TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN
Recently I shot a commercial for Lux Inferno, a clothing brand that specialises in body warmers. The idea was to elevate the term ‘freezing cold’ to a quirky level. It is not often that one gets to collaborate on a project which inspires you to start a conversation. As we delve into the technicalities, I am immensely grateful to my talented filmmaker friends for their generous contributions towards this article. They have helped me give you a glimpse into what goes behind-the-scenes with a step by step approach during the process of making this film.
The Contributors
Script & Brief:
Inferno andar toh sardi chhu mantar The film starts with Mr. Boman Irani and his family visiting a hill station, where they find that the entire town is frozen. They are amused at seeing so many statues but Boman soon realises that they are not statues; they are real people frozen due to the cold. Since Boman and his family are wearing Lux Inferno, so they are not affected. They help the others by lending their magical touch; it unfreezes those around them and gets them back to life.
Visual Design:
After receiving the treatment note from the director, we discussed the possibilities. in highlighting the magic moment in the narrative; the visual transition from a cold, lifeless, frozen abstract space to a warm, cosy and vibrant reality? We realised soon afterwards that we could not get access to motion control rigs on this job. That posed a challenge for us since we wanted our shots to have a seamless movement during the transition. We wanted to shoot the changeover live on set. That would be some fun.
The Midas Touch:
Since we could not get a motion control grip, we tried to think of other ideas. We did a few small tests using parallax to create an illusion of seamless motion. Soon, after a few sessions with the competent VFX team, we arrived at a work around. We decided, we will use movements of the camera along one axis only. This means that the camera will track in or track out at a slow consistent pace. The challenge was to try and match the speed of the track as consistently as possible. This could give us an almost similar movement in both the before and after sequences. Then we could blend in the two shots later during post production, and achieve the seamless transition. While in theory it sounded easy, there were other complications. For example, not only did we need to shoot both the before and after sequences with consistent camera movements, but also the actors needed to change their makeup from a frosty pale special effect make up (before sequences) to a clean, warm and sober makeup (after sequences). Since we were supposed to overlay both the shots in post production to create the magical transition, we had to mark out the character positioning and make them come back to the exact same position after the change in HMU. This was difficult for the actors, given that they were frozen in uncomfortable positions to highlight the awkwardness of the narrative.In this article I have tried to explain how we used the freeze frame positions of different characters and how we used a few VFX elements to add depth and detailing to the parallax.
Notice the changeover from the above image to the one below. Apart from the colour temperature of the light, the make up also changes. Some of the frost makeup was applied live on set which was later accentuated with the help of VFX. Also the fly on the right of the frame was a VFX element which helped achieve a dynamic parallax in the final shot. The table lamp on the left of the frame adds to the desired changeover in the warmer sequence.
Use of Practicals
During the process of set planning and creation, we needed to know where each character will be positioned vis a vis the camera’s angle of view, so that we could strategically position some lighting fixture, like a set practical in frame while the transition happens. This would not only justify the warmth in the after sequences but also have a prominent psychological impact on the unfreezing changeover. Every practical was planned beforehand so that it could become an organic part of the set.
Colour Grading:
The changeover had to be distinct yet smooth. During the grading process we tried to extract some warmth from the before sequences and also took out some saturation to make it lifeless. Similarly in the after sequences we had to add that extra bit of warmth and saturation. Those tungsten filament bulbs which light up in frame during the transition from before to after helped navigate us that cause better. The grade was well planned and was shot with that intention. This was important as we had to operate the colour temperature of the lights on set.
A Note from the Director When I first received the brief, the script was set on the exterior of a Mall Road in some hill station. However, the resources and logistics did not allow us to shoot this film outside of Mumbai. And a series of discussions followed which ultimately led to my proposal of setting up the film inside a mountain lodge, which we could create in Mumbai. Embracing the frozen-in-time treatment in an intimate indoor space helped to achieve a lot of depth and authenticity. The article is a testament of how every road block met with a creative solution that ultimately enhanced the project one step at a time.
