Saturday, February 25, 2017

...I know, I know, I know...

Dear Blog,
    I know we haven't talked in a while but I'm sure you know how things have been. I thank you for being patient and not deleting yourself and this insignificant set of data, of which I have no backup anywhere else. You know how much I like to talk and I don't. How much I yearn to write and I can't.
  Anyway, as you know, I have been trying to learn film-making and music production for a while, and apart from watching and listening to loads of movies and music, I have done some experiments and made stuff on my own which, let us say, I forgot to share with you. So, I apologize for that, and without wasting any more time I would like to share them with you right now.
  I've already shared the Tool animation with you, then I made a short black and white film after that on an idea developed from some conversations with my dear friend Mayank. It was a great learning experience working with green screens, computer effects and my father ... Well watch it :


  Alright, then as you may know I went to Mumbai to work with some film people, it was a great learning experience both in film-making and life. They made a short ad film while I was there and I helped during the production, and mostly with some trivial post production stuff, especially color grading. I won't lie, the initial product was a bust. But these people are relentless in patching and stitching until they can make a corpse walk again. And they were finally able to sell it but I had already left their team before that happened.
  I left, and so did five others. And four of us, Aditya, Amit, Mayank and I, made a small, kind of a, company to make virtual reality videos. And we made some videos and tried a few business models and I guess we'll continue experimenting and making more. Here's that stuff :
VRtigo Media YouTube
VRtigo Media Facebook
   It is hard to survive in a city like Mumbai without any perennial source of income, and boy do I hate big cities. Noise, every second of the day, polluted air, and the human hordes. It is a continuous torture to all the senses. The only peaceful place nearby was the lesser polluted Versova Beach. The cool sea breeze and the stars above the ocean. And when this was no more accessible economically and frequently, we had to leave.
  Chittorgarh, one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I've ever been to, is my home. After I returned from Mumbai I went to the secluded part of the Chittorgarh fort. And to be in an environment without any noise, and to hear the wind, the leaves, the crickets and the birds after so long, was truly heavenly. And apart from that you can watch the sun go down the horizon almost every day of the year, excluding the monsoons, and not only can you see a sky full of stars at night but you can also see the milky way!


    Lovely, so apart from that I was diagnosed with appendicitis four times in the year 2016, and I still live with the appendix inside my body to burst some other day. I would've cut it out with my own hands if I had any formal medical training. And I really don't know what the doctors were thinking.
  Anyway, so I was sitting and rusting when my brother told me that his friend had told him that my father would look good playing the role of the super-villain Penguin. Great, I told my brother to write up something and that we would try to make something out of it. So, he wrote a few dialogues and a premise for the available actors and by chance a bat got electrocuted just in front of our house. So, we shot some stuff and I let it sit there for a few months being the sloth I am. I had to shoot the Strange sequence but meanwhile, during a cleaning spree, my mom sold the script to a Raddiwala. So, I had to write that part again, and then I shot it and started putting the stuff together, editing, composing music, recording foley and dubbing and blah. It was really fun doing all that and it was also a great learning experience. So, here it is :
 
 

  That's about it I guess. I had dinner and talked with old friends while writing this post. Good times. And I'm planning on making lots of music and movies in the future.

Stay awesome.

Yours,
Shivpal

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Ek Second

  It was a cold winter night. Was it the same place I had been standing for the past few hours, I couldn't say. The fog cloaked the ever-changing reality around me. Tak...tak...tak... Foot steps? Seemed like ages since I last felt any presence nearby. They drew nearer. A silhouette of a woman appeared in front of me. So, I wasn't the only lonely wanderer in these parts. I don't know how but it felt like she saw me clearly even through the dense mist surrounding us. As she came closer the details started pouring in. A very calm symmetric face, with big eyes, and dark hair covered partially by a dark brown skully. She was wearing a shiny black overcoat, probably made from latex, with matching high boots. Her arms folded in front, probably to resist the cold. Even with her arms tucked in, she was walking at a very steady pace as if she was strolling on a beach and was in no hurry to escape this giant fog bubble. She slowly walked towards me, I was quite mesmerized by the look on her face and the way she appeared out of nowhere into my small island of fog. And there was something about the way she walked. I just stood there taking it all in and watching like a spectator watches a spectacle.

