Cinema – the trendsetter

Motion pictures—also called movies, films, or the cinema—are one of the most popular forms of entertainment, enabling people to immerse themselves in an imaginary world for a short period of time. But movies can also teach people about history, science, human behavior, and many other subjects. Some films combine entertainment with instruction, to make the learning process more enjoyable. In all its forms, cinema is an art as well as a business.

The images that make up a motion picture are all individual photographs. But when they appear rapidly in succession, the human eye does not detect that they are separate images. This results to from persistence of vision, a phenomenon whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Although we do not experience the images as individual photographs, we do notice the differences between them. The brain then perceives these differences as motion.

There are many types of motion pictures, but the most significant categories are feature films, animated films, documentaries, experimental films, industrial films, educational films and ad films.

Feature films are the movies most commonly shown in large movie theaters. They typically last at least one and one-half hours and tell a fictional story or a story based on real events but portrayed by actors. The list of prominent feature films is far too long to recount in this article, but some of the best-known include The Birth of a Nation (1914), Metropolis (1926), Citizen Kane (1941), Casablanca (1942), On the Waterfront (1954), The Sound of Music (1965), The Godfather (1972), Star Wars (1977), Gandhi (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), and Titanic (1997).

Animated movies follow the same format as features, but use images created by artists. These films create the illusion of movement from a series of two-dimensional drawings, three-dimensional objects, or computer-generated images. The first animated feature was the German film Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926). Other notable ones include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Dumbo (1941), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Yellow Submarine (1968), Heavy Traffic (1973), the Czech film Neco z Alenky (Alice, 1988), the Japanese film Majo no Takkyubin (Kiki’s Delivery Service, 1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and The Lion King (1994). In some films, animated characters interact with human actors, as in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

Another form of film is the documentary, which deals primarily with fact, not fiction. Documentaries do not often appear in theaters, but they are seen regularly on cable and broadcast television. There are channels that regularly present various documentaries in order to enhance the intellect and knowledge quotient of the public or the viewer.

An experimental film is a sequence of images, literal or abstract, which do not necessarily form a narrative. An experimental film can be animated, live action, computer generated, or a combination of all three. Five noteworthy experimental films are the French film Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog, 1929), Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), A Movie (1958), Eraserhead (1978), and Privilege (1991).

Industrial films are made by companies that wish to publicize their products or generate a favorable public image.

Educational films are specifically intended to be shown in classrooms. Their aim is to instruct, on subjects from history to driving skills.

Ad films are short length films that have a primary aim to promote the product they are endorsing.

Special visual effects have added to the allure of motion pictures since the early days of cinema. French director Georges Méliès is considered the most influential pioneer of special effects. His film A Trip to the Moon (1902) combined live action with animation, demonstrating to audiences that cinema could create worlds, objects, and events that did not exist in real life.

Three-dimensional (3-D) film technology was developed in the early 1920s but did not become popular until the 1950s, when it enjoyed a brief period of use. Although motion-picture film, like still photography, normally yields two-dimensional images, the illusion of a third dimension can be achieved by projecting two separate movies—one made for the right eye, the other for the left—onto a special screen. Members of the audience wear 3-D eyeglasses so that the right eye sees one picture and the left eye sees the other, producing the effect of three dimensions.

Many of the special effects used in contemporary films were invented before World War II (1939-1945). For instance, in the silent film The Thief of Bagdad (1924), Douglas Fairbanks appears to battle huge monsters by means of a technique that involved filming two scenes separately, then blending them during the printing process. Half of one negative image was exposed during printing (say, the half with Fairbanks), while the other half was covered. Then the covered, still-unexposed half was exposed to the negative with the monsters. The result was a complete single image formed from two separate scenes. This same split-screen technique allowed Kevin Kline to play both the president of the United States and his look-alike in Dave (1993).

Another example of the lasting power of early techniques is stop-motion photography. The original King Kong (1933) used this technique, in which the King Kong figurine was repeatedly filmed for very brief segments and then moved, so that when the film was projected at normal speed, King Kong appeared to move. The same technique animated the figures in James and the Giant Peach (1996).

