By Gasper Crasto
Kuwait November 19, 2007: Since his early teens at St. Joseph's Convent, Nagoa - Verna, Salcete – Goa, T-Bush has visualized the world around him. At the Goa College of Art he gained a strong dispersal of ideas to see things in a new vision. And to set himself on the road to professionalism and perfection, T-Bush graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts, majoring in Audio-Visual from the Goa University, India.
He further mastered the Art of Film Making and TV Production at the London Film School, United Kingdom with the main intention of sharing his dreams with the world.
In an interview with Gasper Crasto, T-Bush discusses his start as a filmmaker, the problems and challenges faced with bringing 'BLACK Nhesop Atanchem Fashion' to the screen, and his other dreams and projects.
Excerpts of the interview:
Q. What went wrong with your previously announced 'All the Best'?
T-Bush: Everyone (the crew, cast and my fans) had great expectations of 'All the Best'. It is disappointing to see so much of hard work kept on hold. The screenplay of 'All the Best' required lot of scenes with the complete cast. In a working country like Kuwait, it is difficult to gather everyone on the sets at a given time and place. One reason we had to halt the project was unavailability of some of the important cast. For 'BLACK', I did a thorough study before writing the screenplay. Even when we did not have the actors around, I had devised a way to continue with the shoot.
Q. What scene in BLACK carries the most meaning for you?
T-Bush: I would say the scene... well, every scene means something to me. I was so blessed with all the actors, they have done a wonderful job. It's the sense of humor in some of the scenes that I loved. To be able to laugh while you're working is the coolest thing in the world. It's the comedy that makes it fun, that makes it tolerable, that makes it the best that it can be.
Q. How long did the screenplay end up being?
T-Bush: I didn't really write the script to have other people read it. I wrote the script in the form that I thought it should be. It was exactly what was going to happen, what shots were what, etc. Then all I did was just cross out each thing that we did and go on to the next shot. But I couldn't hand the complete script to the artistes and have them understand what's on it other than their dialogues.
I never gave it to the actors to read because I didn't want them to rehearse the lines or feel like they had a lot of lines. So we would just give them a particular scene before we shot it, shoot that scene, and have them forget that scene so that they were always giving natural reads, non-rehearsed. And the look of confusion on their faces helps, because they're supposed to be confused in the movie anyway (laughs). It came out great, the performances are wonderful. Most of the actors had no idea what they were doing.
Q. Where did the actual idea for the story and the characters come from?
T-Bush: I had the idea for BLACK about two years back when we were making the other movie 'All the Best'. I was thinking I could try to create a story on some of the fading Goan traditions or something like that. So I thought of the character of BLACK - a traditional musician. This movie is the genesis of that character.
Q. Without giving things away, what's the basic story of this one?
T-Bush: We find that the wearing of black is really a trend among the generation. We all are somebody in life – our roots, our culture is special, but life turns us somebody unusual as we drift into different places, situations and atmospheres. It's an effort to persuade the young genre to keep track of our fading traditions.
What I found when I started making the movie is that I needed to reach out to people. The film can be said as a revolution because it isn't about something that happened years ago. It is about something happening now. Then, on the content side, I needed to figure out how to tell the story. The story is a way to participate in some of these amazing arguments. I wake up in the morning and I can get involved in a way that is not just sending an email to some one about how angry I am. I can actually do something to educate our generation.
But at the back of my mind I knew I needed to make the movie as entertaining as I could. Because it's such an obscene amount of work putting a film together, especially all by yourself, and it's just not worth it if you're not going to enjoy it. That's why, you will find the movie is kind of goofy in a lot of areas, I was just entertaining!
Q. How helpful was Art of Film Making and TV Production at the London Film institute in your career?
T-Bush: I think any education is always beneficial as nothing shapes character like education. My studies at London were instrumental in shaping me. It will always be a part of everything I do. In filmmaking, it helps me to be more systematic and organized in the way I work. The studies changed my life. I realized that films meant more than a mere childhood fantasy. I began devouring eagerly my film grammar, I saw every kind of film that was being made, got to know and interacted with people in the UK, whose lives revolved entirely around Hollywood films. I also got a lot of on-field experience in the making of 3 English films.
Q. What part of the movie making process do you like the most?
T-Bush: Having a low budget means, you're forced to use your creativity more than your money. And that's what a movie is -- the creative process. I love the whole process. I love editing -- there's nothing more fun than that, that's when the whole movie comes together. I like to research shots and all that, so I operate the camera to get the shots that I want. Crazy, different kinds of shots still tell the same story. But it is not just being a cameraman, because what's going on has to be dictated in a certain way, so I like to direct in that way. Directing is not that much fun -- pretty boring actually. All the fun is with the camera and the editing room and the writing. Which is why I like to write the dialogues, so that there's plenty of good stuff going on all the time. It's a lot of work, too. I mean, after I finished editing BLACK, I was just drained. But it's a good feeling.
