FTII People

SXT W – A Fully Wireless Camera

In a move that will increase efficiency on set, ARRI has integrated a high-quality and low-latency HD video transmitter and WiFi into the new ALEXA SXT W model (“W” for Wireless). Based on the popular ALEXA SXT Plus, the SXT W will replace the SXT Plus and Studio models. As always, there are attractive upgrade options for existing owners of ALEXA SXT EV and ALEXA SXT Plus cameras.

The new hardware will be accompanied by software upgrade SXT SUP 2.0, which adds improved HDR monitoring, support for current SxS PRO+ and CFast 2.0 cards, quicker frame grabs, various WCU-4 and lens motor features, and other refinements.

Having a video transmitter built into the ALEXA SXT W makes the camera smaller and lighter than it would be with an external transmitter. It also means fewer cables around the camera and fewer associated problems, since cable failure is by far the most common technical hitch on set. Camera setup and power-up will be quicker, and productions will be able to move faster.
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THE STEADICAM VOLT™ IS STEADICAM’S FIRST HANDHELD ELECTRONIC STABILIZER FOR SHOOTING SMARTPHONE VIDEO.

The Volt is equipped with a 3-axis gyroscopic stabilizer, weighing only a pound, you can get extended stable iPhone video footage in two modes; “Movie” and “Sport” modes. Once balanced the Steadicam Volt, powered by long lasting rechargeable Lithium Ion Batteries,  will operate unlike any other gyro-stabilized gimbal. The Volt will transition to work manually even after the batteries run out! The Volt blew past it’s initial Kickstarter goal in the first three days and is still going strong!

    Lightweight and folding design enable easy storage and transportation
    Accompanying iOS & Android APP allows for precise balance and tuning
    Haptic control utilizes Simulated Inertia™ Dual operating modes for beginners and experienced users
    Uses long life rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries
    Accommodates phone sizes with or without case from 100 – 200g in weight and 58 to 80mm wide
    Bluetooth enabled
    Works in manual mode even after your batteries are depleted

Check the official site here.

THE STEADICAM VOLT WAS AWARDED AS A HONOREE AT THE
2017 CES INNOVATION AWARDS

The CES Innovation Awards is an annual competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products.

Sony introduces new raw recorder AXS-R7 for PMW-F55 and F5 CineAlta Cameras with version 8.01.
Features of the new recorder:
High speed 4K capture
Compared to previous Sony 4K recorders, the AXS-R7 Portable Memory Recorder doubles 4K RAW recording from 60 fps up to 120 fps from the F55 camera*. For shooting at higher frame rates, the recorder captures 2K RAW at up to 240 fps from the F55 and F5, for playback with 10x super slow motion.** Also X-OCN can be used for 4K/2K high speed shooting.

*4K 120 fps recording only available for F55.
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Monisha R Baldawa is an alumnus of FTII, Pune (2004-07) specializing in Film Editing. She has worked on many award winning films across various platforms – fiction, non-fiction, ad films and art installations. In January 2017 she won the Filmfare award for Best Editing for the film Neerja.

As a child what were your early influences towards cinema? Art, literature, graphics, photography?
I grew up in a middle class milieu. Movies for us were family outings and I enjoyed going to the movies very much. Although I was brought up in Pune and my family is Marwadi, I watched a lot of Tamil films also because I was very close to a Tamilian family who were our next-door neighbors. More than an attraction for photography or the visual arts I was deeply attracted to stories and story telling. In fact I would look forward to power failures in the evenings when all of us would gather in the balcony and GG, my aunt would tell us stories. I was transported into the fantastic world of Indian Mythology, Jataka tales, Akbar & Birbal, Bikram & Betal and so on.

How did you first become interested in film editing?
During graduation I got myself a FM10 SLR and also learnt 2D flash animation, that was my first interaction with the Visual Arts. Later, while doing my Masters in Video production at Pune University, Prof. Samar Nakhate opened up newer dimensions of the narrative form for me. He showed me the immense possibilities that emerge out of visual syntax. I remember clearly, one afternoon, we spent hours arranging and re-arranging a set of photographs taken by me. I was dazzled by how many different meanings could be created by changing the sequence of images. I think my romance with film editing began on that day.

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Shaibya Rakesh

As a child what were your early influences towards cinema? Art, literature, graphics, photography?
As a child photography was the eary influence towards cinema.

How did you first become interested in film art direction?
As i wanted to be an photographer, so i joined Ftii thinknig of creating my own backgrounds, but then it was never looking back.

What steps did you take to train yourself?
Just kept my eyes open and store them in my mind.

