UNIT 3:

SYLLABUS:

Unit-3. FILM: Nature, historical background, technical aspects of film production, film Industry in India, Status issues Problems, Regional Cinema, Future aspects, film language and grammar, FTII

FILM:

A film, also called a movie, motion picture or moving picture, is a work of visual art used to simulate experiences that communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound, and more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it.

Film, also called motion picture or movie, series of still photographs on film, projected in rapid succession onto a screen by means of light. Because of the optical phenomenon known as persistence of vision, this gives the illusion of actual, smooth, and continuous movement.

The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects.

Traditionally, films were recorded onto celluloid film stock through a photochemical process and then shown through a movie projector onto a large screen. Contemporary films are often fully digital through the entire process of production, distribution, and exhibition, while films recorded in a photochemical form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack (a graphic recording of the spoken words, music and other sounds that accompany the images which runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it, and is not projected).

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions through the use of dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into other languages.

The individual images that make up a film are called frames. In the projection of traditional celluloid films, a rotating shutter causes intervals of darkness as each frame, in turn, is moved into position to be projected, but the viewer does not notice the interruptions because of an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after its source disappears. The perception of motion is partly due to a psychological effect called the phi phenomenon.

The name "film" originates from the fact that photographic film (also called film stock) has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion-picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay, and flick. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Common terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the movies, and cinema; the last of these is commonly used, as an overarching term, in scholarly texts and critical essays.

Film is a remarkably effective medium in conveying drama and especially in the evocation of emotion. The art of motion pictures is exceedingly complex, requiring contributions from nearly all the other arts as well as countless technical skills (for example, in sound recording, photography, and optics). Emerging at the end of the 19th century, this new art form became one of the most popular and influential media of the 20th century and beyond.

As a commercial venture, offering fictional narratives to large audiences in theatres, film was quickly recognized as perhaps the first truly mass form of entertainment. Without losing its broad appeal, the medium also developed as a means of artistic expression in such areas as acting, directing, screenwriting, cinematography, costume and set design, and music.

Nature:

The question that dominated early philosophical inquiry into film was whether the cinema—a term that emphasizes the institutional structure within which films were produced, distributed, and viewed—could be regarded as an artform. There were two reasons why cinema did not seem worthy of the honorific designation of an art. The first was that early contexts for the exhibition of films included such venues as the vaudeville peep show and the circus side show. As a popular cultural form, film seemed to have a vulgarity that made it an unsuitable companion to theater, painting, opera, and the other fine arts. A second problem was that film seemed to borrow too much from other art forms. To many, early films seemed little more than recordings of either theatrical performances or everyday life. The rationale for the former was that they could be disseminated to a wider audience than that which could see a live performance. But film then only seems to be a means of access to art and not an independent art form on its own. The latter, on the other hand, seemed too direct a reproduction of life to qualify as art, for there seemed little mediation by any guiding consciousness.

In order to justify the claim that film deserves to be considered an independent art form, philosophers investigated the ontological structure of film. The hope was to develop a conception of film that made it clear that it differed in significant ways from the other fine arts. For this reason, the question of film's nature was a crucial one for theorists of film during what we might call the classic period.

Hugo Münsterberg, the first philosopher to write a monograph about the new art form, sought to distinguish film by means of the technical devices that it employed in presenting its narratives (Münsterberg 1916). Flashbacks, close-ups, and edits are some examples of the technical means that filmmakers employ to present their narratives that theater lacks. For Münsterberg, the use of these devices distinguished film from the theater as an artform.

Münsterberg went on to ask how viewers are able to understand the role that these technical devices play in the articulation of cinematic narratives. His answer is that these devices are all objectifications of mental processes. A close-up, for example, presents in visual form a correlate to the mental act of paying attention to something. Viewers naturally understand how such cinematic devices function because they are familiar with the workings of their own minds and can recognize these objectified mental functions when they see them. Although this aspect of Münsterberg's theory links him to contemporary cognitive philosophers of film, he does not explain how viewers know that what they are looking at are objectified mental functions.

Münsterberg was writing during the silent era. The development of the simultaneous sound track—the “talkie”—changed film forever. It is not surprising that this important innovation spawned interesting theoretical reflections.

The well-known psychologist of art, Rudolph Arnheim, made the surprising claim that the talkie represented a decline from the highpoint of silent cinema. (Arnheim 1957) Relying on the idea that, in order to be a unique artform, film had to be true to its own specific medium, Arnheim denigrates the sound film as a mixture of two distinct artistic media that do not constitute a satisfying whole.

For Arnheim, the silent film had achieved artistic status by focusing on its ability to present moving bodies. Indeed, for him, the artistic aspect of cinema consisted in its ability to present abstractions, an ability completely lost when films began to employ simultaneous soundtracks. Writing near the dawn of the talkie, Arnheim could only see what we now recognize as a natural development of the artform as a decline from a previously attained height.

André Bazin, though not a professional philosopher or even an academic, countered Arnheim's assessment in a series of articles that still exert an important influence on the field. (Bazin 1967; 1971) For Bazin, the important dichotomy is not that between the sound and the silent film but rather between films that focus on the image and those that emphasize reality. Although editing had emerged for many such as Sergei Eisenstein as the distinctive aspect of film, Bazin returns to the silent era to demonstrate the presence of an alternative means of achieving film art, namely an interest in allowing the camera to reveal the actual nature of the world. Relying on a conception of film as having a realist character because of its basis in photography, Bazin argues that the future of cinema as an artform depends on its development of this capacity to present the world to us “frozen in time.”

In making his argument, Bazin valorizes the film style he dubs realism, characterized by extended shots and deep focus. Jean Renoir, Orson Welles, and the Italian neo-Realists are the filmmakers whom Bazin sees as culminating this imagist tradition of filmmaking that has realized the true potential of the medium.

