The power of colour f

A first-time film -maker makes it to the finals at this year's Tropfest

Kalias Prasarurnn has loved M&Ms since he was a kid. By habit however, he eatS them one co lour ac a cirne ow you might think chis is eccen tric, but i t has opened up a w h ole n ew world fo r chis yo ung engineering student.

What if we could see only one co lour ac a cirne, the thought o ccuJ"Ced co him one day. He turned t hat though t into a film, wh ich was picked as a finalise in Australia's most pop ular s hort film fescival Tropfest.

Tropfest, 'the largest short film fescival in t he world' and one of Australia's many symb olic cultural. events, presents a unique p latform co aspiring filmmakers in the country What m akes Tropfest discinctive is that the films created are who lly for the festival and include a different Tropfest

Signature Item (TS]) every year

For instance, th e TSl for 2012 was 'Ligh t Bulb'. (For 2013 it is 'Ball oon'). 16 finalists are selected from an average of 700 e n tries every year and one s uch finalist chis year was the extremely gifted and creacive Melbounre-based youtl1 Kailas P.rasannan for bis film RGB (Red, Blue &Gm11).

Having watc hed tl1e film, I can voud1 that it's a work o f ar t and is sure co transport you ro a completely different world.

This short film, just five minu tes i n duration, encompasses a very interesti n g concept in tl1at it is about a young man suffering from rotal colo ur- blindness who can see t hree colo urs - red, blue and green , but only one at a time. Who would have tl1ought a weird fondness for M&Ms would be the starting poin t fo r a criticallyac claimed s hort film!

Kai.las n otes, 'We take colo ur for granted we all mus t take a moment in our busy lives to pause and admire eve rything a.round

" us

Accordin g to Kailas, advancement in tech n ology was another decisive factor in making the film. He explains, "I srumbled upon softwa re tl1at could h ighlight just a single colour from an im age and I tl1en in corporated t h is in to a story of a person being able to see only one co lour at a time".

\'(/hat makes hi s srory even more intriguin g is that h e has no backgro und in fi lm - making: hi s only technical knmvled ge came from editing home videos and picru.res in the past wh idi Ltl timately came in bandy He was driven purely by confide nce, passion and desire ro make RGB a reality

However, as a beginner, he's had hi s sh are of challenges dmi ng tl1e enc.ire film -making process and i s ve r y thankful to his tean1, Jason PaL11er (c inemarograp her) , Rob LaTe r ra (acto r) and Ab in Thomas (production ass istant) for standing by him through cough times - he admi ts he though t of abandoning the entire project, not once but twice.

RG/3 was m ade o n a shoestring budget of $600. Kailas purchased t he audio righ tS for the film for just $80 online and tl1e film was shot duri ng week ends in Melbourne. lt took four month s to comp lete. To explai n a n id ea in five minutes is no easy task as Kailas agrees, " Conveyi n g the story in a few minutes while trying to maintain a good pace was indeed a challenge and moreover, 1 foun d it ha rd to stay con s tantly moti vated".

The multi- calentecl Kai.las is a professional Fire & Safety E ngineer who hopes to comp lete hi s Masters degree in E ngineering by the e n d o f th.i s year bm doesn't rule ou t the poss ibility of making the switch to show bus in ess "lf th e oppormnity does come along to be a filmmaker, I 'll definitely take it up I have a few ideas bur need to be smart co accomplis h diem one a t a rime. The ultimate goal would be being a pan of feature film productions".

Looki ng ahead, Kail as ha s seve ral upco ming vemures which a.re in their early stages at tl1e m o m e n t. I-le claims, "My next p roject would be a short film wi tl1 a much o f h orror. In regards tO Trop fes t 20 13, 1 have an id ea whi ch Rob i s cur re ntly helpi ng m e with and I hope to produce anotl1er shorr film t h is yea r. Tropfest bas boosted my confide n ce as a budding filmmaker and alchough we as a team lack technical expertise, we know char we can still achieve w hat we want. RGB 's success has mocivated us to attem pt mo.re short films".

1\fa ny congratulations to Kailas on his s cupendous run at Tropfest 2012. He is inspiration-personified as be bas shown us tha t we can ach ieve our goals if we work towards tl1em with ceaseless enthusiasm irrespec tive of where we are and what we d o. You can fo llow http://www facebook c o m /M anjadiEncerta.inrnenr for updates.