Over and over

I spent the day redoing the shot several times. Each attempt involves recreating the many layers and reworking how they look based on each change of the camera or overall movement change. It really is necessary to have a clear idea of what you want before you start creating a more finished look. That can determine the tools and approach, but also once you know which direction you are headed, you can focus on getting there. Going the full route so many times just exausts you and makes each subsequent version that much more difficult to do. Think of it as getting a buy off on a sketch before creating an intricate painting. That is the desired workflow. In this case, I needed to provide a finished looking version each time before any conversation could happen. This is extremely stressful and time consuming. I am pouring my all into this, but without being able to get a better idea of what the client wants, I’m just redoing the shot over and over.I guess this won’t be any easier than any of the other tasks.

On a cloud

I needed to create some clouds to fly through for a shot. Visual effects is such a broad field, that it is really difficult to be ready to do everything. There are a ton of very different kinds of skills, tasks and tools. So, whenever I get freelance work, there is usually a bunch of figuring out and piecing it together.So, you look at the shot, figure out which tools are likely best for the work, time and budget, then brush up on them if needed and start working on tests to break down the possible steps to get the result you need.Now for clouds that you need to fly through, there’s the volumetric particle route in a 3D program or some simpler particles in a compositing program. Both were areas that I would need to brush up on, but the volumetric particles can take hours per frame to render, much less the time to get it working correctly, so if we only had a week to do all the visual effects for the commercial, it would not be feasible. After Effects it is then. I brushed up on some tools before coming in, then got to work, doing some tests. By the end of the day I had some tests to show and I felt pretty good that I had got it working.

Adapters and cables, this is how we make art

We head over to Hafeez Center to get a single cable to replace the cable with two adapters I was using. As usual, you walk to several shops, explain what you want, reexplain, and after a couple of minutes they tell you no, there is nothing like that in existence. Then they look away like you have disappeared. Either that, or they tell you to go down this lane, to the fourth shop from that corner and you get to repeat the process.All the while, you have to keep a look out for some indication that other shops in between might be worth asking. I found the cable at one shop where they were nice enough to listen and check for it. We took the cable to our friend’s studio and tried it, but the camera still did not show up. After testing on another machine with the same results, I took the camera and my laptop back to Hafeez Center and spent the next couple of hours in the sea of customers at that shop, waiting for a moment to get two words in. I tried two more cables, and they had no other adapters or options. None worked. I asked a few more shops, then came back with nothing.The next thing to try was to find someone who had a computer not in use with a regular firewire port and not this mac thunderbolt port. Mansoor sahib was nice enough to let me borrow his camera. Sohail sahib came out of his office and we chat for a bit. He took me downstairs to meet Zaheed sahib who runs a production company. I shared my demo reel and current project. We discussed the possibility of getting some resources and support. This would really help me quite a bit. I could work with a good DP and producer in Lahore, where I can get support, as opposed to Multan, where I would be just about on my own.I am going to try and pursue this route. I still need to get these DVs digitized, then revise the storyboards based on the timing of the music for those stories and based on my better understanding of the setup of our stage. Once I have that, I plan to visit the puppeteers, hold rehearsals which I can shoot with my own little setup, then come back to Lahore and set up the production with support here.Kristeen and I grabbed some parathas down the street and I got a call from Sohail sahib. He had some VFX work for me to do. We dropped by the studio on the way back, looked at some shots and discussed them with the client. I guess I’ll be working on a gig starting tomorrow. I better brush up on my skills.

Yum, dv tapes...

