Coconut Cruncher

16th Feb 2012 Today En and I are leaving for Goa to take the reference pictures of the environments of our films. I really hope it'll be fruitful. I'm gonna make a proper itinerary so we can stay on track. I'm gonna take some printouts, make a huge reference library and explode myself on some blank sheets. Home will definitely be a positive change from 'the white box'. Right now I'm waiting for Ram to come to college. Yes! The amazing Ram Singh is here to show off his talents! He's gonna help me reduce the length of my film to half. Also our new 3D character animation mentor - Gayatri Patil is really sweet. She suggested documenting every week, and divide the week's work and stick to it. So I'm gonna try and write here everyday so I can keep track of how this project happened, even it'll fail. I have nothing to fear! Now I'll tell you guys how yesterday went. Ram arrived, I was surprised, I worked, Alok went to with Taps to fix his phone, an

April '11 - Rio The theatre was crowded. I'd come to watch 'Rio' at Fame, alone. Everyone had come with family. Kids ran around laughing, their families chasing them. So many of them between 3-10 years that I stopped counting! There were young couples, old ones too. Saw many daddies. I forgot the last time I went for a movie with my family. Heard many languages spoken around me; Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, English, Marathi. For the first time I saw such a huge variety of people come for Rio. That's what an animated film does. It gets so many different people together in one place for one purpose - finding happiness. I couldn't wait! I felt lucky to have gotten a good ticket. It was completely housefull a few minutes later. I was alone, but I had my notepad, and my black gel pen. I could talk to it, or show it what it couldn't see. The only thing I was hoping for is that the pages to last.

Found some old notes in my tiny notepad.. So just decided to post them here. :) 3rd April 2011 - Homeland Somehow there are things you notice everytime. The GA on the cars, the coconut trees, swaying at the side of the road, saying goodbye. Salty breeze while crossing the Mandovi bridge, familiar places like Cuts and Colours - where you got your hair cut everytime. The terrace of a hotel where you celebrated a birthday. You look out and kiss the land. The bus seems to make the images flash by faster, stealing you away from your homeland. the last puri tasted the best, because your dad ran back to your bus' window, knowing you'll never get a chance to relish it where you're heading, until you're back again. The last look your mum throws at you, speaking a thousand words that were left unspoken. This will always be my homeland, and I will always belong here. I tell myself now - my foster home awaits me. And I get on with my dreams.

12th Feb 2012 Watched an amazing film today, that I've been planning to watch for a looong time. It's an Iranian film titled 'A Separation'. It's absolutely beautiful, and I think it's a mus-watch for every film student. The actors were so believable and real that it was getting really hard to read the subtitles simultaneously! I just wanted to delve into their performance. It was stunning. The story is simple - a story about a separation of a married couple, and an incident that takes place in their lives which makes you wonder whether they will stay or separate. On a moral ground it asks so many questions, it makes you choose between two grey people throughout the film. It was so honest, and simple, just the way it happens in reality. The emotions were rooted, and not only did I sympathize, but empathized with the characters of the story. Lastly, (spoiler alert!) I'd like to write about some of the most beautiful parts in the film. When the dad's fathe

13th Feb 2012 Well sitting here within this white box called MIT has been extremely limiting. It's DRAB. It's super hard to stay creative in such a boring environment. Often we look around, hoping to find something inspiring. I thought of buying a yellow lamp and making my own corner in the class with my paints and everything kept ready for me to just make heaps of sketches, but there are thieves in MIT. So I actually considered working in the confined tiny space my room provides. I will definitely try it out tomorrow - whatever works. 'The Mailbox' is going slow and directionless. The process of film-making is fun, but very scary indeed!! Today I talked to Chandan sir, asking him for help. He gave me a few good suggestions and I pinned them down. I guess I'm gonna have to go home to collect photos for my environments and make a HUGE-ASS resource library so that when I come back I have something to keep going back to. Occassionally when En and I are in a fun mood a