In his pathbreaking study of what he called “classical film theory,” Noël Carroll (1988) argued that there were many illicit presuppositions at play in the classical theorists' attempts to define film's nature. In particular, he accused them of confusing particular styles of filmmaking with more abstract claims about the nature of the medium itself. His accusations seemed to spell the end of such attempts to justify film styles by their grounding in the medium's nature.

Recently, however, Bazin's claim about film's realism has received new life, albeit without the extravagances of Bazin's own writing. Kendall Walton, in an extremely influential paper (1984), argued that film, because of its basis in photography, was a realistic medium that allowed viewers to actually see the objects that appear on screen. The transparency thesis has been the subject of a great deal of debate among philosophers and aestheticians. Gregory Currie, for example, rejects the transparency thesis while still defending a form of realism. He argues that film's realism is the result of the fact that objects depicted on screen trigger the same recognitional capacities that are used to identify real objects.

The discussion of the realist character of film continues to be a topic of heated debate among philosophers of film. Most recently, the emergence of digital technologies for fashioning the image raise very basic questions about the plausibility of this view.

Historical background:

History of World Cinema:

The history of world movies goes back to the end of the 1800’s. No one person invented cinema. However, in 1891 the Edison Company successfully demonstrated a prototype of the Kinetoscope, which enabled one person at a time to view moving pictures. The first public Kinetoscope demonstration took place in 1893. By 1894 the Kinetoscope was a commercial success, with public parlours established around the world. It is now more than 200 years that the world of cinema has had the chance to develop through many experiments and innovations. Technology has been one of the major contributing factors to the development of world cinema. From the very start of world cinema the hearts of millions have been captured by its magic.

The world cinema journey began in silence. Movies were created without sound as the technology of sound was not available at the beginning. A device did not exist that could synchronise sound with the picture. Cinema remained silent for the first thirty years until sound technology was developed late in the 1920’s.

The world of cinema was quite unorganized in the first ten years of its life although gradually over a short time the industry established itself. Movies that contained one shot and produced by just one person began to be taken over by movies that were a few minutes long, had various scenes and were produced by larger companies with professional methods.

Probably the most successful movie making company was in the USA. They had the largest production group until 1900. This company produced a lot of peep show kind of movies which was done with the help of a machine called Mutoscope. France was the next country to show its caliber in the world cinema field. France was home to one of the first companies to shoot scenes for a movie outside of the studio and they also sent cameramen to shoot films all over the world. The biggest producer in France was Georges Meilies who started to use trick effects in 1898.

The first camera used in movies were tied or fixed to a tripod. All the early movie cameras were completely fixed whilst taking film shots. Camera movements were done by mounting the movie camera onto a moving vehicle.

The history of world cinema has undergone a long course of research, creation and application of new techniques. Numerous methods have been tested and applied to give film making a place in the finest of performing arts across the globe.

History of Indian Cinema:

Silent films (1890s–1920s)

In 1897, a film presentation by Professor Stevenson featured a stage show at Calcutta's Star Theatre. With Stevenson's encouragement and camera Hiralal Sen, an Indian photographer, made a film of scenes from that show, namely The Flower of Persia (1898). The Wrestlers (1899) by H. S. Bhatavdekar, showing a wrestling match at the Hanging Gardens in Bombay, was the first film to be shot by an Indian and the first Indian documentary film.

 

The first Indian film released in India was Shree Pundalik, a silent film in Marathi by Dadasaheb Torne on 18 May 1912 at Coronation Cinematograph, Bombay. Some have argued that Pundalik was not the first Indian film, because it was a photographic recording of a play, and because the cameraman was a British man named Johnson and the film was processed in London.

The second full-length motion picture in India was produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, Phalke is seen as the pioneer of the Indian film industry and a scholar of India's languages and culture. He employed elements from Sanskrit epics to produce his Raja Harishchandra (1913), a silent film in Marathi. The female characters in the film were played by male actors. Only one print of the film was made, for showing at the Coronation Cinematograph on 3 May 1913. It was a commercial success. The first silent film in Tamil, Keechaka Vadham was made by R. Nataraja Mudaliar in 1916.

The first chain of Indian cinemas, Madan Theatre was owned by Parsi entrepreneur Jamshedji Framji Madan, who oversaw production of 10 films annually and distributed them throughout India beginning in 1902. Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu from Machilipatnam was an Indian artist and a film pioneer. From 1909, he was involved in many aspects of Indian cinema, travelling across Asia. He was the first to build and own cinemas in Madras. In 1927, the British Government, to promote the market in India for British films over American ones, formed the Indian Cinematograph Enquiry Committee.

Talkies (1930s–mid-1940s)

Ardeshir Irani released Alam Ara, the first Indian talkie, on 14 March 1931. Irani later produced the first south Indian talkie film Kalidas directed by H. M. Reddy released on 31 October 1931. Jumai Shasthi was the first Bengali talkie. Chittor V. Nagaiah, was one of the first multilingual film actor/singer/composer/producer/directors in India. He was known as India's Paul Muni.

In 1933, East India Film Company produced its first Telugu film, Savitri. Based on a stage play by Mylavaram Bala Bharathi Samajam, the film was directed by C. Pullaiah with stage actors Vemuri Gaggaiah and Dasari Ramathilakam. The film received an honorary diploma at the 2nd Venice International Film Festival. On 10 March 1935, another pioneer film maker Jyoti Prasad Agarwala made his first film Joymoti in Assamese. Jyoti Prasad went to Berlin to learn more about films. Indramalati is another film he himself produced and directed after Joymoti. The first film studio in South India, Durga Cinetone was built in 1936 by Nidamarthi Surayya in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh.

Swamikannu Vincent, who had built the first cinema of South India in Coimbatore, introduced the concept of "Tent Cinema" in which a tent was erected on a stretch of open land to screen films. The first of its kind was in Madras, called Edison's Grand Cinemamegaphone.

