In conversation : Sakthi Saravanan DOP!

Sakthi Saravanan is one of the most important Cinematographers who had set a bench mark in the visual storytelling, He has created unique different looks for each and every one of his films that became a trend in many films to follow.

Basking on the technical triumph Sakthi had created in his films, recently he had also tested technical features of the latest Digital cinema cameras Sony Venice 2 and Arri ALexa 35 and also comparative study on Lenses  with Zeiss radiance, Signature primes, Canon Sumire,Cooke Panchro and Black wings 7 for SICA which was appreciated by National Award Winner Pc Sreeram.

Sakthi Saravanan shares his Cinema Journey With SICA.

*  Why did you choose to study cinematography technology at Film institute?

While studying at Eighth standard itself i decided to get into film Industry and i thought studying in the Film Institute will be the right way to enter film the world, Accidentally it was my father who informed me that there are two film institutes in India.

I am the first in family  to enter the film world, i also thought that my parents would agree if i take film studies and not entering film industry by directly assisting.

Later i joined Adyar Film institute.

* Can you say about your learning days at Film institute?

It was really very happy days of my life, first year went on like a exploration of many departments of film making. Like learning to splice the film at editing department.

There is a collective soul in the film institute it is from the past to the present that includes myself also…that is a power to learn film making…above all is the library where we get  cinematography books to read…during my days at film studies getting cinematography book is very difficult. Other choices would be visiting British and American embassy.

Next is attending International Film Festival was the one changed my perspective watching different language films interacting with film makers..i had seen senior film makers like SP Muthuraman sir and Vinayagam sir regularly attending film festivals, SP Muthuraman used to get coffee for us during festival and share his valuable thoughts.

* Recently you conducted workshop on cinematography at MGR film institute chennai.   

 I Always feel that it is my duty to give back the knowledge i gained at Film Institute, yes recently i was approached to conduct a one day class for the cinematography students…then i requested to make it for four days…first day is to make them understand about Sensor and its dynamic range and then i took them to two different color grading suits one is Baselight another Davinci…after that Night lighting Practicals finally again coming back to Grading solution to color time the footage we shot during practicals…so it was great feeling for me and students as well.

*Your First visual assignment in media 

First Visual assignment was my entry into television medium, it was a serial Nila pen 26 episode weekly in telecast over Sun Tv which was produced by my friends from Madurai Directed by RajaPandi who was from our film institute. Finding money resources was very difficult and it was telecasted during Sun Tv earlier times and was successful one.

* Can you say about your shooting experience in Marmadesam and Chithi which is a benchmark?

I was introduced by CJ Bhaskar to producer Kailaasam   who was under challenging situation when he was in the production Third part  of Maram Desam  Sornaregai directed by Naaga.

Marmadesam has already set a high standard in terms of making it had a wide angle visuals, Even today standards the  visual language is very unique and original, the challenging part for me was the live sound. Even if the director is satisfied we have to go for another take for Sound part if the Engineer needs it.

Coming to Chithi Serial  Radhika madam was aware of my visual vocabulary, so i tried my best to bring lot of changes from the routines. First is to shoot in original locations and use ambient light as much as possible and also try high contrast images and then go for some unusual angles when necessary.

* You had tried a lot of mis-en scene techniques in the Serials 

Yes scene choreography in Sornaregai and Eyandiraparvai of Marmadesam was unique ,director Naaga used to stage a scene completely and then go for close ups for punctuations. There was a trolley specifically designed for a complete choreography…the same thing i tried with Chithi serial also.

It required a lot of coordination and to lit up complete set up and also create good lighting contrast and we achieved it.

*  Chennai -28 trend setter in Tamil industry, there was no visual reference earlier for street cricket.. What was your preparation like?

As said there was no much reference for the street cricket at that times…first thing i understood was about the storyline is of happy youngsters whose life is like free flowing fluid and they are serious about cricket.

There are many ways it can be presented One is seeing the Cricket match visually from a distance in a objective way, another is getting close to characters…i choose to shoot Chennai -28 in a subjective way be close to characters have hand held camera at most of the film and capture sequences in a documentary way being more interactive than composed one.

* What was your color choice for chennai -28

That was the time Digital color grading was very new..so most of the films had strong and saturated colors…but my choice was to have a muted and less color saturation that would make the narrative more real for that i choose Fuji Eterna 400 film stock which had a character of softer color tones with low contrast.

I initially used Kowa anarmorphic and then most of the film was shot with Cineovision Anamorphic lenses.

