Days 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12: Delhiwood

First of all, I apologise for cramming 5 days of action in to one blog post. It's been a hectic (but brilliant) week and the internet at our hotel is continuing to operate at 20th century dial-up speed (with regular power cuts becoming a further blogging hazard).

As ever, thanks to everyone for the comments on the last blog; they never fail to bring a smile to my face. I've also been delighted to hear from my fellow traveller's that many of their families/friends are following the blogs. I'd always hoped they would be accessible to anyone with an interest in our trip so it's great to hear you're enjoying them too (Do drop a comment if you get a chance! See the last blog for instructions if you're unsure how it's done).

Well done to Mark, David and The Other J for correctly answering the last Commenter's Challenge question. The panel are still in deep debate as to whether or not The Other J should be awarded bonus points for his inclusion of the Hindi translation. In hindsight, that challenge was slightly on the easy side so I've decided to make the next one considerably more taxing (see below).

This week we've settled into a bit of a routine. Each day has begun with the Lorshya Hotel's infamous buttered toast and sweet coffee combo. Most mornings have been taken up with production meetings for our collaborative projects with the India students. This week we've been working on the pre-production elements of the project (scripting, storyboards, casting, set desgin, schedules, equipment requirements, and the list goes on...). It's been a fantastic experience to work with students from a totally different background and lifestyle. We've learnt a lot from each other and have picked up some useful life skills along the way. Simply learning to work with new people and negotiate a language barrier, especially in a creative situation, is very valuable life experience and will help us to grow as people. We're all looking forward to continuing the collaborations as we head into production next week.



Substantial progress has also been made on our Preston/Delhi project. Further to the secretive shooting in Jaipur last weekend, we've filmed two more scenes this week, both in Delhi. Again, I'd hate to ruin the surprise by giving away the exact content of the scenes, so I've uploaded a few behing the scenes shots that give very little away...





The two shoots each lasted between 2 and 3 hours and ran very smoothly (despite some ambitious cinematography). We're very satisfied with what we've got so far and are looking forward to further filming this weekend.

This weeks schedule has also included lectures from UCLAN's very own Chris Leonard and AAFT tutor Deepti Pant. Deepti's class was 'An Introduction to Indian Cinema' and was extremely interesting. We assessed some of the main issues tackled by Bollywood cinema over the years and identified the defining characteristics of Indian cinema. The lecture was given with numerous film clips to reinforce the points made (including some snippets from the classic 'Mother India' which I'm now very keen to see... it also happens to be Deepti's all-time favourite film!). Chris' lecture was the reverse of Deepti's (ie. 'An Intro to British Cinema) and was, of course, spellbinding!

On Friday morning, as a break from our film-related antics, everyone (minus the sleepy trio of Nicole, Becky and little Craig) visited the National Museum of India in the centre of Delhi. India's rich history is immensely varied and the museum managed to capture a snapshot of some of the key era's and cultural trends. It was jam-packed with informative illustrations, religious relics and ancient artifacts (some of which are 5000 years old!). After a fascinating two hour stroll, our cultural batteries were fully recharged so we returned to our patient driver outside (via the gift shop).
Commenters Challenge: What is the name of the type of 'guard statue' I am posing with in the photo below? (Clue: They are often found at the entrances to important places in India)






Our evenings have usually started with team meetings to iron out plans for the following day, before relaxing together as a group. Another local beer (Meakin's 10000) has been on the menu, and the food has ranged from a spicy but delhicious Butter Chicken Curry to a delivery from the local Pizza Hut.

Whilst returning from the market one evening, myself and big Craig travelled in a rickshaw (see image below). It wasn't quite an elephant but was still a cool experience... for some reason, I felt like James Bond!



Until next time,

John
x

PS. I can't conclude without mentioning that the Frisbee made it's first appearance from my suitcase this week. We had a very brief (and very hot) throw around on the campus lawn during lunch break at the film school (naturally, some Freestyling took place).