Got this from @RajneeshKapoor. Worst part is even my mom doesn’t think I’m doing anything special.
Now, “can I get anyone watermelon juice? What’s that? With shaved ice, not cubed. And a slice of lime not lemon. Done. Thank You.” (Smile. Walk Away.)
Okay. I’m exaggerating for effect. Chill. No one’s asked me to be their gofer, often. And the others are pretty close to the truth. Hard to stop traffic when you’re barely audible. But i’m working on it.
Mansi
The Yedi AD
Don’t sweat it. Unlike her I didn’t shoot anyone or shove someone off a boat. Melvin’s just moved on to bigger and…well…just bigger things. I wanted to be cutesy and say this to him before he left for Bombay. But I did not. Anyway, so no more Melvin jokes and bow tie wearing memes.
He actually had the audacity of thinking he could leave with a handshake. Bloody. I’m from Delhi. We do jhappis!
The first draft of this read like a eulogy so had to change it. But gotta be honest, gonna miss him. He was damn helpful and well, he fished out my resume in the first place.
Via Con Dios, Meester.
Mansi
The Yedi AD
So some more characters had to be cast for the second/main schedule. Made a list yesterday and Ankur came over to check if he likes any of them. Strangely enough, he does. I think the fact my grandma fed him oodles of Jaini food put him in a good mood. Also, the puppies he’s looking after are slowly finding homes. Touchwood. So it’s quite possible that 3 days from now the joy will wear off and he’ll reject everyone we’ve shortlisted. I still stand by some of the choices but let’s see. Maybe another round of auditions will be required.
But that’s all from today. Nothing more to report.
Mansi
The Yedi AD
Okay, so it was more of an engagement. But there I was, walking into a dharamshala where an engagement was about to begin. Taking pictures of everything like a “tourist Madam”. But I got the pictures and sent them last night.
They had that typical frothy coffee, sprinkled with cocoa powder. For once, it was Ankur who didn’t know what something was. (insert Freddie Mercury meme here). I was really missing Swati and even Darshan because the clothes people wearing there were mind-blowing. The wide eyes have been blinded by all the bling. Got reprimanded for dressing like a “madam from Paris” by Ankur. Apparently, black overcoat and overpriced bag weren’t dress code appropriate. But it was Saturday night and I had places to be! Places which wouldn’t let me in if I looked like a homeless AD. Finally I didn’t go but that’s besides the point and because even though he came like 1 hour late I gave Ankur a tour of Green Park. Even took him to try Rajat’s favored Gajar ka Halwa from Evergreen. I really want him and everyone else who comes from outside to see Hauz Khas Village too. It’s my favourite place in Delhi. Next time. He promised-ish that he won’t leave before seeing it.
I might have to go to the dharamshala again on the 24th, this time to crash a wedding. Will dress in a gaudy salwar kameez and let you know how the food was. I got there too early this time plus the kids peeing in a corner didn’t do much for my appetite.
I got myself a neat gift and even a set for @meenal_, it’ll reach her if Ankur doesn’t steal it from me first. They’re the tea holders people carry around over there. I’m going to spray paint them and turn them into chandeliers/holders for the candles I make. Will be such a cool Sunday DIY project. Fun! Fun! Fun! Time to get started on that. Ta!
Be back soon with more of my Ankhon Dekhi.
Mansi
The Yedi AD
These are things that I did not learn in my very expensive classes last year and probably never will in the trust fund-breaking MFA course I’m desperate to get into come fall. They teach you so much and I’m super proud of the education i had but some things you’ll only learn on the job. They seem basic later but I’m mentioning them anyway because they didn’t seem obvious to me. It’s second nature after a few days on the sets, but before that it caused me unspeakable amounts of grief. For now this is mostly to do with continuity because that’s all I’m taking care of. But as I’ll learn more, I’ll share more.
Carry a camera or a cameraphone. There will be handy things like an assist, someone covering the making-of and what not around. But BELIEVE ME, it’s a million times better if you have the pictures of the layout and prop-location in your hand at all times. The assist has so many people around it, you’d think it’s shooting out candy. And by the time you find the stills/video guy the next shot will be ready, and you WILL BE screwed. So be Type A even if it ruins you as a person – Do it yourself. Don’t depend on people who are not dependable.
Be idiot-proof. Not because others are idiots but because writing down everything makes your life easier. My brain’s like a sieve. And I learnt from my professor, Marcus Stern that there’s no shame in that. So i write down everything. Even if to the veterans it looks like a child has written this, it’s fine. It has been written by a child. But all the info is at hand. Unless told otherwise I err on the side of caution and always will.
Be a sponge. Learn as much as you can by just soaking in all that’s going around you. It’s the quickest way to learn, though it’s easier said than done. First day, I didn’t know all the things i’m supposed to carry around. And now I see Ankur do something, before the next shoot I’m doing it too.
Let go of grudges. The same people who refused to help you on a particular day will ask to meet your doctor father for a consultation on the next. You can politely and smugly tell them to “fuck off” because yes that’d feel so good. But you can also just help. Even if it would feel bloody good to give them the same patronising eye roll that was handed to you just a few hours ago, don’t do it.
