For long, the term celluloid was synonymous with the Motion Picture Industry. The optical illusion called phi phenomenon that helps to perceive still images viewed in rapid succession as continuous motion has been stimulating the audience ever since a late 19th century. Before the arrival of digital technology by the late 20th century, most of the movies were filmed using film cameras where the images recorded onto a plastic film through a photochemical process were screened using a movie projector. The 21st century saw an amazing uprising of the digital technology and now most of the movie ma ..read more

If you are an aspiring filmmaker most of your mentors and teachers have already told you the importance of clarity. Perhaps one of the most important weapons in a filmmaker’s armory is clarity. Even for a screenwriter, it is quintessential to write as he sees the film. When you read a clear screenplay, you actually see the film in your mind. To summarize, we could say that in every aspect of filmmaking you have a visual cue of how the final product will be. In other words, you have to see your film before it is made! Now, you have several tools to do this. Storyboarding is a way, yes. But stor ..read more

Imagine if man never set out to tell stories. All you have got in your life and there is no one to tell you another story. Nothing except the plain reality in front of you. How dull will that be? It is tough to even stand the thought of it, isn’t it? To enjoy life to its fullest, we need an occasional shift to an imaginary world. Look around you. No one on Earth can experience it except Humans! How blessed we are! Our Grandmothers were not just putting us to sleep through bedtime stories. Knowingly or unknowingly, they instilled in us one unique quality that we could cherish forever! The power ..read more

Nobody needs to be told the importance of preparation than a filmmaker. Interestingly, the great filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock himself once said that if he were to run a film school, he will not allow the students to go near a camera for the first two years! Now, that speaks volumes about the kind of knowledge and preparations a filmmaker needs to have. It is no surprise that smart modern day filmmakers who dwell in complex visuals and scenarios invest a lot of time and effort into pre-production. And one such pre-production technique that helps you keep a firm grip on complicated sequences is no ..read more

Antoine de Saint – Exupery, a French writer, and a journalist once said: “A goal without a plan is just a wish”. Perhaps there is no other quality around which so many principles and theories have originated. There are even hundreds of books written to help you plan better. From rulers to corporate tycoons and common men, everyone needs planning. It is only fair to say there cannot be a human being who has not planned anything in life. And if you want to know the adverse effects of lack of planning, try looking at a filmmaker who didn’t give proper attention to pre-production! A film producti ..read more

Visual effect is a formidable tool that enhances the storytelling capability of the director. But if not done right, the same visual effect can be a tedious experience for the viewer. There are films that blow your mind away with its clever use of visual effects whereas there are some other films that make the entire movie watching experience an agonizing journey. So, if you are a filmmaker, how should you approach visual effects? What should you consider? Renowned filmmaker George Lucas has explained the role visual effects in the best possible manner. He said “A special effect is a tool, a ..read more

You just watched a spellbinding movie filled with visual effects. You are determined to know more about behind the scenes and you just cannot sleep without knowing how they did it. So you open up your browser and search for before and after visual effects footage of the film. And…Then. There you see our hero standing in front of just a plain blue or green screen which is then transferred to the futuristic world on the end product. That wonderland which just amazed you was just a plain blue or a green screen set! Scintillating, isn’t it? So what is this blue and green screens? Why are they used ..read more

Finally, the surreal cityscapes won the race against the apes, galaxies, and the guardians. Yeah, we are talking about the epic visual treat from Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049, bagging an Oscar for Achievement in Visual Effects at the 90th Academy Awards. Image source: Oscar.org Back in 1983, the prequel of the film, Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, was nominated for Best Visual Effects in the 55th. Oscars too. However, the film lost it to ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’. But this time, the awestrucking visual effects created by John Nelson for Blade Runner 2049 has won over the hearts of the ..read more

There are several breathtaking movies in the history of world cinema that amazed the audience with a unique screenplay. For example, Bong Joon-ho’s sci-fi Okja and David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. But, how are these films different from others? Some of these movies tease the audience with a screenplay that transits from one scene to another quickly. We could call these as Multi-layered movies. And some are genre-benders that are a mix of a variety of genres like horror, comedy, drama, and action. If you watched Jaco Van Dormael’s Mr. Nobody, you would know what a multi-layered movie looks like ..read more

Image source: Annie Awards Forty six years ago, renowned American voice actress June Foray established the now prestigious Annie Awards to honor the outstanding achievements made in the animation industry. The ASIFA-Hollywood (International Animated Film Association, Los Angeles) organizes the grand event every year and so does in 2018. The 45th Annie Awards ceremony took place on 3rd February this year at the UCLA’s Royce Hall. Coco – the Conqueror Pixar’s musical fantasy Coco became the clear winner of the fresh edition of Annie Awards by winning all the 11 categories that it was ..read more