India: Foreign Investment And The Indian Media And Entertainment Industry

India: Foreign Investment And The Indian Media And Entertainment Industry

With more than 600 television channels, 100 million pay TV households, 70,000 newspapers and 1,000 films produced annually, India's vibrant media and entertainment (M&E) industry provides attractive growth opportunities for global corporations. In recent years, with near double-digit annual growth and a fast-growing middle class, there has been a renewed surge in investments into the country by multinational companies.

At present, India has probably one of the most liberal investment regimes amongst the emerging economies with a conducive foreign direct investment (FDI) environment. The M&E industry has significantly benefited from this liberal regime and most sectors of the M&E industry today allow foreign investment. The government (GOI) has recently further liberalised the FDI caps in key sectors (including Direct-To-Home (DTH), print media and radio) and entry restrictions for foreign companies have been relaxed for most segments of the M&E industry.

In the year 2001, the film industry was granted the status of an 'industry'¹. Since then, the GOI has taken several initiatives to liberalise the foreign policy regulations relating to films. Through the liberalisation of the foreign exchange regulations, the GOI has allowed 100 percent FDI in the film sector. For the purposes of FDI, film sector broadly covers film production, exhibition and distribution, including related services and products. FDI in the sector is permitted without any prior approval ('automatic route'). In addition, there are no entry level conditions for FDI in the sector. However, investors must comply with certain post filing requirements, including notifying the Reserve Bank of India within 30 days of receipt of inward remittance in India and filing of certain documents within 30 days of allotment of shares.

The GOI has also entered into film co-production treaties with several countries² and is in the process of entering into more bilateral pacts with countries like Australia, China and Canada.

Entry routes:

Foreign investments are permitted in an Indian company either after obtaining approval from the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board (approval route) or freely (automatic route). As a thumb rule, unless sectoral restrictions/caps have been provided under the Indian foreign exchange regulations, 100% foreign investment may be made in an Indian entity under the automatic route. However, even under the automatic route the foreign investor is required to fulfil certain procedural compliances, such as the valuation at which the shares of the Indian company can be transferred/issued need to be met. Set out below, is a brief outlook of the sectoral restrictions for foreign investment in the M&E industry:

subsidiary)

SECTOR/ACTIVITY	% OF FDI CAP/ EQUITY	ENTRY ROUTE
. Broadcasting
a. Broadcasting Carriage Services
1. Teleports (setting up of up-linking HUBs/teleports) 2. Direct-to Home (DTH) 3. Cable networks (Multi System operators – MSOs) operating at National or State or District level and undertaking upgradation of networks towards digitisation and addressability) 4. Mobile TV 5. Headend In The Sky (HITS) Broadcasting Service	74%	Automatic up to 49% Government approval route beyond 49% and up to 74%
Cable Networks (Other MSOs not undertaking upgradation of networks towards digitalisation and addressability and Local Cable Operators (LCOs))	49%	Automatic
b. Broadcasting Content Services
Terrestrial Broadcasting FM (FM Radio), subject to such terms and conditions, as specified from time to time, by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, for grant of permission for setting up of FM radio stations	26%	Government approval
Up-linking of 'News & Current Affairs' TV Channels	26%	Government approval
Up-linking of 'Non- News & Current Affairs' TV Channels/Down-linking of TV Channels	100%	Government approval
II. Films
Films and advertising industry	100%	Automatic
III. Print Media
Publishing of newspaper and periodicals dealing with news and current affairs	26% (FDI and Investment by NRIs/PIOs/FII)	Government approval
Publication of Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news and current affairs	26% (FDI and Investment by NRIs/PIOs/FII)	Government approval
Publishing/printing of scientific and technical magazines/ speciality journals/ periodicals, subject to compliance with the legal framework as applicable and guidelines issued in this regard from time to time by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting	100%	Government approval
Publication of facsimile edition of foreign newspaper	100% (In case, the foreign publishing house is bringing out facsimile editions of their own newspaper through wholly owned subsidiary)	Government approval

International film studios such as Warner Bros., Disney, Fox and DreamWorks have collaborated with local film production houses to develop Hindi and regional films. Some recent investments in the M&E industry by global players includes³:

• US based investment firm Tiger Global Management LLC has acquired a 25 per cent stake in 'The Viral Fever' (TVF), an online video content creator, for US$ 10 million.

