Love is a confession… A turn of phrase that shot through into a night of stars at the Derana Music video awards held on last Friday, 5th November. ‘Aadaraye Ansumaathrayak’ carrying the theme love is a confession was nominated for 8 categories out of which it won 5 titles for
Best Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best overall act
Best Video Adaptation of a movie song
The video directed by Udaya Dharmawardana, echoed in person by Indrachapa Liyanage, is the Official Music Video of the film ‘How I Wonder What You Are’ directed by Udaya Dharmawardana and Chinthana Dharmadasa. The film was a venture into the unsought grounds of independent cinema by the director duo, where an unconventional cinematic experience revolves around two souls seeking for a human bond within the forgotten language of connectivity.
This year’s Derana music awards took a massive alternative turn where the video of Funeral in Heaven was awarded as the best music video of the year and the very original ‘Gemba’ was also awarded for its daring innovativeness along with the eminence Aadaraye Ansumaathrayak received. The channel seems to have taken a step at the edge of hope to uplift the underground attempts of local artists to promote artfully rich creations which may have bound to go unnoticed in midst of the hollow sugar coated, candy floss stream the industry has currently crowned. Its motives were confirmed by the persons who were invited to judging panel that holds eminence for their original artistic ideology as Subash Pinnawala, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Sumeda and Shyam
Winds of Uva was recognized for Best Music Video, Best English Music Video and Best Rock Music Video at Derana Music Video Awards
Gemba, an innovative unconventional take in Sri Lankan music videos
One of the most popular category awards which was based on the SMS’s received by the public was won by a ‘Mr. Wanna be’ like Iraj who claims himself to be fighting a battle for the cults of the society with his ‘so called’ art. This makes it clear on what grounds the mindset of the public lies today where they’ve lost their own thought of identity into what cheap money oriented gimmicks wants it to be. So eventually the public is merely puppets of what some power sourced social stunt perceive them to be. Being locked away from authentic arty creations for decades where many like Vimukthi’s own Cannes passed the country by and where rainbow colored fluff balls were platformed; the people cannot be blamed but sympathized for having no sense of rational contentment and simply gobbling down whatever bullshit that’s fed to them with so much imagined goodness.
At a point in time as such, the attempts made by Derana (Assumed that they were consciously made) to recognize the potentials where art could foster for the richness in it, dues an immense load of respect. But we can’t say ‘hail Derana’ in unison as at yet. Does it have the power to continue the step they took forward and keep going deeper into the woods or would this merely be a single apex that helps them to cover as much as scope they can and how well they face the pressure and reactions of the air headed gimmicks labeled as ‘artists’; are questions that would have to be left to be answered with time.
Post courtasy : Randhula De Silva
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Dancehall
A lot of people seem to be surprised by my enthusiasm on the Sean Paul concert happening next week. I personally find that its all about perception. Sean Paul is Jamaican and one of the many commercial artists coming from the Caribbean. This includes Rhianna, Bahamen, Sean Kingston and Bob Marley who share a common base, primarily traditional African music, though broken up into Reggae, Dancehall and the many other genres today.
Anyway, I'm not too familiar with the whole history of the islands, but I do know that the people in this region did go through a lot of hardship and still do, due to the effects of colonization, slavery ("Outward expressions of African culture were not permitted. Women would use oral tradition to keep past traditions and histories alive.Dance also became an integral part of culture among slaves. This was a way in which women (along with men) could offer up prayers to their gods as well as release emotion. Slaves would often engage in dancing ceremonies on their free time as it was a way in which they could freely express themselves and their cultural heritage against the orders of their colonial oppressors"), mass brain drain and some natural disasters (Haiti).
Anyway, history will have to attest to the great music, dance and rich self-expression coming from this region over the years. Nice.
Anyway, I'm not too familiar with the whole history of the islands, but I do know that the people in this region did go through a lot of hardship and still do, due to the effects of colonization, slavery ("Outward expressions of African culture were not permitted. Women would use oral tradition to keep past traditions and histories alive.Dance also became an integral part of culture among slaves. This was a way in which women (along with men) could offer up prayers to their gods as well as release emotion. Slaves would often engage in dancing ceremonies on their free time as it was a way in which they could freely express themselves and their cultural heritage against the orders of their colonial oppressors"), mass brain drain and some natural disasters (Haiti). Anyway, history will have to attest to the great music, dance and rich self-expression coming from this region over the years. Nice.
