Upcoming South African film, Woodwind, portrays a South American composer who travels to India, his journey from the holy city of Varanasi to the peaks of the Himalayas is inspired by three women. Written and directed by Fin Manjoo, a Durban born South African filmmaker who is currently based in Cape Town, where the film was partially shot.
The international cast and crew are from South Africa, the United States, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Switzerland, Argentina and India. Fin Pictures have completed principal photography of the feature and the film is currently in post-production with the aim of worldwide release in September 2017.
“Woodwind is a contemporary mythological portrait of a young western composer, who travels to India to meet a female painter who envisions his feelings and movements from across the world, searching for the truth behind the mystery and the source of his music inspiration,” explains Manjoo. The film is in English and Spanish with a little German.
It was filmed by Swiss cinematographer Nicolas Joray (The Yellow Star, Bye Bye Berlusconi and Baltic Storm), who’s three decades of experience was invaluable during the most challenging conditions in India.
Joray shot primarily using the Arri Alexa. “We wanted the best cinematic look possible for us, and I loved the quality of this camera in other films such as Birdman,” he says. Explaining that for trick shots and for movement on a tuktuk and tiny boats on the Ganges in India, they had two B Cam’s: the Sony A7 and the Panasonic GH4 which were completely rigged with cinematic accessories.
The picture was lit using the IANEBEAM QuartzColor: 4 x 2KW (Blondes) and 4 x 800 (Reds). “Those were useful for memories, dreams or surrealistic scenes, but for everything else we used natural light and a whole range of creativity to make that function,” he describes.
Woodwind was filmed in India and South Africa. In India in Shimla, Manali, Varanasi and several small villages in Himachal Pradesh all the way up to the top of the Himalayas. In South Africa in Cape Town.
The film explores Varanasi, one of the oldest living cities in the world, with a beautiful, slow paced lifestyle on the river Ganges. It meanders to cover a very European approach to fit into the strong classical music tradition of the west, which is in contrast to Indian Classical Music. “You may use the words mystical, psychedelic and poetic to describe the final act,” says Manjoo. A major theme in Woodwind is the impact of Indian classical music on artists in the west. This is a subject which Manjoo developed while living closely with musicians in Vienna, Austria.
Pre-production of the film took approximately two years but Manjoo says research began 11 years ago. The film was shot nonstop in August and September 2016. It is being edited using a fully equipped Da Vinci Resolve system and studio in Munich for the grading and final creation. For the premix and early cut of the film they used Adobe Audition and Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Manjoo says he was sold on this software after researching the new version and saw how it handled Hollywood films such as Deadpool.
The film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD and possibly 4K later on. Post-production, grading and packaging creation of DCP and Blu-ray is being done by Besserdrei Studios in Germany.
For surround sound mixing they used Nuendo and Dolby Surround Sound. During filming they used the Sound Device 552 recorder, plus a range of Sennheiser boom, rifle, cordless, radio kit, and all weather protection and hardline lapels. “We had four sound recordists and they also brought along their own recording equipment such as Tascams to record from additional angles, which was important when you consider that this is a film about sound,” says Manjoo. “We immerse ourselves in forests and jungles deep in India, the winds high up on the Himalayas, the noise of Indian streets which is unlike any other, and then the classical music from west to east.” The music was composed by Stefan Fraunberger from Vienna, Austria. Sound mixing was done by Marcel Duvenage and Alec Mackay from South Africa.
On the very first day of shooting, their crew bus hung on the edge of a cliff with two wheels in the air. A challenge quite unusual to film sets but one that did not set them back.
“Looking back at what we achieved in India, it’s unbelievable how we completed the principal photography under such extreme challenges from the narrow oldest streets of Varanasi where no cars were allowed to the dangerous Himalayan mountains and the war in Kashmir” describes Manjoo. “Above all, even now we miss India and the film, Woodwind will be testament to that,” he adds. “Exotic India is one of the stars of the film. The film is about the power and the role of music to transform our lives, and in keeping a balance with the mystical connections between art and our relationships.” By Cera-Jane Catton
Key crew:
Producer, Director, Writer: Fin Manjoo
Cinematography: Nicolas Joray
Music and Sound: Stefan Fraunberger
Line Producer: Ivana Neskovic
Sound Recordist: Marcel Duvenage
Assistant Camera: Rebecca Furlong
Third sound recordist: Joshua Rodrigues
Fourth sound recordist: Adriaan Hellenberg
Second assistant camera: Bryan Tinashe Ndikudzxe
Sitar, Tabla and Surbahar
Music: Naresh Chauhan
Editor: Josef Kahn
Sound editing, mixing and design: Marcel Duvenage
Grading: Patrick Plischke
Surround Sound Supervisor: Alec Mackay
Studio music recordist: Neil Leachman
Sound radio and German recording: Igor Yermilov
Production manager: Fazila Manjoo
Painter: Maja Neskovic
