Of acrylics and aesthetics

Express News Service

The parallels between painting and photography hit home for cinematographer Gnana Shekar VS, who also moonlights as an artist. Working primarily with acrylic paints, and charcoal and sometimes with oil, the cinematographer admits that as much as he likes oil, he does not get the time to dabble with it as often as he would like to, given his commitments in the world of cinema. After shooting shorts and documentaries that hit the indie film circuit, Gnana Shekar steadily made inroads into the world of feature filmmaking.

He is known for his multiple collaborations with directors both veteran (Krish Jagarlamudi) as well as up-and-coming (Sankalp Reddy) filmmakers. Speaking about how his stint in the world of art makes its presence felt in the world of filmmaking, Gnana Shekar says, “Lighting is a key aspect for most cinematographers, but it is framing that I give a lot of precedence to, thanks to my background in photography’s more prescient and enduring format. I place my camera like a canvas, capturing the colours in front of me, in its appropriate level of intensity.” 

With a career that has had multiple period films (Gautamiputra Satakarni, Kanche, Manikarnika, NTR: Kathanayakudu) Gnana Shekar does have a special fondness for the same. Speaking about his approach towards shooting period films, he says, “Aesthetics play a much bigger role whilst shooting period films, as opposed to films that are set in our times. That said, it is never merely about displaying aesthetics for the sake of it, but also about ensuring stories are effectively translated through careful worldbuilding. One must also know how to utilise and work around natural elements.”

Illustrating his theory with an example, Gnana Shekar replies, “In my recent film IB 71, we had to shoot the film in Kashmir. Now since the film is set in the 20th century and dealt with themes of suspicion, espionage and a high-stakes plane hijack, I cannot shoot Kashmir like a tourist ad. In order to understand and incorporate elements to our benefit, we had to do multiple recces, study its weather conditions and the way the sun travels around that area. You are required to not merely fill light, but workaround to get that right feel. Shooting in the snow has its own set of challenges. When you try to film snow, its colour temperature is on a much higher wavelength, which needs to be balanced with warm lights, otherwise, you will need to see the film with UV glasses.” 

Shedding light on the lesser-known process of colour grading in cinematography, Gnana Shekar says, “You cannot rely on them entirely. One can only enhance what is already done well during the shoot. After my shoot gets over, I really like to take photos from that day from our still photographer, go to the hotel room and grade the pictures myself. These pictures, in turn, come in handy as a reference for the DI team during post-production.” 

Gnana Shekar is working next on one of the Telugu film industry’s most high-profile films, Pawan Kalyan’s Hari Hara Veera Mallu. While he is a period film veteran, the challenge this film provided is quite ironic. “HHVM is Pawan Kalyan’s first period film. I had to look out specifically for how this beloved star looks on screen here, in a totally different avatar. The focus was on portraying him with the right colours and lighting.” The cinematographer is also working on the upcoming films of Deva Katta and Srujana Rao, who made her directorial debut with the 2021 survival-based anthology film Gamanam. 

Closing the interview with how quality means more than quantity in his filmography, Gnana Shekar signs off, saying, “I love working with young directors and fresh ideas. It is ideas and novel concepts that really draw me into a film, and I am glad my filmography, albeit smaller, is a decent reflection of the ideas I have personally loved over the years.”

<br /> The parallels between painting and photography hit home for cinematographer Gnana Shekar VS, who also moonlights as an artist. Working primarily with acrylic paints, and charcoal and sometimes with oil, the cinematographer admits that as much as he likes oil, he does not get the time to dabble with it as often as he would like to, given his commitments in the world of cinema. After shooting shorts and documentaries that hit the indie film circuit, Gnana Shekar steadily made inroads into the world of feature filmmaking.</p> <p>He is known for his multiple collaborations with directors both veteran (Krish Jagarlamudi) as well as up-and-coming (Sankalp Reddy) filmmakers. Speaking about how his stint in the world of art makes its presence felt in the world of filmmaking, Gnana Shekar says, “Lighting is a key aspect for most cinematographers, but it is framing that I give a lot of precedence to, thanks to my background in photography’s more prescient and enduring format. I place my camera like a canvas, capturing the colours in front of me, in its appropriate level of intensity.” </p> <p>With a career that has had multiple period films (Gautamiputra Satakarni, Kanche, Manikarnika, NTR: Kathanayakudu) Gnana Shekar does have a special fondness for the same. Speaking about his approach towards shooting period films, he says, “Aesthetics play a much bigger role whilst shooting period films, as opposed to films that are set in our times. That said, it is never merely about displaying aesthetics for the sake of it, but also about ensuring stories are effectively translated through careful worldbuilding. One must also know how to utilise and work around natural elements.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Illustrating his theory with an example, Gnana Shekar replies, “In my recent film IB 71, we had to shoot the film in Kashmir. Now since the film is set in the 20th century and dealt with themes of suspicion, espionage and a high-stakes plane hijack, I cannot shoot Kashmir like a tourist ad. In order to understand and incorporate elements to our benefit, we had to do multiple recces, study its weather conditions and the way the sun travels around that area. You are required to not merely fill light, but workaround to get that right feel. Shooting in the snow has its own set of challenges. When you try to film snow, its colour temperature is on a much higher wavelength, which needs to be balanced with warm lights, otherwise, you will need to see the film with UV glasses.” </p> <p>Shedding light on the lesser-known process of colour grading in cinematography, Gnana Shekar says, “You cannot rely on them entirely. One can only enhance what is already done well during the shoot. After my shoot gets over, I really like to take photos from that day from our still photographer, go to the hotel room and grade the pictures myself. These pictures, in turn, come in handy as a reference for the DI team during post-production.” </p> <p>Gnana Shekar is working next on one of the Telugu film industry’s most high-profile films, Pawan Kalyan’s Hari Hara Veera Mallu. While he is a period film veteran, the challenge this film provided is quite ironic. “HHVM is Pawan Kalyan’s first period film. I had to look out specifically for how this beloved star looks on screen here, in a totally different avatar. The focus was on portraying him with the right colours and lighting.” The cinematographer is also working on the upcoming films of Deva Katta and Srujana Rao, who made her directorial debut with the 2021 survival-based anthology film Gamanam. </p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Closing the interview with how quality means more than quantity in his filmography, Gnana Shekar signs off, saying, “I love working with young directors and fresh ideas. It is ideas and novel concepts that really draw me into a film, and I am glad my filmography, albeit smaller, is a decent reflection of the ideas I have personally loved over the years.”<br />