I think one thing that was really nice for me in this course was that it was a really small class. You get to spend a lot of time with Sameera & Ruchika which was helpful especially in the diploma film process because a lot of the times when you don't know what you're doing or you want to say things but you can't really say them, because they've known you for so long, they can understand you, and I think that really helps. So by the time you're making your diploma film, the people who are helping you can pretty much read your mind.

It was also very useful to have a lot of people coming at different points to give their inputs. Especially for me, as I had zero knowledge of anything technical or theoretical at all about film-making. So there were a fair number of classes that dealt with film theory or the films studies aspect which involved watching and critiquing films, but also many others on how to use a camera, what is sound, how to edit and so on. Seeing that from different people's points of view helps you figure out what your point of view is. So it’s not just learning about technique from one person.

I think it was also useful that we had a lot of people coming in just to discuss things with us. Particularly before the diploma film, we spent months just thinking about the why of making a film, which made making the film a lot more than it just being a film. I think that is why a lot of us also feel that the film we made is close to us because it does become really personal, it's not something that's separate from us because the course forces you to spend a lot of time thinking about the consequences making it, what it will do for you, why are you representing people in a certain way, why are you representing a space in a certain way. And I think that helps you gain more confidence in your idea and belief yourself.

I think that's one of my biggest takeaways from the course that even though there is a lot of mentoring and there's a lot of outside support, there's still a lot of work that you have to do individually and that’s what gives you the confidence boost that you can actually believe in an idea that you had, work on it and produce a work that you can be proud of.

Know more about our Filmmaking Course.