  And then she stopped, standing just a step away from me. And she spoke the first words of the most charming melody ever played with a playful smile on her face, "Ek Second". I felt a fountain of warm liquid gushing out of my neck on to my right shoulder. Her hand was on my shoulder with a scalpel in it who's blade had just pierced the side my neck. I felt warm for a second. And looking into her eyes I had a sudden urge to lie down. I was on my knees. It had started getting cold. I wanted to lie down. The deep look in her eyes wanted me to sleep. She shushes me. I lie down. It is cold. Her smile is the warmest thing I have ever seen. I want to sleep now, and dream of her.

  I die.

Tuesday, August 04, 2015

...Shits and Pieces...

I don't have anything to write a song about.
No love, no loss, no experience
my mind ain't blank but the flow is dead
I do have thoughts but the paper's white
bottled up these many lives
I don't know if they will burst
or like me, just die.

People move, weather changes
lights flicker and seasons pass by
the bird flies, comes back
they eat, they crave, they be
Everyone is their good selves
No one can be themselves
because we today call it darkness
Everyone has darkness inside
but no one can unlock it without
the risk of loosing freedom
There may be saints out there
but in this world they are crucified.




Sunday, April 05, 2015

...Tool...

I've always wanted to make an Animation film. On my old Win 95 computer I made a looping animation in which two fighters with super powers, one with an energy blast and the other with an extended hand choke slam, keep hitting each other. And that was like 15 years ago.
OK, so, about an year I completed my MS Physics and then realized that I won't even hang the degree in my drawing room, and a few months later I bought a new phone and downloaded this animation app. So, why not make an animation? Draw with your fat fingers on a 5 inch screen. Cool.
And I took the path of the traditional frame by frame animation. The path Walt Disney walked upon and since has been the path most travelled by. But its easier to make animation these days. But, what the hell, why not go as old school as you can in the process. And I don't have tracing papers or a glass tabletop with a light underneath.
So, Yadda-yappitty-yadda, I'm not good at working tedious jobs and long hours. So, it took me some time but I made it. I drew atleast 150 independent frames without any copy pasting and it took me about 15-20 hours spread over around 6 months, I guess. And took me another half an hour to compose the music. Yeah, I'm good at it.
So, all bullshit aside, here's the final result. Enjoy if you can! It's only 18 seconds long.


Special thanks to : Flipaclip, nice app. Xiaomi Mi3, nice phone. Fruity loops, if only we hadn't uprooted out earthing apparatus. My home, nice place. My family, nice people. And to Harsh, Mayank and CR for not being Rajiv Masand.

Edit 1 : OK, so this upload is in low quality. Let me see if I can get the HD one.

Edit 2: Here Watch in 720p


Thursday, March 26, 2015

...Mumbles...

They keep on pushing the GTA V PC release date. And even after I 'get' it I am not sure my PC is gonna run it smoothly, or even run it. That's called hope. Waiting and waiting patiently and not even knowing if it's gonna happen for you when it will. And I am a patient man.
And it's almost an year since I completed my college. And I'm here, where I was. But I am more than I was. I love puzzles. Green lights. You see? Hahaha! No I'm not. Neither are you. You see now? Hahaha! Well, as I said, no I'm not. It's obvious to think that I am. But you should think deeper.
Just messing with you. I am an asshole. Freedom of expression eh? It's all right. I never cared enough. So, the thing is that it all makes sense. To me? No! Well, I'm doing it again. Can't stop myself. It's just so tempting.
Anyway, life is fine. Good food, good music, entertainment, what more can a living being ask. And where's that red button. Ah! there it is. *BEEP*

10

9

8

....


Sunday, March 15, 2015

...Why did you kill me?...

Cold rain, somber gray sky,
a hail storm,
oh the green fields,
crops still green, lying dead,
so quite, so beautiful in their slumber,
hanging from the neem tree,
hanging from ceiling fan,
panting on the corner of my field,
shock, I die, did I?
Or did you kill me?
Sure it's not suicide,
but are you to blame?
Uncontrollable, wild, unpredictable,
in your beauty, in your innocence,
you lay waste to my lands, my living, my life.
Do I blame you?
For my last moment, for the rest of theirs?
Oh you're potent, you just are, am I?
I'm just you, without me you aren't.
But I'm still with you in death.
You're still me and I'm you.
So, can I?  Can I blame you?
I really want to, I do,  I don't. 

Thursday, February 05, 2015