• Balaji Telefilms Limited has raised Rs 150.08 crore (US$ 22.09 million) through allotment of equity shares on preferential basis to catapult the launch and growth of ALT Digital Media, a Business-to-Consumer digital content business segment of Balaji Group.

• Reliance Entertainment (owned by Mr Anil Ambani) and DreamWorks (led by Mr Steven Spielberg), along with Participant Media (led by Mr Jeff Skoll) and Entertainment One (eOne) have formed a new film, television and digital content creation company called 'Amblin Partners', and have raised US$ 500 million in debt to develop and produce films.

• Walt Disney, who earlier held a 50% stake in UTV, has now acquired a controlling stake in UTV Software Communications.

Camera Movements, Angles & Shots

Camera Angles 

Camera angles and movements combine to create a sequence of images, just as words, word order and punctuation combine to make the meaning of a sentence. You need a straightforward set of key terms to describe them. 

Describing Shots

When describing camera angles, or creating them yourself, you have to think about three important factors

— The FRAMING or the LENGTH of shot

— The ANGLE of the shot

— If there is any MOVEMENT involved

When describing different cinematic shots, different terms are used to indicate the amount of subject matter contained within a frame, how far away the camera is from the subject, and the perspective of the viewer. Each different shot has a different purpose and effect. A change between two different shots is called a CUT.

Framing or Shot Length

1 . Extreme long shot 

Extreme Long Shot

This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. It normally shows an EXTERIOR, eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

The extreme long shot on the left is taken from a distance, but denotes a precise location - it might even connote all of the entertainment industry if used as the opening shot in a news story.

Long Shot

2. Long Shot

This is the most difficult to categorise precisely, but is generally one which shows the image as approximately "life" size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema (the figure of a man would appear as six feet tall). This category includes the FULL SHOT showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters, plenty of background detail still emerges: we can tell the coffins on the right are in a Western-style setting, for instance. 

Medium Shot

3. Medium Shot

Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the TWO SHOT (containing two figures from the waist up) and the THREE SHOT (contains 3 figures...). NB. Any more than three figures and the shot tends to become a long shot. Background detail is minimal, probably because location has been established earlier in the scene - the audience already know where they are and now want to focus on dialogue and character interation. Another variation in this category is the OVER-THE-SHOULDER-SHOT, which positions the camera behind one figure, revealing the other figure, and part of the first figure's back, head and shoulder.

Close up

4. Close-Up

This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object (think of how big it looks on a cinema screen) and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. In reality, we only let people that we really trust get THAT close to our face - mothers, children and lovers, usually - so a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character, and usually uses a zoom lens in order to get the required framing.

Extreme Close Up

5. Extreme Close-Up

As its name suggests, an extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever. This is a very artificial shot, and can be used for dramatic effect. The tight focus required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot - the slightest camera shake or error in focal length is very noticeable.

Camera Angles

The relationship between the camera and the object being photographed (ie the ANGLE) gives emotional information to an audience, and guides their judgment about the character or object in shot. The more extreme the angle (ie the further away it is from eye left), the more symbolic and heavily-loaded the shot. 

1. The Bird's-Eye view

This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognisable at first (umbrellas in a crowd, dancers' legs). This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant-like, part of a wider scheme of things. Hitchcock (and his admirers, like Brian de Palma) is fond of this style of shot. 

A cameraman, raised above the action, gets a high angle shot

2. High Angle

Not so extreme as a bird's eye view. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary). The object or character often gets swallowed up by their setting - they become part of a wider picture. 

3. Eye Level

A fairly neutral shot; the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that eg actors' heads are on a level with the focus. The camera will be placed approximately five to six feet from the ground. 

