DVD Update #2: Measurements & Rehearsal

All of our other pending projects have been pushed to the side this week. The pilot episode for the DVD is full speed ahead and there is lots that needs to be done. Thank goodness for a team of people: producers, costume designers, set designers, musical technicians, content people (us), actors, parents, teachers, and friends willing to give feedback, etc. This would never be possible without everyone enthusiastically working together on this project.

Last week we went to the school with a tailor and had the kids selected for the DVD measured. Cloth was bought and the tailor stitched them new DVD school uniforms. We choose bright fun colours: orange and purple. Sadly the tailor got the top and bottom confused and made the dark purple into shirts and blouses which will totally drown out the kids. We had asked for orange shirts and blouses. There needs to be a bright colour on top to offset their skin tones and hair colour. Deep purple will hide them entirely and we will only be able to see their teeth and the whites of their eyes on camera. Not acceptable! But we paid the tailor anyway. The producers are currently scouring the city for new lighter purple cloth and a tailor that can stitch 6 shirts in 24 hours.


Last week we meet with the parents of the students from the school in Chennai. We discussed the program and the logistics of the shoot. They all agreed and signed off on the permission slip. I am trying to keep in mind what I would be thinking and feeling if I were in their shoes...if I had been selected to act in a DVD in 4th or 5th grade, it might be the biggest thing that had ever happened to me. I wonder how something like this changes your life as a kid. Is it the biggest event to date for them? Considering movies are so popular here, giving kids an opportunity to act in front of a camera on a set is a pretty cool experience. As part of our side video project, the making of the DVD, we are going to do little video bios on each student when we drop them off at home this week.


Yesterday we had a 4 hour rehearsal with all six students and our main actor. She is great with children and they all seem to love her so it is working out perfectly from that perspective. She took them through several excercises and warm-ups to get them playing with their voice and facial expressions. And then she went through the first episode with them line by line. There was a lot of laughing and positive reaction to the script--Thank goodness! The kids seemed excited by the story line and picked up on the English very quickly. Only 3 of the students (all the girls) have been exposed to the program before. The boys haven't had any experience with the program so they are a little slower to pick it up, but tried really hard. Everyone had a good time. We ended the rehearsal with a parrota lunch and then managed to get all the kids home, earlier than expected.

Escorting them home was half the adventure yesterday. While we know that these kids come from disadvantaged backgrounds and live in slums, we never really see or experience the slums. Chennai has a few large slum areas, but most slums areas are hidden throughout the city down narrow lanes, hidden behind corners and blocked by walls or buildings. One turn off the main road and it is a different world. A world one wouldn't know exisited in Chennai unless you make an effort to find and see it for yourself. Yesterday I walked through two slum areas to drop off the kids after rehearsal. Being a foreigner there is obvious curiosity as to why I'm there. It's ok to see foreigners on the main roads, but there isn't any good reason why I should be walking through the slums otherwise. This was very clear in one area when the young men started calling out to me. As soon as we announced we were there with a student for a 'shoot for a school program' the attitude changed entirely. Not only was the student given slaps on the back (in congratulations), but we were shown straight to his house and everyone was instantly super helpful. It's all about relationships and establishing the right connections. We will be dropping him back again the rest of the week. It'll be interesting to see how their reaction to me and the others changes over time. But it'll be more interesting to see how he and the other students change over the days of the shooting. Will it increase their self-confidence? Will they display more pride? Will they step up to the acting role? Will they freeze up in front of the camera?

More after the shoot!

DVD Update #1

The DVD project is moving along very quickly! Last week we conducted auditions for the childrens parts in the DVD. We spent about 2 hours at a nearby school with about 20 children. Tarun & Anushka brought their camera to record the students for reference later. We played games with the kids. Sang songs. Asked them to play charades. Taught them some of our phonics sounds and actions. And generally encouraged them to be a little wild and crazy and have a good time. There were definitely some dominate characters that stood out.

Students singing in unison for camera close-ups.

Students playing a game in with the actress that will play our main 'teacher' character.

Students volunteering for charades.

We have selected the students, 3 boys and 3 girls. We will have four main speaking parts and two additional roles for activities and games. We are in the process of getting school and parent permission this week. We will hold rehearsals next Monday and shoot Wednesday-Friday and again the following Monday. Lots to be done this week: costumes, sets, and finalize the script and jingle. Fun fun fun!!

Back to Work

I've just returned from three weeks in the US. The primary justification for my trip was to renew my visa, but seeing family and friends was the real reason I wanted to go. It wasn't a particularly restful or re-energizing trip, but it was a very necessary break.

While I was home I was able to visit the Portland AID Chapter and give a presentation about the Ready 2 Read program. They have helped to fund the pilot episode of the DVD project, so it was fun to be able to meet the members face to face, talk about education in India, and generally share about the project both its successes and challenges.

I'm back in the office and trying to get caught up on emails. We are in the process of editing the script for the episode. We will have auditions with kids next week and have reserved a theater space to do our shoot near the end of the month. It's finally coming together. While there are still many details to sort out, it is an exciting process and I can't wait to see the final product.