Living in reel time

A Pakistani documentary-maker based in Karachi, Paris, New York and Canada, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy has won accolades from all over the world — the most notable being the Livingston Award for journalism and being the only non-American so far to have received it. She is also one of the 25 people picked out to represent 25 years of the Livingston Awards.

Having made documentaries and travelled to places such as South Africa, Manila (Philippines) and Afghanistan, and having made a locally-controversial documentary out of Pakistan titled Reinventing the Taliban, Sharmeen isn’t one to sit back when there is a story at hand or to get intimidated by the material she uncovers. Independent, straightforward and to-the-point with a visibly pragmatic side to her, one of the things that becomes apparent when meeting her in person is that she does not have a different camera personality — she is exactly the way she is in real life, in her mannerisms and way of talking and addressing issues, as she is on camera.

Recently, with the formation of the Citizens’ Archive of Pakistan (CAP) with a view of archiving and communicating Pakistan’s history and heritage, the group went on to organise the Shanaakht Festival held around Pakistans Independence Day. Talks about Partition, photography and art exhibitions and documentaries based on the theme of Partition were shown to the public totally free of cost. In between dealing with the festival’s post-event issues and going on yet another travelling stint abroad, Images managed to garner an interview with the documentary-maker bent on uncovering real-world issues.

Your latest documentary, Lifting the Veil, that went on air recently focuses predominantly on the lives of Afghan women six years after their so-called liberation. How long did it take to make the documentary?
Lifting the Veil has got three names — it was released by Channel 4 with the name of Afghanistan Unveiled, CNN is releasing it as Lifting the Veil and my name for it is The Promise. The festival version is called the latter. I travelled from Kabul to Herat to Tahar, Talakand… basically from the capital to the west and up towards the north and north-east to villages, towns, cities to see what’s happened to the women there.

I travelled through Afghanistan for five weeks. It was one of the most fascinating journeys that I have ever undertaken. Partly because I didn’t have any language trouble, almost everyone spoke Urdu and because the country is spectacularly beautiful. It’s very sad to see such stark beauty contrasted against such stark poverty and destruction.

Was it safe travelling in Afghanistan for a woman where the effects of Taliban rule and the recent war on terrorism are still predominant?
I’ve worked in conflict zones for a long time now and safety is a very relative thing. Are you safe in Karachi? You could be shot outside your own home here, your car could be hijacked, you could be robbed. Similarly, you could be robbed in Rio de Janeiro or the slums that I worked in in South Africa.

I think that safety is a very relative term and when I go into dangerous situations I do not think about whether I’m safe. I think about whether the circumstances that I’m in require me to be more cautionary or take precautions.

Going armed with a camera to an individual or a group to talk to them about whatever situation they are in can be very intimidating for them. How do you get people to open up?
I start a film after I research it for about two months before I actually go in and film it. During that period I make a lot of connections with the people in that country through NGOs, individuals who I would have met during the course of my travels and basically people who connect me to others. Once I’ve built a relationship with them, they then introduce me to ordinary people in that country and when they filter, it becomes easier for those people to trust me.

Also, people are not hesitant to speak to me because of the fact that I’m a woman and I come from a third-world country myself. I’m able to relate to many of their issues because I see it happening in my own country. A lot of people find me easier to talk to than, for example, a western journalist who they can’t relate to on any level.

For example, while working in the slums in South Africa or in the Philippines, I could tell them: ‘Look, I’ve seen this. I’ve seen this poverty, I’ve seen this discrimination, I’ve see this class of society because I’ve grown up in one’. Even though those countries are across the planet or in another hemisphere, I am able to connect with those people and they realise that when they speak to me, it’s not that I am walking through the slums wearing my D&G top or something. I am there in the mud with them doing the things that I should be doing.

You have been accused of representing Pakistan in a negative light in your documentary, Reinventing the Taliban. Why?
I am very straightforward about what I do. I am not Pakistan’s PR agent. I am a journalist. And just because I am one of the few journalists who work for international television and have access to stories in Pakistan does not mean that I do not uncover those stories. Some people may think that I am not a patriot, but I believe that you’re a patriot if you actually point out the faults in your country so that these can be rectified. A lot of people feel that because I have exposure, because I am well-known per say in the international community, that I should only present stories that are favorable to Pakistan.

