Feature

Digital Cinema: Vehicle for Cultural Revolution

Nazmul Hasan Darashiko

UNDOUBTEDLY, digital filmmaking is the future of Bangladesh. It is the 'future' not in the sense that Bangladeshi filmmakers, both traditional and alternative, will depend on digital technologies for filmmaking; rather digital technology will be the medium for the revolution in film industry that we have been awaiting for decades.

A digital film is made using digital technology, especially in the production and postproduction stages, and displayed using the digital projection system. Decades ago, it was a very expensive form of media used only by the Hollywood studios. However, with the improvement of technology and production, digital filmmaking technology is widely available now and thus the cost of filmmaking is reduced to the extent that a digital filmmaking needs only half of the average budget for a film-format cinema.

Bangladeshi filmmakers are in the primary phase of making digital films. Very few filmmakers are using digital technology in their filmmaking; obviously the main reason behind this is the expenses. Producing films at lower cost is not new in Bangladesh; it is the successor of the short film movement carried out by the alternative filmmakers like Morshedul Islam, Tanvir Mokammel, Tareq Masud that began in the 80s. The alternative filmmakers are also the pioneers of digital filmmaking innovative filmmakers like Animesh Aich, Nurul Alam Atique, Mostofa Sarwar Farooqi, Wahed Tareq soon joined the scene.

Filmmaking using computer based technology shows good prospect for an underdeveloped film industry like ours. Many dreams of filmmaking cannot see the light of the day due to unavailability of funds. Digital films can help remove the problem. Compared with traditional filmmakers, digital filmmakers are innovative and technologically ahead of the curve. New filmmakers are highly educated; some of them with degrees on filmmaking from prominent institutes abroad. Their stories are different, focusing various aspects of social and economic phenomena, far beyond the traditional stories. Most of the digital films produced in the last five years have become popular due to their unique storylines and quality imagery.

Since traditional filmmaking is FDC centered, it requires a long, bureaucratic process that costs time and money. On the contrary, due to the availability of funds and technology, digital films are not FDC centered; rather anyone with necessary funds can set up a mini laboratory. The most important factor of any film's success, the viewers, is beginning to favour digital filmmakers. Most of the digital filmmakers gained experience and prepared themselves by producing dramas for TV channels. As a result, viewers are familiar with them and have faith in their quality.

TV channels along with DVDs create the market for digital cinema. Some of the TV channels provide necessary funds and technology to produce digital cinemas that are also available in DVDs and VCDs. Thus, all classes of people now have access to digital cinema.

However, it also creates problems. Since the cost of producing digital cinema is lower and the technology is widely available, many so-called filmmakers are sprouting up here and there. Lots of under quality visuals are being made that can be classified as neither cinema nor drama, underlying the necessity for censorship and proper guidelines in this regard.

Although digital cinemas are made, they can't be displayed publicly in cinema halls because of the prevalence of traditional projection systems. Only two/three cinema halls have the arrangements to show digital cinemas. Thus, films like 'Priotomeshu' by Morshedul Islam, 'Dubsatar' by Nurul Alam Atique, 'Kanna' by Maruf Hossain and 'Fire Eso Behula' by Tanim Noor are some of the films that have been denied public viewing.

Cinemas represent culture, promote economy and accelerate revolutionary changes. Only digital cinema can now be the vehicle for improving the film industry, with young and innovative digital filmmakers leading the way.