Anay Goswamy, ISC participated in a live, interactive interview as part of RED’s Behind the Look Virtual Cinematography Series in July 2020. This Q&A is an excerpt from that conversation with Naida Albright, Filmmaker Liaison for RED.

RED spoke with the prestigious Anay Goswamy, ISC. He is a postgraduate from the acclaimed Film and Television Institute of India and has garnered recognition and several awards for his work on Fitoor (2015), The Japanese Wife (2010) and Chabiwali Pocket Watch (short/2006). Some of his better-known credits include Super 30, MOM, Fitoor (Obsession), Kai Po Che, and No One Killed Jessica.

You've worked on so many different films – some with elaborate sets and costumes, and some more intimate. What do you look for when choosing a project?

The script, of course, but also the “why” is important to me – why does the director want to tell this story? I’m always moved and motivated by the director’s passion.

You've worked with some of the biggest actors in India. What's your process for establishing rapport with them?

The relationship between the actor and cinematographer is not really written or spoken about too much. Let’s remember if you don't have a performance, you don't have a film. That relationship is a key responsibility for me. In those early days of preproduction, I try and find some time with the actors, if I can, and get into some conversations on what their concerns might be. I think this is a near essential part of my process. I’ve learned that the concerns of actors and actresses are different, and I must be sensitive and alive to it. I try and work in tandem with them, knowing what their concerns and sometimes apprehensions are and to find a balance between our creative endeavors respectively. It’s all about a certain give and take, so that we're all comfortable on set and cognizant of our collective goal at all times while filming.

Tell us about the Rasa aesthetic theory to which you prescribe.

How do you approach location shooting?

I think there's a certain joy in discovering real locations as a cinematographer. Abhishek Kapoor, the director on Kai Po Che, asked me to come up with a look book and a certain palette for the film, but before diving into making a look book I wanted to scout and identify our potential locations and let the look book partly reveal itself to me. Locations aren’t just a backdrop, they’re a character in a film. We were very keen, careful, and motivated when selecting certain locations in that film. Kai Po Che has a certain look about it because of the season we shot in, the weather, and of course where we shot it.

Also, referring back to the Rasa theory, Kai Po Che belongs, in some sense, to the Veera Rasa which means “bravado.” It's a hot-blooded film, and there is a certain heroism in that hot-bloodedness. So, as usually practiced, I had to work backwards from the latitude of the locations, the season we were shooting in. I had to think about what my location backgrounds were going to look like in that season and weather, and how high/angular the scorching sun was going to be, and so on. I knew we were going to encounter nearly four hours of really nasty top light at our locations given some of the aforementioned parameters, but I wanted to embrace it because I just wanted to be able to feel that scorching sun and heat. Distilling from all the above, I began to evolve our color palette, with the production designer and the costume designer as well.

That was also your first film on RED – the EPIC. What did you like about that initial experience?

One of the joys was discovering this small little camera and its mobility; its ergonomics were immensely liberating at the time. Back then, shooting a feature film digitally for the first time, I had to choose between shooting ProRes with a Codex recorder lugged around, versus shooting 5K in-camera RAW. The choice was clear in my head, so I started gradually investing in discovering the various merits of the DSMC EPIC. What excited me the most was the possibility of creating in-camera LUTs in this really mobile camera while capturing in camera RAW! With some detailed testing, I slowly became proficient with using in-camera LUTs, which is my daily palette while filming on a set today. I find it a hugely empowering previsualization tool, almost forecasting the final, finished, color-corrected image.

While creating the day exterior LUT on Kai Po Che, I envisioned a harsh warm film with extreme highlights and shadows. Furthering that vision, I started talking to the production designer and costume designer about it. I remember having told the costume designer, ‘no purples, no cerulean blues, no peacock blues.’ I showed her some pictures from my location scout and then I started to create some LUTs. I was able to show her how those colors wouldn’t marry in the final color grade. That helped me a great deal at that time, to show the director what the grade would be using the in-camera LUT. In a sense the LUT’s aided the making of the look book.