Whoa. Flexible...some dance students all the way from Poland!
Diss if you can actually dance like this :D
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Happy Birthday Blogger!
Awesome new templates, performance monitoring, editable HTML templates and so much more!..what more can you ask from them?? You guy ROCK! \m/ Too bad many of my friends are on bloody WordPress...damn you guys, Blogger Rocks..:P
Too bad we couldn't get a Meetup organised over here...oh well may be next year! Anyways... Congratulations to Blogger and the team at Google on a job well done! Happy Birthday from everyone of us at Mathawaada!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Girls Who Rock My World..
Well, I guess we can say that about the first one on the list, but others go a bit beyond just rock n roll...So here are the girls who rock my world these days...
Mariska Veres (R.I.P) – Shocking Blue
Well her amazing and very distinct vocals are just the right mix for the band's amazing tunes. Shocking Blue was a Danish rock n roll band from early 70s who has produced some awesome tracks before they split up in 1974. Even though they shot to fame with one single called “Venus” I still love this song “Send Me a Post card”! Sadly Mariska Veres died of cancer in 2008., she was 59 years old.
Angela Gossow - Arch Enemy
Well, anyone in the metal community would know her and love their music. Being the vocalist for one of the most successful Melodic Death Metal Bands, Angela still continues to be an inspiration and a role model to many in metal.
Britta Görtz – Cripper
Well when I downloaded, their album I was just looking for some good thrash metal and was never concerned about the vocalist. But later when i realised it was in fact a girl who was on vocals i was quite surprised, Cripper not only has some groovy tracks, but also has a pretty awesome female vocalist.
Sabina Classen – Holy Moses
This German hottie is undoubtedly one of the great contributors to thrash metal. Holy Moses is among some of the first few German thrash bands which has had a great influence over the scene in Germany. Sabina Classen, the bands vocalist is undoubtedly one of the very few female vocalists to be on the scene in those days. Holy Moses churns out some awesome thrash metal since 80s and to know that it is female fronted just adds to their awesome reputation.
Mariska Veres (R.I.P) – Shocking Blue
Well her amazing and very distinct vocals are just the right mix for the band's amazing tunes. Shocking Blue was a Danish rock n roll band from early 70s who has produced some awesome tracks before they split up in 1974. Even though they shot to fame with one single called “Venus” I still love this song “Send Me a Post card”! Sadly Mariska Veres died of cancer in 2008., she was 59 years old.
Angela Gossow - Arch Enemy
Well, anyone in the metal community would know her and love their music. Being the vocalist for one of the most successful Melodic Death Metal Bands, Angela still continues to be an inspiration and a role model to many in metal.
Britta Görtz – Cripper
Well when I downloaded, their album I was just looking for some good thrash metal and was never concerned about the vocalist. But later when i realised it was in fact a girl who was on vocals i was quite surprised, Cripper not only has some groovy tracks, but also has a pretty awesome female vocalist.
Sabina Classen – Holy Moses
This German hottie is undoubtedly one of the great contributors to thrash metal. Holy Moses is among some of the first few German thrash bands which has had a great influence over the scene in Germany. Sabina Classen, the bands vocalist is undoubtedly one of the very few female vocalists to be on the scene in those days. Holy Moses churns out some awesome thrash metal since 80s and to know that it is female fronted just adds to their awesome reputation.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Bambara Walalla
Went and watched Bambara Walalla at Regal yesterday, and must say the movie was quite awesome. Needless to say that Mahendra Perera(Mel) and Shriyantha Mendis (Jinnhey) took the spotlight for me even though the movie was centered around Athula Liyanage's character "Podi Eka". Although there were certain areas i wished could have been done better in my humble opinion, the movie at large i think is a refreshing break to the line of cheap carbon copied, romance movies that are being produced lately...
Official Site
http://bambarawalalla.com/
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Filming those Long Takes....
When I was small, used to think that film making or even making a teledrama is just a piece of cake as long as you could get hold of a camera and some good actors, where you would just shoot the conversations that happens. But I later came to realized the mammoth effort that goes into creating even the smallest scene.