Quite honestly, I present a very balanced view. In Reinventing the Taliban, I showed the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) area of Pakistan which was becoming increasingly radical at the time. I did the film in 2003 when the radical elements were not there but I predicted that in the next three years, Pakistan will face a civil war, where you will have Islamists battling the moderates. And what is happening today? What is Lal Masjid all about? If you watch Reinventing the Taliban you will think that I made it now. But I made it when the tribal belt of Pakistan was not as volatile as it is right now. The areas that I travelled to and the kind of people that I met in 2002-2003, I could never do now because it is extremely difficult to do so.

And of course that’s going to be a problem in this country and now everyone talks about it — its common drawing room conversation. In 2002-03 it wasn’t. And that’s why people didn’t like it and I think in some way I was a visionary. At least I was able to put forward the fact that I saw what was happening to my own country and it pained me to see it. I wanted other people to wake up and see that just because they live in your comfortable homes, in a large city, and no one is threatening the schools of their daughters and no one is threatening their wives.

Let’s face it. How many people are socially and politically active in this society? If you live in Karachi, the tribal belt seems so far away and so unknown to many of us. It’s not like we frequent that area or that we even know about it. How many of us have been to that part of Pakistan to know what’s happening over there? There is detachment because people don’t really care.

As a journalist, you’re taught that your job is to observe and not become a part of the observed. After having travelled and covered issues in conflict zones extensively, is it difficult for you not to get involved?
I’ve had a couple of circumstances where I’ve been very involved with people’s lives. I did a film in 2005 about a young man who stopped a suicide bomber, his name was Ghufraan Haider. He stopped a suicide bomber in Karachi at the mosque near the former KFC outlet in Karachis Gulshan-i-Iqbal area. He was very hurt and he comes from a very poor family. He sustained a lot of injuries, when he partially recovered, he was a key witness against the suicide bombers and based on his testimony, they (the bombers) got the death penalty. He was threatened openly in court and our government could not protect him. He fled overnight to a country in the Middle East and I helped him get asylum in Canada. So in that sense, I became increasingly involved in that case.

I did so because here was a young man who did something good, who should have been set as an example and instead, we ignored him. I was the only journalist to do a story on him for international television. I asked people in the military then: ‘This is a man, you should put him on a pedestal, you should tell other people that this is an example of what a Pakistani patriot is’. Instead, he now lives in Canada. It’s a loss for Pakistan to have lost someone like him.

Again, when I did a film in the earthquake zone, I became emotionally involved in the case of a woman who lost her husband and two children and who became a widow. She was getting propositioned by men and she had to leave for Karachi with 2 or 3 small children in tow. She’s struggling to make ends meet and I’ve been helping her get jobs.

Sometimes, you can’t distance yourself from these people just because you spend so much time with them, I’ve spent 4-6 weeks with such people and they become a part of who I am then. It becomes difficult for me to draw that line. And it’s not only in Pakistan. Sometimes being a human being comes before anything else.

What has been the most difficult documentary you have made so far?
The most difficult documentary that I have ever made was in East Timor. It was a small island, remote and difficult to gain access to. There was gang violence going on and a lot of times you had to look over your shoulder. The culture was very alien to me, it was a different society. But it was a beautiful country and had stunning beaches. Coming back to the gang violence, it was very difficult for me to penetrate the gangs.

Some would say you’re looking for trouble… that you have a death wish?
People have been known to say that about me. There is a tremendous feeling when you’re able to meet and understand situations. You see first-hand what all the fighting is about.

The one thing that I’ve learnt after being to all these places is that we’re not so bad in Pakistan. I mean, we have problems but we have a country. We’re not fighting to get a country. And if anything, travelling to conflict-riddled countries has made me more of a patriot because it made me realise that we have something that we really need to work to make better. I’ve seen what happens when things fall apart. And believe me, we do not want that to happen to us.

You have received a lot of accolades for your documentaries. What do you say about that?
Every film I did won something. Every film I did got some recognition. It has helped me know what I’m doing. There’s got to be something right to it and I should continue doing it. It’s a very lonely life doing what I do because you take off for months on end in locations and I’m married with a family. I miss a lot of important occasions… it’s a hard life.

