the film...

The Great Storm

Sat, 26 May 2007 16:56:54 +0530

When Phillip of Spain launched the Armada to invade England, it was one of the greatest fleets ever launched in an invasion. Even though the fleet was ill prepared (more about that later), combined with the forces of the Duke of Parma, the English Navy did not have enough defences to stop it. But for the Great Storm ..... without which their would have been no British Empire. Spain would have probably gone on the conquer the world. India would have been a Spanish Colony, and Spanish would have been the primary language of the world. This blog would have been in Spanish. And perhaps India would have been Catholic and not primarily Hindu....

Golden Age, the second in a trilogy

Tue, 22 May 2007 00:42:56 +0530

Elizabeth was about Power. Survival in the context of Power. Love and Betrayal in the context of Power. And the trade off between the ruthlessness that is essential to gaining Power, against innocence, love, trust and joyfulness.

Golden Age, on the other hand is about Immortality. It is about absolute Power and the aspiring to Divinity. To go beyond the ordinairy and to be Divine. Almost immortal. It is about Elizabeth becoming the Divine, the Immortal being she is percieved as today.

The third, when everyone is ready to do it, will be about Mortality. How do you face Mortality when you have been Divine ? When you have been Immortal ? Elizabeth, when she knew that her time was near, tried to impose her will upon Death itself. She stood for 12 hours (a tiny exaggeration I think !) refusing to lie down, knowing that if she did, the Gods would spirit her away.

More later, Shekhar

The Golden Age Trailer

Thu, 03 May 2007 18:39:24 +0530

watch it now

For those of you who would like to see an extra large version of the trailer, check it out at working title films website.

Test Scores

Thu, 03 May 2007 03:14:41 +0530

Studio's these days will test films with audiences to judge their reactiosn. At the end of the movie the audiences are asked to rate aspects of the film via a very thorough and a very comprehensive questionaire. An analysis of which reveals a lot about how the film is percieved. By male or female audiences. By age groups. Or how they react to questions of pace, drama, relationships. How they reacted to each performance. While no one could say that the analysis is absolute, despite my doubts and apprehensions, I have to say that Studios have got it down to a pretty exact art ! Or perhaps I am just saying that because Golden Age tested very well. I wonder what I would have to say if it did not ? Perhaps I would have not put this entry on !

Letting go !

Tue, 01 May 2007 18:25:25 +0530

Barring the final mix. Where all the elements of sound (effects, foley,music and dialogue tracks) are mixed together to give us the final sound in the theatre. And Barring what we call the DI, where the all the colours and the intensity of the film is 'harmonized' or even 'deharmonized ' for a particular emotion or effect. Barring this, the film is over and I must now let go. Must not cling. Must see the film now have it's own identity. A birth given. No longer mine. Now it belongs to you, the viewer. Shekhar

I hate Video monitors

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:18:10 +0530

Kedar asked me if I encourage my actors to look at Video monitors. Actually I really hate video monitos, and if the producers did not insist, I would never have them on my set. . I never watch them personally and believe that it is waste f time for the actors to watch them. The only time I do watch them is when I am using a steady came or a device where I have not been able to look thru the camera, such as a remote controlled crane. The pictures you see are probably one of those devices. Or maybe I am trying to persuade an actor away from the monitor ! I make films for the adventure of it, and to be able to judge a shot only by looking at video monitor rather than a larger more all encompassing instinct. takes a way the thrill of film making....

working stills

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:24:32 +0530

For those that wld like to see some working stills from the film, please visit
http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/filmPhotoSets.php?filmID=102
shekhar

From Jordi Molla

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 04:33:17 +0530

Jordi plays King Phillip of Spain in Golden Age. Jordi is one of the foremost actor's in Spain. But this was a special relationship where the lines between actor and director blurred. So I asked Jordi to write something on his experience. Read on :

Craig Armsrong and A R Rahman

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:22:45 +0530

Both the composers are now feverishly working together in Galsgow (scotland) a Craig's studio for the score of Golden Age. It's fascinating to watch them interact. Two people with toally different backrounds and cultures. Because this is a predominently a western film, I am ecouraging Craig to lead it. But am looking to Rahman to inject some bold, 'out there' melodies and sounds into the score.

test screening of golden age

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:18:29 +0530

Thank you all for the feedback of the test screening of Golden Age in Los Angeles. Yes, the response was exciting and such a relief ! When I make a film, I am so involved with the process and the one liitle 'eye' that as a director I am supposed to keep on the audience completely dissapears. I just HAVE to trust that my subconscious is in synch with the viewer's. We are all, after all, emotionally in synch with each other, even though we may belong to different cultures. I have been away from the blog as the editing process has been particularily difficult, but will write about that later, Shekhar

Trial and Error

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 14:13:02 +0530

Apologies to thse that have ben visiting this site for the last month. We have been very busy in the edit room, and I guess we have been guilty of ignoring the site. Editing is a process that often is one of trial and error

Tricks of the Trade

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 22:17:09 +0530

A major benefit of working with experienced crew is seeing their methods to get work done quickly. When making films at school or with inexperienced friends you muddle through learning by trial and error. I cut a film recently and had a lot of trouble with a sequence. I was cutting at home on Adobe Premier Pro.

small productions/big productions : karen

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 01:17:25 +0530

Until “The Golden Age” I had only really worked on small productions and my own films at film school. I’ve had various experiences on TV programmes and in postproduction houses but nothing really to speak of.