High Cost Of Film Prints example essay topic

History When the Lumiere Brothers' first films were shown at Bombay's Watson's Hotel in 1895 or when Dadasaheb Phalke released his epochal feature film Raja Harischandra in 1913, it is unlikely that either the exhibitors or the pioneer film maker realised they were unleashing a mass entertainment medium that would hold millions in sway for the next hundred years; that they were spawning an industry that in years to come would overtake the rest of the world in film production! For most Indians, cinema is integral to their lives; it is not a distant, two to three hour distraction, but a vicarious lifestyle for them. The large screen provides an alternative, an escape from the realities of day-to-day life. The protagonists are totally identified with, the hero is applauded, the virtuous is worshipped and the villain is condemned. The actors and actresses are household names; there is no escaping their omnipresence, from the Paan wala (betel vendor) to the most revered Indian painter - they are all caught up with the magnetism of screen personalities.

A study of the vicissitudes of Indian cinema would throw light on the progress of technology, especially cinematography, and the changing political scene and social mores and attitudes. The silent films launched by Phalke, which had titles in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu, by and large related to myths and legends. The stories were familiar to the audience and required minimum commentary. Historical's also proved very popular; Harsh, Chandragupta, Ashoka and the Mughal and Maratha kings strode the silver screen amidst cardboard pillars and in tinsel costumes. The silent era of Hira lal Sen, Babu rao Painter and R. Nata raja Mudaliar came to an end when Adershir M. Irani produced his first talkie, Alam Ara in 1931. If Phalke was the father of Indian cinema, Irani was the father of the talkie.

There were too many gargantuan problems to be tackled; there were no dialogue writers, no lyricists; songs had to be sung during the filming as prerecording facilities were yet unknown. Minimum instruments were used as the instrumentalists had to be camouflaged behind the singer But the talking film had come to stay. Considering that even the silent film had a preponderance of songs, the talkie came to be more of a single; the heroes and heroines sang their way through the three-four hour movie. Histrionics and appearances counted less; a singing talent was all that mattered.

To this day the Indian film song has a unique thrall. The music director, the songwriter and the playback singers have an unparalleled status in India's cinema. If Bombay was the hub of early cinema the other centres were not far behind; Calcutta and Madras with their own patriarchs were also making path-breaking films. Chand idas a film glorifying the Bhakti movement and castigating caste ism, directed by De baki Bose in 1932 for New Theatres, was lauded for its use of background music and dramatic narrative. K. Subrahmanyam's Thy aga Bho omi (1939) and Seva Sadan both advocated women's rights and self-dependence. Seva Sadan also introduced to the world through the silver screen, the great singer M.S. Subbalakshmi, who came to be immortalized for her role in and as the poet-saint Meera both in Hindi and Tamil.

Cinema in India can never cease; it has gone too deep into our psyche. It may undergo several reverses in fortune. With other mediums opening up, there will be a smaller market for films. Living as we are in a global village today, we are becoming a more discerning audience. No longer are we going to lap up every mediocre fare dished out by the moghuls of cinema; only the best will survive. And this is just as well.

Present Today's movies are making profits even before a single shot is filmed. Movies like Rahul and Yadi en could be flops in the box office but their producers could make more than 50% return on their investments from these ventures. Movies like 'Yeh Jin dagi Ka Safar's ank without any trace but its producers have still seen their bank balances increasing. The bottom line is quite clear - Producing films have become more viable now than in the past. The new streams of revenues have emerged from satellite rights, overseas theatrical rights and from a host of other rights. The opening up of the economy with rapid penetration of satellite channels has opened up the aggressive bids for movies produced by the industry.

Films are considered as one of the critical components for TRP ratings. Overseas 20 m NRI have become captive audiences for most of the A class movies produced in Bollywood. US, Canada and UK has become major markets for Indian movies with huge revenues coming from these markets. The other streams of revenues, which are opening up, are in-film advertising and merchandising opportunities. Technologies and other distribution channels are further expected to increase the revenue of movie producers in the near future, namely DVDs, DTH, Web casting etc. Its not the multiple revenue streams alone which is attracting these new players but the fast paced reforms initiated by the industry organizations like FI CCI and CII in conjunction with the Govt. of India which is driving the process of corporati sation and reform in the industry.

A few of the initiatives taken by these entities are drawing attention from the professionals 1. Industry status 2. Tax exemption for non-metro multiplexes 3. Duty reduction for import of equipments 4.100% FDI in film sector 5.