Do you plan to show any documentaries of your here? Why didn’t you show any at the Shanaakht Festival?
I didn’t show any at Shanaakht because those films were about Partition and history and my films are very contemporary politics. I do try and show something at the KaraFilm Festival every year because that’s my only avenue through which I can reach out to Pakistanis.

However, I’m moving back to Karachi in December permanently and opening up a production house. I’m going to train journalists and film-makers to make quality film programmes for international television.

Have you ever thought about opening a documentary channel?
I want the freedom to be able to work for many channels, such as Channel 4, Al Jazeera International, CNN, Discovery Times, PBS, etc. I would like to have four or five people who become the core team and who do individual projects under the banner of Sharmeen Obaid Films. Hopefully, the idea is that there would be a select group of people who would be trained at an international level.

I don’t think I can make documentaries for domestic television because the idea of documentary films in Pakistan simply does not exist. The appreciation is not there and quite honestly, quality programming on Pakistani TV stations does not exist. I’m talking specifically in terms of documentary films.

What I would really like to do is make documentary films for PTV when I come back. I think PTV really needs to revive itself and regain the glory that it once had. I’ve always had an affinity to PTV and I would really like to have something to do with them when I get back, along with international television as well.

First Published:
Images
September 23, 2007

Eat, drink and be merry

THINK of a café today and immediately a picture of comfortable couches and chairs in a softly-lit ambience against shades of either cream, brown, maroon (or in some cases, black) comes to mind. You know it’s not a place where you’re going to stuff yourself with food and leave content with a full stomach and an inclination to go home and sleep – the sofas and chairs were never meant for that, not now and not even when the first proper café opened up sometime in the middle of the 16th century in Turkey.

Having always been a place where groups of people got together for light, intelligent conversation, coffee houses or cafés have been vehicles through which local cultures in different parts of the world experienced an evolution. The growth of coffee houses in any area is considered a positive sign and the local mushroom growth of cafés (as opposed to tea houses) in the major cities of the country, Karachi and Lahore, is often quoted in foreign publications as signifying the advent of a Pakistani ‘liberal’ culture.

Coffee made its way in Pakistan (commercially) in 1998, when drinking coffee wasn’t a pop culture norm -- tea was the more dominant and preferred choice of drink. Its growth has spurted to being included as one of the must-have beverages whenever the local city-dwelling population goes out to socialise. Coffee and cafés have predominantly Middle Eastern beginnings. Known as ‘kahvehane’ in Turkish, ‘al-maqhah’ in Arabic, ‘qahveh-khaneh’ in Persian and ‘kopi tiams’ in Malay and Singapore, cafés originated in the 16th century as a place to read books and/or play chess. Records indicate that Kiva Han was the name of the first independent café in Turkey and the culture regarding coffee was so strong that in those times, women could divorce their husbands on the grounds of their inability to provide them with adequate amounts of coffee. Turkish coffee was often served black, strong and unfiltered. The concept of including milk and cream in one’s coffee was introduced as a predominantly European style of brewing and consuming coffee.

Some time in the 17th century, coffee travelled outside the Ottoman Empire and into Europe when the Turkish Army left bags full of coffee after their invasion of Vienna (Austria). The potential of the curious green beans was recognised by Franz Georg Kolschitzky, the first person to open a café in Europe, and who had spent a considerable time living in Turkey to identify the aroma, taste and potency of the coffee beans left behind by the Turkish Army. Having been introduced into Europe this way, coffee has never looked back, going as far as to the Americas and the subcontinent, with each geographical area developing their version of a ‘café culture’.

In Britain, coffee houses were a place for intelligent discourse. They were a place where like-minded individuals could get together and discuss everything from literature and poetry to business and politics to the reigning king’s apparel. Such was the popularity and ease with which individuals could meet and socialise in cafés that they soon became a centre for many firms to conduct their business meetings and finalise their transactions.

