A visual poetry in 360 degrees

Bijibal’s new song Vida Paranjoru Nimishame would seem like a normal visual at first sight. But if you are viewing it on an android or iOS phone, try scrolling over the video with your fingers and you’ll notice something fascinating — you can change the perspective of the video as you wish by simply scrolling across the visuals!

Though 360 degree photography has been gaining popularity in the past couple of years, the makers claim that Vida Paranjoru Nimishame, a part of the album series Bodhi Mehfil produced by Bodhi Silent Scape, is the first 360 degree music video in Malayalam.

“I did see a few 360 degree promo videos done in India. But I haven’t seen a single full-fledged work in this format. This is certainly the first such work in Malayalam and might even be the first 360 degree music video in India,” says Prayag Mukundan, the Director of Photography for the video.

However, being the first-of-its-kind work, the video also offered a lot of challenges in making. “We had to use six cameras simultaneously to capture the visuals for the video, but we had no concrete idea regarding how they should be placed and what angles they must be at as there was no reference work.

“We took a chance by basing it on a rough calculation we made and hoped for the best. Luckily, it turned out o.k. for the most part, though there are some things I would like to correct in our future works. We were able to finish the shoot in just a few hours, but the pre-production and post-production work required a lot of time and effort. Unnikrishnan G and Vishnu V Nath helped me out with the virtual reality tech,” explains Prayag.

Bijibal has composed and given voice to the lyrics of Rafeeq Ahammed in the song. “Since I have worked with Biji ettan in a few projects before, I know him well. So I approached him with the idea of the project. Initially he was a bit reluctant as we had no idea how to properly explain what we were trying to make. But once we showed him some 360 degree promo videos, he came onboard and very supportive despite it being an experimental project,” he adds.

Vysakh Bejoy, Selvan Sreedhar, Sumesh Parameshwar (guitar) and Rajesh Cherthala (flute) also played a major role in the making. Prayag Mukundan is a Kannur native, and has assisted in multiple Bollywood projects as a cinematographer. He is now based out of Mumbai and is in the pre-production works for his first Malayalam directorial venture.