tival. The Moment was yet another one that went on to win the Award of Recognition for Film Short at The Accolade Global Film Competition in 2016. Both these are based on motherhood in strife and fight for survival. His achievements as a Digital Colorist are at par with those as a Director of Photography. As the lead Digital Colorist, he color graded 1 Chance which was directed by Joseph Austin II, was an official selection and screened at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood at the Indie Night Fest 2017. The short is inspired by the life of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. Furthermore, he is the Director of Photography and Digital Colorist for the upcoming web series Gangsters which is directed by Frederick Basnight and had its opening teaser released in the Chinese Theatre at the Indie Night Fest as well. His upcoming projects as a lead Director of Photography include web series Terms & Conditons, scripted TV show In The Shadows and features The Secret Lives of Me, Sacral Bliss, Six Colors Free and D-Day. Aakshay wants to continue his work towards the cause of de-objectifying women and other minorities like the LGBT.
AWR. TALKS TO FALGUNI & AAKSHAY What made you a Director of Photography and who inspired you to chose this career?
A: The downtrodden are my inspiration. Concerned about the rising number of downtrodden in various walks of life, I felt that my will to reach out to people on their behalf can be best met by being a filmmaker myself. The art of filmmaking is the most powerful medium of visual story-telling. This led me to become a Director of Photography.
F: With VFX as my background, I realized that it was not only frame and colors which enhance the beauty of my visualization but the real binding factor to all this was lights and this
gave rise to a new passion in me, cinematography! This led me to the greatest city of stories and fiction, Los Angeles, as a Director of Photography.
A:Tell us what a Digital Colorist means. Being the guardian of the image, a Digital Colorist basically grades a film. Grading a film means to give it a specific look. This look is based on the thematic requirements of the script and that decided by the Director and Director of Photography mutually during the pre-production and the production phase. From crafting major color treatments to finessing subtleties the role of the colorist varies from film to film and reel to reel. It can be as big as creating the whole look of the film or as small addressing the tiniest detail.
Where would you like to go with your Digital Photography: We would like people to know our work across the globe and want more likeminded people to collaborate with us to make this world a better place.
Tell us about the film “1 Chance”. What is it about and what inspired you to be a part of this project?
A:
The film ‘1 Chance’ is inspired by the story of the legendary boxer Mohammad Ali. This was by far the most challenging project as a Digital Colorist because of the various expectations the thematic mood of the film demanded, and I’m glad I met all of them for my Director.
Tell us what other projects you’ve worked on and are currently working on.
A: As a DP and Digital Colorist I’ve worked on award winning and accolade receiving short films of various genres and also informercials that’ve been broadcasted on national television. I’ve been part of music videos for independent artists and web series also.