'A Crimson Man' homage to the early science fiction: Dehlvi

Indian artist Farhad Ahmed Dehlvi, who won the Best Cinematographer Award at the 'Asians on Film: Festival of Shorts 2018' held in Los Angeles for "A Crimson Man", says the film is a homage to early science fiction projects.

The film festival was held on January 26 and 27, and is a way to promote Asian American minorities in Hollywood and break down stereotypes and create more representation in film and TV. The fourth edition of the fest saw 427 submissions.

"This project is a homage to the early science fiction films that both Mike Pappa (writer and director) and I love, and to give the audience a tactile sense of the world, something they could almost reach out and touch," Dehlvi, who lives in Los Angeles, said in a statement.

"Of course, this posed its own set of challenges, one of which was that the Robot was played by a person in a seven-foot-tall robot costume! We chose to shoot the film with vintage anamorphic lenses, and worked closely with the lighting and production teams to build a visual design that would evoke a sense of classic 1970s Hollywood films like 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'Alien'."

"A Crimson Man", an adventure film inspired by the work of legendary writer Phillip K. Dick, is seen through the gaze of a young boy, touching upon childlike wonder and curiosity, while exploring themes such as bond between father and son, and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and the invisible wounds of war.

Dehlvi was competing with A. Vasanth ("The Black Cat"), Jon Keng ("Cocoon"), Justin Richards ("House of the Lonesome Human Beings") and Minju Hu ("The Still Life").

Talking about the challenges he faced as a cinematographer while filming the script, the 30-year-old said: "Mike wanted the viewer to be totally immersed in the world of the film, and so was keen to make the environment as tangible and real as possible.

"The film was shot entirely on location in Los Angeles. In one of the early discussions, we decided to try and minimise the use of CGI (computer-generated imagery) and visual effects, executing as many of the effects practically in-camera as possible."

The film was crowd funded through platforms such as KickStarter.

--IANS

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