JOIN USTV serials prep for comeback
Television serials will resume indoor shooting from May 25. The Karnataka government has granted permission, according to the Karnataka Television Association.
Shooting was suspended on March 22, following the announcement of the lockdown. “The permission has been granted for shooting, using a minimal crew. We will be using sanitisers, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing,” S V Shivakumar, producer and president of the Karnataka Television Association told Metrolife.
But the challenges are aplenty, he concedes. “From tweaking the story to reducing the number of characters in a frame to avoid outdoor shooting, the scriptwriters will have to work extra hard,” he says.
The association initially wanted to start shooting from May 11, but many artistes were still in their hometowns and were unable to come back because of the travel restrictions.
“It is difficult for us to make arrangements to bring them back because the government directive says only two people can travel in a cab. So, we have decided to start on May 25, hoping things will ease out a bit,” explains Shivakumar.
Shooting for over 100 Kannada serials has stopped. “During the lockdown, the television industry has lost between Rs 150 crore and Rs 180 crore. The cast and crew are eager to resume work,” he adds.
Some technicians and artists work on monthly salaries, while others are paid every day.
Scriptwriters say tweaking is not so difficult. P Chandrika, poet and scriptwriter, works behind the scenes for many serials.
“There are two challenges — how to limit the number of characters on screen and avoid outdoor shooting. You have to write strong dialogues and slip in many twists and turns to keep the viewer hooked,” she says.
Abhiruchi Chandru, with over 20 years experience as a script-and-dialogue writer, says, “We usually increase the number of actors in a frame to add grandeur to the scene. We can easily avoid such scenes. We should concentrate on giving sharper expressions and more powerful dialogues.”
Playwright and filmmaker B Suresha, who is currently writing the script for ‘Jeeva Nadi’ on Udaya TV, says there are definite problems in converting outdoor scenes to an indoor format.
“A story will have many indoor and outdoor scenes. We have only two options now when shooting during the pandemic, one is to shift the outdoor scenes to indoor or use green matte technology. Although a good option, green matte shooting is expensive and will not fall within the budgets provided for a television serial. So, it is going to be a tightrope walk,” he says.
He also feels scenes could be changed but time is a constraint.
“Television shoots are always done at a hectic speed to meet daily deadlines,” he says.
As for actors, maintaining physical distance is almost impossible because most scenes are shot in small drawing and dining rooms, and sometimes in bedrooms.
“The makeup needs constant touching up and makeup professionals will have to come close to the actors. The placing and removal of hidden mics from the actors’ clothing will have to be done with utmost care”, he says. He is not for resuming shooting at this point in time.
“We should wait for the pandemic to ease out or for a vaccine to be developed,” he signs off.
What’s happening
- Outdoor scenes being rewritten for indoors, as only indoor shooting is allowed.
- Fewer people will appear in a frame, since physical distance is a new factor.
- We can shoot using green matte technology, but it is an expensive proposition.
- Makeup artistes to be extra careful as they can’t work from a distance.