We hopped on the crowded metro and head to CheckPost, where Sohail sahib had a DVR sent from Islamabad. I had the power cables I needed, so we were going to test it. Mansoor sahib helped me out as we tried to get the DVR going. I had a test tape that I had already successfully digitized. After hours of trying, we ended up learning a few things. The DVR, like many I have seen, is long past usage. The tape got stuck in it.Mansoor sahib took the trouble of going all the way home and picking up his own DV camera to bring in and test. It works great, but not with my cables. This means there is additionally an issue with the multiple adapter, jury rigged firewire cable setup I have too or my laptop. That little frankenstein of a cable setup had got me through digitizing several tapes in Jamshoro, but after a while, one DVR stopped working, another camera just kept skipping and a DVR at Sindhology would not show up in the software. So part of the problem ends up being the cable or adapters. There are so many things that can and do go wrong. I am extremely grateful for this cable, for it allowed me to digitize enough material to get my entire workflow going. As with most steps in the process of this film, each bit only gets me so far, before I have to start over again.So, we head to Hafeez Center, only to find it was closed due to an ongoing strike against a government tax on all transactions. Once again, we face the norm of Pakistan, that all small steps hit huge obstacles. So, we head back, hung out for a bit, then took the metro back. It is tough to go out in the heat in qing qis, rickshaws and the extremely packed metro and to then hit so many obstacles that it becomes exhausting to think about how to keep my mind focused on making progress and being relatively ok with the way things are going so I can push forth the next day. I am grateful to all these kind people who do their bit to help me at each ridiculous step of the way.It is quite humbling to sit at a nice studio and see people color timing footage shot with professional crews on equipment and budgets that I can’t even fathom. I glance back at my 7 year old computer and the limitations of my gear, inexperience as a live action cinematographer, and the way I have completely disconnected from that “sophisticated” world of huge productions with impeccable (at least technically) work and resources. Here I struggle equally to get the daily groceries, as I do to find a particular cable or figure out a piece of software, an artistic challenge or all manner of other logistics. I am reminded at how ridiculously small this production is and just how much of a miracle it will be to pull this off.I had spent some time looking at test footage I shot with the lights. Each time I learn new things and make notes on what to try next. Now that I have enough light and a good raw video workflow, I can push things further. I shot some more tests, focusing on two lenses and alternating between shooting raw and in the default compressed form. As I tinker with Davinci Resolve, I find that there are all kinds of tools that don’t show up because of the low screen resolution of my laptop. I find this out as I look at various tutorials and see buttons that don’t show up on my screen. Though I can’t resize these windows, I have figured out 3 or so things to do to get those buttons.I took my test footage from tonight and began figuring out some more fine tuning controls as I have “discovered” these additional buttons in Davinci Resolve. These results are quite promising, for using an entry level DSLR camera. I have a bunch more to experiment and figure out, but the footage and my ability to control it are getting better with each test.

Visit to NCA

I walked over to NCA and met with Suffi sahib. It was good to catch up. We had some special daal (daal with bits of chicken in it) and special naan (roghni naan, with sesame seeds) brought to us from Anarakali which was delicious. The VTR or DVR that came from Islamabad, for digitizing my old tech DV tapes for music in “Risalo” was missing a power cable, which had not arrived after over a week of asking for it, so I needed to figure out what was needed and get it. I managed to borrow one portion of the cable from my friends at NCA.Sitting there and having conversations or being there while others speak is certainly interesting. To hear the challenges regarding work prospects and how people are trying to build their futures outside the country is sad and interesting. There are those few who have found their spot and are pushing to leverage what is here. There are perhaps a larger number of people who love their country but having pushed through to get a good education, find themselves without the connections to get a good job here. Many of them hit a limit on their ability to grow and earn. Then they start to look outside the country. While the masses of people have no choice, but to stay here and deal with the breakdown of every aspect of society. There is hope as well, but it all depends on who you talk to. The layers of corruption and apathy are tough to break through on a daily basis, and yet I see excellent examples around me who are doing great work. The key is to make it livable here so that we stop losing many of our brightest.Afterwards I head to the bank to cash a check. As usual, I waited, then had my number called at last, only to find out the system was down. I asked if I should come back in an hour and they told me the system had been down for two days. This becomes routine after a while. That does not make the trudge in the heat, being drenched in sweat and wasting days at a time any easier, but you take the latest beating and try to muster the energy to get up the next day. I picked up the second portion of the cable I needed, then found the large light bulbs I had researched the day before. That is a pretty successful trip.Drenched in sweat, I returned home, cleaned up then setup the lights and worked on another round of video tests. The new lights helped create the larger soft light that was lacking!

What kind of bulbs?

