No fights, no weddings: Is VFX the way forward?
In the time of social distancing, characters can’t marry in an elaborate wedding sequence or beat up 20 goons at once. The lead couple can’t engage in romance either. The guidelines suggested by Maharashtra government to resume shoots has made this pretty clear. So, what’s the way forward? One word: VFX. Or special effects.
In the past few years, this technology has come in handy for almost every film, TV or web show. And now, with the ‘new normal’ in place, it will be used more heavily. Producer Anand Pandit agrees, and says that the budgets allocated to VFX will shoot up. “But I feel it’s temporary. As soon as the vaccine comes up, or the intensity of the destruction of the virus goes down, we’ll get into normal mode. But for the next one year, VFX is going to be extremely important,” he adds. Trade analyst Joginder Tuteja concurs, “VFX was anyway used in films for crowd scenes. Now, all the more, because if there are 10 people in a frame, you can’t have them in close proximity. So, there’ll be three-four shots which will be merged. Even for background dancers, VFX could come into the picture, as we’ve seen in regional films.”
Rohan Desai, global head, ReDefine, the company behind
VFX for upcoming films such as Brahmastra and ’83, says that with the need for social distancing, visual effects will come to the fore. “It eliminates the need for additional costumes, props or makeup, all of which involve human contact,” he says. Also, scenes like explosions which require safety protocols and extra crew “can now be shot separately”, he adds.
Filmmaker-choreographer Remo D’Souza, however, has apprehensions. “I don’t feel that we can create everything on VFX, or, say, shoot a dance. We’ll have to shoot smartly... It’d have to be incorporated into the story itself. Makers would have to concentrate on stuff which don’t require a big crowd,” he says.