The Indian Masala film—a term used for mixed-genre films that combined song, dance, romance etc.—arose following World War II. During the 1940s cinema in South India accounted for nearly half of India's cinema halls and cinema came to be viewed as an instrument of cultural revival.

Golden Age (late 1940s–1960s)

The period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s is regarded by film historians as the Golden Age of Indian cinema.

his period saw the emergence of the Parallel Cinema movement, mainly led by Bengalis, which then accounted for a quarter of India's film output. The movement emphasised social realism. Early examples include Dharti Ke Lal (1946, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas), Neecha Nagar (1946, Chetan Anand), Nagarik (1952, Ritwik Ghatak) and Do Bigha Zamin (1953, Bimal Roy), laying the foundations for Indian neorealism and the Indian New Wave.

The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959, Satyajit Ray) won major prizes at all the major international film festivals and firmly established the Parallel Cinema movement. Pather Panchali (1955), the first part of the trilogy, marked Ray's entry in Indian cinema. The trilogy's influence on world cinema can be felt in the "youthful coming-of-age dramas that flooded art houses since the mid-fifties", which "owe a tremendous debt to the Apu trilogy".

Commercial Hindi cinema began thriving, including acclaimed films Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959, Guru Dutt) Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955, Raj Kapoor). These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class urban life in India; Awaara presented the city as both a nightmare and a dream, while Pyaasa critiqued the unreality of city life.

Epic film Mother India (1957, Mehboob Khan), a remake of his earlier Aurat (1940), was the first Indian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Multiple films from this era are included among the greatest films of all time in various critics' and directors' polls.

Birth of a New Era

The number of films being produced saw a brief decline during the World War II. Basically, the birth of modern Indian Film industry took place around 1947. The period witnessed a remarkable and outstanding transformation of the film industry. Notable filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, and Bimal Roy made movies which focused on the survival and daily miseries of the lower class. The historical and mythological subjects took a back seat and the films with social messages began to dominate the industry. These films were based on themes such as prostitution,

In the 1960s new directors like Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, and others focused on the real problems of the common man. They directed some outstanding movies which enabled the Indian film industry to carve a niche in the International film scenario.

Songs are an integral part of Indian movies. Presence of songs has given Indian films a distinctive look as compared to international films. The Indian film industry has produced many talented lyricists, music directors and artists.

Bollywood – The Pioneer of Masala Movies

The 1970s saw the advent of Masala movies in Bollywood. The audiences were captivated and mesmerised by the aura of actors like Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, and many others.

The most prominent and successful director, Manmohan Desai was considered by several people as the father of Masala movies. According to Manmohan Desai, “I want people to forget their misery. I want to take them into a dream world where there is no poverty, where there are no beggars, where fate is kind and god is busy looking after its flock.”

Sholay, the groundbreaking film directed by Ramesh Sippy, not only got international accolades but also made Amitabh Bachchan a ‘Superstar’. Several women directors like Meera Nair, Aparna Sen and others showcased their talents in the 1980s. How can we forget the extraordinary and splendid performance of Rekha in the film Umrao Jaan in 1981?

The 1990s saw a whole new batch of actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla, Chiranjivi, and many more. This new genre of actors used new techniques to enhance their performances which further elevated and upgraded the Indian Film Industry. 2008 was a notable year for the Indian film industry as A.R. Rahman received two academy awards for best soundtrack for Slumdog Millionaire.

Indian cinema is no longer restricted to India and is now being well appreciated by international audiences. The contribution of the overseas market in Bollywood box office collections is quite remarkable. Around 30 film production companies were listed in National Stock Exchange of India in 2013. The multiplexes too have boomed in India due to tax incentives.

Indian cinema has become a part and parcel of our daily life whether it is a regional or a Bollywood movie. It has a major role to play in our society. Though entertainment is the key word of Indian cinema it has far more responsibility as it impacts the mind of the audiences.

Technical Aspects of Film Making:

Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a film is made. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages including an initial story, idea, or commission, through screenwriting, casting, shooting, sound recording and pre-production, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a film release and an exhibition. Filmmaking takes place in many places around the world in a range of economic, social, and political contexts, and using a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques.

Stages of Production:

Filmmaking consists of five major steps:

Development:

This stage has both general and specific components. Every year, each Film Studio has a retreat in which their top Creative Executives meet and discuss a variety of areas and subject matters they wish to explore through collaborations with Producers and Screenwriters and then ultimately Directors and Actors/Actresses. They choose trending topics from the media and real life, as well as many other sources to determine their yearly agenda. In a year when Action is a hot topic they may wish to explore that area in a movie. At times, they purchased the rights to articles, bestselling novels, plays, remaking older films, stories with some basis in real life through a person or event, a video game, fairy tale, comic book, graphic novel.

Studios do take general meetings from Producers and Screenwriters about original story ideas. Once a producer and or a writer has sold their approach to the desired subject matter, they begin to work. However, many writers, producers and years usually pass before a particular concept is realized in a way that is awarded a "Green Light ' to production. Writers have different styles and creative processes; some have stronger track records than others. So how the development process proceeds from there and how much detail a writer returns to the studio to divulge before beginning writing can vary greatly. Next, a screenwriter writes a screenplay over a period of several months, or however long it takes. Deadlines are in their contracts but there is no pressure to adhere to them. The screenwriter may rewrite the script several times to improve dramatization, clarity, structure, characters, dialogue, and overall style.

Script Coverage, a freelance job held by recent University graduates, does not feed scripts into the system that are ready for production nor already produced. "Coverage" is a way for young screenwriters to be read and their ideas might make their way up to an executive or famous producer and result in "Meet and Greets" where relations with up and comers can be formed.

The studio is the film distributor who at an early stage attempts to choose a slate of concepts that are likely to have market appeal and find potential financial success. Hollywood distributors consider factors such as the film genre, the target audience and assumed audience, the historical success of similar films, the actors who might appear in the film, and potential directors. All these factors imply a certain appeal of the film to a possible audience. Once a screenplay is "Green Lit" directors and actors are attached and the film proceeds into the pre-production stage. Although; very often the Development stage and the Pre-Production stage overlap.

