Beyond the Bangle


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Creator/Artist: Ashoka Chary M

Category: Communication Design

Document: P2 Project

Batch: 2012-2014

Source: India,   IDC IIT Bombay

Period:  2009-2018

Medium: Report pdf

Supervisor: Prof. Sudesh Balan


Detailed Description

This project is about women’s traditional wear, "the bangle," and its making process in the Laad bazaar in Hyderabad. In this documentary project, I attempted to investigate various aspects of Bangles, such as how they are made, where they are made, what their circumstances and working conditions are, the bangle market, people in that market, various communities involved in making and purchasing bangles, and the Bangle-making tradition in Hyderabad. The aim of this documentary is to communicate the working conditions, the skill of the bangle-making craftsmen, the process of that bangle-making, and the ambience of Laad Bazaar, which is the place the bangles are made. I have tried to communicate the bangle-making process to people in the Laad bazaar. How they bargain with the sellers and how the bangle market looks like In order to communicate all these elements, I have used the required camera techniques and other equipment to capture the visuals and the sound. I had explored the techniques and aesthetics of visual grammar, like exposures and points of interest, by pulling focus, using the required depth of field, and maintaining continuity in the actions. In some places, I wanted to emphasise the visuals, whereas the craftsmen embellishing the stones on the bangle and selecting the stones I used the reversal lens technique to achieve the macro lens effect; additionally, for sound recording, I used a Zoom H1 recorder, which is an external recorder for recording Foley sounds from the locations. In order to communicate the visuals about the bangle making, the Laad bazaar, and the people, in this film there are 5 chunks, which are the Hyderabad introduction by establishing wide shots of the Charminar and Golkonda fort, and the Laad bazaar ambience through the market and the people visuals, Since I have seen three different bangle making processes in the Laad bazaar, I have shot and presented those three processes separately in the film. Then the second chunk of visuals is process number 1, which is the heating of the lacquer and the process of making lacquer ready for the bangles, as well as bangle making. Then there's the third chunk, which is a completely different process than the first. Then the fourth chunk is also another process, which is the old process of using pot. Then the fifth chunk is the Laad Bazaar, with people and the ambience of the night. Because lacquer bangles are well-known for bridal bangles, I attempted to connect the film with a bangle being made in stages and a bride being decorated with suggestive shots. 


Related Links:
https://www.dsource.in/resource/bangles-laad-bazaar-hyderabad