Thursday, December 27, 2012

The Happy People

Once upon a time a group of very happy people got together to celebrate music, happiness and some warm love. Out of this celebration was born the Happy People Festival. The driving force was to support Make A Difference (an NGO that empowers the youth to create changes within and around them). MAD makes a difference in the lives of thousands of kids. Studio 33 wanted to get in on the love and happiness… and all the fun. There was music, energy and loads of fun along with food and madness. 75% of all money raised went to MAD and the remaining 25% is used for improving the festival. So go ahead, check out all the craziness and don't forget to make someone happy today!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Coffee Break

What would two interns at a media production house do when faced with the opportunity of having an array of camera equipment at their disposal for an entire day! A film? a commercial? a documentary? An Epic Film Series...

Needless to say, these interns sat on the beanbags at the office and brained stormed from which sparked the idea that could potentially change the course of life as we know it... or get you to chuckle watching a two minute youtube video.

With the inexperience in film making, one often learns on their feet and that did occur as due to a shortage of actors, both interns were pulled into playing characters in their own film. With the help of certain employees and a friend, the film was completed in the prescribed time.

The editing has been completed and the sound has been corrected and needless scenes of people falling down staircases removed from the work of those two interns.
Studio 33 is proud to present to you, The Coffee Break. Nicely done Virpratap Vikram Singh and Neel Dhanesha. 

Sunday, June 24, 2012

TdH: Youth Visit to India

Studio 33 is regularly involved with a variety of activities that take the team around Karnataka and India.

In May 2012, Studio 33 traveled with a group of students from Luxembourg as part of their Terre des Homme exchange program which saw them traveling around Karnataka and Maharashtra, and interacting with children from all walks of life.

One must really appreciate the effort taken by the foundation and the students who took up the challenge of discovering a new and vibrant culture. After all, it can't be an easy thing to plunge into a country where the language is different and there are such a host of varying cultures

One can never truly understand a culture until they have really seen it in person. An experience is not really an experience if it is through a screen or a book.



So what about you? Would you have signed up for a program like this?

If you are an Indian, have you managed to scratch the surface of India? Have you traveled around India or abroad? What was your experience and has it had an impact on you?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The False Mirror: Representation of Women in Indian Advertising

We all know how regular it is to see some sort of attractive woman in an advertisement whether it is on TV or a billboard. In fact, I’m sure that we are surprised if there isn’t an attractive woman endorsing it.

Studio 33 after researching the work of Jean Killbourne's "Killing Us Softly" decided that a similar comparison should be done of India. After all, India is one of the quickest growing markets, and with more than a billion consumers. Women are more essential to advertising than ever before.

However, the reasons are not as shallow as the fact that potentially half of the consumers are women. Studio 33 goes into the real reason why strong independent women are shown selling pressure cookers and water purifiers, the answer might not be what you expected



It is a common adage through that ‘sex sells’. Does it hold true in a consumer market where we chastise girls from wearing non-traditional clothing but then enjoy ads of women in bathing suits? Have you got an opinion on the ‘sex sells’ notion? Or have you seen another example as to where women are shown one why but the meaning is something else entirely?

Friday, June 15, 2012

The Bandhavi Story: A Documentary

Studio 33 often does projects for Visthar, a well known NGO that responds towards issues of justice and peace. One of their projects is the education of girls in Northern Karnataka. These girls before joining were at risk of being part of the Devadasi System (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devadasi). This system despite being outlawed by the Government of India is still practiced in the regions of northern Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

In order to shoot this film, the production team from Studio 33 travelled up to Bandhavi in northern Karnataka to spent time with the girls at the school in Koppal as well as in Bangalore. The team recorded a full day with each set of girls, from their morning yoga to their extracurricular activities, while simultaneously getting a better idea as to what these girls want to do with their lives.




It is quite fantastic to have seen how a mother defended her child and her right to freedom with that mindset. How do you think the women in these regions can stand up to such traditions? Would you be willing to volunteer to help out at such a school?

Monday, June 11, 2012

Studio 33 Biographies: Ranjit Sathyaraj

For the video below, we at Studio 33 decided to do something different. The result was a biographical interview, in ten minutes.

We asked Ranjit Sathyaraj to be our first subject, being one of the most unique people we know. Ranjit wanted to live life to the fullest without having "work" consume his time. Ranjit was able to fulfil a dream of his to successfully retire at the age of 36 – and enjoy life. But all wasn't as rosy as it seemed. 

When shooting this video, the objectives were quite simple: Low Production cost and as little post production as possible, while trying to get to the soul of what Ranjit is all about. Do you have any suggestions on how this sort of video could have gone with the same parameters? Would you have had any different techniques? Remember, sharing is caring!


It’s quite interesting to see how a man like Ranjit turned his back on urban life and moved out to a village and just lived life with his wife and nature. So, how plausible do you think this sort of lifestyle is? Would you be able to work hard for an entire year and then take it easy? How would your parents react if you decided to have a similar lifestyle? Leave a comment below and let’s see what the trend is!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The week that was....

The Bridal Boutique product photography shoot, Karunashraya photoslide show, Marble Italia corporate video and the Expat skideo, just another week in the life of Studio 33.

Marble Italia Portfolio Video from Studio 33 on Vimeo.

January 31st was a long day for us. Our crew landed at Marble Italia in the morning for our first shoot. Shooting on a Canon 5D Mark ii, using an 8 foot jib, we spent the day in Marble Italia’s beautiful gallery space. Back at the office, our motion graphics team worked on another aspect of the Marble corporate video.











At the Bridal Boutique product photography shoot later on, Nanki, our photographer took a wide array of photographs of their exquisite gown and accessories the boutique had to offer. These will be used as test shots for an online store.












We wrapped the week, recording a voice over at Ricky Kej’s Ravelotion Studio for our Expat Skideo. Expat is a real estate and property investment group. Our VO artist Charles was a pro, knocking down the script in just two takes!