Like a soldier of war Production Designer : Shashank Gautam

Like a soldier of war Production Designer : Shashank Gautam

The Cinema Times

The Cinema Times, Kathmandu – All of us have probably watched movies, be it local or foreign. Some of us are connoisseurs of movies. While watching a movie, we only see the hard work of the characters on the screen. However, the hard work of those who work behind the scenes is more than that of the actors but they are not discussed much. The production designer is also one of the hands who work behind the camera to make the movie great.

The production designer is responsible for locations, bringing the actors to the spot, delivering them, shooting, recording songs, dubbing, working with lighting and props, arranging the kitchen and food, arranging the shooting schedule, from the producer to the director or all the actors and technicians, from helping them to managing them. Shashank Gautam has made this genre into action. He has won the trust of the makers by working honestly as a production designer in many Nepali movies. He calls the production designer a soldier of war. He says, “A soldier who goes to war must be prepared for any situation. This is exactly the profession of a production designer. If the production designer is not aware, things cannot turn out as the director thinks. He says that the production designer plays a big role in bringing such a performance to the audience.

He says, ‘Production design is as important as producer, director and cinematographer in film making. The production designer’s role is from the time of script writing to the release of the film. You have to fight every moment with challenges. Moreover, Nepali movies are made on a small budget. However, everything in the market is expensive. Having to work within the budget given by the producer is like fighting a big war for the production designer.

Shashank has been attracted to art and entertainment since childhood. He remembers, “My childhood friend was television. Apart from reading, I used to watch movies on television. Watching new movies in theaters became my routine. Ever since then, my mind has been curious about how and where movies are shot and how they are prepared.

He has been dedicated to films professionally since about 8 years ago, he has done ‘CHAAL’, ‘MAYA BASCHA KI K HO?”? And has worked as a production designer in short films including ‘THIRD EYE’. Shashank says his motivation and role model to bring this field are director Mr. Raju Adhikari and Mr. Mukunda Bhatta. He has learnt the meaning of production designer from their movies.

Among these, Shashank Gautam says that the short film called ‘THIRD EYE’ has won various national awards. There is a history of movies that have been made up to record by people donating their eyes after that social movie screening. The film was directed by young director Mr. Ashutosh Adhikari.

Shashank, who had a hockey temperament and a unique style from an early age, was born on 7th August 2052 as the last child of Shiv Prasad Gautam and Sunita Gautam in Kathmandu Nepal.

Not only Nepali, Shashank has also worked as a production designer in Bhojpuri movies ‘PREM GEET 2’, ‘JAI SAMBHU’, ‘ONE MAN ARMY’. Currently, he has Bhojpuri films ‘SUDHA LOVE’ and ‘NAMASTE LONDON’ in his pipeline. He said Bhojpuri film Namaste London is in preparation to shoot in London U.K.

Gautam informed that the director Ashutosh Adhikari and him are visiting Belgium and other cities in Europe in the first week of February 2023 to see the location of the Nepali short film “Black Box” and the screening of the film “Third Eye”. Shashank Gautam has been contracted as a production designer for the Nepali movie X-9 directed by Bhatt, and the movie will be shot in different cities of Canada from April 2023, the director of the movie Mukand Bhatt informed.

Shashank says that he gets satisfaction from working as a production designer. And, he is determined to dedicate his life to this profession. Next year, Gautam says that he wants to get a diploma in BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS (BFA) from the New York Film Academy in New York, USA.