Check Out: The DI grading in Aarakshan

DI Test On the post-production tests being conducted for Aarakshan Robert says, “Every element of the post production pipeline is optimized for each films requirement, whether the project is shot on film or digital formats like in the RED cameras or Alexa. As with every film, Read More">rigorous tests are conducted prior and even during aRead More

DI Test

On the post-production tests being conducted for Aarakshan Robert says, "Every element of the post production pipeline is optimized for each films requirement, whether the project is shot on film or digital formats like in the RED cameras or Alexa. As with every film, rigorous tests are conducted prior and even during a film's time in Pixion. With Aarakshan being a 4K film project, we co-ordinated with every major processing and D-cinema (DCP) conversion house in Mumbai to ensure that Sachin and Prakash got the same output they were seeing in our Resolve DI grading suite. Suffice to say, such testing will always pay off. The director and DOP were very satisfied with the end result. No subsequent lab colour-timing or offsets, 'just what they see is what they get'. This is what it is all about for me."

Colour Pallets Robert emphasises that a central theme for Sachin Krishn came with the use of mixed lighting (daylight and tungsten) on set. “This can be felt powerfully across many locations throughout the film. The offset against this, is the natural beauty of Bhopal where the film was being shot. Aarakshan’s cinematographer, Read More">Sachin Krishn getsRead More

Colour Pallets

Robert emphasises that a central theme for Sachin Krishn came with the use of mixed lighting (daylight and tungsten) on set. "This can be felt powerfully across many locations throughout the film. The offset against this, is the natural beauty of Bhopal where the film was being shot. Aarakshan's cinematographer, Sachin Krishn gets full credit for conceptualizing and capturing the vast array of pallets. He skilfully shot those elements on location which allowed us to concentrate on enhancing those elements during the DI process, as opposed to artificial lighting a scene."

Colors of the film To enhance the power of Prakash Jha’s story, Robert gives us a lowdown on the brief and rapport he shared with the director he says, “I have had the pleasure of working alongside Aarakshan’s cinematographer, Sachin Krishn and Prakash since ‘Khoya Khoya Chand in 2007. In that time, Read More">I believe weRead More

Colors of the film

To enhance the power of Prakash Jha's story, Robert gives us a lowdown on the brief and rapport he shared with the director he says, "I have had the pleasure of working alongside Aarakshan's cinematographer, Sachin Krishn and Prakash since 'Khoya Khoya Chand in 2007. In that time, I believe we have all developed a strong understanding of what 'meets the mark' in terms of quality. It is very difficult to explain, it's just there. We all know the standard we all wish to set for the film and we all encourage together to push it further as technologies advance. The idea with Aarakshan was not to overwhelm the story or characters while, in some films that go through the Digital Intermediate (DI) process, a stylized look or tone is given. The audience had to connect with this powerful story and experience the amazing job done by the cast. In such a situation, my humble role is let the DI enhance the story, not create a stylized 'brick wall' between the audience and the film."

Digital Intermediate The film was shot using a 35mm film camera, Read More">where in the telecine process was done at Pixion Studios. The DI workflow was an intricate and technical process where in the reels were scanned using a high performance film scanner called Spirit. This would scan the film in a 4K resolution which amountsRead More

Digital Intermediate

The film was shot using a 35mm film camera, where in the telecine process was done at Pixion Studios. The DI workflow was an intricate and technical process where in the reels were scanned using a high performance film scanner called Spirit. This would scan the film in a 4K resolution which amounts to about 4096 x 3112 pixels. The film was graded by Robert using, Da Vinci's Resolve a colour grading system, thereafter the film was de-grained using Revival. Finally, it was recorded in 4K resolution on ARRI Recorder.

Prakash Jha’s recent drama film, Aarakshan may not have broken box-office records last month but it has surely managed to garner a generous crowd to flock to theatres, making fifty-eight crores in its opening weekend despite being banned in three states. Prakash Jha’s film sheds light on the fact that, Read More">caste based discrimination is stillRead More

Prakash Jha's recent drama film, Aarakshan may not have broken box-office records last month but it has surely managed to garner a generous crowd to flock to theatres, making fifty-eight crores in its opening weekend despite being banned in three states. Prakash Jha's film sheds light on the fact that, caste based discrimination is still rampant and racism looms large over our modern ethnical heads. But apart from the sensitive subject of 'reservation', it's the overall feeling and the colors of the film that manages to catch your eye. Pixion Studios have managed to enhance the narrative of the film by, executing the Digital Intermediate and the visual effects of the film. Renowned colorist Robert Lang was roped in to enhance Sachin Krishn's cinematography in the film, Robert says, "For this project I also supervised dailies during the shoot and would report back to Sachin ensuring him that everything looked great. With both of us working in sync the DI grading process was quite a natural process, each reel only needed one render before reaching the theatres." Some of the visual effects in the film included, picture in pictures (PIP), TV composites, chroma shots and clean ups. Bollywood Hungama gets the English born colorist, Robert Lang to give us a sneak peak into this intricate colour-grading process that intensified Aarakshan.