“Kaleidoscope 2011”- A Celebration of Creativity

“Kaleidoscope 2011”- A Celebration of Creativity

By Niveda Manohar

“Responsibility and discipline are the eternal values of learning and creativity”, said well known film personality Mr. S.Ve Shekher, in his inaugural speech at “Kaleidoscope 2011”, a two day knowledge and entertainment fest, organized by the Department of Visual Communication of Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women, Chennai on August 11,12, 2011.

Mr. S.Ve Shekher, who began his career as a still photographer and then went on to excel in drama, radio, television and cinema talked about his experiences in various creative disciplines.

“Perseverance and keen desire to learn are the keys to excel in the field of creativity, he said.” Institution’s Secretary Mr Abhay Kumar, Deputy Secretary Mr Gyan Jain and Principal Dr Padma Shankar, were present on the occasion.

An impressive lineup of creative professionals and large number of students gathered to celebrate idea of creativity at the two day information and entertainment extravaganza. 
The seriousness of the inaugural session gave way to fun and frolic. Mr. Harish Kalyan, a young actor lightened up the atmosphere holding interactive session, engaging the students in small skits, to remove the stage fear. He stressed on the points needed for effective acting.  

Immensely popular radio jockeys, RJ Kay Kay and RJ Alocious, from Hello FM were next to hold the floor. They narrated their professional experiences and gave tips to excel in radio broadcasting.

Professor Raviraj, head of the department, Direction, at Chennai Film Institute, gave a talk on the intricacies of making non fictional films. His screened a documentary on 'sewage and drainage system' and narrated the fine aspect of short film making. He screened a foreign short film on “glass making” that was a treat to watch.

Mr. Saravanan, the Filmfare award winner for the best supporting actor for the movie Paruthiveeran (2007) shared his experiences in Tamil Film industry. 
The three time National Award winner, Mr. Srinivas Mohan, the VFX director of Enthiran held a session on the making of the film.  He explained how visual effects can lift a film to dazzling heights. His explanation amazed the students in cinematic knowledge.

Ms. Madumita, an eminent film director who directed ‘Vallamai Tharayo’ and ‘Kola Kolaya Mundhirika’ talked about the working condition for women in Kollywood.

“The working atmosphere in film industry is very congenial for women and there is absolutely no to fear of any sort for fair sexes,” Ms. Madumita, said dispelling the myths about women working in the film industry. Her words inspired many girls to take up a career in film industry.

RJ Gopida of Radio City shared his knowledge on the different aspects of jockeying and demonstrated a few exercises to enhance the voice quality. He had a similar session in Kaleidoscope 2010 as well.

The day two of the Kaleidoscope 2011, kicked off with VTV Ganesh of “Vinnaithandi Varuvaya” fame. It was a perfect start for the day as VTV is immensely popular among the youth.

Director Jananathan, talked about the nuances of film making. He screened certain scenes of his movies “Iyarkai” that won the national award for the best Tamil feature film and explained how each shot was taken.

Popular music director Mr. James Vasanthan who composed many hit songs and who is also a popular television personality, interacted with the students on the technical side of music composition.

Mr. Praveen K.L, spoke about the importance of editing in movies. He screened the trailer of Mankatha and certain scenes from other movies to explain the editing point of view. During the interactive session, he gave music CDs of “Mankatha” to few students whom he found to be keen learners.

Meera Kathiravan who has directed the critically acclaimed movie “Aval Peyar Tamilarasi” gave tips on the art of direction. He was followed by dubbing artist, Mr. Naveen Kumar who enthralled the audience with his mimicry skills. Students requested him to copy the voice of their favorite film stars and the performer did not let anyone down.

The last session was by the crew of “Ambuli,” India’s first stereoscopic 3D movie. Directors Hari Shankar and Haresh Narayan and Cinematographer Satish discussed about the various aspects of 3D movie making. They also screened a few 3D scenes from the movie that the students seem to enjoy.

The closing session saw a performance by Ms. Shweta, III year Visual Communication student, who whistled the tune of two songs and danced on them as well. Then there was ‘adaptune’ competition for the students of other colleges. Prizes were given to those who participated in the competition. 
The “Kaleidoscope 2011” finale was an energetic performance by group of students of the department of Visual Communication dancing on the tune of fusion of songs.

There were sixteen sessions and eighteen guest speakers in the two day festivity. . The session covered a gamut of areas like film direction, acting, video editing, music, radio jockey, dubbing etc.

There were 285 students from more than sixteen colleges that participated in “Kaleidoscope 2011.” All gave positive feedback of the event, calling it inspirational and looked forward for the next edition of this mega event.

The lesson learn from “Kaleidoscope 2011” was; creativity comes slowly and gradually and one has to strive for that and seek inspiration from those who have excelled in different disciplines of creativity.

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This report is prepared by Niveda Manohar, second year student of BSc Visual Communication,of Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women, Chennai.