The fact that in 1668 a coffee shop run by Edward Lloyd was such a popular centre for business dealings that it subsequently became the still-currently-operating Lloyds of London Insurance Company, a testament to the cafes’ growing influence. Well known and reputed auction houses such as Christies took birth in the salesrooms attached to cafés in Britain around that time. So much so was the impact of cafés that they were soon as ‘penny universities’ in local slang because a ‘penny’ was what a cup of coffee cost and a café was where local educationists, literary figures and business men came together.

The influence of cafés on the local culture wasn’t limited to Europe alone. When America was colonised, coffee was almost immediately introduced by the local Italian immigrant community and coffee houses started becoming a common norm. Established in 1792, the Tontine Coffee House in New York was, because of the sheer number of business transactions conducted there, the original location of the New York Stock Exchange.

In the 1950s, cafés experienced a different kind of cultural evolution -- that which included music. They fast became a venue for entertainment where poetry reading and local folk musicians were encouraged to come and share their pieces of music. The café-going culture was so dominant at the time that there used to be cafés lined up one after the other in all of the popular streets and almost all of them would be full most of the time, and at the end of the day, café brawls and fights were also not unusual.

Musicians such as Bob Dylan made their mark in the American industry by first performing in cafés alone. The 1970s saw the introduction of a standardisation and refinement of the café model in America with the advent of local coffee house chains such as Star Bucks. And since then, the definition of a café has evolved and has been altered to suit the current pop culture tastes and trends.

On a global level, cafés continue to be a hub of social activity. They are still places where people get together to have a conversation, to share ideas and to communicate -- via literature or music. They continue to serve the business community and the working-individuals within it with the café model being updated with the introduction of Wi-Fi hotspots.

With their continuing popularity and with the rapid advancement in technology, it is predicted that coupled with fast-paced and direct communication methods, cafés will again be a predominant place for people to go and work from as opposed to working in a proper, designated, physical workspace. Having already become the norm in European countries and in the United States, cafés now provide designated areas for those lugging their laptops with them complete with electrical sockets and adequate chairs and tables.

Although locally we may not be at such an advanced stage when it comes to our local café culture, which predominantly consists of individuals coming together for a random conversation or younger individuals for music, there is no denying that with the growing popularity local cafés are generating, we are on our way to our local cultural evolution.

First Published:
The Magazine
September 23, 2007

Style Fantastic

Hugely popular in Lahore, the city it first opening up in, Alle’nora is well on the way of establishing itself as the premiere salon for hair and make-up throughout the country, and abroad as well. After having recently opened up an outlet in Karachi with more branches on the way, Alle’nora is taking over the local beauty and fashion industry in an unprecedented manner.

Here, in an exclusive interview with the driving force behind the brand that is Alle’nora, the firebrand Annie Mansoor, we find out what Alle’nora is all about… and more.

In flashback, tell us when you decided that doing hair and make-up was your professional calling?
Annie: I started with the name Alle’nora about 19 years back and haven’t looked back ever since. It has been a success story from day one.

What kind of hair and make-up services does the salon offer?
Annie: We basically offer bridal and engagement make-up, which is further divided into four subgenres. These then branch out into the following: traditional, ethnic, pastel and colour line. Other than that we are into experimental fashion and formal make-up.

What other facilities besides hair and make-up services are available at Alle’nora?
Annie: Besides hairstyling we offer all kinds of hair, skin, hand and feet treatments to the satisfaction of our loyal clientele that we have established over a relatively short period of time.

Alle’nora is fast establishing itself as a strong brand where styling is concerned. How has the journey been so far?
Annie: All I would say is that to build a name is not as difficult as to maintain it at its peak. I did come across certain hurdles in Karachi but soon realised that if you put in your best efforts then it is not difficult to overcome the obstacles that are put in the way by one’s rivals and their likes. As it is, the vultures are always there, ready to prey upon you.

Considering that your services are as sought after as the brand itself, do you find yourself commuting to and fro between Lahore and Karachi frequently in trying to keep up with your clients’ demands?
Annie: No. I believe in creating models and delegating my responsibilities to my trusted staff. Ghazia does an exceptional job in Karachi, however I am available in Karachi if and when required.

Do you plan to expand and have more branches both in Pakistan and abroad?
Annie: Apart from the four branches running in Pakistan, I recently opened branches in London and Miami. One more branch is opening soon in Pakistan.