Daily tasks of getting vegetables for food and cooking or picking up other needed things are never ending. The heat is tiring as are all the other obstacles that should not be. Beyond that, I managed to read a lot about lighting on different websites, to figure out what I should try to get. As has happened before, my research brought me full circle back to the kind of large bulb I had brought, but accidentally fried due to voltage differences.So, I needed to get those. Let’s see how many obstacles I need to get around to accomplish that.

Shalimar Gardens

Kristeen makes a new friiend.

After a breakfast of naan and chanai, my cousin picked us up and we head to Mughalpura. It is sweet to see my relatives and enjoy a nice meal together. In the afternoon, we head over to Shalimar Gardens. I’ve been here a number of times over the years, but this time there had clearly been a lot of improvements in terms of preservation and care. There are an unending number of problems in Pakistan, but to see these efforts, and places where people can come and relax is really a beautiful thing.My adventurous baaji crawled over and around all kinds of barriers to spots she wasn’t supposed to go to. It was pretty funny to see her giddily enjoying herself and showing us sections we would not have seen otherwise.In the evening we head back and met up with some new friends at Anarkali for some dinner. Somehow, even when away from my work, new leads come up and the process continues, bit by painstaking bit.

Diffuse light

softening light with Imran and Umar

I spent the day setting up a small stage and backdrop to begin testing lighting for “Risalo” again. I put all the lights on stands. Imran, Umar and Kristeen helped and we all had a discussion on what was good and what was still lacking.Most of all, we are lacking a strong key light. Each of the lights needs to be diffused or softened to reduce the prominent reflections in the puppets faces and create more beautiful lighting over all. I have a few diffusing umbrellas and we can used other cloth or paper to soften each of the lights. This of course reduces the intensity of each light as well, so I need a stronger key light. Along with jury rigging some kind of lighting, probably a halogen light, I will need to figure out a way to suspend it above the stage at an angle. Once again, it’s not a process of just picking up some gear. I will need to go to several places and research parts that can be put together.It was good to work on some more tests. Every round brings me closer to being able to work on the puppetry portion of the film.

Light stands = backdrop

chai by Umar

I’m trying to come up with a way to get the feel of some ornate pillars and doors in a design, but by only using larger flat colored shapes. I get the feeling I need to visit the cloth market, having explored this design a bit, to figure it out.We went over to Anarkali for a late lunch. It’s been very hot lately, so I’m trying to keep my errands to the evening. Afterwards, we went over to Nisbat rd, home of Lahore’s camera shops and picked up a couple of light stands. I’ll use them for the backdrop in my film. Now I just need a rod to hang the backdrop by, some velcro and adhesive and I can get on with the next step of the process with some more accurate lighting tests.At night Kristeen, Umar and Imran helped me to try out some tests using the evolving stage setup for this puppet film.

Shalmi and Nisbat

a stop at Gawal Mandi

After working on some background designs, we head over to Shalmi, the wholesale market near the old city. I heard that there were theater lights available there. We walked around and asked about lights. There were some lighting shops, but in terms of theater lights, it took a lot of explaining and then being sent off in random directions to see what was there. I think I did find the lights people were referring to, but what I needed was a backdrop. Still, it is so hard to find things and get proper directions here, that when you do end up somewhere, you might as well make a note of what they sell there for future reference.Next we walked through some crazy traffic to get to Gawal Mandi, or food street to grab a bite to eat. Nisbat rd, where the camera shops are, is right there, so we walked over and got some information about backdrop stands there. Once again, a lot of explaining, and being sent all over yielded few results. One shop had light stands, so that was an option. They had locally made ones that were almost half the price, but they did not fold down as small and seemed heavier. The Chinese ones looked like they could fit in my suitcase. I’ll have to transport all this stuff after all.We walked through this extremely creepy building with half built stairs to get to another place that made backdrops. I figured if they made them, they might have a frame to hang them from. It turned out that they make interesting pieces out of foam. They had brick walls, large wooden looking doors, all painted and carved from some kind of foam. It was pretty cool actually. They did not have the stands I needed, but showed me what they could order from a catalogue.By this point we were quite tired. The heat is brutal and it’s just really tough to get information and find things. We head back and rested. At night I discussed some of the backdrop options. It was really good to brainstorm with Umar and Imran to figure out a good solution. We think I could build the setup with the light stands which would let me lower and raise the backgrounds, some pieces of pvc pipe and velcro. Ok, I guess I will go back to Nisbat again tomorrow.

