DOP R.Velraj – Viduthalai!

Viduthalai a new Tamil film directed by  Ace Director Vetrimaran has already created huge impact with audiences all over.

Viduthalai Part one is a political thriller narrated from the perspective of Kumaresan (Soori), a righteous police constable who gets recruited into the team that has been on the hunt to capture Perumal aka Vaathiyar.

One of the major highlights of the film is its Cinematography by R.Velraj who shares his visual journey of Viduthalai.

* Congratulations Velraj for your Cinematography which has been talk of the town.

Thank you SICA for the compliments, firstly i am so happy the film is creating the right impact among the audiences.

* Tell me about the stunning train sequence of the film.

The film opens with a sequence on a train blast which is treated as a single shot which is nearly a 8 minute footage in the screen. We planned to shoot this sequence on a twilight zone to create a Early morning look which is happening by 5.30 am, but it did not happen.

This sequence had a lots of discussions and planning by Director Vetrimaran, who was very specific about all the minute details happening around this long take.

We rehearsed for nearly Eight days,   first challenge in the shooting spot was assembling the artists, which took very long hours to complete ie if they start setting up artists at 7.am it would extend up to  3 pm, another problem was some  background artists  wouldn’t turn up on next day then again Direction team has to put their ideas to them.

Oh….great,  what  was your visual plan and operation

The Visual plan was as elaborate as the sequence itself so we have to use many operators like a relay race, each operator has to concentrate for a particular segment and hand over to the other operator smoothly. Movie frame starts from a Siren then camera moves back slowly then gets down to the Ambassador car where Minister opens the door and steps out camera follows, again here (we had camera with gimbal at the top of the car and at the side of the car we had platforms to step down for the operator and camera)…and camera moves all around 180 to  360 degree to capture the commotion of the accident, dead people lying down, many screaming for help…then it has to travel to the top of the bridge where train is lying down….the camera  glides at the top of the train to interior of the train compartment then again crosses through the window…coming back again showing the train collapse and taking through aerial view. Then coming down the lane.

I had to use camera on a Gimbal, rope cam, 40 feet crane…all for one single  shot and take.

Can you brief practical difficulties you faces during picturizing this train sequence

Main problem was we can’t finish this shot at ease because it has strong emotional content…so no compromise on any craft and Director Vetrimaran was so keen on bringing this sequence to the core of perfection. As cinematographer first challenge was to find right bunch of camera operators who understands my visual moves…we started hiring foreign technicians they left after few days…then we got technicians from Hyderabad they stayed with us for few days shot didn’t happen…so they too left for their other commitments and send other assistant operators. Then i had things squared out by using my assistants, light officers  and even stunt personals for handling camera  in the rope.

Duration was another point we had to improvise on … shot length went beyond  10 minutes…but Director wanted to be within 8 minutes…so with many factors of scene choreography,camera moves and finally timing was also the key.

it took nearly 30 days for  finalizing the crew for filming train sequence along with the rehearsals.

Tell us about your choice of Lenses

Film was shot on Genesis prime lenses, my choice of focal length was mostly 35mm focal length for majority of the sequence. for wide at times used 16mm and for classical choice i had few shots with  50mm lenses.

Your T stop range for this film

Mostly i under exposed the shots…i settled with T stops around 2.0, 1.4  and so on.

I think after Piravi malyalam film …Viduthalai is the film which has lowkey mood even on outdoor sequence thorough out the film.

The mood of the film is set in 1980s on a hill top village…so the events unfolds has lots of darker side…and also keep climatic conditions into play like fog, rain with D.I and Vfx we brought the flavor of a cyan blue and bring more contrast in the  outdoor…i also wanted to look Day and Night closer.

Your experience shooting with Rajiv Menon

Initially i was bit nervous because Rajiv sir  is a legendary figure and always among one of the best 10 cinematographers in our country, on other side very happy he accepted to act in our film..as we all know he turned down acting offers earlier and now accepting to act in Viduthalai shows his respect for Director Vetrimaaran.

Rajiv sir was very much focused about his character and his dialogue only…he never came and saw how i did lighting or any technicalities on Camera side… i think he had done it purposefully…that made me relaxed …shoot the scenes involved by him with ease.

After release of the film appreciation is pouring in for the performance of Rajiv Sir and i also wish him more success in acting career.

How about your instinct as actor.

Ha ha I had earlier done cameos..in many films.. Viduthalai if you observe three Cinematographers have acted together, myself,then Ilavarasu currently Gen secretary SICA and Rajiv Menon.

Initially it was said Viduthalai to be shot on I Phone 14   

Viduthalai Main camera was Arri Alexa LF along with that i had used Red,Black magic cinema cameras and  dslrs Sony,Canon 5D, Crash cams, Drone FPV and Phanthoms for high speed cinematography.

I used I phone 14 also for important sequences happening on the un even terrain and forest bushes where it is difficult to use   Gimbal ..so I phone 14 was very effective to glide through the narrow path and has good image stabilization…i also used I phone inside the jeep where i can get good coverage of many characters and placing camera at a critical place.

This film demanded almost all cameras and had multi camera set up for almost every sequence…good thing is i was able to achieve consistent image quality in the post.

Can you say about Viduthalai 2 visuals scheme.

I know there is a huge expectations from the audience for the Second part of this film…mostly the film has more night sequences. ..that is what i can frankly say for this time…and things may change according to the final edit also…i am also eagerly looking forward for the Second part to hit the screens.

SICA wishes R.Velraj more accolades for the cinematography of Viduthalai and also Director Vetrimaran who is a visionary film maker.

Article by

CJ Rajkumar

Author/Cinematographer.