How do you initially approach a project and establishing the look?

It all begins with the script. When I read a script, inevitably I respond viscerally, imagining it, and begin to visualize it in my mind’s eye. Often, if I don't have a treatment note, I can let my imagination go to work more freely. After reading the script, while going through each scene one at a time, I try to sensitize myself to identify the central essence of the scene and draw various adjectives to define that essence. Then I find my associations with those words in images, from my visual memory bank of life, films, photography, paintings, and so on. Soon, I start sifting and seeking inspiration from those associations. So that's where it kind of all begins for me. Of course, when a cinematographer is reading a script, the other side of the brain is thinking about light, composition, lensing, and camera movement. It's only that very first reading of the script where I’m probably able to read it or see it like an audience member. It’s from the second or third reading that the form starts to align with the content and when technique and technical breakdowns start to appear in my mind.

Do those images evolve or typically stick with the look book?

How do you approach camera movement?

Whether you're looking at a traditionally classic sort of dolly move set up or handheld work, it is determined by many factors. Broadly speaking of these two approaches, one can perhaps safely say they’re at the opposite end of an emotional treatment in as much as how the movement between the lens and an actor evokes a response. For instance, when you're shooting handheld, it’s more visceral and you can respond to the subtext of the scene and the actor’s performance. An untethered camera in one’s hand is liberating and organic. That was the whole ideology behind cinema verité. I'm not saying classical camera movements don't extract a certain kind of performance, but they're a little more studied and intentional. But sometimes when you're shooting handheld with an actor, you go well beyond the planned intention; it’s happened to me several times and that’s an utter delight.

If you desire a more naturally immersive emotional response, you want to be alive to serendipity, to liberate the actor, and have that organic chemistry between the cinematographer-actor-camera. It's a bit like jazz musicians improvising.

You went right to your first film, The Japanese Wife, within eight months after graduating from film school. What advice would you give to rising cinematographers?

Be diligent, be dogged. Recognize the fact that keeping abreast with technology and practicing technique are important but that must become second nature. Know your material well and you will discover your methods with more ease. I would urge young camera assistants or people just getting into film school or coming out of film school to empower themselves with a lot of film viewing and reading.

A very seasoned cinematographer told me once, “It's important to be good at your work technically, but being a cinematographer goes well beyond that.” That stays with me every day, I remember those words, literally, because so much of what I do requires paying heed to human resources, tackling different people, opinions, and egos. I remember the very first book I ever read on filmmaking – the opening words or phrase was, ‘If you can't deal with egos, this is not your profession!’

I believe following your own path with perseverance is important. But to find your path, I often say, ‘Follow your heart and the path will find you.’ You don't necessarily have to follow someone else’s path. The path will find you if you're seeking it with sincerity and your inner honesty.

I subscribe to the practice of apprenticeship. I wanted to be a camera assistant for longer than I was. In fact, I was a camera assistant for only four commercials early in my career. I never assisted on movies because I had a student film which got some good acclaim, a lot of awards and reached the famous Indian director Aparna Sen. It was very overwhelming for me – being 28 and getting called for my first feature film helmed by her. I grew by leaps and bounds with that project, because I had to start to invent my own dictionary and grammar of doing things. And I think that has stuck with me and held me in good stead. However, some days on those sets, I wished I had assisted longer. When faced with a daunting challenge sometimes I’d ask myself ‘Gosh, how am I going to do this?’ But that sort of nervousness was only momentary. A challenge is thrilling, inspiring, motivating – all of it! I'm always up for it and I wouldn’t replace it with anything. That’s what keeps me going!

Anay Goswamy, ISC participated in a live, interactive interview as part of RED’s Behind the Look Virtual Cinematography Series in July 2020. The above Q&A is an excerpt from that conversation.

Writer/Director: Naida Albright
Filmmaker: Anay Goswamy, ISC
Producers: Loren Simons, Felipe Mozqueda
Associate Producer: Jessi Laday