New place

Each new place I stay brings with it a new set of challenges. Where do we get filtered water, recharge the internet and phone, buy fresh vegetables, is there electricity and water etc. So the day started with exploring some of these things and picking up vegetables to cook.This neighborhood has street vendors that walk through hawking their wares. I got some vegetables from one today. Umar put the finishing touches on the second background for “Risalo”. It was amazing to see the design go from painting to a beautiful cloth piece.I’m working on some research for a palace scene. Between photo references, sketching and discussing ideas with Umar, something good should come together.

The moving rickshaw arrives

moving is so fun

Umar working on the second background.

I’ve woken up the past few days with a sort of negative feeling about the struggles, sacrifice and time involved in the puppet film I am trying to create. There are no guarantees of success and a lot of difficult tasks are on my shoulders to somehow pull off. I’m working on things in a methodical way, to prepare and build towards shooting the puppetry portions. It is a slow and challenging process. Waking up with a negative feeling doesn’t help. I imagine I’ve probably dreamt something or other and the feeling is lingering from that. I brush it aside, because your mind can do some pretty strange things and its best not to let that color your day. I see progress being made on another challenging portion of the films, with the cloth backgrounds. These positive developments are what I use to pull myself through. I’ve got to stick through this for the long haul or it is not going to happen.The time I had requested at the hostel was up. I could probably request more, but there were a few things that better suited my next tasks at my friend’s place. So, we packed up into a rickshaw and head to Imran’s. Umar had been cleaning up a room for us, so I joined him and Kristeen started cooking.Afterwards, Kristeen and I wandered the neighborhood to get some groceries. We all ate lunch together then got to work. Umar is working on the second background now. I sorted the cloth I had picked up and made bundles for the next few backgrounds. I’m thinking about what I need to try and get done in September. Forget what happens after that. What I do now will get me ready for that. One step at a time.

Weekly Landa trip

Sunday is cloth purchasing day. I spent the morning working on notes for some lectures I will be conducting. Then I took the next three background designs and made a list of colors I needed so that we can work on them this week.Kristeen and I head to the Sunday book fair. She picked up a couple of paper backs, and I found an interesting anti war children’s book and a book on lighting setups for product photography, which I felt would be helpful for my lighting experiments for the puppets. I dropped her back then took a bunch of luggage via rickshaw to our friend’s place where we will likely work from for the next month.The rickshaw driver was a friendly guy that I have ridden with a few times. As it happens from time to time, when I told him where I was going and asked how much, he just replied by saying whatever I wish. Once we got there, he helped me unload my things, then gave me some advice regarding living cheaply. It was just a friendly bit of looking out. I appreciate these simple every day conversations with people. Things can be really crazy and hectic here. At times people are rude and other times people can be very friendly. Sometimes you can connect to that side of a person by being friendly. It’s tough when you are tired and have dealt with a bunch of rude and difficult behavior and life stresses, but that’s what everyone around you is going through too.I picked up some cloth from Imran’s collection, hung out for a while, then caught a rickshaw to the Landa Bazaar. Once again, I sifted through piles of assorted cloth, looking for interesting pieces in the colors I wanted. The task was made so much easier thanks to Umar’s help the previous week. This time, I knew where to go. I started by purchasing a few smaller pieces, which were also the lowest in cost. For most colors, I don’t need a full bed sheet’s worth, but sometimes that is what you find. It is still cheaper than getting a yard or so of cloth elsewhere. I ended up getting a few pillow covers which we can open up and use for skys, some blankets and assorted pieces of cloth with interesting textures and colors. It is a little challenging as unlike in painting, I can’t quite create a color exactly as I want it. I have to figure out whether I need a cool, warm, saturated, desaturated color and see what I can find that best matches that. It is also quite cool to explore and find colors and textures that I would not have thought of.In the evening, my friend Kabir dropped by and we had some pizza. It is interesting how the pizza I have had here so far never has any marinara sauce. It was fun to catch up. I am fascinated by his work of finding and selling rare books. He knows all the spots to hunt down books. He had recently returned from a trip to Karachi with a large number of them. There’s a Shah Latif book that I have placed on his list as well. I hope it can be found eventually.