Pre-Production:

In pre-production, every step of actually creating the film is carefully designed and planned. This is the phase where one would narrow down all the options of the production. It is where all the planning takes place before the camera rolls and sets the overall vision of the project. The production company is created and a production office established. The film is pre-visualized by the director and may be storyboarded with the help of illustrators and concept artists. A production budget is drawn up to plan expenditures for the film. For major productions, insurance is procured to protect against accidents. Pre-production also includes working out the shoot location and casting process. The Producer hires a Line Manager or a Production Manager to create the schedule and budget for the film.

The nature of the film, and the budget, determine the size and type of crew used during filmmaking. Many Hollywood blockbusters employ a cast and crew of hundreds, while a low-budget, independent film may be made by a skeleton crew of eight or nine (or fewer). These are typical crew positions:

Storyboard artist: creates visual images to help the director and production designer communicate their ideas to the production team.

Director: is primarily responsible for the storytelling, creative decisions and acting of the film.

Assistant director (AD): manages the shooting schedule and logistics of the production, among other tasks. There are several types of AD, each with different responsibilities.

Film producer: hires the film's crew.

Unit production manager: manages the production budget and production schedule. They also report, on behalf of the production office, to the studio executives or financiers of the film.

Location manager: finds and manages film locations. Nearly all pictures feature segments that are shot in the controllable environment of a studio sound stage, while outdoor sequences call for filming on location.

Production designer: the one who creates the visual conception of the film, working with the art director, who manages the art department which makes production sets.[2]

Costume designer: creates the clothing for the characters in the film working closely with the actors, as well as other departments.

Makeup and hair designer: works closely with the costume designer in order to create a certain look for a character.

Casting director: finds actors to fill the parts in the script. This normally requires that actor’s part-take in an audition, either live in front of the casting director or in front of a camera, or multiple cameras.

Choreographer: creates and coordinates the movement and dance – typically for musicals. Some films also credit a fight choreographer.

Director of photography (DOP): the head of the photography of the entire film, supervises all cinematographers and Camera Operators.

Production sound mixer: the head of the sound department during the production stage of filmmaking. They record and mix the audio on set – dialogue, presence and sound effects in mono and ambience in stereo.[3][4] They work with the boom operator, Director, DA, DP, and First AD.

Sound designer: creates the aural conception of the film,[2] working with the supervising sound editor. On Bollywood-style Indian productions the sound designer plays the role of a director of audiography.

Composer: creates new music for the film. (usually not until post-production)

Production:

In production, the film is created and shot. In this phase it is key to keep planning ahead of the daily shoot. The primary aim is to stick to the budget and schedule, this requires constant vigilance. More crew will be recruited at this stage, such as the property master, script supervisor, assistant directors, stills photographer, picture editor, and sound editors. These are just the most common roles in filmmaking; the production office will be free to create any unique blend of roles to suit the various responsibilities possible during the production of a film. Communication is key between the location, set, office, production company, distributors and all other parties involved.

A typical day shooting begins with the crew arriving on the set/location by their call time. Actors usually have their own separate call times. Since set construction, dressing and lighting can take many hours or even days, they are often set up in advance.

The grip, electric and production design crews are typically a step ahead of the camera and sound departments: for efficiency's sake, while a scene is being filmed, they are already preparing the next one.

While the crew prepares their equipment, the actors do their costumes and attend the hair and make-up departments. The actors rehearse the script and blocking with the director, and the camera and sound crews rehearse with them and make final tweaks. Finally, the action is shot in as many takes as the director wishes.

The assistant director (AD) calls "picture is up!" to inform everyone that a take is about to be recorded, and then "quiet, everyone!" Once everyone is ready to shoot, the AD calls "roll sound" (if the take involves sound), and the production sound mixer will start their equipment, record a verbal slate of the take's information, and announce "sound speed", or just "speed", when they are ready. The AD follows with "roll camera", answered by "speed!" by the camera operator once the camera is recording. The clapper, who is already in front of the camera with the clapperboard, calls "marker!" and slaps it shut. If the take involves extras or background action, the AD will cue them ("action background!"), and last is the director, telling the actors "action!". The AD may echo "action" louder on large sets.

A take is over when the director calls "Cut!" and the camera and sound stop recording. The script supervisor will note any continuity issues, and the sound and camera teams log technical notes for the take on their respective report sheets. If the director decides additional takes are required, the whole process repeats. Once satisfied, the crew moves on to the next camera angle or "setup," until the whole scene is "covered." When shooting is finished for the scene, the assistant director declares a "wrap" or "moving on," and the crew will "strike," or dismantle, the set for that scene.

At the end of the day, the director approves the next day's shooting schedule and a daily progress report is sent to the production office. This includes the report sheets from continuity, sound, and camera teams. Call sheets are distributed to the cast and crew to tell them when and where to turn up the next shooting day. Later on, the director, producer, other department heads, and, sometimes, the cast, may gather to watch that day or yesterday's footage, called dailies, and review their work.

With workdays often lasting 14 or 18 hours in remote locations, film production tends to create a team spirit. When the entire film is "in the can", or in the completion of the production phase, it is customary for the production office to arrange a wrap party, to thank all the cast and crew for their efforts.

For the production phase on live-action films, synchronizing work schedules of key cast and crew members is very important, since for many scenes, several cast members and most of the crew, must be physically present at the same place at the same time (and bankable stars may need to rush from one project to another). Animated films have different workflow at the production phase, in that voice actors can record their takes in the recording studio at different times and may not see one another until the film's premiere, while most physical live-action tasks are either unnecessary or are simulated by various types of animators.

