Imagine a film, in which you cannot discern the difference between the real and the digital fantasy so well that you find yourself surprised while watching this film. Think about how this technology, called Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) has grown from the days of blocky graphics to the realistic effects of today’s movies. The world of cinema is not the same anymore, the cgi in filmmaking has been revolutionized with the help of this technique. Directors can create stories and worlds we could only have dreamed of a couple of decades ago. CGI technology has a significant impact on the cinema industry, not just in Hollywood but also in the Bollywood and other Asian countries.
In this article, we will discuss the evolution of CGI in the filmmaking industry and also how Indian brands are rising up the ladder by creating amazing visual creations. You may be a film-maker, a content creator or just a curious onlooker, you are about to learn something new.
The Early Days of CGI – Humble Beginnings
In the late 1970s and early ’80s, CGI was a novel, experimental technology. Films such as Tron (1982) and Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) introduced rudimentary CGI to audiences everywhere, but the graphics were far from realistic. The technology was unwieldy, and the graphics blocky and unpolished. But the stage was set.
The Indian Context
Even in India, where CGI came much later, it was something of a bang rather than a whimper. Remember Shiva Ka Insaaf? The film (1985), though pretty crude by today’s standards, was India’s first foray into CGI. Then came the quantum leap in the early 2000s in the quality of CGI with such movies as Koi… Mil Gaya (2003), which showed local audiences the power of VFX and CGI in storytelling.
The 90s – A Leap Forward
Indeed, by the 1990s, CGI had fully come of age. In films such as Jurassic Park (1993) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), viewers were astounded by a new level of photographic reality in visual effects. The 1990s saw the transition from experimental CGI to commercial blockbuster cinema.
Bollywood’s Adoption
But by the turn of the millennium, Bollywood began to turn the CGI crank more earnestly. If the computer-generated imagery (CGI) of Ra.One (2011) looked fumbly in parts, it was nevertheless a sign that Indian filmmakers were ready to lay out the dough for CGI. Even more mainstream cinema, such as Krrish (2006), indicated growing comfort with standards of CGI in Indian cinema before Hollywood’s mid century mark.
One of the big obstacles during this period was cost. Top-notch CGI was pricey, and producers had to innovate within budget. The industry was still experimenting – but it was laying the groundwork for what would be to come.
The 2000s – CGI Becomes a Mainstay
With the advance of new technology, CGI was becoming cheaper and easier to use. Over the course of the 2000s, digital effects experienced a boom, and today it’s very rare to find a major Hollywood blockbuster that doesn’t use CGI for some part of its production. Movies such as Avatar (2009) pushed the boundaries of live-action versus CGI so far that many viewers couldn’t tell where one stopped and the other began.
India’s CGI Milestones
Meanwhile, in India, a number of large studios emerged in the 2000s, such as Red Chillies VFX and Prime Focus, which worked on Bollywood films but also on international projects. Two notable films of the 2000s are Ra.One (2011) and Robot (2010), which are not only milestones in Indian CGI history, but also reveal that Indian companies can create CGI effects that are up to Hollywood standards.
Fact alert: There’s an Indian VFX company called Prime Focus that worked on the CGI for the film Avatar.
The 2010s: Blurring the Line Between Real and Unreal
And by the start of the 2010s, CGI had soared once again to unprecedented levels, with actors filmed through motion-capture suits and facial-mapping technologies and aided by advanced rendering algorithms. From the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the astonishing hyperreal animals of The Jungle Book (2016), CGI had advanced to such a level that it was no longer easy to tell apart from reality.
Indian Brands Go All-In on CGI in Filmmaking
But Indian cinema was not playing catch-up. It was innovating. The two parts of Baahubali (2015, 2017), The Beginning and The Conclusion, are arguably the most impressive display of CGI in Indian film history: they were not only grander than Indian films before, but they made the epic, immersive worlds possible on a scale like never before. They set new standards for CGI in Indian cinema, and showed that India could produce visual effects that were on par with the West.
They include the horror-fantasy Tumbbad (2018), a low-budget Indian film that uses CGI in a much more elegant fashion, albeit on a smaller scale. Its chilling aesthetic (it’s set in an old haunted house) was built up in part through practical effects and CGI to create a more realistic look – not just a transplant of big-budget spectacle, but a precise use of CGI for a smaller, more intimate story.
Indian Brands in Advertising
There’s more than just movies involved. In recent years, Indian brands have turned to CGI in their advertising campaigns. Take the automobile brands such as Tata Motors and Mahindra. Their commercials utilize futuristic, stunning CGI imagery that make the cars seem ripped out of Hollywood blockbusters. The Tata Nexon EV ad, for instance, uses CGI to showcase the car in different environments, from cityscapes to natural surroundings, without ever having to leave the studio.
In the entertainment industry, Hotstar has created immersive, interactive promotional material for their original series and sports broadcasts by leveraging the capabilities of CGI. Now, with CGI, a single universe can be built for a brand and its products. Storytelling abilities are limitless.
The Future – Where Do We Go From Here?
CGI can only get better. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can continue to improve it. The state of the art in real-time rendering will only accelerate. Virtual production – the shooting of an entire scene on a digital set in real time – is on the rise, with synthetic actors blending seamlessly with real ones in primitive pioneering efforts, right now.
What Does This Mean for India?
So long as CGI costs continue to plummet as they have, there’s no reason why Indian filmmakers and brands won’t continue to come up with increasingly ingenious ways to deploy the technology in movies and ads. And since India makes more than it consumes, why should CGI be the exception? ‘Go West’, as Kesha would say.
The Power of CGI in Storytelling
From its simple roots, CGI has come a long way, and its refinement has transformed the art of storytelling. It has promised to create larger-than-life scenes in Baahubali, and has brooded quietly in the background to create rich, immersive worlds in Tumbbad.
And in films, this is just the tip of the CGI iceberg – Indian brands are now using CGI to churn out some of the most innovative, visually exciting and attention-grabbing content in a market crowded with competition. Independent filmmakers and advertisers are all discovering that, in the race to stay contemporary and relevant, CGI has become less of an ‘optional extra’ and more of a ‘compulsory desirable.
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