Theater Workshop

IPA Theater Workshop with Imran

Parathas in back alleys

After some work on background paintings we head over for a delicious brunch at my aunt’s place. She showed us several beautiful oil paintings she had made. One was a painting of the Alhamra Art’s Council building which she had painted on location. It was really great to see.Afterwards my cousin dropped us off at a theater workshop by my friend Imran at the Institute of Performing Arts. It was fun to go through the exercises he had put together to get us thinking about various aspects of theater such as telling a story in words, then with facial expressions and body language. We also did a mirror exercise, where one person had to basically mirror the actions of another. There were some voice and breathing exercises and in the end we split into two groups of 6 and put on small, improvised plays.From there we head back to Mall Rd. We grabbed some egg and potato parathas at a little dhaba, before heading to Chaman for their amazing ice cream. I would say that counts as a pretty good day.

Magic Lantern

The night before I shot some test footage. I have a lot of preparing yet to do, but it was good to see the background with a puppet on camera with some lighting. Each test, I try a few more things and I get a bit closer to being ready to shoot. This time I tried out some moving shots with a slider and that was fun. It is challenging to rack focus and move the camera at the same time.In addition to that, I am continuing to experiment with shooting as the camera normally records, and also using Magic Lantern to shoot in raw format. It is essentially a very cool hack for Canon cameras and there are a few steps involved in the process, but potentially, it can allow for more freedom adjusting the final look, in terms of color afterwards. There are several pieces of software to help with different stages of the process. Essentially, you are pushing the camera to do something it can do, but the on board software does not give access to. So there are these fantastic programmers, reverse engineering the cameras to expose more features. This is quite incredible, but you have to test each step and decide what the reliable limits are as far as shooting settings. It’s good to test these options now and make these kinds of decisions or mistakes during this time. I took the footage into Davinci Resolve Light and started following a few tutorials to begin getting into that. It takes a lot to do all of this, but the knowledge that comes out of each step helps a great deal.In the evening, the wife and I walked over to a pizza place, then wandered through the crazy traffic along mall road to a book shop. Simple pleasures. Afterwards, we hopped on a rickshaw and head back home.

A process in place

Kristeen roasting eggplant while taking a break from rHope tasks.

Umar putting together a background

I’m working on a bunch of desert backgrounds for “Risalo”. I paint them in flat colors in an app called Procreate. It’s very intuitive and I can paint with my finger on the iPad. One of my favorite things about this, is that I showed Umar the basics and he was up and running in no time as well. This lets me work on a design, create a copy and let him make any changes he feels like and then pick up and add some more and go back and forth until we are satisfied. I really enjoy the conversation around shapes and color choices that helps us to get where we want.Umar finished the first background and I think it turned out beautifully. We selected every bit of fabric for its color and texture. Each piece was meticulously cut, then roughly stitched to place them and then finely stitched by hand with care given to keeping the flow of each curve to achieve what we worked out in the concept painting. I feel very grateful that he is putting a lot of love and care into each bit, as I do. What more could one ask of an artistic collaboration.We even got the second background started. It’s time to look for some additional colors of cloth that are needed. I’ll try and finish up some more designs and pick up cloth for them as well. Sunday is the day to get cloth from the Landa Bazaar. We picked up a lot of interesting pieces there. In addition, our friend Imran has a lot of bits of cloth or old clothes that have helped us a great deal, so I will have to stop by to check there as well. Any colors that are left at that point can be hunted for in some of the khaddi shops we visited earlier this week. I’m glad we have figured out our main sources for cloth and the workflow for creating these backgrounds. That is a huge bit of progress this week.

Some tasks move forward, some don't

Umar working on the first background for "Risalo".

Umar working on the first background for "Risalo".