Post Production:

This stage starts when principal film production ends, but they may overlap. The bulk of post-production consists of reviewing the footage and assembling the movie and taking it to the next step that is editing. Here the video/film is assembled by the film editor. The shot film material is edited. The production sound (dialogue) is also edited; music tracks and songs are composed and recorded if a film is sought to have a score; sound effects are designed and recorded. Any computer-graphic visual effects are digitally added by an artist. Finally, all sound elements are mixed into "stems", which are then married to the picture, and the film is fully completed.

Without the film post production process, there is no finished product—you simply have raw footage that may or may not tell the story you want to tell. In fact, raw footage is often not shot in the order it is meant to be presented in, but rather, the order that was most efficient for the actors, location, and other factors. Presenting unedited footage likely wouldn’t make sense, let alone tell a compelling story.

Every element of postproduction works to enhance the overall story of the film. Background music, for example, sets the mood and tone of the piece—which is further enhanced by color grading. With skillful editing, a movie or video can reach its full potential.

Post-production consists of many different processes grouped under one name. These typically include:

◊When content is shot on film it is typically transferred to video, DPX, or Open EXR with a telecine or a more modern motion picture film scanner.

◊Editing the content of the film or television program.

◊Writing, (re)recording, and editing the soundtrack.

◊Adding visual effects – mainly computer-generated imagery (CGI) which is then composited into the frame.

◊Sound design, sound effects, ADR, foley, and music, culminating in a process known as sound re-recording or mixing with professional audio equipment.

◊Stereoscopic 3D conversion in the case of content that was shot in 2D which is scheduled to have a 3D release

◊Color grading (and color correction) in a color suite.

The post-production phase of creating a film usually takes longer than the actual shooting of the film and can take several months to complete because it includes the complete editing, color correction, and the addition of music and sound. The process of editing a movie is also seen as the second directing because through post-production it is possible to change the intention of the movie.

Distribution:

This is the last stage, where the film is released to cinemas or, occasionally, directly to consumer media (VHS, VCD, DVD, Blu-ray) or direct download from a digital media provider. The film is duplicated as required (either onto film or hard disk drives) and distributed to cinemas for exhibition (screening). Press kits, posters, and other advertising materials are published, and the film is advertised and promoted. A B-roll clip may be released to the press based on raw footage shot for a "making of" documentary, which may include making-of clips as well as on-set interviews. Separate from those of the production company or distributor. For major films, key personnel are often contractually required to participate in promotional tours in which they appear at premieres and festivals and sit for interviews with many TV, print, and online journalists. The largest productions may require more than one promotional tour, in order to rejuvenate audience’s demand at each release window.

Since the advent of home video in the early 1980s, most major films have followed a pattern of having several distinct release windows. A film may first be released to a few select cinemas, or if it tests well enough, may go directly into wide release. Next, it is released, normally at different times several weeks (or months) apart, into different market segments like rental, retail, pay-per-view, in-flight entertainment, cable, satellite, or free-to-air broadcast television. The distribution rights for the film are also usually sold for worldwide distribution. The distributor and the production company share profits and manage losses.

Film Industry in India

Hindi cinema, often known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is the Indian Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The term is a portmanteau of "Bombay" and "Hollywood". The industry is related to Cinema of South India and other Indian film industries, making up Indian cinema—the world's largest by number of feature films produced.

In 2017, Indian cinema produced 1,986 feature films, with Bollywood as its largest filmmaker, producing 364 Hindi films the same year. Bollywood represents 43 percent of Indian net box-office revenue; Tamil and Telugu cinema represent 36 percent, and the remaining regional cinema constituted 21 percent in 2014. Bollywood is one of the largest centers of film production in the world. In 2001 ticket sales, Indian cinema (including Bollywood) reportedly sold an estimated 3.6 billion tickets worldwide, compared to Hollywood's 2.6 billion tickets sold. Bollywood films tend to use vernacular Hindustani, mutually intelligible by people who self-identify as speaking either Hindi or Urdu, and modern Bollywood movies increasingly incorporate elements of Hinglish.

The most popular commercial genre in Bollywood since the 1970s has been the masala film, which freely mixes different genres including action, comedy, romance, drama and melodrama along with musical numbers. Masala films generally fall under the musical film genre, of which Indian cinema has been the largest producer since the 1960s when it exceeded the American film industry's total musical output after musical films declined in the West; the first Indian musical talkie was Alam Ara (1931), several years after the first Hollywood musical talkie The Jazz Singer (1927). Alongside commercial masala films, a distinctive genre of art films known as parallel cinema has also existed, presenting realistic content and avoidance of musical numbers. In more recent years, the distinction between commercial masala and parallel cinema has been gradually blurring, with an increasing number of mainstream films adopting the conventions which were once strictly associated with parallel cinema.

(Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, was a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema.

Inspired by Italian Neorealism, Parallel Cinema began just before the French New Wave and Japanese New Wave, and was a precursor to the Indian New Wave of the 1960s. The movement was initially led by Bengali cinema and produced internationally acclaimed filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha and others. It later gained prominence in other film industries of India.

It is known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, symbolic elements with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times, and for the rejection of inserted dance-and-song routines that are typical of mainstream Indian films.)

Collectively, India has been on a consistent growth curve with the number of feature films produced and distributed in a year, making it one of the largest industries for cinema worldwide. Indian movie-goers throng cinema halls, be it the modernized multiplexes or the old-school single screen theaters. The steady rise of streaming platforms has made this consumption easier to access. Although the numbers have started to dwindle down over the years, the country still houses many single screen theatres. This also makes the Indian cinema lover an ideal target for advertisers.

In addition to advertising, music in Indian film is a significant revenue generator, often creating more buzz about the film than its trailers. Music distributors like T-Series and Zee Music found success in recent years via YouTube, making Indian music rank high in terms of views and subscriptions. The popularity of these songs has led to playback singers being revered and becoming some of the highest earners in the business. Arguably, the most popular was Grammy-award winning A.R. Rahman.

Status Issues Problems:

In the Indian film industry, prevalent ownership patterns encompass various structures, each with its own status, issues, and problems.

