The 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) kicked off on May 29 with numerous Bollywood talents, directors, and creative artists shining through the festival. Knowledgeable sessions each day are inspiring the newcomers, as well as the audiences.
Oscar-winner sound designer, Resul Pookutty in his outstanding masterclass discussed in detail, the sound effects work in the film Pushpa: The Rise. He stated that sound has the ability to define the space and dimension of the visual. Therefore, sound designers have to be selective about sounds and place them carefully in a scene.
He explained the difference between dialogues and pitch and said that spoken dialogues are thrown carefully into the acoustic environment to make an emotional connection with the audience. Talking about the 5 different forms of sounds i.e Production Sound, Foley sound, Ambience Sound, Designed Sound, and Music he insisted to keep the context of the story, the vision of the director, and socio-cultural aspects in which it is being set in mind while designing the audio layer.
While describing his work, Pookutty addressed his Oscar-winning masterpiece ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ (2008) and said “MIFF is close to my heart; so much talent is showcased in MIFF. I personally take the festival as an opportunity to display my work to my community and my peers in the movie-making business. For us who work in the Indian film industry based in Mumbai, this is an immersive experience where we can take people behind the scenes and get familiarized with international and new practices in filmmaking whether it is fiction, non-fiction, documentaries, and short films, or animation thus making MIFF an essential festival for professionals who want to keep themselves updated. Interactions that I had during the master class are valuable to me. This is my time to share and receive learnings at various levels. The packed house at the master class speaks about the sincerity of people willing to do more and I see serious cinema lovers and practitioners in them.”
