For aesthetic reasons, actors have traveled far yonder- or even particularly marvelous local landscapes, especially for musicals. One can hardly erase from their memories the song and dance sequences of Bollywood movies with actresses dancing in a saree in a snow-clad scenery. A unique sort of romance seems to be blooming between film-makers and visual effects as one would be shocked to know just how many movies over the past decade have made extensive use of VFX and computer-generated locations. Unsuspecting viewers don’t realise that even movies like Cocktail and Dostana have shot plenty of the scenes to depict foreign locations just with a green screen on.
Technological advances have allowed film-makers to make strides that previously looked impossible. The danger of losing the baseline realism does loom over the cinematic ventures that seek to create computer-generated scenes but some of the stellar content witnessed industry speaks volumes about how realistic can the artists make things look.
In response to the question of whether or not green screen will erase the phenomenon of travelling to exotic locations, FluiidMask founder and industry veteran Viral Thakkar said, “ That is very much possible, we have worked on sequences which immense amount of green. If we can get into a technical aspect, the green screen doesn’t always come out with a good sequence. It also boils down to the way the shot has been lit and the way visual effects supervisors go and shoot the plates and the lighting conditions. We have seen bad green-screen shots as well which probably turn out to look like a cut-out or obvious studio template.”
Sprucing up the artistic quotient, green screen has allowed film-makers to come with stunts which used to be a mammoth task in the early days of cinema. Industry veteran and Firefly Creative Studio VFX supervisor and director Sanath PC said, “I think the digitally generated environment and characters are helping the filmmakers to tell their stories more effectively and more spectacularly than the times before.”
Times we live in are interesting as the movies being churned out recently have pushed the envelope. the tremendous use of green-screen is a sign that films in the future might not involve a lot of travel!