1. Conglomerate Ownership Pattern:

Conglomerates in the Indian film industry are large companies that own multiple businesses across different sectors. These conglomerates often have a significant presence in the entertainment industry, including film production and distribution. Examples include Reliance Entertainment and the Aditya Birla Group. These conglomerates benefit from diversification, allowing them to spread risk across different industries. However, issues such as lack of focus on film content quality due to diverse interests and potential conflicts of interest may arise.

2. **Company Ownership Pattern:**

Companies in the Indian film industry may include production houses, distribution companies, and studios. These companies typically own the rights to films and are involved in their production, marketing, and distribution. For example, Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions are prominent film production companies in India. While company ownership allows for focused operations and brand building, challenges such as high competition, piracy, and distribution issues may impact profitability.

3. **Trust Ownership Pattern:**

Trusts in the Indian film industry may be established to manage film-related assets and operations for the benefit of beneficiaries. These trusts may include film production trusts, cultural trusts, or charitable trusts. An example is the Film Heritage Foundation, which works to preserve and restore India's film heritage. While trust ownership may promote cultural preservation and community benefits, funding constraints and governance issues may pose challenges.

Status:

The status of ownership patterns in the Indian film industry reflects a diverse landscape, with conglomerates, companies, and trusts coexisting to varying extents. Conglomerates wield considerable influence due to their diversified operations and financial strength. Production houses and studios hold significant status within the industry, often associated with successful films and star talent. Trusts play a vital role in preserving cultural heritage but may have limited resources and visibility compared to commercial entities.

Issues and Problems:

Despite the diversity of ownership patterns, several common issues and problems persist in the Indian film industry: - Lack of Transparency: Ownership structures and financial dealings may lack transparency, leading to concerns about accountability and fair practices. - Nepotism and Insider Networks: Some ownership patterns may perpetuate nepotism and favoritism, limiting opportunities for newcomers and diversity within the industry. - Piracy and Copyright Infringement: The prevalence of piracy poses a significant threat to the revenue of film producers and distributors, affecting profitability and sustainability. - Distribution Challenges: Distribution networks and practices in India face challenges such as regional disparities, infrastructure limitations, and competition from digital platforms. - Content Quality and Creativity: Commercial pressures and market demands may prioritize formulaic content over creative innovation, impacting the quality and diversity of films produced. Overall, while prevalent ownership patterns in the Indian film industry offer opportunities for growth and development, addressing key issues and challenges is essential to ensure the industry's long-term sustainability and cultural vitality.

Regional Cinema:

India is home to one of the largest film industries in the world. Every year thousands of movies are produced in India. Indian film industry comprises of Hindi films, regional movies and art cinema. The Indian film industry is supported mainly by a vast film-going Indian public, though Indian films have been gaining increasing popularity in the rest of the world, especially in countries with large numbers of emigrant Indians.

India is a large country where many languages are spoken. Many of the larger languages support their own film industry. Some of the popular regional film industries in India are Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi. The Hindi/Urdu film industry, based in Mumbai, formerly Bombay, is called Bollywood. Similar neologisms have been coined for the Tamil film industry Kollywood and the Telugu film industry. Tollygunge is metonym for the Bengali film industry, long centered in the Tollygunge district of Kolkata. The Bengali language industry is notable as having nurtured the director Satyajit Ray, an internationally renowned filmmaker and a winner of many awards.

Kannada film Samskara (1970), Pattabhirama Reddy and Singeetam Srinivasa Rao), pioneered the parallel cinema movement in south Indian cinema. The film won Bronze Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival.

Malayalam cinema experienced its own Golden Age in the 1980s and early 1990s. Acclaimed Malayalam film makers industry, included Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravindan, T. V. Chandran and Shaji N. Karun. Vanaprastham was screened at the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. Commercial Malayalam cinema began gaining popularity with the action films of Jayan, a popular stunt actor the first ever action-adventure superstar of South Indian Cinema who died while filming a helicopter stunt.

Telugu cinema has a history of producing internationally noted fantasy and mythological films such as the 1933 film Savitri having received an honorary diploma at the 2nd Venice International Film Festival, as well as works such as Nartanasala, Mayabazar, and the Baahubali series having won the American Saturn Award for Best International Film. Daasi and Matti Manushulu (directed by B. Narsing Rao) won the Diploma of Merit award at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1989 and 1991 respectively. Swati Mutyam was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1986. The film was screened at the Moscow Film Festival, the Asian and African film festival in Tashkent, the 11th International Film Festival of India in the inaugural mainstream section, and the Asia-Pacific Film Festival where it won awards for "Best Film" and "Best Actor" categories.

Salim–Javed were highly influential in South Indian cinema. In addition to writing two Kannada films, many of their Bollywood films had remakes produced in other regions, including Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam cinema. While the Bollywood directors and producers held the rights to their films in Northern India, Salim-Javed retained the rights in South India, where they sold remake rights, usually for around ₹1 lakh (equivalent to ₹31 lakh or US$ 43,000 in 2019) each, for films such as Zanjeer, Yaadon Ki Baarat and Don. Several of these remakes became breakthroughs for Rajinikanth, who portrayed Bachchan's role for several Tamil remakes.

By 1996, the Indian film industry had an estimated domestic cinema viewership of 600 million viewers, establishing India as one of the largest film markets, with the largest regional industries being Hindi and Telugu films. In 2001, in terms of ticket sales, Indian cinema sold an estimated 3.6 billion tickets annually across the globe, compared to Hollywood's 2.6 billion tickets sold.

Future Aspects of Cinema:

For decades virtual reality (VR) has been prophesied as the future of filmmaking, capable of offering experiences infinitely more immersive than traditional cinema and television. In an essay written in 1955, titled The Cinema of the Future, the cinematographer Morton Heilig predicted that filmmaking would advance to the point where it can “reveal the new scientific world to man in the full sensual vividness and dynamic vitality of his consciousness.” Heilig outlined many of the properties of virtual reality – but didn’t use those words, given they hadn’t been coined yet.

