Bikalpa – an Alternative in collaboration with Hriti Foundation and with the support from Atlas Network, hosted a two weeks nonresidential “Liberty Film Making Workshop” from 7th to 21st of September 2022 in Hotel Siddhartha, Surkhet. The workshop was structured in three phases.

The first phase was an indoor class-based film-making workshop that lasted 5 days (7-11 September 2022), featuring several key film-making concepts delivered in different sessions from various resource persons. In the second phase, participants were divided into 4 groups after the training to complete their final film-making project based on the story given by the Bikalpa during the training. In the third phase of the training, 4 videos prepared by the participants were screened in front of a large audience. The participants were selected on an open basis, and Bikalpa had opened applications for the program 1 month in advance. Hriti Foundation helped in the preliminary screening of the participants for the workshop.

Core objectives of Liberty Film Making Workshop:

• To enhance participants’ understanding on filmmaking and help develop a holistic approach to filmmaking, i.e., identifying issues, developing concepts, pre-production, production, and post-production.
• To enhance the participant’s understanding on public policy issues and equip them with skills required for sensitizing targeted stakeholders and general people.
• To make the participants realize the true potential of visual media in fostering progressive change.

Overview of the Workshop

During this Liberty film workshop in Surkhet, 21 aspiring participants from diverse sectors and organizations joined the workshop. After welcoming the participants, Mr. Basanta Adhikari shared the objectives and overview of the training and introduced all the participants. Following this, the remainder of the workshop was facilitated by Bikalpa’s team members and a few other facilitators.

Over the 5 days, participants were engaged and learned different aspects of filmmaking in these sessions. The program comprised of the following topics.

Introduction to Movie making and key concepts of filmmaking

The key elements of the camera: Exposure, Focal Length, and Composition

Cinematography: Using Camera works and Photography artistically

Public Policy: To provide a brief introduction to public policy

Script Writing & Screenplay

Advocacy: Effective tools for advocacy

Introduction to Public Policy issues

Light handling and Sound Art Direction

Editing: Compiling video, audio, and image into a compelling work of art.

Director’s Job, The Making- Challenges

Group Formation & movie making on the site

Summary of the session

Riwal Dahal

At first glance, during the training session, Riwaj Dahal, a Member of Bikalpa, introduced movie making and key concepts of filmmaking. During his session, he stressed the topic of what cinema is, the history of cinema, and how moving pictures cinema evolved. He also highlighted the historical view of South Asian cinema and “Talkies”, which further clarifies the participant’s understanding of filmmaking history. It was an interactive session where participants expressed their concerns about the filmmaking techniques.

Punam Giri

In the other session, participants witnessed various tips on photography and Lighting, where Punam talked about the basic rules of photography. He shared three basic elements of exposure: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO, which are used in three different combinations according to the type of photography. He also explained that photography is the art of learning by doing; one needs to have a passion and patience for it. During this session, participants were also assigned to make the photo film using their mobile phones and other gear.

While talking about lighting, he said Lighting is one of the most important aspects of creating a video because it allows for setting the mood of the video. He talked most commonly-used techniques for lighting like Key Lighting, Fill Lighting, and Backlighting and explained them practically during the session.

In his sound session, he talks about the History of Sound and the types of Sound (Used in film-making). He said sound engages audiences, helps deliver information, increases production value, evokes emotional responses, emphasizes what’s on the screen, and is used to indicate mood.

Sarwagya Raj Pandey

Sarwagya’s session included tips on how to convert a story into a plot and how to market issues by converting them into a compelling story. His other sessions included familiarizing the participants with the works of the art director and the use of colours in production design. He also summarized the entire filmmaking process from a director’s point of view and also talked about the difficulties involved in the filmmaking process.

Dinesh Gautam

Dinesh from Hriti Foundation took a session on exploring the Local Issues, where he talked about the Major issues of Birendranagar Surkhet. In his session, he explored the common problem related to public policy issues such as the Potential of Tourism Business In Karnali Rara, the Electricity problem in Birendranagar (Impact on economic activities, losses, accountability), Street vendor business in Birendranagar (Employment, humanity perspective) and Business Registration (Herb’s business in Karnali). The session helped the participants to brainstorm and rethink the issues and come up with idea stories for making the short movies.

Ratna Jyoti Shakya

The sessions moderated by Ratna were Cinematography and Editing. In his session, he talked about The elements of Cinematography, the role of a cinematographer, shot sizes: Telling what they see, camera Angles: the art of manipulation and camera moves. During his sessions, he also played short movie clips to make participants understand his lecture. In his editing session, he talked about the primary step of editing, essential cuts, and skills required to be a good film editor. In his own words, He said, “Editors are called the third storytellers of a movie because, after the writer and director, the editor will construct the narrative and truly define the story that the audience will see”, so it is also important for editors to have some cinematic knowledge of the movie. Participants were delighted to know these techniques and had a good conversation on the shared topics. He also moderated a session in which the participants prepared a one-minute film silent film as well.

Basanta Adhikari

He facilitated two sessions on “Introduction to public policy issues” and “Why visual media advocacy is important?” Speaking at this session, he said we rarely speak about public policy issues that are hindering our life. It is essential to see the issues from a public policy angle and need to act on them. In his presentation, he highlighted public policy issues and gave numerous examples to clarify the participants. During the session, he also shared about having a lot of opportunities here in Nepal. He continuously raised questions on topics like why we are still poor and economically backward, what kind of policies should be adopted, and so on. Since the objective of the session was to help the participants identify new approaches to understanding policy problems and their solutions. This session allowed participants to dive deeper into policy issues.

In his second session, he talked about “Advocacy” and “Lobby”. He said Lobbying is a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to legislators on an issue which plays a significant role in modern politics. Both lobby and advocacy increase the scope of influence to improve policies and achieve structural change. He further shared Issue for Advocacy, Advocacy and Lobby-Planning stages, issues of concern, and collaborative learning by designing campaigns. During this session, Bikalpa’s advocacy video was showcased and encouraged participants to identify such issues for making movies after the workshop.

Group Division and Ideation of issues

During the workshop hours, the participants were constantly made to think about the issues they thought needed to be addressed. The organizers put forth the 4 issues related to the public policy issues, which helped the participant to brainstorm and come up with the stories. Four such concepts were handpicked by the facilitators on the final day of the workshop. Also, on the final day of the workshop, the participants were divided into 4 groups where they had to work as a team to make short films.

Throughout all sessions, the facilitators used participatory tools like games, exercises, individual reflection, group work, interactive discussions, films, role plays and other creative modes in the workshop. Sessions were kept interactive, and had open conversations during the workshop. For the participants, the workshop was not only about the knowledge and skills they learnt but also about the relationships they had made. It was a splendid journey for them to meet and explore themselves with diverse identities together.