With the Inter-IIT Cultural Meet being just a few days away, all cult sections are busy practising away. Watch Out dropped by each section of the Cultsoc to get a sneak peek into their practise regime and to find out their expectations from the meet.

What are the events that come under your section and give a brief detail about it.

We have two events, one is the online short film making competition and other is the offline short film making competition. In the online competition the topic is given one month prior and in the offline competition the topic is given on spot on which the movie is to be made in 48 hours. Everything needs to be done in those 48 hours starting from the story, scripting, shooting and the editing. This year we have a screenwriting competition as well which is right after the offline film making competition. We are supposed to write a 3 minute screenplay on the given topic.

Talking about the online short film making competition have you guys prepared the movie?

Yeah, we have submitted our movie. This year the theme was ‘The show must go on’. The theme was given on 7th November and after our end sems we started developing the story and the script. We prepared 3 to 4 scripts and then picked the best one. The shooting was mainly done in the campus and some shots were taken outside. We got help from Jha sir . We used his apartment for one of our scenes. Our movie is around 13 minutes. The shooting was completed around 14th December and it took us one week for the editing.

How long were the shooting hours and how big is the contingent?

Actually, the pre-production part is more than the shooting. So, the most important part of film making process is the scripting and the actors. We first prepared the script and chose the actors from the dramatics section and our section

So, what does the platform of Inter IIT mean to your section in terms of growth and exposure?

In the first Inter IIT cultural meet at Bombay we won the Film and Media Category. From there on, being the first winners, we have always been excited about the event and we always look forward to it. Moreover it’s much better than what we do during the course of year. It’s Inter IIT, it‘s competitive, we try to outperform other IIT’s and it brings the best out of us.

You might have had good and bad days. How did you guys manage the bad days and what were the team dynamics throughout the process?

Most of the problems were before we started shooting, because it is very difficult to choose 1 script from 3-4 scripts that members come up with. Whoever has made the script fights for it and lots of discussions happen. And after that the pre-production because before we shoot everything has to be decided. Ideally the shoot must take the least time as everything is pre planned. With some many ideas it’s difficult to incorporate all and make the best out of it.

How was the support from the administration and the Inter IIT cultural team?

We wanted an apartment to shoot. Jha Sir is the first person we go to in such cases. He readily agreed and in fact he even prepared lunch for the entire team. We were there for around four hours in his apartment and after the shoot he prepared lunch and that was fun. But we lack a dedicated room for our section where we can store our equipments and work together. It would have helped us a great deal if we had one.

What are the preparations for the offline completion?

There’s nothing much to prepare as such because we are given the topic on the spot and unless we know the topic we can’t really do anything. We have participated in the 48-hour filmmaking before so we know what goes into it and the kind of mindset required. I think all of us are ready for it. There are 15 people in the team and all of them have been to at least one such competition.

Compared to previous Inter IIT meets how do you think this will be different?

It’s definitely better, partly because this is the third time and also because it is our home campus. So it’s much simplified and we know what to do regarding administrative roadblocks and getting the things we want. In 48-hour film making we definitely have an advantage as we know the locations pretty well and we can shoot easily, because in previous editions we had to scout for locations as well in the given time. We can definitely sense some home advantage but the rest is pretty even.

So being the host is an advantage rather than extra pressure to perform.

There is pressure and it‘s fun, after all it is competitive and we definitely want to outperform when we are the hosts.

Do you think that IITR is infrastructurally adept to host such an event on this scale.

Yes, I have been a part of planning since August -September. We do have enough places and auditoriums. I don’t think there should be any infrastructural problem or administrative. I am assuming everything would be sorted out by the time meet starts.

Any ending remarks?

We are eagerly looking forward to it. Especially after our good performance in Tech and Sports meets, we feel the pressure to perform well in Cult plus we are the host institute. We wish the entire IITR contingent all the best!

Any message to the incoming teams?

(Laughing) We are ready! Are you?