Crisil's planned grading system for film industry 6. Opportunity of film completion bond and insurance for movies 7. Institutional funding for the film sector These new found economics of making movies are drawing the new set of entrepreneurs in this industry. Research agencies have estimates of robust growth rate for cinematic content in India for the next 5 years, which very few other industries are able to match. The fast paced changes in the sector include globalization of Indian cinema and new creative talents, additions of new screens through multiplexes and higher spend on entertainment. New players are aware of these opportunities and the growth in the sector.

What is good news for these new dream merchants are entertainment opportunities coming from different genres of movies like small budget movies, niche movies and international co-production opportunities? Successes of recent movies from these genres only drive home the point. Volumes in Indian cinema will only increase in the coming years, and filmmakers, as well as film audiences will all have to decide how one can use that to their advantage. With all its real substance, nomination of 'Lagaan' has only raised the bar for movie makers, old as well as new. A few advantages and opportunities for the Indian movie sector: - O Cost advantages for production in India as studios, labs and technicians were available at very competitive costs as compared to costs elsewhere in the world.

O Levies and duties on equipment needed rationalization and lowering. O A more efficient legal structure needed to be put in place and higher wages to technicians. O India has the potential to become the up linking hub for south East Asia if duties were reduced, and facilities like teleport's and media cities were introduced. O India only has a $2.6 billion piece of the $500 billion worldwide pie in the entertainment Industry. O India has eight major satellites offering 140 channels out of which more than 80 per cent was broadcast offshore and more than 90 per cent of the transponders were based abroad. O In India the cost of broadcasting was Rs 7 lakhs per channel while in Singapore the same could be done at only Rs 2.5 lakhs almost a 3: 1 ratio difference.

O All the Indian broadcasters used foreign facilities, and if this were to be done in India art least Rs 6 million could be saved, besides which there would be increased advertisement revenue, as local advertising would increase. Digital Media Digital Cinema, Electronic Cinema or simply cinema - the latest buzz words in the film industry. Briefly, Digital Cinema is a film-less, digital distribution and exhibition system for feature films. Using high quality digital projectors that are brighter and higher-resolution versions of video projectors, feature films can be projected in small to medium sized theatres from disk-based playback equipment. The next few years will see the beginnings of a revolution in the way that movies are distributed. Although the transition will take many years to complete, by 2005, movies encoded as digital-data files will increasingly replace film prints as the preferred method for distributing movies to theaters.

Digital Cinema has been experimentally shown for several features in select theatres in the United States starting with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and followed by such films as Bicentennial Man, Mission to Mars, Dinosaur and Toy Story 2. Today there are just over 30 theatres around the world equipped to show movies digitally on an experimental basis. India is on the brink of the multiplex revolution. The Arthur Anderson report on the entertainment industry in India released in March 2000 has pointed out that India has a very low density of cinemas per capita and a large growth was expected over the next few years in multiplexes.

While the US has about 31,000 screens for a population of 266 million people, India has just 12,900 screens for a population of over a billion! This translates to a density of 8,580 people / screen in the US versus 77,520 people / screen in India. Thus, it is certain that there will be a large growth in cinemas in India over the next ten years. And new cinemas coming up in India might well choose to leapfrog a generation and choose digital projection for most of their screens. The Advantages of Digital Cinema. First, the high cost of film prints (~Rs 80,000/print for a conventional release) is avoided.

A large Indian film is usually released in about 300 cinemas while for a Hollywood film, this number can be as high as 3000. By avoiding the high cost of prints, which can be anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of a film's production budget, a much wider release would also be possible... The considerable handling cost to get the bulky film print from the lab to the theatre and back after the run are also avoided... Response to demand can be much more efficient.

Producers and distributors would not have to guess how a film is likely to fare in order to decide how many prints to make. A small movie can be released in a small number of theatres and if it becomes popular, the number of theatres can be increased very quickly... Multiplexes can share film storage systems so that any of their auditoriums can show the same film quite easily and at no extra cost... The film's quality does not deteriorate with age unlike celluloid, which becomes scratched, especially with the older projectors used in India. Every show of a movie is as good as the premiere... Similar to DVD, a film could have multiple versions with or without certain scenes.

An edit list could also be downloaded remotely to the cinema thus allowing the director to alter the film even after release to accommodate audience reactions, thus saving a film that meets with adverse audience reactions... The playback system could allow accurate and secure reporting of playback details to ensure that no unauthorized screenings are shown... The threat of piracy could be reduced, as the media would be highly encrypted. The advent of digital technology has made film making simpler and easier. Today all around the world there are thousands of amateur filmmakers churning out their own movies.

The camera they use may be a camcorder or a handycam. Even hollywood filmmakers are switching to digital technology. They use the technologically advanced H D CAMERA'S or high definition cameras. In another few years as the movie theaters will be equipped with digital projection systems most of the film makers will turn digital.