4. Low Angle 

These increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise or James McAvoy) and give a sense of speeded motion. Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling, the lack of detail about the setting adding to the disorientation of the viewer. The added height of the object may make it inspire fear and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figure on the screen. 

5. Oblique/Canted Angle

Sometimes the camera is tilted (ie is not placed horizontal to floor level), to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest POINT-OF-View shots (ie when the camera becomes the 'eyes' of one particular character,seeing what they see — a hand held camera is often used for this. 

Camera Movement

A director may choose to move action along by telling the story as a series of cuts, going from one shot to another, or they may decide to move the camera with the action. Moving the camera often takes a great deal of time, and makes the action seem slower, as it takes several second for a moving camera shot to be effective, when the same information may be placed on screen in a series of fast cuts. Not only must the style of movement be chosen, but the method of actually moving the camera must be selected too. There are seven basic methods: 

1. Pans

A movement which scans a scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame. 

2. Tilts

A movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise similar to a pan. 

3. Dolly Shots

Sometimes called TRUCKING or TRACKING shots. The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, hence the name. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley (good method for independent film-makers looking to save a few dollars). A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character. 

4. Hand-held shots

The hand-held movie camera first saw widespread use during World War II, when news reporters took their windup Arriflexes and Eyemos into the heat of battle, producing some of the most arresting footage of the twentieth century. After the war, it took a while for commercially produced movies to catch up, and documentary makers led the way, demanding the production of smaller, lighter cameras that could be moved in and out of a scene with speed, producing a "fly-on-the-wall" effect.This aesthetic took a while to catch on with mainstream Hollywood, as it gives a jerky, ragged effect, totally at odds with the organised smoothness of a dolly shot. The Steadicam (a heavy contraption which is attached a camera to an operator by a harness. The camera is stabilized so it moves independently) was debuted in Marathon Man (1976), bringing a new smoothness to hand held camera movement and has been used to great effect in movies and TV shows ever since. No "walk and talk" sequence would be complete without one. Hand held cameras denote a certain kind of gritty realism, and they can make the audience feel as though they are part of a scene, rather than viewing it from a detached, frozen position.

A crane in use, following the path of a balloon floating into the sky

5. Crane Shots

Basically, dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane (or jib), is a large, heavy piece of equipment, but is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it. The camera operator and camera are counter-balanced by a heavy weight, and trust their safety to a skilled crane/jib operator.

6. Zoom Lenses

A zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification of an image. On a still camera, this means that the photographer can get a 'close up' shot while still being some distance from the subject. A video zoom lens can change the position of the audience, either very quickly (a smash zoom) or slowly, without moving the camera an inch, thus saving a lot of time and trouble. The drawbacks to zoom use include the fact that while a dolly shot involves a steady movement similar to the focusing change in the human eye, the zoom lens tends to be jerky (unless used very slowly) and to distort an image, making objects appear closer together than they really are. Zoom lenses are also drastically over-used by many directors (including those holding palmcorders), who try to give the impression of movement and excitement in a scene where it does not exist. Use with caution - and a tripod!

7. The Aerial Shot

An exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene, and convey real drama and exhilaration — so long as you don't need to get too close to your actors or use location sound with the shots.

INDIAN PRINT MEDIA INDUSTRY GROWTH PATH

Indian media industry likely to touch Rs2.26 trillion by 2020

In 2015, the media and entertainment sector grew at 12.8% over 2014, while advertising grew at 14.7%

The Indian media and entertainment (M&E) industry is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3% to touch Rs.2.26 trillion by 2020 with advertising revenues expected to grow at 15.9% to reach Rs.99,400 crore. In 2015, the M&E sector grew at 12.8%, while overall advertising grew at 14.7% over 2014.

Growth for television advertising is projected at a CAGR of 15% between 2015 and 2020, while print media is expected to grow at 8.6%, according to a report by consulting firm KPMG and lobby group Ficci (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry). Titled ‘The Future: now streaming’, the report was unveiled at the annual media and entertainment industry event Ficci Frames in Mumbai. 

