The first film in my new Exploration series was filmed over a period of several weeks in Mumbai, India between December, 2007 and January, 2008. I completed principal photography over the space of three days, during which I made a couple of trips to Elephanta Island. I shot in HD on a Sony HDV camcorder, with stills shot using a Sony digital camera. The film was shot entirely in a first-person perspective, as I was making the journey myself. I shot stills at several stages of my journey, but mainly inside the main cave, where cinematography requires a legal permit, while still photography is permitted.
After shooting several hours of footage, along with over four hundred stills, I spent the next six months meticulously editing it down to a 25 minute short film. Every frame in the film is original and shot by me, with the exception of the first 10 second segment (the title sequence) and the final 10 seconds (after the credits have rolled). The remaining 25 minutes of the film is my original work and under my copyright! I had an amazing time shooting this film and I highly recommend this to anyone as a vacation trip.
Having decided on the final 25 minute print, my next step was no less critical--deciding on the soundtrack for my film. I was looking for a very distinctive sound, which I found in Indian fusion music. As a result, I developed a new and lasting appreciation for the music genre and, especially, for the albums I reviewed. I selected five amazing tracks to include in the film which are, in my opinion, some of the most moody, atmospheric strains ever recorded.
My final task was writing and recording the narrative. I tried to keep it to a minimum as, I believe, the images and subject speak for themselves. I recorded my own voice as narrator in pristine quality using a Sennheiser directional microphone to minimize ambient sound. I mixed the tracks using Sony ACID XMC and used Adobe Premiere, my editing software, to generate the Flash video files which you are able to view for free on my website WWW.EXPLORATIONTHESERIES.COM. I hope you enjoy watching the film even a tiny fraction as much as I enjoyed making it! I had a blast every step of the way, and the creative fulfillment I get from seeing it online is a huge reward for me.
Wishing you the very best,
Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.
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