What happens on the set cannot and will not define the girl my grandma raised.
You know nothing. So you’ve learnt some stuff and you think you’re getting the hang of this now. But everyday something new will pop up to remind you that you are still as green as Captain Planet’s coiffe. Maybe a lighter shade of green, but green nonetheless.
Be afraid. This bit sounds like I got it out of a self help book but it is something that works for me and I do not know if others should follow this. Fear makes me work harder. Fear of not being the best I can be; of getting yelled at; of letting down my mentors. In essence, the fear of getting a ‘B’. I’m told it’s a tad unhealthy and my sister, the shrink, would strongly disapprove. But till now it’s worked for me. Go with what works for you.
Mutate. Nothing will help you more than growing an extra set of hands, two to be on the safer side. So try that. And do let me know if you managed. No joke.
Don’t work with douches. I learnt this in advertising and has nothing to with just filmmaking. It’s a high stress environment. But if someone’s a plain jerk, don’t work with them. It’s not worth it. Your education, and life, will be richer if you work with good people who know their job. Just because someone screams a lot and plays the part of the intense artist, doesn’t mean they are one. The best, most talented people I ever worked with were gentlemen to the core and respected people around them. @munishbhardwaj, @mrrajatkapoor, @meenal_ and many others who are not on twitter are all like that. I’m very glad that this is my first team, they’re very similar to Marcus and a lot of the good CDs who mentored me. The reprimanding and the stress shouldn’t be unwarranted and for effect. Don’t work with people who play that game. Really. I have. It’s not worth it. You stress out a lot, only to learn very little.
Beyond this all I can say is, trust your own Ankhon Dekhi.
Ciao for now.
Mansi
The Yedi AD
Oh! A big tip i forgot to share: Every chance you get to pee, take it!
And a little something i read on Nigel Lythgoe’s twitter feed – The best way to forgive life’s disappointments is: Cry a river, build a bridge & get over it!!!
We’re done for the month. I’m home and i need to reward myself. Not because i did well but because i didn’t fall apart. The last shoot location was so small and cramped, everyone was invading everyone’s personal space. Literally stepping on toes and what not. I can’t even imagine how the real show will go because the main location is really tiny too and needs twice as many actors to be present. Oy vey!
I don’t see how i can get my work done if i’m not right by the assist or the camera at all times. And there’s just a baraat everywhere. I’m really hating the hanger-ons. They’re constantly talking and looking into the camera and suddenly a loud bhajan will go off on a damn mobile phone. Who in this day and age doesn’t know that on a movie set you switch off your phone! I swear I’m going to go Taliban on someone’s ass one of these days. I just hope it’s not caught on our ‘making-of’ camera. That is not how i want to get millions of video hits.
I also see it as progress that I’m being called Manisha by people now. It’s definitely better than Mithya.
Anyway I’m home now and have a month to recover. So maybe this will be the last post for a while. Hope you all miss me a lot.
Mansi
The Yedi AD
Last but one day of shooting left, for this schedule of course. All day at the zoo. And now I have to ensure that the actors boxers and briefs are also good to go. No coloured boxers with pyjamas, please! Actually, technically I should have been doing this the whole time. It just didn’t, for some reason, occur to me. Couple of rings nearly gave me a heart attack too. Basically, people need to stop wearing accessories. No scarves means no stress about which side was over the shoulder. But everything’s good. The rings are right, the scarves, the bags, the chaddis. All. Cool. ‘Death by Continuity’ is just not going to look good on my epitaph.
It was pretty cool to see a giant Bengal Tiger roar and what not for us. Scary. But cool. You don’t get that in real life.
Woah boy! It’s 39 past freaking midnight. I have to wake up at 6 and I’m not the least bit sleepy. I better get some sleep before Melvin turns me into Jesus by nailing me to the nearest wall. ‘Died for Yawning On-Set’ won’t look good on the epitaph either.
So time to shut John Legend up. And try to shut the over-caffeinated eyes.
Be back later in the day, the last day of this schedule. Suddenly, I’m seeing Goa ‘Before My Eyes.’
Goodnight.
I love the movie. I love Carey Mulligan. I love Alfred Molina. And I love studying. And i definitely like my on-set lessons. So it was quite poetic that today we shot a scene at a school. With 60 school kids. That’s a lot of passings and background control. And that was my favourite part. When Ankur said “okay, forget the continuity and take care of this group of children for these, these, these scenes.” That was the most fun part of my day. Actually dealing with people and not numbers or crosschecks. And controlling the passing didn’t seem as hard as it looked at the park shoot yesterday. I guess that’s true for everything. Deceptive little world we live in.
So, we have another couple of scenes to shoot at 10pm. I’m not sure if I have to go for it. Will keep everyone posted. Till then Zzzzzz!
Ok. No Zzzzz. Went to shoot Old Delhi at night. Even at 11pm people gathered to take pictures with @mrrajatkapoor.
I’m back in my hotel room and i have two chick friends now! Yayyy! Finally friends on the crew. I mean, yea they’ll leave after the shoot but still, till April it should be fun. Now i’m going to see if I can go bug someone. Ta!
Mansi
The Yedi AD
AD on AD 