One of the main aspects in a movie clip would be the camera angles and how the camera is being used in each scene. You could shoot a film in many different angles; this is done due to many reasons.
Some can be to best illustrate the contents of the scene, for example in a scene where two actors are engaged in a conversation the camera will switch between their facial expressions. For this you would either need to shoot with two cameras at once or to shoot the conversations separately.
Also you would slice the movie down into different scenes and have breaks in camera shots just to make it easy for you to get the perfect picture. Then you would work your way through little by little shooting each scene with breaks, this will reduce actors mistakes and ease up choreography and handling of other props.
But as of late I have grown in interest and being fascinated by “long takes”. Long takes are simply where the director uses one single camera to film an entire scene without having breaks in the acting. It lasts longer than the normal editing phase going into extra several minutes. Long shots are extremely hard to do simply due to the effort and the cohesiveness of all the teams that need to go in just to get it right. One single error means that the whole shot have to be taken from the scratch and for a very complex scene this is simply a nightmare.
I first started to show a keen interest on long takes through the movie Children of Men, where director Alfonso Cuarón has created a masterpiece giving you an amazing experience and suspense through his extensive use of this technique.
Of course there are so many directors who are famous for long takes, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and many more but these are three of the best scenes I could find over YouTube and i am sure you are going to enjoy these...
The Goodfellas - Copacabana Entry
I love this one. One of the most popular scenes from Martin Scorsese masterpiece; The Goodfellas, the scene is where Henry and Karen enters the Copacabana. With the use of a steady cam the director takes the viewer in a smooth journey into Henry’s stratum of friends society he deals with.
Interview on how they made the Copacabana Long Take, utilizing a steady camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBMKyNJvNV8
Children of Men (Uprising scene)
I have no idea how they pulled this off; this highly complex and thrilling take keeps you at the edge of your seat, and I am sure the director was able to strike right at the heart of the viewers with the free hand camera that follows Theo (Clive Owen) though this scene.
One of the main aspects in a movie clip would be the camera angles and how the camera is being used in each scene. You could shoot a film in many different angles; this is done due to many reasons.
Some can be to best illustrate the contents of the scene, for example in a scene where two actors are engaged in a conversation the camera will switch between their facial expressions. For this you would either need to shoot with two cameras at once or to shoot the conversations separately.
Also you would slice the movie down into different scenes and have breaks in camera shots just to make it easy for you to get the perfect picture. Then you would work your way through little by little shooting each scene with breaks, this will reduce actors mistakes and ease up choreography and handling of other props.
But as of late I have grown in interest and being fascinated by “long takes”. Long takes are simply where the director uses one single camera to film an entire scene without having breaks in the acting. It lasts longer than the normal editing phase going into extra several minutes. Long shots are extremely hard to do simply due to the effort and the cohesiveness of all the teams that need to go in just to get it right. One single error means that the whole shot have to be taken from the scratch and for a very complex scene this is simply a nightmare.
I first started to show a keen interest on long takes through the movie Children of Men, where director Alfonso Cuarón has created a masterpiece giving you an amazing experience and suspense through his extensive use of this technique.
Of course there are so many directors who are famous for long takes, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and many more but these are three of the best scenes I could find over YouTube and i am sure you are going to enjoy these...
The Goodfellas - Copacabana Entry
I love this one. One of the most popular scenes from Martin Scorsese masterpiece; The Goodfellas, the scene is where Henry and Karen enters the Copacabana. With the use of a steady cam the director takes the viewer in a smooth journey into Henry’s stratum of friends society he deals with.
Interview on how they made the Copacabana Long Take, utilizing a steady camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBMKyNJvNV8
Children of Men (Uprising scene)
I have no idea how they pulled this off; this highly complex and thrilling take keeps you at the edge of your seat, and I am sure the director was able to strike right at the heart of the viewers with the free hand camera that follows Theo (Clive Owen) though this scene.
Children of Men ( Car Scene)
Great use of the Long Take to give the viewers a roller coaster ride of emotions. The shot which is done inside the car is amazing and the techniques they have used for this is simply brilliant.
Old Boy
This fight scene from old boy has been dubbed as one of the best movie fight scenes ever, and I couldn’t agree more. The director Park Chan-wook has done an amazing work in making Old Boy and this scene is undoubtedly a testament for it.