Q. What does editing of the film involve?
T-Bush: Editing is all about trimming a film to the length the film is supposed to be. I have to decide where we need to keep the close shot, which shot looks better in which angle, is the dialogue appropriate for the scene, etc. I have to maintain the flow and tempo of the film. Depending on the situations in the film, I increase or decrease the pace of the film. A hit film can become a superhit due to good editing and an average film could be made above average. Much of the creativity of the film depends on the editing.
Part of the fun in editing is, you get to try out all sorts of things that you never would have thought of. If I had some editor working on the cut as I was shooting, I'd come and see his first cut, but I wouldn't see all the other options -- it would be too late. There's some real neat stuff in BLACK simply because I had to work it myself. I came up with some stuff that I never would have thought of in the Writing or Directing stage, or if I'd had someone else cut it.
Q. How will you differentiate BLACK with other movies?
T-Bush: A lot people feel that all movies have stories that we are all very familiar with, and these movies somehow feel ordinary. My objective was, I wanted to make a movie with a story and structure that is fresh, appealing, funny and smart. I also wanted to make it as professional as I could afford. I wanted to avoid any clichéd concepts and stay away from stereotypes. I think I have succeeded in achieving that. When I sat to review the film with my audio-visual specialist Toni, he was amazed and said the Konkani audience will definitely want to see more films of this kind standard.
Q. Are there any scenes which you think could have been done better in BLACK?
T-Bush: Yes. But I don't want to divulge the information. If the same screenplay was done with a highly professional 'backstage' crew, obviously it would turn out more stunning and glamorous.
Q. What do you think about the Konkani video films?
T-Bush: The existing commercial filmmaking format should change. The videos are only taking us backwards. People involved in produced videos should realize that these films somehow reach across the globe, but they don't carry any standard along. Konkani speaking audience worldwide is much wiser by the day. People do not view movies as just a way to kill time, they judge. It is time for adapting literary, creative works. Konkani film lovers will definitely know the difference between a geniune feature film and the so called labeled as films home videos after watching BLACK. My goal as a filmmaker is to make a perfect film. I firmly believe that we shouldn't adopt other peoples' practices. I wish people who produce videos utilize their money in a better way by producing quality films.
Q. Have you learnt anything from our earlier Konkani films?
T-Bush: No. Every film is different. You can't learn from something that has already happened. You might wish to do it. Films eventually work on feelings. It depends on whether you are able make the audiences feel or not. The concept used in BLACK is totally different seen in our earlier Konkani films. Earlier hit films will always remain as classic.
Q. How did the story idea for BLACK come about?
T-Bush: BLACK is inspired by my own thoughts.
Q. Which is more important in any film - story or technique?
T-Bush: Some people say that story should be given more emphasis than technique. But I feel that technique should be given as much importance you give a story. Entire shooting process is just manual labor. Most of the creative job is done in the editing. I must have seen each shot of the film for 100 times by now. So I can't give any judgment after watching the final product now.
Q. Tell us about your hard work?
T-Bush: Filmmaking requires a lot of dedication and hard work. During all these months of shooting, I have pretty much given up my social life, traveled like crazy, etc. The only thing that keeps you going for such a long period is passion for the art and faith in work. So you better be sure the movie is worth making. Now that we have successfully completed the film, the next challenge is to screen it and make sure audiences around the world get to see and appreciate it. It is also time to call up friends and thank them for the favors and apologize for all the unanswered calls!
Q. What should attract people in watching this movie?
T-Bush: This movie has fresh faces and a fresh perspective. My biggest challenge is to get people into the theaters to watch our Konkani films. We're confident the film will catch on with Goan movie lovers. This should also encourage financers, producers and artistes not to waste money in sub-standard videos which are forgotten with a blink of eyes. Obviously if there were more money for production, then things can be easier - but then we are not talking about low/no budget filmmaking any more. If your choices are not making a movie because you do not have the money or making a movie with whatever resources you can round up, then for me, the choice is always making the movie with what I have/can get - 'cause I am a filmmaker and I want to give our people, if not the supreme level, atleast a standard film.
Q. How much money did the film cost to produce, and how did you go about raising the cash?
T-Bush: The film has cost more money than I had imagined. I used money from my salary, and loans/investments to finance the movie. The biggest expenses were buying the some equipment required for the sets, editing softwares, etc. Also I had to purchase and download special sound effects from the internet.
Q. How are you going to distribute or promote screenings?
T-Bush: At this point I have over a dozen requests for screening the film across the Gulf. Screening will be done in Goa, Mangalore, Bombay, etc, and wherever Konkani speaking people are based like in Canada, UK, Portugal, etc.
Q. How has the internet helped in producing and promoting your film?
T-Bush: The internet is a free publicity and community building tool. Nowadays, Internet has changed the media landscape. On the one hand, television news ratings are down simply because there are thousand of channels. More people are getting their news and information online and there seems to be more segmentation, so that you can pretty much go online and find the point of views that you want to find without having to come into contact with views and opinions that you dislike. On the other hand, there seems to be a bigger opportunity for the truth to get out since the Internet is a democratizing vehicle as well. These are two competing and juxtaposed developments of our times. I can't tell you what an extraordinary change that is. We are the first generation to embrace this. Can you imagine what it will be like in ten to fifteen years? People might get to see premiers of future movies on the internet.