Exam Time - A True Test of Teamwork

A couple of years ago, we thought that it might be a good idea to collaborate with a couple of funny boys who were just beginning to make a name for themselves on YouTube. They had about five thousand followers and a handful of really funny videos. They were called Jordindian and they liked to dress up like Arabs. A lot.

Cut to present: IT WAS MORE THAN A GOOD IDEA!

When we began working with Jordindian, a lot of people scratched their heads and asked “But, why?” Why put money and effort and TIME into this? Let’s just say that over the course of three years, we’ve found a whole lot of answers:

Answer 1. The love of creating.

The last few years have been full of fun explosions and experiments at Do. Creative Labs thanks to this partnership. Right from the sketches to the music video, we’ve grown together to make some interesting content that has a global fan following. We believe it’s been our film school in many ways. From learning the art of the narrative, to making evocative frames, to working as a team, to managing money (that oft forgotten essential part of the creative business) - the works!

It’s been a ride! And we believe there’s many, many miles left in this storyteller wagon.

Answer 2. Work smart.

The Jordindian has always stood apart as YouTubers. All the reaction videos remark on the production value of the videos. That didn’t just happen. It is a marriage that we’ve all worked very hard to make it detergent-commercial gold-standard worthy. Jordindian and Do. Creative Labs have a relationship that’s based on common (couple??) goals, friendship and a massive love for laughing. Quite the “Live. Laugh. Love.” story! Which in production parlance means Beg. Borrow. Steal. It taught us to work with the realities we were given, to finish shots before we were kicked out of places, smooth-talk our way into completing the aforementioned shots, think on our feet because we were on our feet a lot and every other trick in the Filmmaker’s Almanac!

Three years of stretching every penny available to make the videos look good paid off quite early in the form of Brand Collaborations and paid content. Now we get paid to make things look good. And that’s a very good look.

Answer 3. Team

There is no replacement for people. Great people who are just as invested in the project are indeed the salt of the earth. We’ve had people sparing their time, effort, blood, sweat, tears and even money to be part of this journey.

Now that we’ve rhapsodised romantic on the team, it’s time for another episode of HOW THE FUCK DID WE PULL THIS OFF!

It’s not everyday the client of your dreams comes and proposes. And it’s also not the fairytale you hope it might be. No slipping in effortlessly into a sweet deal glass shoe that fairy godmother made exclusively for you. Though, of course, there’s the everything-will-turn-into-rotten-pumpkin part at the stroke of 12 or the stipulated deadline. Let’s just say it’s more of a Rocky-style narrative.

Where the glorious background score of joyous bugles is accompanied by lots of out-of-breath wild running. Where we do some major budget gymnastics, stretching it ten ways to Sunday to make it more limber. Getting costumes from another period done in a matter of 48 hours. And hoping and eventually believing in miracles.

Exam Time was the fruition of many years of collaborations and friendships. The timelines were tight. It was peak summer. The ask was massive. A case of all stops, all speed-breakers pulled right out. The script was elaborate. The actions flung all over the place. Almost the entire wardrobe had to be made, not bought off the shelf. Repeat, we had less number of days for pre-production than the fingers you have on one hand. The scenarios were little tiny snippets of “period drama”. Period drama, indeed! Some outfits were made by our industrious on-set tailors, on-set!

12 scenarios. 80 hours. Locations scattered over a 100 k radius. Make-up that took a good hour and above per person. Travel time. Very little sleep. Some of the locations were literally cliffhanger moments that had the entire crew, skimmer and all hanging on the lip of a cliff. By the end of the four-day saga that was this shoot, we were thoroughly knackered. But we were so proud of what we had created, that’s all we had time to focus on.

In no less than two weeks after this shoot, the world went into lockdown. During the gloom and fear of the months that followed, it was literally the afterglow of having done this project that pulled us through. A year hence, that sense of gratitude prevails.

Creators - Naser Al Azzeh, Vineeth Beep Kumar
Director - Sahit Anand
Music Producer - Bharath MD (@whoismd)
Producers - Boris Kenneth, Anand Akalwadi, Dannilla Correya
Cinematographer - Sahit Anand
Edit - Naser Al Azzeh, Vineeth Beep Kumar
VFX - Rejin Chamandy
Grading - Sahit Anand
Audio Recording - Prathik SN
Audio Mastering - Akash Shivakumar
Assistant Director - Sachin Vinay
Stylist - Wardha Ahmed
Production Designer - Dannilla Correya
Make Up and Hair - CK Satish
Art Direction - Balaji, Arun and Bharath (The Art House Projekt)
Gaffer - Kiran Kumar
Lights - Cinema Angadi
Cast: Praveen Raj Devasagayam
Aron Carl Sapru
Taron Carl Sapru
Aishwarya Suresh
Sal Yusuf
Anuj SM
Bharath M Devraj
Neelam Issac
Sunilino Matthew
Sujith Vasudevan
Arundathi Somaiah
Rejin Chamandy

Location Courtesy: Tanviya Sapru (Bose Enclave); Vishal Aratt (Retreats by Ayatana)