After World War II there was a lull in the development and use of special effects. Technical advances in the design and manufacture of motion-picture cameras made it easier to film on actual locations, and the trend in cinematic storytelling tended toward realism, resulting in less call for fantastic illusions. Then in 1968 the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which astronauts appear to float weightlessly in outer space, led to a renewed interest in special effects. Star Wars (1977) revolutionized the way special effects were created and proved them to be a potential box-office gold mine. George Lucas, who directed Star Wars, created his own special-effects studio, Industrial Light & Magic, which became a leading innovator and was responsible for a series of groundbreaking special-effects techniques.

In making Star Wars, Lucas used computers to control camera movement. In this technique, called motion-control cinematography, the computer’s precise control allows a camera shooting live action in one studio to move at the same speed as a camera shooting a model in a second studio that serves as background for the live action. The two shots can be combined later with full confidence that camera moves will be identical and will therefore match seamlessly. Motion-control cinematography also allows cameras to replicate the same series of shots precisely while filming the same object. With each pass the camera makes, different elements can be added. For example, in Star Wars different engine glows and running lights could appear on the spaceships in successive filming passes. The accumulation of more and more detail results in a complex and realistic-looking object.

Many of the spaceships and other objects in Star Wars were miniatures, borrowing another technique from early cinema. Filmmakers have long used miniatures to stage such large-scale actions as the collapse of a building or a shipwreck, scenes that would be too expensive or unfeasible to stage. Adding in appropriate sound for the scale of the event completes the illusion.

Filmmakers draw upon many other special effects to create illusions in the cinema. Sometimes a film calls for an actor to appear in a place it will be difficult to film, or doing something that is impossible, such as flying. In these cases, the filmmaker uses the so-called blue-screen process, filming the actor in front of a screen that is either painted or lit to match a particular shade of blue. During printing the filmmakers then replace this blue background with a completely different image, creating the illusion that the actors are moving through that setting. In Superman (1978) and its sequels, blue-screen was used to depict the hero’s flight. The actor, Christopher Reeve, was filmed with his arms outstretched against a blue screen in a studio, acting as if he were flying. After images of the city (from the perspective of a low-flying airplane) were substituted for the blue background, Superman appeared to be flying over tall buildings.

Another way to place actors in settings that do not actually exist is through matte photography. This technique involves a realistic painting with an area blacked out. The painting is filmed and then, separately, an action sequence that has been carefully framed to fit the perspective and scale of the blacked-out area is inserted. The combination of the two images creates the illusion that the action is happening in the environment of the painting. The paintings used in matte photography range widely in size, and many matte photographers are now using computers to generate the paintings. One use of matte photography occurs in the final scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The scene shows a worker pushing a crate through a huge warehouse stocked with all kinds of government-owned objects. Except for the worker and the path he takes, the warehouse is actually a painting.

In the late 20th century, the techniques used in creating effects entered a new era, that of digitization. In digitization, sounds and images are stored as electronic files and viewed and edited on a computer. Creating a digital version of a filmed image takes a huge amount of data-storage capacity. To approximate the look of the 35-millimeter film, the computer must break each frame into millions of pixels (picture elements). The computer assigns a number value to each pixel that corresponds to a color and brightness level. By renumbering the pixels so that the colors change, the image can be altered.

Digitizing images allows them to be manipulated in almost any conceivable manner, and the computer can also be used to generate its own images. An example of combined imagery is a scene from Jurassic Park (1993) where computer-generated dinosaurs are seen charging toward and then leaping over a filmed man and two children. In Forrest Gump (1994) the title character seems to meet historical figures such as President John F. Kennedy and singer Elvis Presley. This was done by digitally merging images of lead actor Tom Hanks with films of Kennedy, Presley, and other figures.

Another popular computer-generated technique is called morphing, which is short for metamorphosis on film. Morphing, which is the featured visual effect in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), involves the digital translation of one object, or character, into another. The effect is of the object or character visibly and fluidly changing into another.

Advances in digitization allowed filmmakers to alter their previous work in ways previously impossible. In the late 1990s, by digitizing Star Wars and its sequels, George Lucas was able to add new scenes and creatures, and to improve some of the special effects of the original films. The digitally remastered films were then rereleased.

