MUMBAI: Whistling Woods International and Nokia recently ran a contest that required aspiring filmmakers to make a three minute fiction and non fiction mobile film using their mobile phones.
A discussion among prominent film industry members Subhash Ghai, Kurt Inderbitzin, Manmohan Shetty, Kamlesh Pandey and Rajjat Barjatya was held later to discuss the popularity of ‘mobilfilms’ and the potential of mobile screen as the fourth screen for mainstream movies.
According to screenplay writer Pandey, three minutes is a comfortable duration to narrate a complete story if an ad can convey a message within 30 seconds and a comic strip can convey messages in one frame. “These formats help one to learn the nuances of story telling because it compels to focus and drop the excesses” said Pandey.
Added Adlabs chairman Manmohan Shetty, “In recent times, we at Adlabs have started requesting budding filmmakers to submit their story ideas in a short film format rather than a script.”
It was not long ago when Rajjat Barjatya realized the potential of the short formats for mobile and internet medium and is now the producer of a 90 episode series made especially for the mobile and internet. “The mobile phone is an inspirational device for content creation and content consumption but its finer aspects need to be understood really well before plunging into it,” said Barjatya.
With reference to these aspects, he pointed out that one needs to understand how the consumer will consume content, then understand unique characteristics of the consumption device and lastly, know the distribution channel of the content, he added.
While clippings can easily be shot on the mobile, smooth editing is still an obstacle unless if one is equipped with a hi-fi handset. This may thus require a student to opt for professional editing suite resulting to increased expense, said Inderbitzin.
As of now the distribution of mobilfilms can take place on the mobile phones itself. Further marriage of the internet and mobile will also help boost the distribution. Films made on mobile can be downloaded on the computer and circulated via the internet.
Shetty, who invests in building multiplexes to screen films of long durations, didn’t sound too encouraging about screening short films in multiplexes, but was positive that the telecom networks will largely look for such content in times to come.
Ghai pointed out that as encouraging and futuristic as this medium may sound, it is equally dangerous. When making films on mobile one is basically capturing their imagination. Therefore it is necessary to first think, write and then logically capture visuals rather than shoot anything, edit and make a story out of it.
While clippings can easily be shot on the mobile, smooth editing is still an obstacle unless if one is equipped with a hi-fi handset. This may thus require a student to opt for professional editing suite resulting to increased expense.
Inderbitzin added that this medium is poised to witness an explosion of non scripted matter but will see gradually improving quality content.
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