India's Bollywood Opts for Low-Cost Digital Cinema 191
Makarand writes "While Hollywood is yet to figure out who will pay for the costly
$100,000 digital projectors required for the digital roll-out of
films, the Mumbai (India) based film Industry (called Bollywood)
is settling for cheaper projectors of a bit lesser quality
available at one-third the price, to proceed with their digital roll-out.
Industry officials call this cheaper version of the digital cinema the 'E-Cinema',
in contrast to the 'D-Cinema' which Hollywood is waiting for. Over
1000 films are made each year in India and just 1 film in 12 makes a
profit. Transporting conventional celluloid prints to remote towns
gives video pirates plenty of time to copy and make prints. Digital
cinema will cut down on piracy and help the industry to increase
its profits."
Re:And? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:And? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Decrease Piracy? (Score:5, Informative)
At the moment, with film, it's not economic to roll out a film everywhere at once. Therefore there is a time lag between the first showings, and when it's available to view locally. This time lag is where the pirates are operating. If you can remove this lag, then one of the benefits of pirated films (faster access) is removed. Digital projectors bring the benefits of digital copying to the movie producers, as opposed to currently, where only the pirates are reaping the benefits.
As I understand it then, Bollywood is trying to defeat piracy by starving the pirates of a market.
^What he said^ (Score:5, Informative)
BUT I found a press release from RealImage [real-image.com] which explains that the distribution method is by satellite.
So I'm assuming they'll use an encrypted satellite feed to send the movies to theaters.
Reading some of their other press releases gives some good info: The distro method is web based, so theaters can pick whatever they want from a server.The other tidbit i picked up is that "The films in the MPEG 2 format will take 20 hours to download depending on the connectivity"
Re:Decrease Piracy? (Score:3, Informative)
Simply, organized crime is beating Bollywood and Hollywood, because they have a faster distribution model and this cuts into profits.
If it was a digital distribution, there is no delay in shipping, or limits to how many theaters can play the movie at one time. Now instead of "See lowsy street corner quality" or "Not see the movie at all", it will be a choice between "See lowsy version" or "See decent version on the big screen".
So the shift to D cinema is not trying to eliminate piracy, its an attempt to catch up with Organized crimes better, cheaper, faster distribution model.
eliminates financial risk of distribution... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Do you have any proof? (Score:3, Informative)
http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/fullstory.php?id
Of the 143 Hindi films (excluding dubbed ones) released in 2000, barely 5 or 7 were funded by the underworld. Of the 150 films of 2001 or 140 of 2002, not more than 8 or 10 in each of the two years could have been made with funds from questionable sources. How can 4 or 5 per cent be taken as representing the entire production sector?
Indian cinema is not Bollywood (Score:4, Informative)
What you see in theaters in UK/USA/New Zealand/Australia/other countries are Hindi films catering to the Non-Resident-Indian audience. And most cities will have one or two theaters that cater to Tamil films, Bengali films, Malayalam films, Kannada films and Telugu films.
The examples you gave were of poorly made films. To understand Indian cinema, try the films of Satyajit Ray, Ritwick Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Aravindan, Shaji N Karun, Shyam Benegal, Ketan Mehta, Girish Kasaravalli etc. You will not be disappointed.
Re:Of course, low budget cameras BUT (Score:3, Informative)
MTV India website [mtvindia.com]
Re:WTF is a 'bolly'? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I've seen several. (Score:2, Informative)
The above comment of yours is applicable to your post too!!!
Indian cinema is not the Hindi cinema you described. The best of Indian cinema happens in regional cinema - Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Assamese etc.
And comparing Aamir Khan to Toshiro Mifune is a bit of a stretch. Aamir is yet to do the body of work Toshiro Mifune did only for Kurosawa. But your quote by Kurosawa on Satyajit Ray is accurate.
Re:They're where Hollywood was in the 1950s. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:hollywood + bombay (Score:2, Informative)
Re:only 1 in 12 makes a profit? (Score:4, Informative)