The 1997 film Titanic used computer-generated images, miniatures, and live-action special effects more extensively than any previous film. Unlike the special effects of previous films, many of Titanic’s effects did not make themselves obvious. Instead, they blended into the texture of the film. The result was so effective it was almost impossible to tell that many scenes onboard or in the water were filmed in a studio, and not on location, and that many images, including crowds of people on the ship, were actually computer generated.

Computer Generated Graphics proved itself to be a revolutionary tool. It almost modulated the rules and the perspectives of film making. Unlike any other art form, Film making is now considered more to be a business than an Art. Maybe this is why there are more and even more people who are continuously trying their hands over films. It is no doubt, that this field has all that, which is needed to attract anybody towards it, Money, Glamour, Respect, Creativity, Innovation, and yes the words are unlimited. Today, it is not that “How you make a film?” it is “how you make the best use of the technologies and techniques, in order to make your film.”

(Note: - the examples used are the globally accepted ones, considered to be the milestones. Indian examples came, far too late and hence are not added in this article)

By: - Saurabh Agrawal

saurabhagrawal088@gmail.com

Impact of social media or social networking sites in our life

Today in this world, when there is the era of IT industry growing at its extreme throughout the world, there has been a vast change that is changing about all the parts, industries, career options and streams. Although, this vast change is very much necessary on developmental prospects. Some decades before a network protocol on the computer system emerged, which was named as internet (intra- networking i.e., internal networking throughout the world by computer systems from satellites and telephone). This internet worked on the www basis i.e., ‘World Wide Web’. This started from the late 1980s and was then extensively adopted by companies and universities. The reason for its extensive adaptation was the facilities which improved the communication medium or ‘media’. This internet later in the year 2000 with the emergence of ‘Microsoft Networks’ i.e., ‘msn’, emerged with its full fledged way and started various facilities which included sending and receiving of e-mails, video and audio conferencing, data transferring, information update-upgrade-download, etc. In fact, not just it, the internet of today is used for about all entertainment purposes. Direct listening, watching and downloading of songs, videos and movies, and not just it, the internet is also used for direct television and radio watching and listening. There are sites to download television programs and radio programs also. Downloading information, data, details, contents, images, books are all, the uses if internet. In fact, what I am telling is just in brief, but if we start talking about the real use of internet in its grave details, then that would be a content of enormous uses which will not be able to terminate in brief.

But today, a new use of internet has struck the globe at its full capability. The incoming of the ‘Social Networking Sites’ has become extremely popular in all clans of people of all ages, religion, sect, region, country, taste and nature. This has on the same hand has proliferated the use of internet throughout the globe. From kids till elderly, all are under the influence of these social networking sites. Sites such as; facebook, orkut, ibibo, big-adda, myspace, twitter, zapak, worldcat, rediff, cool hotmail, yahoo, etc. have proven themselves in the stream of extreme popularity on the internet. The situation is such that, if we ask an urban kid about the word ‘popularity’, he might not be able to answer it, but if we ask the same about ‘facebook’, ‘orkut’, ‘twitter’ or others, eight out of ten will surely give the answer.

The popularity of this can easily be identified when we come towards the urban cities of India. India is the country which according to the rating, is the country with the maximum number of internet users throughout the world. When we notice the basic middle-class family of a city, then we see that the children ask for internet from their parents, just because their friends are on some or the other social networking sites. This example clearly, exemplifies the extreme popular situation of these social networking sites. Actually the reason of such extreme popularity rate is the presence of attractiveness, ease, entertainment factor, clarity, and of course publicity. It is true that these social networking sites posses a great deal of merits which include; entertainment, easy messaging, communication (face-to-face, voice conferencing or simple chatting). With one social networking site, the person holding the account is able to access the whole lot of facilities, which with the changing era is now giving a mobile facility, i.e., the site will be accessible over the mobile phones. In fact, the new mobile generation is coming up with the direct one push-touch facility to the most popular social sites and is actually proliferating the publicity or popularity. But the thing which has actually made this medium of social networking successful is the presence of ‘social media’ (social-community communication; media-plural of medium… hence, social media-communicative medium).

