Ruvin on the makeup chair with Buwaneka
It’s 5am in the morning. Ruvin is halfway through his makeup session. Even water tastes bitter when you’re nervous. For the 17th time, I check my task list wondering about those tiny details that may have slipped my mind. The nightmare I had previous night doesn’t help either, and that was when I just dozed off for 30 minutes. 4th July 2013, in a private land in Attangalla, here I was flexing my muscles for what would be my second short movie. (There was a first?! You may ask. Yes, there is… but more on that later). It’s nearly 2 years since I completed my first short movie and over a year since I last smelt tea on a film set. But here I was, looking towards the dark space where my set lies, minus the sunlight the forest is dark obviously. Suddenly I am the most religious person in the world, hoping that Murphy won’t be around the set today.
The schedule is 1-hour behind because of a transportation delay. Complaining won’t fix anything now, nothing at all. I ask Buwaneka; my makeup artist (an incredibly talented one) how long more till the makeup finishes? (Ruvin’s makeup requires 4 hours as the script calls for creature fx, he has been on the chair for an hour now). Deep inside I hope he would say “earlier than expected”, but who am I kidding… it will take another 03 hours. Creature makeup isn’t easy, Buwaneka told me that on the first day I met him to discuss this project. And there was no skimping through. Being a director means able to call shots even when the camera is not rolling, decisions need to be made on spot, everything is on a schedule, and on a film set… a schedule is what we dance to.
DP Lasantha framing a shot.
The first shots of my original schedule called for my two leads; Ruvin and Yash to do a running chase sequence. I thought it would serve as a better warm up exercise for them to get in character. The first shot was on call for 7am, at this pace I would be lucky if we make it by 8.30am. Buwaneka and I had a quick chat, and since Yash’s makeup was quite basic we decided to get Yash ready for the first shot. Ruvin would come an hour later.
Now this means change of schedule. Out goes the plan to shoot the chase sequence involving both actors, and now I had to first shoot the shots involving Yashodha alone. The plan was in place, Yashodha finished his makeup, and I escorted him to the set. It was 8.45am by the time I said “Action”. The feeling was like meeting an old friend who for some reason was never in touch. We took a warm up shot of Yash sitting near a tree. I yelled “Cut!” and heaved a sigh of relief. It was great to be back.
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