It's a wild world out there

"I see life through a rectangle", says Chennai-based Alphonse Roy, whose obsession for wildlife has been translated into films for National Geographic, Discovery and BBC channels. MALATHI RANGARAJAN talks to the cinematographer.

IF YOU are a wildlife lover, interacting with him for a couple of hours could leave you awe-struck. If you are the kind who has been apathetic to animals, wild or otherwise, it could wake you up to a whole new world of fascinating creatures. Meet Alphonse Roy, the Chennai-based wildlife cinematographer whose films you must have watched often on the National Geographic, Discovery or BBC channels.

Always on the move, Alphonse's penchant for photography dates back to his boyhood. "My father was a photographer for the Railways, and even from a very small age, he wanted me to start using the camera, which I did," he says. "But even at that stage, I had decided wildlife photography would be my line." And this was at a time when not many avenues were open for wildlife photography in India - the most prohibitive factor being the cost. "My love lies in wildlife," Alphonse declares.

The reason, he says, is the challenge the job poses. Here nothing can be rehearsed, planned or controlled. "You wait for hours on end for the animals and shoot them without even slightly disturbing them. At no point can you predict their behaviour or movement." As you listen enraptured, he goes on, "Even a slight rustle or smell could warn them and then you have to scoot with your film and equipment intact."

Roy is a good narrator. When he describes experiences, the punch, the climax or the anti-climax come with the right modulation and intonation. Such is the effect that you feel transported to the scene of action itself.

He could be telling you about his first film at the Guindy National Park with his father's Bolex 16mm handwound camera and two rolls of film, to shoot deer, drinking water. "There I was hiding, the film was rolling. The deer came, took two steps, nibbled at the grass, went near the pond, put its mouth on the water... and the film ran out." How much more picturesque can one get!

After the course at the Chennai film institute, Alphonse went to Delhi to check out the openings available for an avid wildlife buff like him. "I was lucky to meet wildlife sound recordist Nandakumar," he goes on. It was while working with Ashish Chandola, a wildlife film-maker, that Alphonse met Harry Marshall, another documentary and wildlife film-maker. "That's when I got to do 'The Lost Civilisation' - a ten-part series by Times Television." Alphonse Roy was the cameraman for the last part shot in Tibet. Next came "Living Edens", made for the prestigious PBS channel in the U.S., a non-commercial channel known for its quality programmes. This took him on a 12-week trek to Bhutan with Harry, Roy's assistant Devarajan, and the unit with 23 mules in tow.

Shooting uncontrolled specimens in uncontrolled conditions is not easy. "You need a hell of a lot of patience", he says. These film makers are well versed in jungle craft. They create a hide-out near a waterhole and wait endlessly for the animals to make an appearance. "Tiger cubs playing in the water with the mother and the father, a male tiger, playing with its cubs, considered the rarest of occurrences, are some of my favourite shots that have taken me hours to shoot", says Alphonse who has shot five films on tigers - a feat indeed. "You can't just finish your shots and call for pack-up. You have to stay put till the creatures decide to leave the place at their leisurely pace. It could take hours on end."

Sita, one of the most photographed tigers, and Bachchi, her daughter, have been closely followed and shot by Alphonse Roy. "Sita and Son" made for Partridge Films, is one of his favourites, he says.

What deters our producers from making wildlife films is the cost and time involved. After shooting for 60 minutes, what you could finally get is one minute of edited film. So making a one hour film takes at least a year and a half to complete.

Alphonse's life revolves round the camera. "I see life through a rectangle", he observes.

"It could get a bit too much", laughs Radha, his film-maker wife. "Even when he sits talking to you, he would say, 'Turn a little to the left, there's too much light on your face'. Why don't we lead a normal life, Alphonse, I tell him", Radha says in jest.

Alphonse asserts that the reason for our flora and fauna not being totally annihilated despite the population explosion is our religion that has taught us to worship Nature as God. When the crew went to shoot the elephants in Midnapur, in Madhya Pradesh recently, they heard about the animals going on a rampage at nights, destroying crops. With night vision cameras, they settled down for the animals to turn up. "They came and one in the herd seemed to sense alien presence and moved towards us. We were sitting in a gypsy van and shooting. Petrified by the animal's approach, Saravanakumar, a wildlife scientist who was behind the wheel, pressed the brakes and the brake lights came on - a clear give-away. The animal charged and everyone ran, including the boy holding the heavy battery light. Only that he threw it on my shoulder. For a cameraman, the most invaluable thing is the exposed film. I had to save it at any cost. With the elephant gunning for me, I ran through slush and mud - and I don't know swimming - till I reached a watery ditch... and as I felt my way through the dark, I touched something...it was Harry who was already hiding there."

Alphonse Roy is glad that despite the destruction, the elephants in Midnapur are not killed as they are considered sacred. Recognition in the form of Emmy Awards has also come Alphonse's way. "Within Reach" is the film that Roy has now begun work on. Made by Rory Kennedy, grand daughter of John F. Kennedy, it has AIDS as its subject.

Every project is a challenge and every day is event-filled for this young cinematographer from Chennai whose obsession for wildlife has taken him a long way.

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Amazing planners

Roy's camera does not ignore small creatures either. Shots of the diggerwasp are simply wonderful. It finds a hole to lay eggs. It then clasps a grasshopper, sedates it and drags it into the hole. Food is ready for the tiny insects that would come out after eggs hatch. The prey is not killed, mind you, because the 'food' has to be fresh till the eggs hatch.

For a rainy day

A woodspider has had his meal and is relaxing. A naive caterpillar crawls towards the web. The spider is in no mood to eat, but can't afford to let go the creature either. So he just spins a yarn, literally, round the creature, makes a bag with the caterpillar inside, hangs it from his web and moves away. That is packaged food folks, woodspider style!

Wildlife as a career

Why should everyone run to computers, asks Alphonse Roy. In wildlife, career options are plenty. Sound recording, medicine, cinematography, wildlife science, there are so many opportunities that the field offers.

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