To convey the exaggeration of individuals frozen in a mountain lodge during severe winter conditions, I opted for a live-action approach with a freeze frame treatment. The aim was to capture the characters in frozen postures, using varying levels of makeup, and shooting them separately with and without makeup to simulate the process of a magical revival through the physical touch. Background plates for each frozen frame were shot to allow the VFX team to add dynamic parallax. Successful execution hinged on meticulous breakdowns, collaboration with department heads, and comprehensive tests and rehearsals prior to filming.
Rough Boards Vs Final Frames
Character Positioning Layout
Notes from my book:
We tried wiring the muffler to create a flying effect live on set, but it was posing to be unmanageable, since we had limited time. That’s when we decided to get it done in VFX. The apple box was painted green to aid the actor be in a half landing position with one leg in the air. The green was replaced in the post production process. Another interesting element was the bunch of keys created on CG. These two elements drop down with the activation of the touch which adds to the magic of the moment.
A Note from our Production Designer:
We did a hell lot of referencing, across departments which led us to start seeing the set in our heads. This usually leads us to a studio floor where we can design the set according to the needs. This is probably the most efficient possibility which is convenient for the DP to light up and to shoot in terms of clear distances for lensing and other logistic purposes. The other thing that we all love is the posibilty of great depth between your foregrounds and backgrounds. In retrospect I also believe it is sometimes an excuse to lose out on the authenticity of the location.
This is excatly where a live location works in your favour, but wait!! for this sort of a film with its demands on camera movements, before and after trick shots, the combination of exterior and interior in the same set and needless to say a whole lot of actors to work with. A live location comes with it’s restrictions of size and structure, pushing you to exit your comfort zone and think out of the box, letting you create something which is actually fresh. This is what happened with us during the scouting process when we could not avail of a studio floor and had to work our way around a live location, the Shreevansh Villa in Madh island, Mumbai. Needless to say it wasn’t anyone’s ideal choice since the space came with a lot of restrictions in space, low ceiling height and the architecture in general. So we worked in reverse, tried to fit in everything that we wished for in the cozy The cramped sections of the existing property made us work around the problems and create an authentic, cozy mountain lodge or motel. The experience was a lot of highs and lows, running into a problem with every move but ever so pleasing to arrive at a solution everytime we did.
As an example of how things weren’t done in the copybook style; if you observe carefully one would probably never create a staircase in the shape and size like we did because it comes with an awkward landing position thanks to the the low ceiling height that we were stuck with and therefore the angle that it had to be erected.
We had decided that we will use a lot of polished wood finish in the set to create a flavour of a mountain lodge, but challenge was how to make it more rooted to somewhere like Darjeeling or Manali? That’s when the large windows overlooking the pine trees and the snow capped mountains in the exterior was visualised. The otherwise perfect spot for these windows already had a wall with a door and two small windows which could not be modified into the panoramic windows we wanted. So we started discussing the possibility of reducing the depth of the waiting area and create a window ahead of the real wall therby leaving only about 5ft of a distance between the windows and the wall to put up a green screen. You can almost vouch no DP will be happy with that, as he not only needed space to light up the green screen but also flush in a pool of daylight through those windows. To top it off the top of our windows touched the real ceiling leaving almost no room there to hide the lights.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention.
That is when we thought of a making the window triangular in shape and also create a ceiling which shall also be triangular leading into those windows. The wooden beams will highlight the architecture which would not only add more character to the space but would also help us conceal about just a few light sources on the left and right ends where the ceiling drops down. The next challenge was to erect such a conical ceiling which would touch the actual ceiling completely with the available height and support.
Structurally we were sorted but challenges were not yet over as technicality for a couple of important shots was still left…
We needed a fire place in the waiting area where the wall at the back is now the window, the wall on the left wall is solid concrete, leaving the right side, which luckily for us, was a bathroom with a door. So we worked out the positioning of the fire place in such a way that the fireplace alligns with the door so as to allow us to shoot through the pit of the fireplace.
