TECH/MOVIE SPECIAL...Movie Magic

Movie Magic 

From enhanced viewing experience to fighting piracy and taking the look and feel of movie making to a new paradigm, technology promises to cast a totally new spell on movie making

    It is the very essence of what dreams are made of - on celluloid. The Indian film industry has helped re-define entertainment for millions of Indians for almost a century now, says movie buff Vivek Abrol. “From the ‘silent talkie’ in black and white to digitally enhanced sound and visual effects in 3-D colour, the magic of movies has morphed into something quite unique,” he adds. From restoring old black and white movies in vibrant colour – Mughal- E-Azam is one such story, re-told in colour with stereophonic sound – to creating special effects which show animated characters interacting with real life actors in some ways, bridges ‘reel life’ and ‘real life’, says Abrol.
    Movies were always larger than life, says avid movie watcher Sangeet Kumar. “What technology has effectively done is bring the ‘larger than life’ aspect to a whole new dimension. In all this, the old seems to be giving way to the new - the movie watching experience has not just become more involved and real and yet larger than life, it is the venue which has changed too. Multiplexes are the new ‘temples’ of entertainment, the key aspect of this change - and these are also the reason why single-screen theatres are seen to be on the down-turn. The definitive difference is technology, which enhances the movie viewing experience.”
    Uday Singh of Motion Picture Dist. Association India says, "The movie experience, given the evolution of the internet and newer technologies such as the Cloud Computing, and emerging business models such as IPTV, VOD etc., is all set to further change user experience and access.” Movie watching promises to soon be an experience even better evolved, with enhanced experiences that make a world of a difference for the movie goer. “However,” he adds, “in light of the Government's digitisation plans to double internet connections from the current 120 mm, there is a need to build safe and robust networks with adequate technological protection measures that cover access controls, adequate digital rights management systems, copy controls and a ban on circumventing devices or hackers tools to protect the interest of the industry."
    Vivek Abrol concurs: as movie watching technology becomes enhanced with features and easier to view, it also brings in the problem of piracy and copyright. “Digitally enhanced mo vies are one thing, copyright infringement is an altogether different issue – one that impacts the industry. If someone who creates a work of art is not sure he will be able to safeguard it from ‘pirates’, and if his work will not give him returns on his investment, will he want to continue making films?”
    Technology not just brings in better experience for viewers, it also opens up avenues for pirates to grab, steal and run. Unlike the movies, where a happy ending is almost guaranteed, here it might not be the case,” says Abrol. “According to a report I read recently, more than 1,000 films are produced in a year in India, and over three billion film tickets are sold – this gives you some idea of the numbers involved,” says Abrol. And yet, with all its linked-issues and problems, Abrol says it was technology that brought the audience back to the movies – only, from the era of single movie screen theatres with large seating capacity, it brought audiences to smaller capacity multi-screen multiplexes.
    “Technology has been a boon as far as Indian cinema is concerned, and it is not just the change from days of black and white movies to films in the coloured era, or from days of silent films to ‘sync sound’ of present day. The change has also been from physical distribution of film reels at individual theatres to digital screening across multiple cinema screens. Technology has enhanced made the whole experience of cinema a 100-fold! It has brought the crowd back, to the silver screen, to the amazing experience of viewing the film in 3-D.”
    Prakash Dhoka is a businessman with a theatre hall in Rajgurunagar near Pune, one where he has tried to set up a multiplex – and is still looking at options. “Movies, as we knew it prior to the ‘80s and ‘90s, like most other industries, underwent a sea change over the past few years with the advent of digital technologies in India,” he says. “Digitization of Indian cinema has had an impact on all three aspects of a movie– be it pre-production, production or post-production – and yet, what has really changed, an aspect that got completely revolutionized with digitization, is the distribution aspect – it has increased the sheer reach of Indian Cinema,” he explains. Digitisation started off in Indian movies in 2005-2006, but the real momentum came in 2008-2009, with movies started taking the digital distribution route in a big way, say Prakash Dhoka. “A film like Singh is Kingg was released in 415 digital theatres, while Ghajini was released with the maximum number of prints in India - 1200 digital this basically ensured that the film made inroads to screens in small-town India, where films never used to get released on the same day as in Metro Cities – you can check out the ‘FICCI-KPMG Media & Entertainment Industry Report – 2009’,” he adds.
    From the business aspect, digitisation of movies effectively helps film producers to reach relevant audience and increase the number of prints without any additional cost, explains Sangeet Kumar.“It boils down to cost aspects, larger reach, reduces scope of piracy, quicker returns on investments and enabling distribution of small budget films. Beyond these aspects, digital distribution has also brought about some interesting benefits for filmmakers; now they can re-release old classics in multiplexes as an additional revenue stream. With cost effectiveness and increased focus on reducing piracy, digitization is definitely the way ahead for Indian Cinema,” says Sangeet Kumar. Vivek Abrol points out that a recent report suggested that out of 12,900 movie theatres in India, a little over 10 per cent were digital. By 2013, the FICCI-KPMG Media & Entertainment Industry Report – 2009 suggests, there might be around 5000-plus digital screens across India. This in turn, will lead to higher reach of films and higher realization of investments per film, thus bringing stability back to the movie making business. Digitisation will definitely increase the financial viability of movie making,” he adds.
    Thanks to technology, Indian films are now about creativity being mixed with technological advancements, says Prakash Dhoka. “Multiplexes and the audiences have changed the ways in which movies are marketed; the perception of cinema making has also undergone a change. Movies are now being made on hand held cameras, in video format, on 35mm and 16mm formats, increased use of spy cams, web cam and other concepts – these are ‘juicing up’ the production process and what emerges from it all is something innovative for the audiences. With internet having brought in a whole new dimension to the promotion and advertising of cinema, technology is all set to take movie making to the next dimension.”

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