Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Assam Science and Technology University organized a one-day academic programme under TEQP-III programme of Ministry of HR&D, Government of India to apprise the students and teachers of its affiliated engineering colleges and other educational institutions on the “Technical Aspects of Filmmaking” at the NEDFi Convention Centre, Guwahati on Thursday.
The programme was organized to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi under the theme ‘Gandhi and Technology’ with an aim to help students to build career in filmmaking with the use of modern engineering technology.
Around 187 students and teachers from ASTU and other educational institutions participated in the programme.
Eminent film personalities like Pulak Gogoi, Nipon Goswami, Kenny Basumatary, Arundhati Bora and Chandra Mudoi graced the occasion as special guests.
The event started off with a welcome address by Vice Chancellor, ASTU, Prof. Dhiraj Bora followed by the felicitation of the special guests and lighting of the lamp. Special invitees Dhaniram Tisso and Sanjib Sobhapandit spoke on the theme of the programme.
During the programme, filmmaking equipment arranged by Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio was exhibited for the participating students. Three technical sessions by notable resource persons from the film industry were held on the day.
The first session on screenplay, filmmaking and cinematography was held by Aamis-fame Bhaskar Hazarika and Suman Dowerah. The second session was held by Ramen Borah on video technology and the third session on music and sound engineering was held by Ibson Lal Baruah and Debajit Gayan.
Highlighting the aspects of technology in filmmaking in today’s world, popular actor, director Kenny Basumatary said, “Technology has reduced the cost of filmmaking. High-end digital cameras have replaced obsolete reel cameras which saves time and effort. But in the process of making a film, story and script will always remain vital apart from technology.”
“Youths who desire to take up filmmaking as a profession must dedicatedly and sincerely work towards it and imbibe in themselves the ideals of simplicity and self-sufficiency of Mahatma Gandhi,” the actor added.
Bhaskar Hazarika, who has to his credit a couple of brilliant work in internet and new media, said, “Digital intervention in cinema has made it very easy to practice filmmaking in the 21st century. Nowadays anyone desirous of filmmaking can shoot, write scripts and edit on the phone itself.”
In his speech, Hazarika also spoke at length on the roles one can play in film projects and gave a detailed insight about how things work in the process of filmmaking.
Shedding some light on challenges in filmmaking in Northeast, Model Arundhati Bora said, “I am not a filmmaker myself but as a person related to the industry I have acknowledged that with the advent of technology in filmmaking, the process has become quite accessible to the youth. Today a huge chunk of young population desire of venturing into the glamour world and come up with stories, short stories, but what they visualize doing are actually very far from reality. So, to execute their ideas they have to do a very thorough study on the subject.”
An interaction session between the participants and resource persons was also held. The participants were given away certificates at the end of the programme. The University also has been working on various aspects of students’ career in the field of filmmaking and technology and innovations through different programmes.