There were a few other hiccups on the way but nothing as interesting as the ones I just spoke about. Looking at the final film gives me enough confidence to not create a set so convenient that it loses the charm of realism.
Lighting Plan
The most difficult challenge we faced in this location was the space constraint. You can notice the low ceiling height, this meant that rigging something on top was nearly impossible.. We came up with some ideas that helped us work around this problem. First we used LED mats, which are quite thin compared to other fixtures, then stuck them to the concrete ceiling using gaffer tapes and pins. Next, we used scrims and honeycrate frames to control and diffuse the light to our desired levels. In an ideal situation, one would keep the scrims at a considerable distance from the light to let it soften well, but in this case it was not doable and we had to live with that.
All our lights had to be controlled through a console board with faders so that the transition could be smooth. This included the top fills, the daylight simulations from the windows, the set practicals and the face lights for every character. The process was tedious and took intricate planning and coordination with the gaffer and console operator. When we shot the after sequences, we had to time the changeover on a callout so that the actors could get a cue to react and unfreeze themselves. All of these while the camera moves steadily on the dolly.
The Main Entrance Axis
The Window Axis
We used many LEDs to light up the set. This gave us the advantage of sleeker bodies which helped us in hiding the lights within the contraptions incorporated during the set design. The coordination with the Production Design department was absolutely necessary since every inch of space was precious. It was a no wastage set and the final outcome was quite satiating.
We hope we could offer some value in the above breakdown for everyone interested in understanding the process of making this film. Please feel free to shoot your questions and we will try to answer them in the best possible way.
Film Credits
Client: Lux Inferno Director: Siva Romero Iyer Production House: Chop Chop Productions DOP: Riju Samanta Music & Vocals: Raajeev V Bhalla Agency: Shreyansh Innovations Founder Director: Shreyansh Baid Creative Team: Debdarsan Dutta, Vaishakh Jhunjhunwala, Rana Das, Narendra Jadhav, Dipankar Mridha Account Manager: Niladri Malakar & Sohini Mukherjee Executive Producer: Abhisek Dutta Creative Producer: Survi Agarwal Line Producer: Indu Razdan Production Manager: Amith Kumarr & Sarfraz Alvi Production Design: Ajeet Parashar & Sweta Gupta (Modus) Casting Director: Vikas Pal Stylist: Dhruvi Tanna Makeup: Disha Solanki Boman Irani Team: Boman Irani Stylist: Daena Sethna Boman Irani — Asst. Stylist: Malvika Panjabi Hair Stylist: Alfahad Makeup Artist: Shailesh Keskar 1st Assistant Director: Aniket Naik Director’s Assistant: Laxmi Gupte 2nd Assistant Director: Tushar Balraj Gadyok & Aastha Toprani Asst. Cameraman: Krushna Subhash Gaffer: Dinesh Pradhan Focus Puller Manu Gupta Offline Editor: Tathagata Basu Online Editor: Prem Pehekar Colorist: Christian Leiva Online & Grade Studio: ‘after’ VFX Studio: Infinity Post Pvt Ltd Sound Engineer: Prince Prabjyot Singh Chudha Post Producer: Santosh Shinde Cast: Boman’s Grandson: Bhagya Bhanushali Boman’s Wife: Usha Subramanian Saksena Boman’s Son: Rahul Manchanda Boman’s Daughter-In-Law: Ritu Chauhan Receptionist — Karan Verma Luggage Boy — Vinay Nagpal Newspaper Old Man — Vallabh H Gada Young Traveller — Nagina Bopche Fireplace Father — Jai Desai Fireplace Wife — Parshana Rao Fireplace Kid — Yashti Pamnani
Special acknowledgment to Hemant Vaishnav who helped me compile this article.
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