* Saroja had extensive chase sequences…what was your plan for Visual look  

Saroja was exciting project for me…apart from the chases the movie evolves around one night…so the location for the film was Binny mill, technically for this kind of movies ideal way to lit up would be Balloon lights…when it is not available for me i have to think in different terms to achieve the best i can, so i placed lights at the highest point of the building to get exact throw…but the light travel is nearly a kilometer or 750 metres..the light value was around just 5 foot candles.

So i used Zeiss super speed mark 3 / T 1.3 lenses, push processed 500 T stock to 1600 at Lab to get the right exposure, grain and details.

Camera was Arri 235 which i loved very much for its combability for hand held usage, Saroja also had hand held because to give momentum to the visuals…here too i  travelled  camera close to the characters.

Then i tried a complete portion of the film with beach bypass to blow the highlights and crush the black value…that’s the Hyderabad sequences involving prakashrajs daughter kidnapping episodes.

Color grader was Purushothaman who used to say ‘ When are you going to give normal developing process” …in a lighter tone..that time i was so curious to see the feedback from Labs or telecine to know the negative density.

* Goa  film had different visual flavours ?

Yes I was already bored of the experiments i had done for the both the films..so we wanted to treat this time a colorful film GOA had the story for it.  First thing came to my mind about GOA was Sun and Sand..so the color scheme was easily Blue and Orange…and also not get restricted…we went with rainbow of colors.

As the time of the shoot happened at GOA location where the film is set was July monsoon season full of greys…so we thought for alternate location which had Sun shine and bluer sky and settled to shoot most of the film at Lankavi.

Goa shot with Fuji F – 64 D ( Day exteriors) 8522 , Fuji eterna 250 D( Day interiors) 8563 , Fuji eterna 500 T 8573( Night interior and exteriors)
Arriflex 435 . Arri master primes.

* Mankaatha is a first of a kind film to have a retro style visual…what was the reference you had in mind before shooting.

Mankaatha is a character driven action film by Venkat Prabhu, almost all the characters have a grey shade so we wanted to create a dynamic visuals..i suggested to go for a high contrast stylish visuals..but Director thought it would resemble BILLA, so we want to try some other thing…during my institute days i was taken away by the film by Kieslowski titled  a short film on Killing which had unique tonal values of Green and Yellow..that was always lingering in my mind, then i thought it would be best to bring the color tone of Greenish yellow done by colorist Raghu…that worked very well and many appreciated it has a retro look.

Then i had a Zoom lens of 15-45mm with a hand held camera..so our close ups also had a wider angle of view…then to give a sudden punctuations in the scene i operated crash zoom in effects.

Camera was Arri 435 and first time i was using Kodak motion picture stock Vision 3 50D, 250D & 500T 5293.

* That Multiple images of Ajith on a moving camera also changes in time of day? how was it done?

Story wise it is like a lean period of the character and we have to show different activities of Ajith with different costumes nearly seven characters of Ajith transforming from Day to night in a moving camera.

We shot it in a real multi  storey building at the top(13th floor) of the empty floor we put a Set for a sea view.  I used a  Milo motion rig for this particular sequence, we shot it as layer by layer of each individual looks and movement then finally shot it to a night sequence.

* How do you feel about the transformation from Film to Digital  ?

Transformation was not difficult for me for Digital as a technology…but i was trying to hold as much as possible to shoot in motion picture film stock when complete Indian film industry  changed to Digital.

When i had opportunity to shoot a  Telugu film JILL i convinced my Director Radha krishnan who was equally a film lover so he wanted his film to be recorded in Motion picture stock…and we both have to convince producers about the privileges of shooting in filmstock during the last period.

My last few cans were the last batch processed at Gemini color lab, during the last day of shoot even artists became emotional to give farewell to motion picture film stock by having a group snap  holding film cans.

* Which is your favourite focal length you like to use ? Why?

I am a big fan of anamorphic lenses, especially the flares and the anamorphic wide always create a bolder wide angle view. Where as in spherical lenses using the wide lens background will get smaller.

My favorite focal length is 35mm and 50mm with hawk c series anamorphic.

* Recently you had tested both Sony Venice 2 and Arri Alexa 35 what is your take? 

To keep it simple each story and visual ideas demand different looks and there are different Good cameras to solve the purpose.

For me i had opportunity to test these both Arri Alexa 35 and Sony Venice 2 …each camera have their specification about their camera dynamic range…but my purpose is to see the Visual difference in a same lighting conditions and also to test in different exposure levels.

Arri as they are into camera business for years they have a unique texture based on the film looks and Sony at the same time have kept their color and texture very open can be manipulated in the post according to the users need.

Wishes for Sakthi Saravanan to have a splendid cinematic journey continue to enthrall through his visuals and achieve more successful in future  endeavors   

Article drafted by

CJ Rajkumar

Author /Cinematographer