Among traditional media, radio will see a growth of 16.9%, while new media or digital advertising is slated for a 33.5% growth during the period between 2015 and 2020.

“With an advertising growth rate of 17%, 2015 was a phenomenal year for television,” said Jehil Thakkar, head, media and entertainment at KPMG, India. “Some Hindi general entertainment channels may even have outperformed the industry with a growth rate of more than 20%,” he said. Although TV saw a spike in advertising, subscription revenue for the medium remained muted. According to the report, phase 3 digitisation of cable TV failed to meet its deadline. “…. benefits of phase 1 and phase 2, particularly on ARPU (average revenue per user) have failed to materialise due to a number of on-ground challenges across the distribution chain. This resulted in a slowdown in subscription revenue growth in 2015. Our expectations over the next five years have also been toned down to reflect this delay,” the report noted.

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In five years between 2015 and 2020, the overall print industry size will grow at a CAGR of 7.8%. However, its advertising revenue will see a better CAGR at 8.6%.

In 2015 over 2014, print advertising grew at the rate of 7.3%. “Print saw a softer performance in 2015 while 2014 was better as it was the year of general elections,” said Thakkar. 

Growth for vernacular and Hindi newspapers was also subdued. The Indian hinterland was soft in terms of rural demand for fast moving consumer goods as well as other products, leading to lower advertising growth rate.

However, Thakkar expects regional print media to bounce back since rural demand is expected to grow on the back of good monsoon. Rural markets are expected to revive owing to the government initiatives announced in this budget. These include increased expenditure on the rural jobs programmes, investment in irrigation projects, building roads and electrifying villages.

“Besides, the print media industry is also fixing its problem with the Indian Readership Survey. Availability of a measurement system will also boost the medium,” Thakkar said.

As companies increase their focus on tier II and tier III cities, and rural areas, hyperlocalisation is emerging as an effective theme among print players and advertisers, the report said. The newspaper companies were going hyperlocal particularly in markets with lower internet penetration, it added. In 2015, the Dainik Bhaskar group launched the editions of its Hindi daily in Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Gaya in Bihar, having launched a Patna edition in 2014. “The motive of national players entering new markets with more local editions is to provide targeted reach to advertisers,” the report said.

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Agreed Vivek Khanna, chief executive of Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HMVL), the publisher of the Hindi daily Hindustan: “Hindustan has 140 editions and sub-editions. Kanpur district alone has 12 editions. These are hyperlocal editions catering to very small advertisers.”

He said that the Hindi markets have been growing faster than the English language newspaper market for some years. Readership of newspapers is growing as there is lower digital penetration in Hindi speaking markets, the broadband connectivity is poor and the cost of data is high. Availability, affordability and credibility are helping the Hindi newspaper market to expand, Khanna added. HMVL is a subsidiary of HT Media Ltd which publishes Mint.

As far as radio is concerned, it continued its strong run with 15.3% growth in 2015. Following the new stations licensed in phase 3 and consolidation in the industry, radio is transforming from a “coverage” medium to a “reach” platform. Major radio stations have been operating at high ad inventory utilization levels and this, coupled with growing advertiser interest, has helped push up ad rates.

According to the KPMG-Ficci report, digital advertising will continue to grow at a high CAGR of 33.5% with a shift towards video and mobile advertising on the back of increase in mobile users and improved digital infrastructure. By 2020, it is expected that digital advertising will be Rs.25,500 crore and contribute 25.7% to the total advertising revenue.

Rajiv Dingra, chief executive and founder of WATConsult, the digital and social media agency of Dentsu Aegis Network, however, expects digital to grow at a higher rate of 40-45% in the next five years. He attributes such growth to several factors, including the mobile screen becoming the primary screen for the user. Video consumption plus time spent on digital will beat TV consumption, he said. “Although ad expenditure on TV will still remain higher for some more time,” Dingra added.

However, challenges to the expansion of digital media will remain. “Government taxes may put pressure in the shorter term, internet penetration and quality in rural areas may be a challenge and internet speeds as the country scales on bandwidth may be an issue,” he said.

