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Jitendra Bikram Shah
Our biggest limitation is the ‘client’s wish’. We do not make ads for the consumers and the market, but to please the clients. The concept of a target group rarely extends beyond paper and idle talk. When it comes to making ads, the agencies’
Jitendra Birkam Shah is a well known name in advertising circles - a post production whiz, he can weave magic out of run of the mill footage or bring life out of ordinary objects. He is the among the best in the lot, and yet this visualizer humbly says, “Everything I do has come to my by doing, through practice and learning.” Without a formal background in fine arts or advertising, he has probably done the best of post-productions in recent years in the Nepali advertising fraternity. He is also the winner of Best Art Director in last’s year’s Crity Advertising Awards.
"Quote Unquote"
How long have you been with the advertising industry?
I have been in the advertisement industry for 12 years. Professionally, I have been in this industry for eight years. Before that, I was a computer programmer.
How did you start?
While doing my Bachelors, I joined up for a computer course along with a few of my friends. That was a long time back, and all my friends chided me saying that it was a foolhardy choice and that there was no future at all as a computer professional. So, I went on to learn various software and languages like Pascal, dBase, Lotus, FORTRAN, WordPerfect, etc. After finishing the course, I worked as a dBase programmer for a few years. Then an uncle of my friend asked me to join him and start a computer institute. One day we got a page layout job for an INGO, and that was the start to my designing career. I started using PageMaker, which was very new then. Slowly, I started getting more and more designing jobs and I got better with experience. When a friend opened a small-scale advertising agency, I was invited to join him and so I was in. During those days, computers were not in vogue even among big advertising agencies, so one day, we got a chance to help out a big ad agency which had some design work from India done in India. The work had been done in CorelDraw, but they had no one here to do the modifications, so, I took up the challenge and somehow I could do the necessary modifications. When the College of Software Engineering started offering courses in 3D Studio Max, I joined in and started learning it. I also taught graphics in CSE later. I then joined Welcome Advertising Agency and worked with them till last year. I also won the Crity Award for Best Art Director under their banner. I have now moved out of Welcome ads and am free-lancing.
Do you plan to have your own company?
A friend and I do have an unnamed company. We don’t want to have an ad agency. I am not an entrepreneur. I am more the creative kind, and an advertising agency is not my cup of tea. We work for other advertising agency. We now work for 5-6 companies like Crayons, Ad Media, Welcome, Trikon, Prisma. We also work for Bhushan Dahal.
What are the major changes you have seen in Nepali computing field?
Till just a few years ago, ad agencies used to function with copy-paste art work. No computers needed, only artists. People with a knack for colour charts were all that was needed for functions like colour separation. All that has changed now due to computers. There were so many things that could not be done in Nepal and had to be taken to India, esp. post-production. But, it’s not the same anymore.
Do you get involved in the projects right from the start?
We get involved with some projects right from the start and a for a few, we just handle the post production. It is easier if we get involved since the shots and the footage get taken with the post production in mind. There are a few agencies that are reluctant to involve us fully fearing that we will take the work away from them, but we never do that.
What are the challenges before Nepali advertising?
The fraternity is not yet professional. We do not get work on the basis of our expertise but because of our connections. Everyone has wise words to give away, but when it comes to practicing it, its back to ‘you scratch my back, I scratch your back’. Advertising is all about teamwork, but that is sadly lacking. Rather than grow together, we are all busy preventing others from forging ahead.
What are the limitations that you face in your work?
Our biggest limitation is the ‘client’s wish’. We do not make ads for the consumers and the market, but to please the clients. The concept of a target group rarely extends beyond paper and idle talk. When it comes to making ads, the agencies’ and admakers’ hands are tied – you get to make what the clients want, and not what would be appropriate.
As it is said, the sky is the limit when it comes to creativity, but for us, the client’s point of view is our limit. Client’s idea is the limit. We slog from scratch and when the job is almost done, the client barges in with his ideas. They go through each frame and try making changes everywhere from font size to colours. By commissioning the work they feel that they have bought the expertise and the right to impose their will on our creative work. The clients do what they do only because the agencies do not take a stand. They are the experts and if they fail to convince the clients about their decisions and choices, what can we do but to comply.
Another limitation is the हामी नेपाली, हाम्रो काम पनि नेपाली (hami Nepali, haamro kaam pani Nepali) stance of the people. They refuse to accept the fact that good work does get done in Nepal. Take the Mama Chicken Cracker as for example. It is an excellent Nepali production, but people think it was done in India.
Then there are the people who think that the computer does the job and all we do is push a button here or there. They do not value the effort that goes into our work.
Could you name some of the projects that have been really satisfying.
We are satisfied with most of the work we have done. I particularly enjoyed working on the Dalima Soap ad with Sarita Lamichhane. We worked frame by frame in all her clothes. While shooting, the sunlight was gone and since we couldn’t afford another day, as you know how Nepali ad projects are. We shot in low-light and than digitally enhanced each frame to compensate for the low light. Lau Na Aba Ta Kehi Garau is another project, we were quite satisfied with. We did some morphing but people thought it was camera movement.
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