09/10/2015
Preamble: Students are informed that all the classes in this workshop are highly interactive sessions where students will have to takes notes, discuss and even write out some exercises by themselves or in groups.
Day 1
9am to 11 am: Some Fundamentals. What is the essence of a screenplay? What should be the capabilities of a good screenwriter? How sensitive should he or she be to the other arts? Lastly to become a good writer, they should learn how to connect Words and their appropriate Images. The importance of studying figures of Speech
11.15 am to 1.15 pm: Dynamization of Space and Time. The importance of brevity in speech and transferring importance to the visualization. The most important aspect of a good screenplay is Rhythm. How is he or she going to set the ratio between Real/Screen Time versus Elapsed/ Narrative Time? Examples will be shown
2 pm to 4pm: Actual Deconstruction of a Screenplay. Study of two films with their corresponding screenplay on paper. To see how action time, decision time and intermediary pausing moments can be structured into a work like the way an architect draws a blue-print.Screenplay will be seen here as a more holistic enterprise which requires equal understanding of how other factors like cinematography, music, songs and editing will play a crucial role in how the final shooting script gets actualized.
4.15pm to 6.15pm: Understanding Local/ Indigenous Forms of Writing: Melodrama is an important of our Indian cultural milieu and writing for it also needs certain techniques and the understanding of certain formal processes. What is melodrama and how does it accommodate itself into Indian ways of thinking and working? Does thinking in an Indian language make a difference from thinking in English, while writing? WE shall study this with plenty of examples.
Day 2:
9am to 11am : Tips for Beginners: Identifying the genre of the story and its appropriate visual frameworks. When does the story writer's job end and where does the screenwriter begin his or her journey? Distinguishing between roles of a Screenplay Writer and the Director and avoiding usual mistakes. Getting down to write the first draft and how to revise it to the final draft. Usage of appropriate software and timing systems
11.15 am to 1.15 pm: Writing for Mainstream Films. Character growth and scenic presentations. The Hero's Journey as described by Joseph Campbell and how to ensure the right emotional graph. Inspiring oneself from other successful films and how not to copy; instead one should relay on a good research methodology and meet with concerned people for better connectivity. Studying specific screenplays and learning how to improve on them.
2pm to 4 pm: An Intensely charged High Power Workshop where small groups will be formed and asked to come up with a theme and the vital structures required to develop a bigger screenplay. Should the film work within a star-cast mold or should it work within a 'realist' format or should it made as a free-flowing team work project? All these format require intense pre-planning and deep enquiry. Groups will then read out their ideas and get appropriate feedback.
4.15pm to 6.15 pm: Panel Discussion. This session will upon some of the important young writers and film directors from Chennai. Hariharan will moderate the panel as they make participants aware of some ground realities in the creative possibilities and dangers in over-indulgence. Students can ask questions and seek clarifications to better their own skills and prospects for their future careers.
As usual we will have questions and answers on a continuous basis. On day 1 I would like you to screen a film called "The Untouchables" in the post workshop hours, if possible.
Do give me your feedback and suggestions. Could I also know as to where you propose to hold the workshop? Please work on the ticketing also and confirm back
Warm regards
Hari
K. HARIHARAN
Professor, Creative Sciences and Dean, Students
Mahindra Ecole Centrale, Hyderabad
India
A brief Introduction
A student of Film Direction from the Film & TV Institute of India, Pune (batch of 1976) after completing a graduation in Commerce and Business Management
After making ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ (1978), a film in Marathi which was screened at the Berlin, Edinburgh and Valladolid film festivals he later settled down in Chennai to make 6 feature films, which include “Ezhavathu Manithan’ (The 7th Man), which got the National Award for the best Tamil film in 1982 and the Afro-Asian Solidarity Award at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1983. In 1992 the Hindi film entitled ‘Current’ starring Om Puri and Deepti Naval got the best Critics Award that year. Between these films he directed 3 films for the Children’s Film Society of India; ‘Wanted Thangaraj’ in 1979, ‘Crocodile Boy’ in 1986, and ‘Dubhashi’ (The Translator) in 1999.
He has also concentrated on a lot of documentary and educational films as an independent filmmaker. This includes ‘Take a Break with Hugh & Colleen Gantzer’- a 26 part Travel series; a 26 part educational series called ‘Understanding Cinema’, and a long dramatic series on the Bhakti poets of south India called ‘Maale Manivanna’.
Teaching on film production & cinema studies has been an equally important passion. Regular visiting faculty at the University of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2004 in the South Asia Regional Studies department teaching two courses titled ‘Indian Cinema & Society’ and the ‘Cinema of Satyajit Ray’. Guest faculty at the Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, the Film & TV Institute, the Asian College of Journalism and several other colleges
Amidst all this has served on several film juries in India and abroad. He has served on the Indian National Award juries on two occasions; Chairman of the jury at MIFF, India in 2005; Thrice he took charge as NETPAC jury chairman- at IFFK, Trivandrum 2007, at PIFF, Talinn in 2009 & at JIFF, Jeonju, South Korea 2011.
He founded the LV Prasad Film & TV Academy, an ambitious and pioneering project of the Prasad Group. As the Director of the Academy since 2004, he was responsible for training students through a 2 year program to become competent Filmmakers. The larger objective was to create filmmakers with a holistic vision of Cinema & as an extension of the study of Liberal Arts.
Since May 2014, he has joined the Mahindra Ecole Centrale as Professor, Creative Sciences and also the Dean, Students and Operations.
He is happily married to Rama, a Homeopathic doctor and father of Anjali, also a Homeopathic doctor and Vivek a structural engineer
Residence:
4/245 Madha Koil 1st Street, Neelangarai, Chennai, 600 041 Mobile: 9840710923