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A film studies graduate from St. Xaviers, Kolkata, Soumik Mukherjee went to the Film & Television Institute of India, Pune to specialize in cinematography. He started assisting DoPs on films like “Ship of Theseus”, while in the institute. After passing out of FTII, he furthered his craft by becoming the associate cinematographer on a number of hindi films, viz., “Dedh Ishqiya”, “Katti Batti”, etc. This was when he got associated with Nikkhil Advani and was offered to shoot the finite series on Star Plus, “POW – Bandi Yuddh Ke”. He has also shot a number of award winning short films and TVCs. Soumik shot an independent feature film that premiered in MAMI this year called “Maroon”.

As a child what were your early influences towards cinema?
Like most average middle class child in India, I watched a fair share of movies in my childhood. But luckily my parents, especially my mother made me watch the classics. Along with the mainstream english, hindi and bengali films I also grew up on Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen, Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha, etc.

How did you first become interested in cinematography? Did you start with photography?
In my Mass Communication course in college, we had a paper on ‘Camera & Lighting’. I was very fascinated with camera movements and lighting. I found it more challenging than any the other aspect of filmmaking that was taught to us in college. Also during college I had started working as a part time assistant director in an AD production house, where I learned the basics of filmmaking. Since I was an AD, I was not allowed to touch the cameras during these shoots; which in turn increased my curiosity about it.

I was introduced to videography before I was introduced to photography. I had borrowed my uncle’s Pentax K1000 towards the end of college to practise photography.

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Dhiraj Meshram

As a child what were your early influences towards cinema? Art, literature, graphics, photography?
Influences were Hindi films running in cinema halls of my town or villages where I used to go during school vacations.  One film use to run for many weeks unlike nowadays. The films that I liked, I used to watch many times until I knew them by heart.

How did you first become interested in film direction?
I guess it was a gradual progression from being an avid cinegoer who used to watch the films as a child does- as stories, drama, action etc which gradually changed into preference for films with a specific starcast and then to want to tell these stories myself so that was the beginning of being interested in Film Direction. It happened automatically, there was no conscious effort. I think weekly cinema magazines in Hindi were a huge attraction in small towns, one read them cover to cover. And even collected them Apart from writing about film stars, they wrote about film directors too.

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Nilanjan Datta

Nilanjan Datta is a graduate of Film Editing from Film & Television Institute of India, Pune. Before making `The Head Hunter’, his first feature film, Nilanjan has made short fiction films and documentary films. He has also been awarded the National Award for his documentary film ‘Bhanga Gara’ in the year 2009. Nilanjan was born in Assam and grew up in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. `The Head Hunter’ was part of Mumbai International Film festival and Indian Panorama at the 46th International Film festival of India, and Canada International Film Festival, Vancouver. He received Special Jury Mention for Best Debut Direction at the 25th Aravindan Purushkaram, Kerela and Special Jury mention at the 11th Prag Cine Awards, Assam. He has been awarded the National film Award for “The Head Hunter” this year. Presently he is an Associate Professor of film editing at FTII, Pune.

As a child what were your early influences towards cinema? Art, literature, graphics, photography?
Cinema happened in my life pretty early. My father is a film buff and from a very early age, I started to watch films with him. And he introduced me to Ritwik Ghatak’s Meghe Dhaka Tara, which is also one of his favorite films.
My uncle was the first press photographer of Assam and had a photo studio, where I used to learn how to develop and print black and white photographs. The magic of image appearing in the printing paper inside a dark room used to fascinate me. He was also a theater and cinema buff and influenced me in my childhood.
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Shounok was born and brought up in Kolkata. Did his post graduation from Delhi and then studied in FTII Pune, TV EDITING, 2004-2005.

As a child what were your early influences towards cinema? Art, literature, graphics, photography?
I come from an upper middle class Bengali family from Kolkata, so art and literature was always a part of growing up. Though watching films was a strict no, my parents always encouraged me to read a lot of storybooks and listen to Rabindra Sangeet and a lot of heavy classical music.

My father being a lawyer and mother professor, there was always a pressure to put more stress on academics and education.
As far as I recall, my introduction and early influences towards cinema, came from my grandmother, who would take me and my elder brother to watch films in theatre in afternoons, to kill time, as both my parents were working and it used to be an uphill task for her to manage us (I was very naughty as a kid). There used to be this theater in central Kolkata, called “Talkie Show House”, and that’s where she used to take us.

Apart from that, as I was growing up, my elder brother used to sometimes take me to theatres and also he would talk about films, obviously all these in a very clandestine manner, ensuring that my parents would never have a clue.

Naturally I started following him blindly -all his favorite films, film stars ,his idols, his favourite music, food and books and thus began my own journey through all of these.

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