Now, as the saying goes, the future has arrived – though filmmaking has a long way to go before it incorporates the mind-bending technology popularized in movies and TV shows such as The Lawnmower Man and Star Trek. With many filmmakers having swapped traditional cameras for 360 cameras (that capture views from all angles), the current moment is comparable to the intensely experimental early years of motion pictures during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

In short: we are in the early stages of a new filmmaking revolution. An array of rapidly developing technologies offer thrilling potential for the future of motion pictures – such as the rise of AR (augmented reality), AI (artificial intelligence) and the ever-increasing capacity for computers to power detailed digital worlds.

But COVID-19 has done something two world wars were not able to achieve. It closed cinemas. But to borrow from Mark Twain, reports of the death of cinema have always been greatly exaggerated. First it was television, then home video, then computer games, interactive movies, downloading and virtual reality that spelled the end of the big screen.

There will always be people who want to get out of the house (a desire made more keen by COVID lockdown), buy popcorn and experience the communal magic of the picture palace. Still, that doesn’t mean the new normal will look like the old one. There are three probable scenarios:

Scenario 1: more ‘day-and-date’ new releases to stream at home

The previous “cinema-killers” didn’t finish off the industry, in part because it has a history of reacting well to threats. When television arrived, it was small and black-and-white, so feature films became all-colour and cinemascope. When torrenting (largely illegal downloading) emerged, cinema responded with the return of 3D — and now 4DX.

Cinemas do not have bottomless pits of money to support their platforms. Most of the battles pre-COVID were concerned with “windows”: the period of time between a cinema and home release. Currently in the US, it’s 70 days.

COVID has changed all that, as the recent deal between Universal and American Multi-Cinema demonstrates. In July, a historic deal saw the 70-day window cut to just 17 days with the companies agreeing an undisclosed profit-sharing deal.

So, we’ll see short windows or “day-and-date” releases (meaning audiences can see a film at home the same day as in the cinemas) for most new films. You’ll likely be able to see a new release online or on a streaming service on opening day, just with a large premium compared to the cinema ticket price.

 

Scenario 2: a studio system with some new (familiar) owners

In this take, cinema chains can’t make it work financially, and begin to close venues. Regional areas will certainly be affected, potentially less so in cities. But even if the big chains fail, it is highly possible they will be bought out by those disruptive streamers. Indeed, Netflix bought its first cinema in 2019.

This could see a return to the old studio system of vertical integration, where production, distribution and exhibition is owned by one company. Theatres then run at cost or as “loss leaders” where new material can be showcased with the profits coming largely from home sales and merchandising.

Scenario 3: just like old times

In this scenario, film exhibitors survive the massive financial hit from the loss of attendance and production and, once pandemic restrictions are lifted, it’s business as usual.

Business is even better than before, due to a glut of high-end product hitting the screen and a highly motivated audience. Unfortunately, this third scenario is highly unlikely.

Film Language and Grammar

Film and video programs are efforts at communicating and just like speaking English, tapping out Morse code, or waving semaphores, there is a whole language that can be learned including words, phrases, grammar, punctuation, rules, and common practices. And like any other language, the more thoroughly you master it, the more effectively you can communicate.

While the writer conceives the story, and the director realizes it, it is you, the editor who is the storyteller; given the task of organizing the thoughts and ideas and transmitting the intended message to the audience.

Communication is both an art and a craft. Part inspiration and part perspiration. Effective editing requires both aspects, and while you can't necessarily be taught the art of eloquence, you can study and practice the rules of the language, and hone your craft so you can edit quicker, more efficiently, and communicate more effectively because of it.

Camera Work

Just as words are the building blocks of a written language, individual shots are the building blocks of the film language. And different shots can be thought of as different parts of speech, serving different purposes and answering different questions.

 

You are undoubtedly very familiar with the questions: who, what, where, when, why and how. These questions are deeply ingrained in all of our brains because we are constantly asking them-consciously or unconsciously-about everything we see and do in the world. The answers to those questions are precisely the elements our brains use to make sense of the world. And coincidentally, the are the basic components of story.

Who

In the film language, the who question is typically answered with the close-up (CU). The primary point of focus in any close-up is the subject's face. This framing typically mimics the experience of what you would see in real life if you were conversing with a person. A close-up is an intimate portrait of someone, more intimate than you would ever get with a stranger. This is part of why fans inherently feel as though they "know" famous actors

What

If you want to communicate what is going on, you probably need to show a subject performing an activity, and typically, this is conveyed in a medium shot (MS). To clarify, dramatic events are broken down into hundreds of discrete actions that can be described by active verbs (to lift, to threaten, to save, to give, to arrest, and so on.) While sometimes such actions might be subtle and internal enough to be conveyed in a CU, or complex enough to require a sequence of shots, very often the MS provides enough distance from the subject's eyes to move the focus off of their identity, but is still close enough to emphasize what it is they're doing.

Where

The location of an event is critical. Sometimes this element is deliberately omitted for a while to emphasize suspense or disorientation, but if you go too long without answering this question, the audience will likely grow weary and eventually disengage from your story. The where question is nearly always answered with a Long Shot (LS) though depending on the nature of the scene, sometimes a medium long shot (MLS) or a shot even further away than an LS such as a wide shot (WS) might do the trick.

When

The when question can seem tricky, especially when trying to simplify it to a single shot type. When can mean what period in history, how long before or after an important story event, or it can mean at what point in the overall story arc. The quintessential when shot is the extreme-long shot (ELS or XLS), which illustrates the subject traversing such a vast space that there is a sense of how much time it will take. This could be a car traversing an endless stretch of highway, camels crossing the desert, or a ship in a huge swath of ocean.

Why

This question points to the internal decision making of your subject, and when you want to delve into someone's thoughts, the classic shot to use is an extreme close-up (ECU or XCU or sometimes BCU for big close-up).