Similar challenges may affect the growth of OTT or over-the-top platforms in the country, too, said the report. “While there is significant level of interest in building out OTT platforms, viability in the short term remains a concern given bandwidth constraints, high cost of customer acquisition, dependence on advertisement led models and high cost of data access,” the report said. 

But this could change with the roll out of 4G. The 4G market is expected to be highly competitive and will likely result in lowering of data costs. “Coupled with increased penetration of smartphones, we expect that consumers will become used to viewing content beyond the television screen, paving the way for digital dedicated content and innovative monetization models,” the report said.

According to Thakkar, 2015 was a flat year for the Hindi film industry. However, Hollywood films did well in India. Their contribution to box office collection jumped from 4-5% in 2014 to 8-9% in 2015. What worked for Hollywood were the action and superhero films.

In sports, cricket continues to be the primary driver of viewership, with marquee properties such as the Indian Premier League and the World Cup witnessing growth in both ad rates and sponsorships. However, the last couple of years have seen the launch of various sporting leagues across sports such as kabbadi, football and tennis, among others.

As ownership of cricket as a platform becomes more expensive, brands are likely to start investing in other sports, the report said. But building non-cricket sporting leagues requires long-term vision and investing strategy, it added.

The report concluded that although there is continued robust domestic demand and strong advertiser interest in the media and entertainment sector, matters that need to be addressed include completion of cable digitization and FM radio batch 2 auctions under phase 3, among others.

HINDUSTAN MEDIA VENTURES LTD. (HMVL) - COMPANY PROFILE

Hindustan Media Ventures Limited incorporated on July 9, 1918 under the erstwhile Indian Companies Act, 1956 as a public limited company under the name ––The Behar Journals and received the Certificate of Commencement of business on January 14, 1919. On November 17, 1987 the company's name was changed to Searchlight Publishing House Limited in order to capitalize on the name earned by its publication – Searchlight– which had become synonymous with the company’s activities for over 67 years. Subsequently, the name of the company was changed to its present name –– Hindustan Media Ventures Limited to reflect the expanded business activities intended to be undertaken by the company and the fresh Certificate of Incorporation to this effect was issued on November 11, 2008.

The company is one of the leading print media companies in India in terms of readership. They publish and print ‘Hindustan’, the third largest daily newspaper in India in terms of readership with a readership of 9.3 million readers. Hindustan began publication in 1936, owing its origins to and serving as a medium for the freedom movement, and has been one of India‘s eminent Hindi newspaper dailies for over 70 years. Hindustan has the largest readership in key Hindi–speaking markets of Bihar and Jharkhand, with a strong and growing presence in Delhi NCR and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. They are one of the fastest growing Hindi daily newspapers in India with a growth in Readership of 9.2% in the period between July 2006 and June 2009. Hindustan is published in four editions and 113 sub–editions.

Hindustan is presently printed at 16 locations in the states/regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Delhi NCR with a total installed rated capacity approximately 0.78 million copies per hour. These printing facilities are located at Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Bhagalpur, Dehradun, Delhi NCR, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Mohali, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Ranchi and Varanasi. They distribute their newspapers through a multi–tiered network of agents and vendors.

They also publish two Hindi magazines, Nandan, a children’s magazine, and Kadambini, a general interest magazine. In addition to their Hindi print publications, they also operate the website, livehindustan.com which focuses on providing news in Hindi with regional content. Further, they have also recently forayed into event management and customized event solutions.