What in your idea for the bridal look this Fall/Winter season?
Annie: Maroon and red are everlasting colours for all the seasons but in the upcoming Fall and Winter season pastels are out and deep warm colors are in such as emerald green, burgundy, rust and bronze. In the pink family, dusty pink is in with lots of silver.

What do you have to say about your competition?
Annie: I always believe in healthy competition because in that way you continuously keep on innovating and upgrading yourself. I feel sorry for people who think they are nothing and are always out to steal your ideas.

What’s in store for the future for both you and Alle’nora?
Annie: I will be in Karachi for the Wedding Extravaganza exhibition then later in Lahore since I am organizing a grand show consisting of two segments. One of them is towards experimental and bridal make-up lines, and the other is a fashion segment displaying designer wear by Sonia Design Concept. Freiha (Altaf) is doing the choreography. I am also arranging an Eid festival for charity to raise money for the highly-reputed CARE organization, at Alle’nora Lahore (both branches) and Karachi (Zamzama) with some of the leading designers of our country.

What would advise to upcoming entrepreneurs in the field of fashion and/or styling industry?
Annie: Apart from hard work, I would ask them to be honest and sincere. They should go for experimentation, trust themselves and never be on the lookout for shortcuts.

First Published:

Bridal Extravaganza, DAWN

September 8, 2007

Striking the techno chord
Technology and internet have changed the face of music and videos. Madeeha Syed analyses how making music has now become everybody’s game

UNLIKE other nations in the world, we cannot boast of a rich musical history where pop music is concerned. Taking its roots in the late 1960s, pop music suffered great opposition in the late seventies and in the early nineties – people believed it was against the cultural identity and norm for (the then) youth. Concerts and the concept of live music till recently, after the media boom, were few and far between and in some cases, completely unheard of.

Our history in technological advancements follows a similar if not bleaker route. Most people consider the introduction of the internet synonymous to the technological advancement in Pakistan. However, almost a decade after the internet became widely used around the country, we cannot still boast of having made any noteworthy breakthroughs or of having ‘developed’ a technological industry like our neighbouring India’s. We are still in the stages of developing.

Having said that it cannot be denied that the internet and technological advancement made around the world have benefitted the media and the music industry in Pakistan. Sophisticated software, cheap, but highly developed hardware leaked or brought into the country has facilitated numerous music production studios and the setting up of country-wide (network) radio stations. They have encouraged video directors to experiment more with their video-making techniques. Most of all, this has encouraged aspiring musicians, producers and music video directors to enter the market.

If anything, technology and the internet has it made it easy for all of us to be rock stars in our own right – whether we are jumping on stage holding an expensive guitar bought on our last tour abroad or streaming away our tunes via the internet from home, in this day and age, one can be assured that no one will be left out.

Living in today’s highly informed age, if one watches a video of television recordings or live coverage of concerts of yore, it would not take a genius to figure that most of what was being shown will probably not be considered acceptable today. The music predominant in those songs was borrowed heavily from synthesisers, the subject and tunes of most of the songs were copied off popular songs abroad, the singers almost never sang out of tune and lip-synched a little too happily with oddly-animated expressions on their faces — it was all too ‘perfect’ and too ‘staged’ to be considered ‘real’.

For the longest time, musicians performed on CD or what is also referred to as on DAT – Digital Audio Tape. Live performances consisted of either no musicians, or just barely a couple, some of who did not even know how to hold a guitar properly. Yet, they pretended to strum away or play the keyboards while the artiste ‘sang’.

Truth was, even without the extra musicians or even a microphone properly working, artistes were able to sing flawlessly to songs and music blaring out of the speaker sets. Most people did not know how a live sound differed from a recorded sound and flocked to concerts because in reality, there were not that many avenues available for entertainment to the public. Of course, there were few who came to see the artiste on stage.

With increased awareness facilitated in part by podcasts of concert videos available to ardent music lovers over the internet, concert goers now know the difference between a truly live performance and a performance on Digital Audio Tape (DAT). Sophisticated sound systems and the availability of cheap monitors have also eliminated excuses that an artiste might have for not performing live, whether for a television recording or otherwise. Sound can be transmitted clearly or distorted there and then depending on the requirements of the artistes performing and the organisers.

