"Big Dawgs" will always hold a special place in my heart, and I'm thrilled that it resonated with the audience. It was more than just a music video; it was a testament to our culture on a global scale, celebrating the incredible skills of these fantastic bikers and riders. Our culture is vibrant and deserves to be authentically represented.
This was my first collaboration with Bijoy Shetty, and I'm glad it happened at the right moment. Bijoy is incredibly talented and a creative powerhouse. It's hard for me to pinpoint his style, but his work has a distinct voice, which makes him a great storyteller. I enjoyed working with him because he's really skilled with music and knows how to enhance the visuals with the music.
Bijoy is one of the director India deserves it truly and is exceptional with his narrative skills and cant' wait to see what he will do in his coming years. Would love to collaborate him again and tell such stories and I hope he does it to haha!
Reflecting on the process, the project was initially scheduled to start production on 11th May, but due to circumstances, we had to start filming on 7th May. Bijoy and I quickly familiarised ourselves with the music, grasped its dynamics. Also this was my fiirst collaboration with Bijoy and the rest team, we knew each other on Social Media and have been keeping on each other's work for a while now but never got a chance to work together. I am glad actually this was our first collaboration and not the other projects, Before the shoot I only met him twice, our first intro was simple - getting to know each other and he quickly familiarised me with the song. I was initially nervous about such a significant project, but the realisation that this was a unique opportunity to showcase my skills and share this incredible beauty with the world calmed me.
The camera language approach was really not that deep but how you amplify the cinematography is through the practice you follow, the music itself is so aggrited I just tried to maintain the camera language to match the music so there's a good rhythm between Audio and Video. I laid out some sketches before the shoot which helped me pre visualised the Flow of music video and did some blocking a day before on phone camera. Also I don't like to sound technical whenever people ask what camera was it shot on and etc. Id appreciate the fact people ask me about the experience and not the specs but I also understand not everyone wants to know your experience.
Coming from Indie film making scene where I have started my career by self shooting and editing most of my previous work with extremely low budget. And I am glad to see those days because that always helps till date to be quick and efficient on my choices with lighting and lenses. And some project really doesn't demand too much complications. And thats why I am always conscious on whats happening and ready to run and gun, but again this approach can only work in some cases. I was just being present on the set and took it as a documentary approach. I had camera on sticks tracking the riders on zoom & wide lenses, some rigging shot and drone to break the flow of the music and have a transition to the evening sequences and thats where the intensity of the video rises as well.
The aftermath of the music video was something that I didn't expect, we got love and respect from worldwide. I am glad it's not just the music but people have been praising the film for its visual. While filming the music video we really didnt expect.
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REVIEWS:
"The outrageous music video Big Dawgs is all the more powerful and frenetic thanks to the strong and steady cinematography of Abhinay Pandit. Without any VFX or CGI and with the judicious use of car mounts, cranes and drones plus just plain old dizzying 360 pans, Abhinay has taken a thrill ride as backdrop to the rapper and his smooth and serene delivery" - Mark Irwin C.S.C A.S.C
"The Big Dawgs piece is one of these music videos where subject, sound and image meet for the best, meaning serving the song. The overly energetic song resonates beautifully over the insane circus set up and amazing acrobatics. Everything is raw, dusty and fun! The camera seems to participate to the excitement by following the stunt people everywhere needed with no overly sophisticated camera moves but generous coverage" - Pascal A.F.C
