My Daily Vlog

Sorry, I forgot to tell you guys, I am doing a daily vlog these days. It's already 28 days old at the time of this writing. Here is a link to the latest episode:

Wrong or More Wrong?

You decide!

Episode 4 of my Web Series - Excuse You!

I still have trouble believing I am posting videos of my own creation. There was a time when I used to post clips from TV shows and films. But this series, it's mine. I wrote it, I shot it with my crew and I edited it. I am very proud of it. :)

I hope it makes you smile -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l72Jnbr2zA4

Let me know what you think in comments. 

My First Web Series - Excuse You!

So, we released our first web series a couple of weeks ago. It's called Excuse You and you can watch it on our YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/g7filmproductions

It's a comedy based around a London restaurant and its crazy staff. We release one new episode every Monday. So far, there are 3 episodes.

Here's the direct link to the first episode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc2kkB9kn8g


If you want to keep up with the series, Subscribe to the channel.

Of course, we like it when people click Like on the videos as well. ;)

I have kept the videos enabled for embedding, so if you'd like to share the episodes on your Facebook page etc., feel free!

My First Web Series - Excuse You!

We launched our web series last week. I know some people will ask what is a web series.

Well, simply put it's like a TV show with two major differences - the episodes are smaller, and instead of a TV channel it is broadcast using a web interface like YouTube or Vimeo.

Ours is on YouTube. The channel URL is:
http://www.youtube.com/g7filmproductions

If you click Subscribe you will receive updates at regular intervals (no spam) from YouTube when we upload new videos including the series episodes.

You can watch the first episode directly at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc2kkB9kn8g

My plan is to upload a new episode every weekend so that people can have a fresh episode to watch on Monday. The idea is that in the stress of Monday morning, if we can be responsible for one of your smiles, it would be a job well done! :)

My short film - Meet The Boss

[Cast and crew of Meet The Boss after the shooting.]

Have I mentioned before that I have been trying to learn how to make films by making short films? I think that's the best way to learn to make films, by making them. And now that I have mentioned it I will be free to tell you about my many adventures in the low-budget filmmaking field any time now.

Right now it's about one particular adventure, my film for the Reed film festival.

So, I have this group where people come together for the same purpose, learning filmmaking. The last time we had a meet it was on 11th March and a member mentioned that Reed.co.uk is hosting a film competition where people can send films up to 3-minutes in length. The theme given by Reed is "The Boss" and with that theme you are free to make any kind of film that you want.

That was all well and good but the deadline was exactly 2 weeks away on 25th March! I like to chase such close deadlines but going from concept to final cut in 14 days? Even for a 3 minute film it's a tall order.

But then Gianni took me aside and told me this little story that had happened to a friend of his. It was brilliant! I liked it from the start. Also, when you don't have a multi-million dollar budget, you always look for good stories that can be told without any special effects or exotic locations. This story was PERFECT for that.

And that's how we ended up making the fastest film we have ever made - 8 days from concept to rough cut!

And here is the output:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgvhgtqxKl8

We spent one week in pre-prod while our whole crew was working full time day jobs. No auditions, I knew the actor I wanted. We shot it in one single afternoon (Gianni and I co-directed) and edited that night and next morning. We had our rough cut by noon next day. We could have brought it to final cut the same day but we were shooting for another film from noon. That story some other time...

This is our film and we are proud of it! So feel free to share this film from this post or from YouTube as you like. :)

Movember Day 2 - 8th Nov 2011 - Update Fun Fact

In most cultures in India a moustache is considered a sign of honour. Most men grow a moustache when they are first old enough to shave and never shave it off. Legend has it that in the olden days a man could secure a loan from a moneylender keeping nothing but a few hairs of his moustache as the collateral. 

Even in the contemporary society, it is not uncommon for a man to bet his moustache on a matter or pride or just debate. An example can be seen in the recent Bollywood hit "Dil Bole Hadippa". The movie is centred around a girl who plays great cricket. In her mind, she's as good as any male player. A professional cricket player (male) bets her his moustache against money that she can't hit six sixers on six balls. She does! :) 

A video of that clip below. Sorry, the sound is in Hindi, I couldn't manage to burn the subtitles on it. I'll try that for the next video. 

And head on to my Movember page to see the photo from today. ;)
http://mobro.co/sunnygoswami

Two and a Half Men - Charlie's thoughts

A great performance by Charlie Sheen, very funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5_HgTLnUg0

I miss Charlie!

I just finished watching the first episode of the new season of Two and a Half Men and ....meh! I still have more material to watch, I watched just to see how it looks without Charlie Sheen. Like everybody else I knew that he was replaced with Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher is one of those actors who I am neutral too. I don't love him like I do Jason Statham nor do I hate him like I do Leonardo diCaprio. So, I had an open mind towards him, but not towards the show to be honest. I checked it now instead of keeping it till later because I didn't expect it to be very good.

My verdict? I was right! The writing and direction is the same and I suppose if someone just started watching it from here they might like it. I don't. I am seriously considering deleting the rest of the new episodes I have.

What's wrong you ask? On the surface, nothing! But people who have seen the original seasons would know that Charlie Sheen was the life of the show. It was his sheer presence that created the humour. He played that character so well that it felt like that he was Charlie Harper.

Charlie Sheen did some stupid things with substance abuse and made some really bad public statements about the show's producers and studio a few months ago that made it impossible for him to stay part of the show. On the other hand, a conspiracy theorist did tell me that actually Charlie said something politically bad on some topic which resulted in him being railroaded in an attempt to destroy his credibility. I don't know which one is true, but I do know the power of the media, esp. when it comes to show business.