It's interesting that while a close-up gives the viewer the sense that they are in an intimate relationship with the subject, when you get even closer, it's like moving right inside the subject's head. The audience goes from relating to the subject as other to identifying with the subject his or herself. Some why questions may require a more complex approach, using a sequence of shots to explain a bit of backstory or perhaps a close-up on an object or detail that carries emotional significance in the context of the story.

How

While the why is usually a very internal aspect of the story requiring suggestive shots and editing techniques, the how is just the opposite. This question is very external and is usually answered using either medium close-ups (MCU) of a subject performing a physical action (opening a door, lifting a manhole cover, packing a suitcase, etc.) or a series of CUs or ECUs of specific actions (pulling a trigger, snapping a latch closed, operating a piece of machinery, etc.)

Denotation and connotation

These are two important words concerned with the way an audience understands the meaning of a media text.

Denotation is the basic, literal meaning of what is in the picture or scene.  Connotation means different interpretations suggested by the text, often associated with additional meaning, values, or ideology. The connotation depends less on the facts as shown in the picture, and more on our interpretation of the scene depending on our cultural knowledge and the signs shown.

Expanding Vocabulary

As you increase your cinematic vocabulary, you learn to recognize how different shots answer different questions. And there are more than just those six basic questions but that's where it all starts. You can also think about how certain shots can be used for different purposes. For example, certain shots can serve as Establishing shots, Reaction shots, Inserts, Cutaways, POVs, and so on.

Establishing Shots are used to identify a location and have traditionally been used to introduce a scene. While most commonly they are Wide Shots or Long Shots, sometimes a small familiar detail can serve as an establishing shot. For example, if you cut to a new scene, and begin on a CU of a blinking "Code Blue" light, you quickly inform the audience that you're in a hospital.

 

In film, film grammar is defined as follows:

◊ A frame is a single still image. It is analogous to a letter.

◊ A shot is a single continuous recording made by a camera. It is analogous to a word.

◊ A scene is a series of related shots. It is analogous to a sentence. The study of transitions between scenes is described in film punctuation.

◊ A sequence is a series of scenes which together tell a major part of an entire story, such as that contained in a complete movie. It is analogous to a paragraph.

The term film grammar is best understood as a creative metaphor, since the elements of film grammar described above do not stand in any strict relation of analogy to the components of grammar as understood by philology or modern linguistics.

D. W. Griffith has been called the father of film grammar. Griffith was a key figure in establishing the set of codes that have become the universal backbone of film language. He was particularly influential in popularizing "cross-cutting"—using film editing to alternate between different events occurring at the same time—in order to build suspense. He still used many elements from the "primitive" style of movie-making that predated classical Hollywood's continuity system, such as frontal staging, exaggerated gestures, minimal camera movement, and an absence of point of view shots. Some claim, too, that he "invented" the close-up shot for filming.

FTII

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is an autonomous civil service training institute for Indian Information Service cadre under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Film Company in Pune. Since its beginning in 1960, FTII has become India's premier film and television institute, with its alumni becoming technicians, actors and directors in the film and television industry.

FTII is a member of the International Liaison Centre of Schools of Cinema and Television (CILECT), an organization of the world's leading schools of film and television.

History

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) was set up by the Government of India in 1960, in the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Studios in Pune.

The FTII Campus currently stands on the grounds of the erstwhile Prabhat Studio. Prabhat Studio was a pioneer in the business of filmmaking and shifted to Pune from Kolhapur in 1933. The archaic studios of the time, which were the production grounds for the films of Prabhat are still present and are being used at FTII. The old Studios of Prabhat are now heritage structures and FTII students continue to work at the world's oldest functioning film shooting studios.

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) was established in the year 1960 and was formerly known the 'Film Institute of India'. It was a department of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India.

In 1971, FTII came to be known as the 'Film and Television Institute of India' (FTII) and soon started in-service training programs for Doordarshan, India's public broadcaster. The Television Training wing, which was earlier functioning in New Delhi, shifted to Pune in 1974. Thereafter, the institute became fully aided by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Along with the name change, FTII became an Autonomous Society under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, run by a Governing Council and its appointed Director.

FTII Today

Today, FTII is recognised as a centre for excellence in audio visual media across the world and one of the best film institutes in India. Our alumni work everywhere: from Los Angeles, Paris, and London to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Chennai, and Kolkata. They have gained popularity and have earned various laurels as accomplished technicians and superstars. The alumni have also won popular film and television awards from the ‘National Film Awards’ to ‘Oscars’, to the ‘Dada Saheb Phalke award’ to the prestigious ‘Padma Awards’.

From its original five courses, FTII has grown to offer eleven full-time courses in various disciplines of film and television as well as a host of short-term courses. These courses are held on-campus in Pune as well as off-campus at across centers all over India.

Courses

The Institute offers three-year post-graduate diploma courses in film direction, editing, cinematography and audiography; two-year courses in acting and art direction; a one and a half year course in computer graphics and animation; a one-year course in feature film scriptwriting. One-year post-graduate certificate in direction, electronic cinematography, video editing and audiography are also part of the courses offered.

Management

The FTII is registered under Societies' Registration Act of 1860. The Society is headed by a President, who also functions as the Chairman of the Governing Council, the Academic Council and the Standing Finance Committee. The Governing Council is constituted by election from among the members of the Society. The Governing Council is the apex body of the FTII and is responsible for making all major policy decisions of the Institute. The council, in turn, appoints the Academic Council and the Standing Finance Committee, members of both of which are responsible for advising the FTII in policy matters related to academic affairs and financial matters.

Wisdom Tree

The Wisdom Tree inside the campus of FTII almost has a mythical quality about it. It is a place that all students seemingly gravitate to without any protocol or a purpose. Stories say that many great filmmakers and artists of the time have given wisdom and life lessons beneath this very tree. It has become a point of conversation, music, intellectual discussions and casual rendezvous over the past many years and still continues to attract them with its historical pull.