However, if on the one hand, technology has facilitated the use of unadulterated live performances, it has also made audio ‘cheating’ on a live performance just as easy. It was recently revealed that a very popular local pop singer known for his ability to sing prolonged notes beyond the humanly possible, uses a programmable software which helps him extend the range of his vocals, especially when singing certain notes, while performing live.

The use of software and technological gadgets is also increasingly becoming a norm in live performance. One such example is Sajid and Zeeshan. The duo from Peshawar is known as the only truly two-person band in Pakistan in a sense that the vocals and the entire music, live or otherwise is done by two individuals only. Zeeshan also has to his credit the first fully animated music video.

Reaching what one would consider the height of multi-tasking on stage, one of the two band members can be seen hitting off beats from a programmable beat-player, working on his keyboards, swishing over the motion-sensor device to distort the overall sound, working the turn tables and playing the harmonica – via a mouth organ attached to the keyboard set.

In fact, other than the keyboard set, this musician does not use any of the conventional musical instruments used while recording or playing music live. He is the personification of a desi musician of tomorrow – when it comes to the hardware and software he uses for his music.

From national radio to the people’s radio:

FM100 hit the airwaves in the early nineties and a couple of years later, FM101 followed. The introduction of FM Radio in Pakistan was an important milestone since people could now listen to music anywhere they went and could keep up to date on developments in the music industry without having to go to the music store and consulting the store owner about the latest releases. This was in part facilitated by the fact that the same music was being heard throughout the country – radio jockeys became the first kind of behind-the-camera celebrities.

From two stations to now having more than 25 radio stations operating around the country and counting, technological advancements have a big role to play in the ease with which these radio stations are able to set up. Where previously expensive equipment only few could afford and with studios crammed with wires and devices that seemed on the verge of exploding if touched, the radio station of today is more modern, the studios are sleek and devoid of messy wires. The equipment is cheaper and now, a station does not need to have boosters set up in every city they intend to transmit in. They simply stream their transmission over the internet.

For example, a show that is meant to go network (transmitted throughout the country) that is being recorded live from Karachi is streamed via the internet to a branch of the same station in Lahore, from where they broadcast it all overall Lahore. The gaps of dead air during a transmitted show is more often than not, the result of a fluctuating internet connection.

Also, if one is a little too eager, one can also by-pass having to buy an expensive license and investing in costly hardware and software for a radio station. People are increasingly turning towards establishing their own internet radio stations, with audio streamed over the internet to people who log into the radio station’s website. A major example would be of the internet radio set up by the artiste management agency, Jilawatan, which subsequently closed down.

Coming to a more recent example, the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) launched their own internet radio station a couple of months back. Their launch was accompanied by the live streaming of a concert held by none other than the musical duo mentioned above, taking place within the university premises. Friends of LUMS alumni did not have to buy tickets to the concert; as long as they had a good internet connection, they could listen to it anywhere.

Technology has more than just changed the face of music, it has made music more of a ‘now’ thing than of a ‘learn how to sing/play the instrument first’. It has eliminated the geographical constraints and allowed people the luxury of attending a concert without being there physically. Where DAT performances are looking down upon now, it has also encouraged artistes to look for more sophisticated techniques of cheating their audiences. It has given enough space for those who otherwise would not be able to cut a record deal to put their music up for millions to listen to anyway. From the garage, bands are increasingly moving towards an internet domain. It has allowed the neighbourhood geek to become a rock star.

“Audio technologies have helped music production, but has not helped the average singer” — Zeeshan

