It’s the summer vacations once again and some of us are in the mood to do some slipping and sliding. Only it’s too darn hot to be outdoors kicking or bouncing a ball. So what would you say to kicking and bouncing a ball indoors? And that too… (drum roll) an imaginary one?

shoestring theatre group will be conducting workshops in the month of May for all young theatre enthusiasts in the age group of 15 to 21.

These workshops will focus on acting and staging and will be held on two consecutive weekends, the 13th and 14th of May and the 20th and 21st of May.

Enrollment will be on a first-cum-first-serve basis.

Entry fee for these 4 sessions will be Rs. 500. (We do not accept cheques or credit cards.)

The workshops will be held at the Bosco Hall, St. Andrews Church, Bandra.

For more details get in touch with Prashant :
(0) 98214 62054  /  (022) 26324481
prashant.shoestring@gmail.com

About:  shoestring is a group of young theatre professionals brought together by a common view of the theatre as a visceral experience created by a union of the formal and thematic elements. In other words, ours is a theatre where the stagecraft is as integral to a production as the literary elements.

shoestring’s theatre workshops reflect our interest in a self-conscious theatre that is based above all, upon an understanding of the craft of the theatre. These workshops, informed by our abiding commitment to the craft of the theatre – spatial movement, physical action and creation of dynamic spaces – promise to create a unique experience for participants.

CFD announces

The May – July, 2006,
8-Weekend Filmmaking Course

The course starting next is for eight consecutive weekends:
Saturday 6 – 8 PM and Sunday 11 AM -1.00 PM.

That’s 32 hours of classroom sessions.
The ‘praticals’ are outside classroom hours and flexi time.

Besides, every trainee will need to develop a script, shoot and edit it by the end of the course. Our camera, sound and editing facilities would be made available for this.

You are invited to an Orientation Session
with Prakash Belawadi, course director,
on Saturday, May 20 at 6 PM at CFD
to learn more about the course.

This course is for Rs 10,000.

The ‘hidden’ cost will be for tapes to shoot (depends on how much you want to use. a mini dv 1-hour tape would cost about Rs 150 or less) and transport costs and (in case you need) expensive locations, costumes or actors for your 5-min short film.

The proposed course structure:

Weekend 1
An overview of technology issues and the emerging state of the art;

Weekend 2
Narratives, Semiotics, Left- and Right-Side Functions of the Brain and How Film is Different from Other Narrative Forms; Prejudice, Race, Gender, Society and Politics (Why They are More Sensitive in Cinema);

Weekend 3
Story, Research, Setting; Location and Sets; Scripting, Dialogue, Casting, Scheduling and Budgeting; Approaches to Non-Fiction;

Output 1: Trainee Storylines

Weekend 4
Camera, Lenses, Accessories; Lighting; The Camera Axis and Spatial Reference;

Weekend 5
Sound, Continuity and Edit Notes

Weekend 6
Mise-en-Scene (The Director’s Method); Shot Breakdown;

Output 2: Trainee Shooting Scripts with Shot Breakdown

Weekend 7
Discussion on Scripts/ Open Sessions

Weekend 8
Editing, Dubbing, Sound Mixing; Grading, FX and SFX

Output 3: Trainee Films
Screening of Trainee Films; Criticism

Centre for Film and Drama students are looking for actors for their forthcoming short films. The character descriptions for each film is given below. Auditions will be held on Saturday, 3:00 pm , at CFD. Please contact 9886520891 for details or mail to aamreeta_gautam@yahoo.co.in.

Ajnabi ( Stranger)

1. Old man - About late fifties, thin and scrawny with a potentially haggard look.  The actor can be of any age, who, with the right kind of hairdo and face-do can become the old man. The character has no dialogues.
2. Mother- Mid to late twenties, middle class family with a pleasant demeanor, perhaps a pleasing look.
3. Sukku - About ten years old, of any build but must have a loud voice and look very mischievous.
4. Ranga - Same as above except a bit more docile.

The First Date

1. Sridhar: about 25-27 yrs of age. Software Engineer.
2. Sanjeev: Sridhar’s friend and roommate. About same age as Sridhar.
3. Ravi: Sridhar’s friend and roommate. About same age as Sridhar.
4. Sweta: about 24-26 yrs. Pleasant looking.
5. Archana: Sweta’s roommate. Little plump. Speaks goo hindi.

Rashmi’s film

1. Maya-preferably tall, thin, looks like a funky.
2. Rudy-tall, very regular, someone who will pass off as being ambitious and very stereotypically successful.

—– Original Message —–
From: Vinay Varma
Hey friends,

We have been assigned to cast for yet another film by Krishna Vamsi. It had been a great experience working first time with him for DANGER, which the youth lapped up. This time too it is a Telugu film, starring NTR Jr in the lead. Ileana is playing the female lead. Vamsi has always believed in nurturing new, raw talent and that’s the reason why we are working with him, again. He has faith in local talent and it has become our responsibility to meet his expectations.

Towards this end, we would be auditioning lots and lots of actors (Telugu knowing or otherwise), age groups ranging from 15-45, male and female. It would be great if the prospective actor is a trained one or has done some theater at some point in time. If you have done an odd film nothing like it.

We have some interesting roles, like the sister of the hero who should be between 18-20 yrs, telugu-speaking with native looks.

A woman ACP, tough looking, 30-35 yrs. Of course, would be great if she has oomph.

Another oomph-aunt of the same age to play the Creative Head of a TV Channel.

The mandatory bad guys, but not the stereo types. A couple of criminal lawyers, a Minister, an MLA, a top cop and the minister’s son complete the first list given to us. There are lots of other good roles coming your way, for the same film.

I must also tell you that subtlety would be the key for auditioning, rather than being loud and cinematic.

Please stand up and be counted. This is a rare opportunity. Also pass this on to friends who would be interested in giving acting a try, but don’t know whom and where to approach. We, at Sutradhar are here for you. We have a huge talent pool, from where we outsource actors, voices and directorial assistants. But we want to look beyond and therefore the scope.

Know more about us from www.sutradharactors.com. The site, by the way is being updated. Please feel free to call me on 98480 52541.

Looking forward to lot of headshots, resume and phone calls.

Thanks

Vinay Varma

TopCast presents Vijay Tendulkar’s “A Friend’s Story” directed by Harish Seshadri on 26th, 27th, 28th, May’06 at Seva Sadana, 14th cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore-10

Tickets are priced at Rs.49/-
For Tickets contact Harish on 9845350195