Bollywood Unplugged - Deconstructing Cinema in Black & White

Bollywood Unplugged - Deconstructing Cinema in Black & White

Product ID: 14750

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Author: Derek Bose
Publisher: English Edition Publishers
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 144
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8188811149

Description

This book is meant for anybody with even a fleeting interest in Bollywood-the way it functions, the voluptuous aesthetic traditions it upholds, its unique narrative style, the star system, how filmmakers, scriptwriters, actors, technicians and music directors work.

Without getting into the technicalities of filmmaking, it takes the reader on a guided tour of the film sets and recording studios to reveal the various devices and means directors employ in casting their web of magic and make-believe on the masses. At the same time, the book provides a visual overview of the development of Bollywood cinema from its very birth, through the silent era to its transformation from black-and-white to colour and now, in its bold, vibrant and globalised dimensions.

For every student of cinema, aspiring filmmaker, movie critic, in short, anybody who is curious about what goes into the making of a typical Bollywood film, this would serve as an invaluable guide and a ready reckoner.

WHY THIS BOOK

Bollywood cinema is unique. Its extravagant celebrations of glamour, pomp and spectacle, persistent devotion of mythology, an almost slavish reliance on songs and dances, convenient coincidences, larger-than-life characters and happy ending scarcely find a parallel anywhere in the world. Anybody seeking truth 24 times a second or for a slice of life in Bollywood, must look elsewhere. For, filmmaking in Bombay is an exercise at self-delusion in the extreme-utterly confusing, chaotic and contrived.

And yet, here is a chance to live the dreams of many lifetimes. Tales of heroism and cowardice, love and hate, justice and equity and of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances make for the magical realism Hindi cinema offers. Give us the glycerine tears and the tomato ketchup any day, the trees to dance around, lost-and-found brothers, the white sari in the artificial rain and the rising crescendo of a hundred violins, Nobody looks for truth in Bollywood.

The book provides an insight into the deconstruction of truth, from the most basic levels of shot-taking and sound recording to the complexities of special effects, characterisation, dramatic construction and image building. Very simply, its purpose is to take stock of the devices and means filmmakers employ in manipulating the minds of the masses.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

MEDIUM AND ITS METHODS
Movie Variables, Emotional Bias, Constituent Elements

ONE LANGUAGE, MANY FORMS
Mythologicals, Romantic Musicals, Other Genres

THE CAMERA CAN ALSO LIE!
Visual Manipulation, Camera Movement, Shot Size

ALL TALKING AND SINGING
Voice Mode, Making Music, Sound Effects

FUSION OF SIGHT AND SOUND
Transitional Devices, Editing Techniques, Visual Aberrations

OF MONSTERS AND MAGIC
Live-Action Effects, Animation Effects, SFX Techniques

FLESHING SCREEN CHARACTERS
Character Traits, Dramatic Conflict, Dramatic Action

CLASSIC CLASH OF OPPOSITES
Generating Conflict Story Adaptation, Key Concerns

STRANGER THAN FICTION
Documentary Forms, Conceptual Approach, Practical Cues

ANYBODY CAN MAKE A FILM
Nine Steps, Method In Madness, Hard Facts