In this season, they have tried to keep things going and made a big effort that shows that they are desperate. They killed Charlie off so that makes it kind of permanent though artistic licence can always take care of those things if things ever work out between Charlie Sheen and the producers.

The episode opens with Alan giving a eulogy for Charlie. This is interrupted by Charlie's ex-girlfriends and ex-lovers and here is where I started feeling that they were desperate to create humour anyway they could. Didn't really work for me. Throughout the show some of the gags were predictable while some were weak. There were a couple of smiles in the whole episode but on the whole I felt like I wasted 21 minutes of life.

It might be just my bias but I felt like they used canned laughter in addition to studio audience or in place of. I don't know. They used ALL the characters, all main characters plus some from the past, again that desperation to make it work somehow.

The rest of the cast did okay. Kutcher did okay in his role too. But let's face it, he's no Charlie Sheen and he won't be in 10 more lifetimes! He's a stand-in, an understudy, and Charlie left some pretty big shoes to fill. The writers apparently knew this and tried to compensate for it. They made Kutcher larger than life, he's a billionaire while Charlie Harper was always spending more money than he made. Kutcher is also mentioned to be well-endowed, a fact that was never mentioned in Charlie's case either way. Kutcher's character  is also committed to one girl, while Charlie was mostly commitment-phobic (mostly). But all these subtle tricks, didn't do the job!

You know when they say, "Let's make magic!"? (Who says it? Well, I do!). That's because it is magic. There's no formula for a successful show or movie. Huge multi-billion projects fail, and simple, small-budget things, films shot on a mobile camera..make an impact. It's just magic. And in this show, the magic is gone!

So, ultimately I just want to say, I miss Charlie Sheen on the show and I am really sorry that one of my most favourite shows has gone to seed! :(

Here's a video from the original series to remember and enjoy the old times!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVkWONQeYcY

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - Ad Video

I haven't yet made up my mind if I want to have it or not, but I am intrigued by this new device (duh!) just considering whether it'd be useful for me given that I already own the 7 inch Tab.

My new addiction - Wii Obstacle Course

I am getting addicted to this Wii Fit Plus game - Obstacle Course. The video will give you an idea of the gameplay. In a way it's a good thing because the game is meant for exercising. You actually run in place on the Wii Balance Board to make you character run on screen. But now I am in serious danger of overdoing my workout in the initial stages. I have already done 67 minutes on the Wii today most of which was this one game.

This is the main console. 

This is the balance board that you stand and run on. This pack also contains the Wii Fit Plus CD that contains the training software. It has lots of activities and games, one of them is the Obstacle Course. :) 

My true love - Sugandha Mishra is back

Nuff said. 

Big Bang Theory - How to ask a girl out

Recently on a friend's recommendation insistence, I started watching this TV show called the Big Bang Theory. I have to admit, she was right, I loved it! From the first episode of the first season, I enjoyed it immensely.

There are many things about it that I enjoy, but humour being very subjective and fairly resistant to analysis I think it's an exercise in futility to try and enumerate the reasons why I like this show. Hehe, this is how these guys speak.

I enjoy it because the humour is mostly cerebral and doesn't resort to cheap antics or slapstick. The 4 physicists who are the central characters are quite nice, next-doorsy types even though they are physicists and have astronomical IQ's.

But also that they cast Kaley Cuoco in one of the main roles and I love her! She's as hot as Megan Fox only thinks she is!

Since I can't post a video clip from the show I am posting some photos.

The Perfect Gift

I know everybody is looking for gift ideas right about now. Here is a gift idea from Barney. Enjoy :-)

Android Vs. iPhone

I don't know if this is making fun of iPhone or Android but it's a hilarious video.

Three's Company - Party Game from season 5

I just love this TV show. Can you imagine it's almost 40 years old and still so funny. A lot of credit goes to John Ritter but his co-stars are also great. I loved this scene for its mimicry-based humour but also, Priss and Jenilee look so sexy in this scene. And the dumb blonde girl whose name I didn't google yet. Enjoy.

Two and a half men - Charlie Waffles concert

Oh, this is just too funny for words, you have just watch it! I love the kids in this scene, and I kept wondering how on Earth would they have managed a shooting day with so many kids on the set. LOL!

Everything you didn't want to know about - sex!

Just watch it, it's funny!

Lesson from Chuck - What's next

I do like this TV Show - Chuck. When I started watching it, I didn't think I'd like it, but I know love it. And I know why. The show is full of corny lines, cliches, and formulas. That's why I thought I wouldn't like it. But it's all done with taste and expertise, so I do like it.

Here's an example:

And watch him here, actually doing it:

I agree with him on that. And I would extrapolate that and say that your best days are always ahead of you. As you grow older, you learn more about life, about yourself and about the world. Your skills become more advanced, your decisions less stupid. As a result, the quality of your life will improve, the quality of your friends will improve and you will enjoy your life more. If your life is not going in that direction then it should. If you don't think your best days are in front of you, then you may already be dead. Check your pulse.

USA Vs. France

No this is not a political battle - this a clip from Cheers. I am currently watching the 11th and last season and I am surprised and impressed that they have kept the same high-quality going in the story and the humour has become better as the show progressed.

This is one of the most hilarious episode, so much so that I watched it twice within 24 hours. Henri, the French loverboy/con artist, has been trying to egg Sam into accepting a bet - whoever gets the most numbers from beautiful women by midnight wins. Sam is above this kind of thing, but...well, watch what happens.