I spent the morning updating my blog. It is interesting to look back as I am posting entries about a month after the fact. Over a month ago, I was finishing music in Jamshoro. A lot has happened since then, and yet some things are right where they were, despite my best efforts.I have not been able to digitize any of the other DV tapes to work on music as I have not been able to find a source to get a DV VTR that I can digitize footage into a mac with. I am getting close, but I am not there yet.Backgrounds on the other hand are being made, after going through many steps and challenges. I have progressed on lighting and photography, though not quite ready on that end and I am more familiar with how the puppets can be manipulated. I still need to do more on that end, but things are going. I always feel like I am spinning plates.Umar is a fantastic artist. I am fortunate to have him on board to work on these beautiful cloth backgrounds. His skill set is very complimentary to my own, as in he knows how to do a lot of stuff I do not, but need.After working the rest of the day, Kristeen, Umar and I head to Panj Vera via the metro bus to grab dinner with friends. It was fun to just laugh, eat aloo and egg parathas, drink khoya khajoor, badam milk shakes and eat ice cream. Zahid once again drove us all the way back, across town to where we are staying. I have a deep appreciation for friends who go out of their way to drop us off, because it is a huge help. Besides, it was a lot of fun to talk about movies and all kinds of other silliness.

Backgrounds continue

I worked on some more designs for backgrounds. There are several ways to reuse backgrounds, so that should help cut down on the number we need. I think I can bring down the required number from 25 to about 12. That includes combining several backgrounds that will only be seen closeup into one cloth piece.Umar dropped by around noon and continued working on the rough stitch of the pieces he cut the day before. I had made the long walk in the heat to recharge our internet and pick up vegetables. Kristeen made some lunch and all of us spent the day working on our projects.In the evening, Umar had beautifully stitched some of the sky pieces. The three of us hopped on rickshaw, then made our way through Anarkali, crossed Mall rd and made it just in time to return the useless “tailoring” scissors to the art store and pick up some large sheets of tracing paper. Umar head off to tend to other tasks, and Kristeen and I grabbed some nice food in Anarkali. It feels good to see this next stage of the project starting. It takes a lot to prepare and figure things out, so once you start to see some results, it is quite exciting. It is amazing to see Umar share his input on the design painting and then create it out of cloth. He’ll climb on the table, fix up paper and cloth with pins, then thread the whole design. This project is a ton of work, but these moments where I get to collaborate and create in mediums I have never touched before are truly special.

Backgrounds begin

this ones a trooper, looking for cloth for puppet backgrounds

random interesting spot along the way

finally, a place with smaller pieces of khadar cloth that we need.

Neela Gumbad

Umar taking the concept art and drawing a pattern

reworking sections together

cutting cloth

stitching pieces together

Butt Karhai

I started work in the morning with Umar on background designs. We discussed and worked on the design for the first one we plan to make a bit further. Then off we went with Kristeen to the Urdu Bazaar for brown paper to create patterns, and then to the khaddi market for some cloth pieces in the colors we were not able to find at the Landa Bazaar.We walked through the Mayo hospital to get back to Anarkali. On the way we saw a family grieving hysterically in the hospital grounds, likely at the loss of a loved one. The sounds were heart breaking and devastating.Going through Anarkali, we picked up some art supplies, including cloth cutting scissors, then went back to the hostel. I picked up some lunch and we continued working. The scissors were no good. We’ll have to find good ones and continue. This is how tasks start, in growths and spurts and then some sputters.

Landa Bazar

We took a morning walk through the sunday bazar in Krishan Nagar, followed by a walk to Sant Nagar with breakfast at Imran’s. Umar got there and we head to Delhi gate via rickshaw. We picked up a bunch of cloth for only RS 150 (about $1.50) at Landa Bazar, then walked through Delhi Gate, through the cloth markets, then out through Bhatti gate.It was such a relief to have Umar’s help in locating different kinds of cloth. I felt like I finally had a process for finding cloth of the type we need to create the backgrounds for “Risalo”.On the way back, we walked through the side of Data Darbar, back to Imran’s. We picked up some nihari and all ate together, then walked home. It was great to have all of that support.