But one thing which is in grave danger because of it, is the ‘real imaginative power’. Because of this, the children and at some places even the adults are going prone to the networking sites but far from the other parts of internet. This ‘social sites’ has become an addiction to the people and of course more for the children. When a kid gets a project work to do (in a general case in any city of India) he/she goes onto the internet and after taking out the information, takes out time for the social sites. And many a times because of this kids or adults skip the project or knowledgeable work and go for social networking. This in no matter is an addiction which is taking the world prone towards the virtual world and is undermining the real world and reality. The real writing skills, imagination and the habit of reading books has now changed over to the reading of e-books, taking out ready matter from the internet and of course imagining NOTHING.

I don’t say that social networking is a disaster to the society, but there should be something which can control the excessive usage of it. Many a times, kids who are below the required age to have a social networking profile, write ‘above age’ in the online form, and the best thing is that, there is no identity proof required to check the age and hence, small kids of a very tender age have the social networking profile. This in turn, increases the crime quotient in the minds of the kids. On the other hand the display of vulgarity at some places is also easily accessible by the kids. Even because of the easy creation of social sites profile, kids and adults create ‘fake profiles’, just for the sake of entertainment or revenge just to insult someone. These illegal deeds helped by the social sites unknowingly, drastically affects the human emotions inversely and creates a huge lot of problems, nuisance, etc. Although development is a necessary step and social networking is a fine ingenuity towards the society which is extremely necessary, but what is needed should be a control over it, being it a medium of ‘social media’ more than a medium of virtual entertainment…

By: Saurabh Agrawal

The Woman in Black: A Review

Director: James Watkins

Producer: Richard Jackson, Simon Oakes, Brian Oliver

Screenplay: Jane Goldman

Based On: The Woman in black by Susan Hill

Starring: Daniel Radcliff, Cairan Hinds, Janet McTeer, Sophie Stuckey, Liz White

Genre: Horror/Thriller

The movie starts with three girls who are playing, but suddenly they stood up, and started walking towards the door, their face feels to be hypnotized, or they are in an aura where their own mind is not working, simultaneously they open the window and jumps from it; the camera moves backwards and suddenly there is a view of a woman in a black gown (the woman in black). Scene changes towards, Arthur (Daniel Radcliff) a solicitor, whose wife died while giving birth to her child, since then, Arthur feels the spirit of his wife in a white wedding gown near him. He goes to a village where the people don’t feel to be welcoming an outside visitor. There is a death-like silence throughout the movie, creating an aura of a horror movie. There in the village he finds that a spirit (a woman in black) is making the children commit suicide… Being a solicitor, he tries to investigate the matter and go to the depth of it.

The movie has all the material which could let the viewers not to move from their seats, every new shot is like a turning point. Every bit of the subjectivity and objectivity is truly natural… There are simply no shots of those ugly looking ghosts or demons, instead there is a spirit which would surely arouse Goosebumps on your skin. Although there are some shots of the spirit’s face and the face of the children spirits, adding the thrilling factor in it…

The plot is amazing, a great place which in itself looks to be haunted. The tense of the plot is also setup good. The acting is awesome; all the actors surely have done a great job. It’s great to see our lovely and famous Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliff) in a really different role, with a lot of maturity in his acting.

The direction is also done great…

But I am personally a bit disappointed by the ending of the movie… It’s actually a semi-happy ending; you’ll know why I am saying such when you see the movie…

Elsewhere, a great supernatural horror movie…. Worth of spending money and time watching it….

I give it a 4 1/2 out of 5 stars… Half star cut just for the disliking of the ending.

Note: - The review is the writer's own expression....

Written by: Saurabh Agrawal

Do watch the movie and write your comments below...

“Why changing towards Point and Shoot”

When we talk about buying a camera, there is one question which always strikes in the mind, and that is that which one should I buy, an SLR, a compact camera, or a point and shoot. People who actually know photography will always recommend an SLR, reason; because it’s a professional camera, but there are very few people who actually know what to buy.

Let us first talk about a compact camera… A compact camera is the one which is used for the general photo clicking purpose. These types of cameras are simple, easy to use and are made to work simply on AUTO mode without applying further brains into it… Turning these cameras onto MANUAL mode has simply no great use…They just understand one simple language, point and click; the rest will be done by the intelligent brain of the camera.

