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Hi, my name is Raj Kapadia, and I’m raising funds for a short film titled, “Sandals of Gold (Kanakam Padukam)”. This film is extremely important to me as it is my final thesis film at Full Sail University, and it might help launch a career for me in the film industry. I plan on submitting this film to film festivals and in order to achieve this dream, I need your help. The funds will be used only for the purpose of the production of the film.
NOTE FROM THE WRITER:
As the writer and director of Sandals of Gold (Kanakam Padukam), I wanted to create a piece of art that could show the extremes of loyalty in human nature. How far could a human go to show his loyalty, whether to another human, an animal, or a god? Coming from a richly cultured country, I have grown up surrounded by the different religions in India. However, I discovered that the common elements of each religion are faith and loyalty, and one day I pondered upon a curious thought; a thought that made me pick up my pen and jot down this beautiful story.
While writing the protagonist of the story, I was deeply involved in weaving minute intricacies for the character until I could believe that there was a possibility for a person like the old man to exist in the real world. I preferred a blend of both dark and light tones for this film to show the secluded nature of a character, who’s been trying to live in a bright world. My goal for this film is to show the dark side of loyalty in a very subtle manner, and I hope that I can accomplish it with this short. I hope that the viewers sit back and enjoy the ride.
RAJ KAPADIA, WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
Raj is an aspiring filmmaker who started off his career as a storyteller while he was pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering back in his home country, India. After finding his life calling, he came to America with dreams and joined the MFA Film Production program at Full Sail University. Thereon, he’s written numerous scripts under the genres of horror, drama, comedy, and thriller. Determined on pursuing a career in screenwriting and directing, Raj has worked on numerous short films and continues to do so. He hasn’t looked back since then and wants to write and direct films that deal with realism and psychology.
LOGLINE:
When an old man discovers his sandals being stolen outside a temple, he opts for extreme measures to get them back.
COLOR PALETTE:
THE OLD MAN is a dark thriller that creates a suspenseful feeling keeping the viewers on the edge of their seats. Additionally, dark warm colors will be used along with cool colors to show the attempt of the protagonist trying to blend in with the people of the world.
THE DARK WORLD OF THE PROTAGONIST:
THE BRIGHT WORLD OUTSIDE OF THE PROTAGONIST’S LIFE:
SOUND:
Since there is minimal dialogue in the film, sound and music are one of the most important elements of this film. The film would begin with a melody that paces along with the tone of the film. The instruments used for music would be drums, violin, cello, and bells. In the scenes including the temple, sounds of bells and drums would be infused to show the joys of the world. My intention while writing the script was to tell the story mainly through visuals and sound. Even though the protagonist doesn’t say a word throughout the runtime of the film, I wanted the sound to be his voice. The mere use of his eyes and sound also helps keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. My biggest inspiration for the sound of this film was Tumbbad (2018), an Indian film and I hope to create something very similar and creative.
EDITING:
Since I wanted to show the loneliness in the old man’s life, the film would include a lot of wide shots of the old man alone in the frame. Apart from that, since there are not many dialogues, the film would include a lot of close-ups and medium shots to tell the story through visuals. Sound effects such as the sound of chopping, bells ringing, stirring of meat curry, and washing of sandals would also be included and added in post-production.
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Pic credits: TUMBBAD (2018)
Since the film portrays the story from the old man’s perspective, the scenes including the old man in his home would be shot on a tripod. However, the scenes portraying the old man blending in with the real world would be shot on a tripod until the scene where his sandals go missing. That’s the moment when the old man’s life begins to go out of control. The use of a handheld method instead of a tripod would be perfect to show the imbalance. All the scenes will be shot on a single camera. Furthermore, there will be an emphasis on the use of warm colors like orange and red with a blend of cool colors like blue and purple to show the old man’s secluded life. However, scenes, where the old man tries to blend in with the rest of the world, would include cool and bright colors to show the joys of the world. The color included in the wardrobe of the young man would be dark green. The purpose of this is to show the corruption in the brightly colored world we see around us. Also, there will be the use of both shallow and deep depth of field.
AUDIENCE TAKEAWAY:
As the writer and director of the film, I want the audience to realize that not everything we see in the world around us is what it seems to be. Even though the people around us may seem to be good, they might not be what we imagine them to be, and vice-versa. Apart from that, I also want to show the extremes of loyalty and how far a human could go to prove his/her loyalty. I want the viewer to walk away from this film, trying to decide whether what they see in the protagonist is good or bad. After all, it’s all about perspective.
What will your contribution support?
We are raising Rs. 2,00,000, which is the minimum we need to complete the funding of this film. Most of our budget is allocated to paying our cast & crew a fair wage for their work, something that is very important to us, even with the budgetary constraints of an independent short film. Additionally, we also would use the provided funding for gear rentals and feeding the cast and crew.
TIMELINE:
• September-November 2022 - Pre-production: Casting, assemble crew, location scouting, fundraising, rehearsals, and everything else we need to prepare for the shoot.
• December 2022 - Production: Shoot the film over 8 days in Masa Village, Gujarat, India.
• January-February 2023 - Post-production: Editing, sound-mixing, scoring, coloring, with rounds of feedback from our producers.
• Early March 2023 - Final cut: The film is ready for submissions to film festivals.
• May 2023 - Release: Our goal is to premiere the film at acclaimed film festivals in 2023, and then have a public release through an online platform or streaming service after our festival run, ideally in 2024.
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY:
We will ideally premiere the film at one of the following festivals in 2023/2024:
• SXSW
• Tribeca Film Festival
• Sundance
• Toronto Film Festival
These prestigious festivals have a history of getting short films on a path to making their feature versions. After premiering the film, we'll do a whole film festival tour, playing many local, and hopefully international film festivals.