The long take starts at 0:58
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Bangkok, The Red T-Shirts and the Walking Street
In mid April we took a trip to Thailand, the land of the Siam People. This was during the height of the Red T-shirts protests, where the red t-shirts had encamped themselves in Bangkok city center blocking some major shopping malls and getting into violent clashes with the law enforcement authorities. Just days before there was a mass funeral parade exhibiting the 12 coffins of the red t-shirt protesters who have died in the clashes. So needless to say it wasn’t the best timing for the trip.
But the trip which was planned for several months had to proceed regardless of the situation, and come to think of it, it couldn’t have been planned at a better time. In fact we were there during a period which was defining the Thai political history.
Our stay in Bangkok was just limited to four days and three nights, but we could very well say that it was an experience of a lifetime. One of the major highlights was Pattaya, a wonderful beach destination located just 2 hours off Bangkok. Pattaya is home to the much famed Walking Street; a place popular for its vivid and brightly lit neon lights and the partying that just keeps on going from dusk till dawn.
On the final day of our trip we visited central Bangkok where the red t-shirts had encamped themselves around some of the most popular shopping malls in the city. The roads had been blocked off and they did not allow anyone to get in unless they were red t-shirt supporters. After wondering around the shopping malls and crossing many streets we suddenly ended up in the middle of a road which has been cordoned off by the red t-shirt supporters who had now camped themselves there.
They didn’t block us off from walking in the street may be because we were tourists. In fact there were several tourists who were walking around buying red t-shirt souvenirs and talking to the protestors. Just few meters away a man in full guerrilla attire was giving a charged and an intense interview to a bunch of local and international reporters. We later learnt that it was Maj.General Khattiya Sawasdipol, a rogue army officer who had aligned himself with the red t-shirt movement. He was shot dead by a sniper a few weeks later while giving a similar interview to a group of reporters.
After a few weeks returning from Bangkok, we saw how the Thai Army stormed the camp sites to evict the protestors and how the bloody clashes ensued afterwards left many people dead. It was really sad to see this as just a few weeks back we had been on the same place where now many people have perished.
There is a very serious political crisis in Thailand at the moment which has somewhat bitterly divided the country and its people. Hopefully Bangkok and its wonderful people would recover from this bitter divide soon and this City of Angels would reach back to its former glory.
But the trip which was planned for several months had to proceed regardless of the situation, and come to think of it, it couldn’t have been planned at a better time. In fact we were there during a period which was defining the Thai political history.
Our stay in Bangkok was just limited to four days and three nights, but we could very well say that it was an experience of a lifetime. One of the major highlights was Pattaya, a wonderful beach destination located just 2 hours off Bangkok. Pattaya is home to the much famed Walking Street; a place popular for its vivid and brightly lit neon lights and the partying that just keeps on going from dusk till dawn.
Walking Street - Is not just about walking!
And...
how can i forget the frog legs? Delicious, tastes like chicken...,but dont eat too much then you would really start to feel its taste :D
On the final day of our trip we visited central Bangkok where the red t-shirts had encamped themselves around some of the most popular shopping malls in the city. The roads had been blocked off and they did not allow anyone to get in unless they were red t-shirt supporters. After wondering around the shopping malls and crossing many streets we suddenly ended up in the middle of a road which has been cordoned off by the red t-shirt supporters who had now camped themselves there.
They didn’t block us off from walking in the street may be because we were tourists. In fact there were several tourists who were walking around buying red t-shirt souvenirs and talking to the protestors. Just few meters away a man in full guerrilla attire was giving a charged and an intense interview to a bunch of local and international reporters. We later learnt that it was Maj.General Khattiya Sawasdipol, a rogue army officer who had aligned himself with the red t-shirt movement. He was shot dead by a sniper a few weeks later while giving a similar interview to a group of reporters.
After a few weeks returning from Bangkok, we saw how the Thai Army stormed the camp sites to evict the protestors and how the bloody clashes ensued afterwards left many people dead. It was really sad to see this as just a few weeks back we had been on the same place where now many people have perished.
Red T-Shirt Protests, in the middle of the shopping district.
There is a very serious political crisis in Thailand at the moment which has somewhat bitterly divided the country and its people. Hopefully Bangkok and its wonderful people would recover from this bitter divide soon and this City of Angels would reach back to its former glory.
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