Milestones:

1918

• Incorporation of the company as The Behar Journals Limited by individuals including Rajendra Prasad, Sachidannand Sinha and Syed Hassan Imam, who were the founder directors of the company

1919

• Commencement of business of the company 
• Commissioning of printing press at Patna
• Commencement of printing and publishing of English newspaper –– Searchlight

1947

• Commencement of printing and publication of Hindi daily –– Pradeep at Patna

1986

• Commencement of printing of Hindi daily––Hindustan and the English daily ––Hindustan Times on behalf of The Hindustan Times Limited at Patna
• Termination of printing and publication of the Hindi daily–– Pradeep and the English daily–– Searchlight

1987

• Company's name was changed to Searchlight Publishing House Limited, in order to capitalize on the name earned by its publication Searchlight

2000

• Commencement of printing of Hindi daily –– Hindustan and English daily –– Hindustan Times from Ranchi location, in terms of a printing agreement with the holding company and publisher of the said publications The Hindustan Times Limited

2008

• Company's name was changed to Hindustan Media Ventures Limited, so as to reflect the expanded business activities of the company

2009

• Acquisition of Hindi business from HT Media comprising of Hindi daily newspaper –– Hindustan including Ravivasriya Hindustan; magazines Nandan and Kadambini; and internet portals of the said publications, including all assets, liabilities and employees pertaining to the said Hindi business

2010

• Company has changed its name from Searchlight Publishing House Ltd. to Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd.
• Hind.Media – Launch of Hindi daily newspaper "Hindustan", at Gorakhpur.

2011

• The Company has launched the weekly "Hindustan Jobs" in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand.

2012

• The Company has launched the Hindi daily newspaper, namely, "Hindustan" in Moradabad.

Group compnies:

• HT Music and Entertainment Company 
• HT Burda Media 
• HT Digital Media Holdings 
• Firefly e–Ventures 
• HT Mobile Solutions 
• Metropolitan Media Company
  
  BOARD OF DIRECTORS
  
  
  

  Mrs. Shobhana Bhartia
  Chairperson

  Mr. Ajay Relan
  Non-executive Independent Director

  Mr. Ashwani Windlass
  Non-executive Independent Director

  Mr. Piyush G Mankad
  Non-executive Independent Director

  Mr. Shardul S. Shroff
  Non-executive Independent Director

  Dr. Mukesh Aghi 
  Non-executive Independent Director

  Mr. Priyavrat Bhartia
  Whole-time Director

  Mr. Shamit Bhartia
  Managing Director

  Mr. Benoy Roychowdhury
  Whole-time Director
  LEADING TEAM
  

  Mr. Vivek Khanna
  Chief Executive Officer

  Mr. Shashi Shekhar
  Editor-in-Chief

  Mr. Rakesh Singh Gautam
  Head-Human Resources

  Mr. Ratul Bhaduri
  Chief Financial Officer

  Mr. Tridib Kumar Barat
  Company Secretary

  Mr. Subhash Chand
  Head Marketing

  
  

  Mr. Vijay Singh
  Head - Sales
  

  
  
  
  

World Cinema History

The history of world movies goes back to the end of the 1800’s. It is now more than 200 years that the world of cinema has had the chance to develop through many experiments and innovations. Technology has been one of the major contributing factors to the development of world cinema. From the very start of world cinema the hearts of millions have been captured by its magic.

The world cinema journey began in silence. Movies were created without sound as the technology of sound was not available at the beginning. A device did not exist that could synchronise sound with the picture. Cinema remained silent for the first thirty years until sound technology was developed late in the 1920’s.

The world of cinema was quite unorganised in the first ten years of its life although gradually over a short time the industry established itself. Movies that contained one shot and produced by just one person began to be taken over by movies that were a few minutes long, had various scenes and were produced by larger companies with professional methods.

Probably the most successful movie making company was in the USA. They had the largest production group until 1900. This company produced a lot of peep show kind of movies which was done with the help of a machine called Mutoscope. France was the next country to show it’s calibre in the world cinema field. France was home to one of the first companies to shoot scenes for a movie outside of the studio and they also sent cameramen to shoot films all over the world. The biggest producer in France was Georges Meilies who started to use trick effects in 1898. 

The first camera used in movies were tied or fixed to a tripod. All the early movie cameras were completely fixed whilst taking film shots. Camera movements were done by mounting the movie camera onto a moving vehicle.

The history of world cinema has undergone a long course of research, creation and application of new techniques. Numerous methods have been tested and applied to give film making a place in the finest of performing arts across the globe.