Here it is! Here's Aflatunes' Independence Day music video! I hope you like it. Constructive criticism is welcome
What a roller coaster of a month. In late July the team decides, hey, let's release something on Independence Day.
So that gives us, what, a little over two weeks?
Aruna, the pretty lady in the orange saree, has wanted to cover this song for quite a while and takes on the responsibility of arranging it and assigning parts.
The ladies learn their bits and compose the harmonies.
Dany, sporting the pink turban on the top right, sorts the beat for each genre.
Roy, the one grooving in the bottom left, nails the Konokkol.
Anish, working that golf hat in the middle, kicks in that much needed bassline.
Nilay and Ruchee add their flair of beats and harmony respectively.
Soon, within a span of three days and hectically arranged practice sessions we finish 90% of the song and head to the recording studio where our sound engineer Archer D'costa patiently deals with our restless indiscipline for hours on end. One prepped singer takes about an hour. Imagine seven unruly ones. And this isn't even the whole team.
With the audio almost in place we're prepped enough to shoot this project.
We were on a deadline so it wasn't a choice really.
Seven of us attempt to adorn five costumes each. Yes. 35 costumes. Yes. We had one day to shoot.
At 8am on a Saturday we find oursvelves at Qyuki's Bandra office with huge bags containing our sarees and head gear and make up. The lights are placed and positioned around the green screen. The camera is set. The audio is in place. And action!
The team is video taped altogether as well as individually.
Followed by the first costume change and another round of video recording.
Then the second. The third. The fourth.
Nilay is in constant dialogue with our director Nachiket. Neha and Bobby constantly dab our faces with tissues because, boy, were we sweating it out. If it weren't for those two and Natasha, none of us would have managed to get into our sarees. They handled our make up and our costumes brilliantly.
Jibran tells me that Bangali Pearl should sway a little more like in the old movies.
And Goan Pearl should be more lady like.
Dany makes sure he takes a snap of everyone's face for a clever promo plan. Each cycle is executed like clockwork in order to keep with the schedule.
Finally, at about 9:30 pm. We shoot our end screen. We make up something on the fly and the director calls cut.
There's an applause, a little dancing and a happy sprint to the changing room. We change back to day clothes, book ourselves a cab, exchange hugs and thank yous and head home for a long lazy Sunday.
The work, however, has only begun.
We still have the rest of the song to mix and certain sections to redo.
The video editing team begins its tedious task of getting rid of any unnecessary green. Archer, despite his sickness, works hours on end with our track. New layers are composed and added. With only four days to release date the whole crew is on edge, with the band members regularly visiting editors Afroz, Vishal, Harsh and Karan. Each night, band members update their profile pictures on social networking sites and raise enough heads to start some whispers. On the night before 15th August, the editing team pulls an all nighter. Band manager Rajeesh stays at the office overnight to keep tabs on everything.
15th morning. We need more time. We understand, of course, that a short delay would be worth the end product. Friends and family start asking questions. There is a lot of nail-biting and impatient finger drumming. Everyone is excitedly telling everyone else to calm the heck down. Boy oh boy the wait.
Eventually, at 4:30 pm, Aflatunes' music video is released.
This was a real experience for me. I love Acapella and I love my people in this group. We're a happy bubbly bunch. We laugh at our own lame jokes and patronize each other as much as we pull each others' legs. Even though I stepped in last, I've been welcomed like I was here all along. I know nobody reads these so if any of my band members happen to read this, know that I lou you.
There I said it.
