INTACH Filmit Workshop

“Filmmaking is a chance to live many lifetimes.” -Robert Altman

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) was founded in 1984 in New Delhi with the vision to spearhead heritage awareness and conservation in India. Today INTACH is recognised as one of the world’s largest heritage organisations. To  emphasise the importance of heritage in our country,  INTACH undertook- The Filmit India Workshop, an online webinar for students across the country.

As a part of the programme, a content writing workshop was conducted on 23 July 2021 wherein, our students, Shreyas Singh class VII, alongwith Ali Faateh Siddiqui and Suhana of class VI participated accompanied by their teacher Ms. Anupriya. The workshop was conducted on the Google Meet platform. Content creator and a renowned award-winning filmmaker, Mr Faisal Alkazi, was present as guest speaker. Mr Alkazi interacted with the students on numerous aspects discussing the multi-facets of heritage all around us.

Mr Alkali posed questions to the students on  what heritage means. Students went past the virtual meet to bring in real life angles into the discussion with tangible elements like heirloom items found at home.

The workshop commenced with six questions based upon the ability to see past the immediate and move towards aspects of life that are forever changing. One just needs a keen eye to observe, it was explained.

The session was interactive as various films, visuals and plower point presentations were played during the meet. Multiple Filmit themes were also discussed with the students as teachers also shared their viewpoints on the amazing heritage we possess. Teachers shared how they orient students towards content writing, through practice.

During the workshop, Mr Alkazi shared  some tips on how to shoot films, the ratio proportion and one’s ideology about the movie outcome. These topics further facilitated the students' learning experience. The interaction also shed light on topics such as framing, movie aspect ratios. Here  books were referred to by Mr Alkazi and the INTACH faculty.

This year the theme is - Heritage through my Home (shot inside the house or even two/three students coming together to shoot a film through an online collaborative technique). Students derived ideas and methods on how one can achieve the same.

Content writing is useful for students not only to making a career in content writing, but is also useful for academics . It enhances the vocabulary of students. This workshop will prove to be very helpful as the students prepare their FILMIT submissions soon.

Following  this session,  on 27 July 2021, the Delhi FILMIT Technical Workshop was organised by INTACH to develop understanding and give an insight into filmmaking among students. The workshop was held online with over 100 students and teachers from various schools.  Samreen Kaur Saluja, Anshika Priya Patel and Aryaan Panda of class VIII  along with their teacher, Ms Tincy Kaur participated in the workshop. The workshop was conducted by Ms Purnima Dutt (Principal Director, HECS), Mr Ankit Pogula, independent filmmaker and video trainer and Ms Pulkita Parsai, independent filmmaker at Tuning Fork Films.

The programme began with an introduction by Ms Dutt which focused on spreading awareness about the rich and cultural heritage of our country.  This was followed by an informative session on the varied themes of movie making. Further, the students were briefed about themes and techniques relating to family traditions, protection of flora, and fauna in our neighbourhood and state. They were also encouraged to recreate their own personal heritage at home. They also saw clips of films made by students through the years of FILMIT’s existence.

Mr Ankit and Ms. Pulkita helped the students explore and learn about different techniques of shooting videos through various camera angles like front,  over the shoulder, high to low, mid-shot, cut shot and close-up. They also learned about new terms associated with production. Later, Ms Pulkita acquainted the students with the steps of editing and exporting videos.

After the enriching session, the Q&A session helped students get their queries relating to software, duration of the film etc. resolved.

Lastly, Ms Dutt addressed the students and teachers and thanked them for their support over the years.

This was an excellent platform for students to be introduced to filmmaking and learn about its technical aspects. The session concluded an assurance by the students  to produce meaningful films for the upcoming events.