Experience of watching the documentary film 'Nocturnes'
The Middle and Senior School students for the first time had the wonderful opportunity of
travelling together to the PVR for a special screening of a Documentary film the ‘Nocturnes ’
on theater screens.
The children were delighted to see the acclaimed director appear before the screening. He
shared insights into the research on moths in Arunachal Pradesh and the region’s rich
biodiversity, while encouraging students to observe not just the story but the process and
experience of filmmaking- how ideas evolve from research to screen.
During the follow-up workshop, Senior School students' who volunteered began with
self-introduction while sharing one thing they enjoyed about nature- “I like the restless
activity within nature and the transitions between seasons”, “I love listening to the ocean
tides crashing on the shore.”
The reflections on nature were interspersed with an immersive activity of focusing on audio
clips, closing their eyes to experience the sounds of the rainforests. This exercise helped
them understand how filmmakers use soundscapes to build atmosphere, evoke emotion,
and guide the viewer’s imagination highlighting key elements such as observation, sound
design, framing, and narrative building, emphasising that filmmaking is as much about
feeling and experiencing a subject as it is about documenting it. He also spoke about his
childhood in the Andamans and his effort to bring nature closer to urban children through
cinema.
For their projects, students selected trees on campus and approached them with a
filmmaker’s lens, thinking about mood, perspective, and the emotional experience they
wanted to create for their audience.
The projects ranged from short films to photobooks and stop-motion pieces. Impressed by
the depth of engagement and creativity, the film maker offered constructive feedback and
looks forward to reviewing their final work in July.