Coming towards point and shoot cameras, then in this case…. point and shoot is the term which was coined for the compact cameras or to the cameras that have AUTO functioning. Hence, it would not be wrong if we call a DSLR to be a point and shoot… Actually point and shoot is the term which is used in places where the person has no idea about the aperture or shutter management or exposure management. He just decides the frame and clicks (shoot). So, with the terminology of point and shoot there has been a bit of a misconception. But if the world is using it, then why not us…. Well!!! Actually there were only two types of cameras from the beginning of the digital age… A compact one (point and shoot) and the SLR (Single Lens Reflex), but later when the photographers found some real intelligence in the point and shoot then they thought of a new series: - the BRIDGE Cameras.

The Point and Shoot Bridge cameras born because of the intelligence that was hidden in the compact cameras… Actually, when photographers saw that in some peculiar light conditions when they are not able to take a very good picture, there a compact camera doing pretty well. Hence, they thought of a camera which could have manual functioning to work as an SLR and intelligent AUTO functioning too, which could give them better results at some peculiar situations. Hence what could that be called?? Then the companies brought up the Point and Shoot Bridge cameras… The point and shoot bridge cameras are made in such a way that they have convertible lens, MANUAL functioning, APERTURE PRIORITY, SHUTTER PRIORITY, and AUTO functioning in them.

When we come to the so called professional cameras i.e. DSLRs (Digital Single Lens Reflex), then these cameras are the first priority for a professional photographer. Actually these cameras have complete manual control from focusing till setting up aperture, shutter and exposure value. This doesn’t mean that they don’t have the AUTO functioning. Of course they have that, but using the AUTO mode on a DSLR, feel to be like an amateur is holding the camera. DSLR cameras doesn’t have convertible lens, because they are made in such a way that the lens is changed at times, according to the picture the photographer wants to shoot. And hence for shooting different types and clans of images, the photographer certainly needs to buy the different lenses. These lenses are highly expensive and a beginner photographer cannot afford to have the complete series of lenses. Another problem working with DSLRs is that at times when the photographer needs to shoot a zoom image and he is having a wide lens attached, he will take at least 7-15 seconds to change the lens. During that time, the image he is thinking to click may be lost or the situation may have changed, resulting in the loss of efficiency…

So after these issues regarding the DSLRs, the point and shoot bridge cameras offer better efficiency, at an extremely low and affordable price. So the pros and cons regarding the DSLR and are: -

v  DSLR cameras are relatively expensive.

v  Out of the budget range of an amateur photographer.

v  These need the changing of lenses for different scene capture.

v  The lenses solely are very expensive.

v  The range of lenses is not easily available everywhere, not even on the internet.

v  The accessories of these cameras are easy to buy on the internet but not manually on the shops.

v  The image quality of these cameras is often good.

v  The lens range is enormous and isn’t affordable for every photographer.

v  The functions are present but the application is fruitful with specific lenses only.

v  Not for beginners, for professional use.

v  A good, camera range starts from at least Rs. 50000 and goes to lacs…. (lenses taken separately)

v  Some model allows video shooting.

v  All models allow manual zooming and focusing.

Now we talk about the Point and Shoot Bridge cameras: -

v  Relatively cheaper than DSLRs.

v  Doesn’t need the changing of lens.

v  In built fixed lens, which is convertible in nature.

v  Outer, adjustment lenses are also available if to enhance or widen the limits of the camera.

v  Easily available, manual shopping and online shopping both.

v  The accessories are also available, if not in manual shopping, then surely on online shopping.

v  The image quality is often good.

v  Doesn’t generally require, external attachments.

v  The functions are present and fruitful in nature without external attachments because of convertible lens.

v  For all classes of people, beginners, amateurs, and professionals.

v  The best point and shoot will come in Rs. 50000.

v  Allows video shooting also.

v  Manual focusing and zooming is available in some selective models only.

v  External flash feature is also available in some models.

v  Because of internal intelligent IC, the camera is able to get better or say vibrant colors, that are dull in DSLRs when the SLR is used without the filters…

v  The colors are so contrast, that very less post processing is needed to be done…

Hence after considering so many points regarding the three ranges of cameras, it becomes clear, why the people are turning towards the point and shoot bridge cameras. It is true that some traditional photographers feel the professional cameras to be the best, but this is also a reality that with the incoming of these cameras, the companies are trying their level best to give a further powerful tool into the hands of the public and that too at low price…

 Note: -  The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer, not meant to promote or demote any company, brand or type of camera.