Zeeshan Parwez is a Peshawar-based music video director and one half of the band, Sajid and Zeeshan. He has to his credit the first fully animated music video.. Question: What kind off technology do you use when producing/making music? Answer: There are two diverse domains in the field of audio engineering and recordings. There is analogue and then there is digital. Everything I do is done via computers, so it is all digital. But it has been sensed that analogue equipment sounds much better than digital, even though there is no logical explanation for this. So everything is processed on two PCs that I have kept in the studio only for audio purposes. Q: How do you think advancements in audio technologies have helped average singers sound better? A: I think audio technologies have greatly helped music production, but has not helped average singers much. Technology can help enhance the average singer's tone quality and correct the faults in pitch of the singer, but at the end of the day an average singer and producer’s faults become evident when trained ears review it. Technology cannot cover that up. It can help you make great music, compose things with ease but average singers should be warned if they are completely relying on their systems. Q: How would a regular person set up their own studio? What would he/she need? A: A regular studio nowadays needs to be built around a PC with hi-specifications that gives you enough room to be creative. It also needs supporting devices like mixers, microphones, amplifiers, patchbays, effects processors, good cabling throughout, soundproofing, sound cards, headphones, good ergonomics and comfortable room. In a country like ours that has limited resources to offer, an average person will have to start off with equipment that is not top notch. Q: You are also known as an animator. What do you use when animating your characters? Do you think animations are playing an increasingly major role in how music videos nowadays? How has technology affecting the making of music videos? A: First of all, I create my characters and design their respective roles in order to give me an idea of how they should look. After that, everything is drawn digitally on computer using softwares like Photoshop, Flash and Combustion. I do not think animations are playing a key role in Pakistani music videos. We have a long way to go. People/Artists here are not willing to invest too much in animated videos. Animation costs a lot, so they think it is a better idea to make something on film instead of creating animated videos which they think the general lot would not be able to grasp. This is what is preventing animated projects to see the light of the day. Internationally, it is different. Everything is covered from resources to finance. If that was the case here in Pakistan, I would be the first one to make a bet with anyone supporting the fact that Pakistan has got amazing talent in the animation field and we can do it better than anyone else. Technology has greatly helped people like me to make music videos. You have loads of data on your computer which you just copy and paste together and voila! You create! It is amazing. Q: What kind of technology regarding audio and video is predominantly used in Pakistani studios nowadays? A: Video is totally done through PCs. All the processing for film is done abroad. It comes back digitally transferred and you work on it. As far as formats like DV, HD and Digi-beta are concerned, once the footage is shot, it is directly placed on the systems and it is ready to be edited, composed and finalised. In terms of audio, there are very few studios in Pakistan that still record on master tapes (analogue) because digital has become way too convenient for everyone to use. There is still a debate among the-minded about which format to choose. Analogue sounds warmer but digital is more convenient and is not at all time consuming, unlike analogue recording. — MS

Riding the wave

For those of you with an avid, can’t-live-without love for music, coupled with an exhibitionist streak to show it off, setting up your own internet radio station could be your current calling. For one, they are cheaper to set up than a conventional FM radio station. They are also faster and easier to establish and since the station is yours, you can say whatever you want and how ever you want to, without fear of repercussions. It would be wise, however, to examine the copyright laws and royalties governing the type of music you plan to play before you play it. Companies such as Live365 that have already paid these royalties allow you to take advantage of their agreements. One other firm worth looking into is LoudCity.net. LoudCity.net automatically tracks the songs you play and allows you to operate a legal radio station for a subscription of only 20 dollars per month. This subscription covers the royalties for all of the songs you play. The hardware and software you need: 1. CD player 2. Software to rip off audio tracks (copies audio tracks from a CD onto a computer’s hard drive) 3. Recording and editing software 4. Audio mixer 5. Outboard audio gear (equalizer, compressor) 6. Digital Audio Card (also comes automatically bundled with your PC) 7. PC computer dedicated solely to broadcasting with encoder software 8. Streaming media server Getting audio over the internet is pretty simple: 1. The audio enters the Internet broadcaster’s encoding computer through a sound card. 2. The encoder system translates the audio from the sound card into streaming format. The encoder samples the incoming audio and compresses the information so it can be sent over the internet. 3. The compressed audio is sent to the server, which has a high bandwidth connection to the internet. 4. The server sends the audio data stream over the internet to the player software or plug-in on the listener’s computer. The plug-in translates the audio data stream from the server and translates it into the sound heard by the listener. You should also have a microphone if you plan to talk on air. PirateRadio.com provides you with free downloadable software you can use to set up as well as a whole listing of internet radio stations on World Wide Web. If you are using a dial-up internet connect, you can subscribe to the streaming services by websites such as Live365.com to improve the quality of your online radio broadcast. — MS

First Published:
Sci-Tech World,
September 8, 2007