Prabhas’ Radhe Shyam Marks the Debut of Virtual Production in Indian Filmmaking
Prabhas, the Bahubali star’s upcoming movie Radhe Shyam introduces the next-gen filmmaking technology of Virtual Production to Indian Cinema. Read to know more.
Prabhas, the magnum opus Bahubali’s actor and Pooja Hegde starrer upcoming movie Radhe Shyam, directed by Radha Krishna Kumar under the banner of U V Creations, created a buzz early this year around the next-gen filmmaking technology of Virtual Production.
On location in Hyderabad, its award-winning cinematographer, Manoj Paramahamsa, known for films like Ye Maaya Chesave, took to Instagram to announce that it is for the first-ever time that Virtual Production made its entry into the landscape of Indian cinema.
Hero Prabhas with Cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa on the sets of Radhe Shyam
It is well-known that movie production has come a long way in using technology to make its stories truly feel larger than life. But cinematic technologies such as CGI and VFX traditionally come into play only during the post-production stage. The lack of visuals at the time of movie production causes uncertainty for filmmakers and involves a great deal of time, effort, finance, and technicians, later on, to get that perfect shot in the end.
Here is where Virtual Production enters the scene, which enables the filmmakers to visualize, create, and modify CG objects, characters, and worlds in real-time. With the advent of video gaming technologies like the “Unreal Engine” by Epic Games company that offer real-time rendering, it is becoming increasingly possible to compose and capture both visual effects and live-action footage together at once.
The movie production workflows of Previs, Techvis, Postvis, high-resolution LED screens, and hi-tech mechanisms like Motion Capture, VR, AR, Virtual Camera, or Simulcams are all a part of Virtual Production. Apart from bringing in flexibility on set while shooting, Virtual Production advantages extend from impossible camera angles, computer-generated locations, cost-efficiency to creative control for the much-anticipated final product.
Many Hollywood productions have employed virtual production in various capacities in blockbuster movies right from Avatar to the latest Disney’s Lion King in 2019. Recently ILM, the VFX company, had revealed that The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, is currently being filmed in the UK using Virtual Production unit developed with techniques used in The Mandalorian series, for select scenes.
The Batman in the making using Virtual Production
Prabhas’s latest movie venture may have caught the audiences’ attention for its never-before attempt at virtual production, given his body of work with visual stunners including, the two-part mega-budget blockbuster Bahubali and action thriller Saaho, taking visual effects and action sequences to a groundbreaking level. But in challenging times of the Covid 19 pandemic that brought the entire world, especially showbiz, to a standstill, it was about time that the Indian film industry took notice and adapt to the newer ways of filmmaking.
No wonder then that now, especially when scouting for locations could prove to be a pain point, when traveling is both restricted and risky, the trend of Virtual Production is slowly but surely catching up in the subcontinent. With the latest announcement of Prithviraj’s multi-lingual period drama to be fully-made using Virtual Production, directed by Gokulraj Baskar, the turning point in the history of Indian filmmaking has come.
This is an exciting new chapter in the art and science of film making! So looking forward to this one! Changing times, newer challenges, innovative methods! And an epic story to tell!
Stay tuned for updates! @PrithviOfficial @PrithvirajProd @frames_magic #GokulrajBaskar pic.twitter.com/kzTc7LNvIN— Prithviraj Sukumaran (@PrithviOfficial) August 17, 2020
Given Virtual Production, touted to be the future of filmmaking, is making news with the Indian film industry’s bigwigs embracing it, the change is coming soon.
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