SATYAJIT RAY: The Indian Filmmaker

Satyajit Ray (2 May 1921-23 April 1992) was a Bengali Indian Film maker who was born in Kolkata, India into a Bengali Family of art and literature. He started his career as a commercial artist in Kolkata and went on to become to win international recognition in films.

On a visit to London he met Jean Renoir the French Filmmaker and saw the neorealist film Bicycle Thief (1948) by Vittorio De sica after which he decided to try his hands on filmmaking.

In 1952, Ray started shooting his first film Pather Panchali with an inexperienced crew and some personal savings. It took him three years to complete the film and finally, with a loan from the Government of West Bengal it was released in 1955 and went on to win eleven international prizes, including ‘Best Human Document’ at Cannes Film Festival.

Guerrilla Filmmaking – a Different Approach

What is guerrilla filmmaking? It’s the ability to get your vision on the screen with the least amount of work, expense and hassle. By reducing all the extra time and baggage involved, you will have more energy to concentrate on the material you are shooting. As an added bonus your financial costs will be very low.

If you are a beginner, try this approach. It’s fast, safe and easy. If you have a bit more experience then you can try these guerrilla techniques as well. It may offer you a different path to getting your vision on to the screen. Here are a few guidelines that the guerrilla filmmaker should follow. By following this list you will eliminate unnecessary complications.

1) Keep shooting and shooting. The more you shoot the more you will learn. Whether it is 16mm or Super 8. Be willing to have results that don’t meet your expectations. Films should be like songs. Do not make one or two a year, make as many as you can and if you happen to be unhappy with the results then no problems move to the next project. Learn and grow as an artist.

INDIE Chair

IFCO's TECHNICAL DIRECTOR INTERVIEWS FILMMAKER JOHN PRICE

Roger Wilson: Where did your interest in filmmaking develop from? Did your parents make films or shoot home movies while you were growing up?

John Price: I think my main influence while growing up is with my parents, where my mother, whose been a painter all her life and my father, whose been an engineer, a scientist all his life. Combining art with technology, film is the perfect medium... My father had given me a cheap little plastic still camera when I was about thirteen years old and that was my first introduction to photography and he bought me a little darkroom starter kit as well. Although he wasn't into that sort of stuff and he didn't have any idea that I would be interested in it he just sort of took a shot in to the dark and gave me the stuff and it started me on my way.

RW: When did you start to work with motion picture film?

JP: I did a lot of still photography in high school so I decided to go to Ryerson which had a still photography department but by the time I had gotten to Ryerson I had discovered film. I made my first film in 1968 on Super 8.

IFCO Member's Profile

Name: Deniz Berkin
Films: see www.awakeatdawn.com

 










1. Why make films? When did you realize wanted to make films?
I started making films when I was 14. I’ve always wanted to make films. I like to tell stories and nobody listens to me when I talk so I force them to sit in a dark room and I show them my stories. If they try to leave before the film is over, I may have to tie them to the chair.

IFCO Member's Profile

 

Name: (Sarah) Bridget Farr 
Membership: Since 1995!

Films: I'm currently shooting #10.

1. Why make films? When did you realize wanted to make films?

Good question.

2. What's your process of creation? Who's involved with it?

I use a lot of paper. Writing, storyboarding, list-making...and no one person has been involved in every one of my films. I tend to get help from whoever is around.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Every time I show my movie THEY COME AT NIGHT (2007), the most common question that arises is: “how did you shoot that scene where she falls down the rabbit hole?”

The answer is very simple; it’s not a real rabbit hole.

No, seriously, there is a trick.

While we were working on the shoot for TCAN, an American horror movie came out entitled PULSE. On the poster, a woman was tangled in a web of arms coming out from underneath her. I was afraid people would think that the idea/influence for my film was from that movie.