As the mind conjures up emotions from the vortex of one’s souls; exploration of an uncertain dimension amidst all the atrocity and beauty only seems natural. And through the mirages of reality and tales of unsung glory, the ostensible world of cinema breathes colour into characters that epitomise human existence.After all, in the art of discovery and illusions lay the crux of cinema. As Jean Luc Godard once said, “The cinema is not an art which films life; the cinema is something between art and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesn’t.” With the sole intention of bringing to the fore authorbacked cinema, Screenwrite.in aims at providing opportunities for screenwriters and aspirants to bring out plausible screenplays and contribute to the field of cinema.John Edathattil, CEO and founder of Screenwrite.in, shares his thoughts on Indian cinema evolving into more interesting humane celluloid strips with City Express.According to you, how has cinema evolved over the years? For me cinema has evolved generically, through its many-angled leaps and bounds, but the ultimate effect is redefining the emotional output. Because, I believe, whatever be the technological advancement to produce and screen the cinema, we are talking about telling stories and transporting emotions to the viewer.Technological advancement has given more room for doing this transportation in a better way.Since the birth of cinema, the industry has searched for new ways to deliver an emotional experience that is more involving. More immersive. And that’s been happening over the many years, through producing and projecting visuals and sounds to create emotional experiences. And, the quest will keep going on. One major evolution I see, or rather I may call it revolution, is the democratisation of film making these days as a result of cheaper film making tools and accessories. It has kick started a new era for independent cinema.Effective screen writing requires a lot of dedication, commitment and imagination. What are your thoughts on the same? May be these are words which may sound more scary when you think about writing a screenplay. The best example that comes to my mind now is looking at a 400 page novel to read. Oh my God! When am I going finish reading this bulk? The book scares me prima facie.The scare-factor is usually overcome by my passion to read that particular book though it is thick-set to look at. Passion is the right word for effective screen writing (or, for everything in life in a broader sense). Dedication and commitment and routines come naturally after passion. As for imagination, yes we need it to write screenplays. At the same time, there are ways we can learn to be imaginative, there are rules we may follow to make screenplays work.Do you think creative writing is an inborn talent or an acquired skill? I believe a talent for communication is inherent in all humans. It’s more of a psychological process that we naturally go through to achieve emotional and social goals in life. We all have the inborn talent of communication, but learning a systematic approach to improve the talent may help us to communicate better.Magic of cinema has mesmerised us since time immemorial. What is it about cinema that intrigues you the most? What has made me wonder the most about cinema all these years is it’s great power to generate emotions through visual exaggeration.Cinema is a medium of exaggeration through its many mesmeric techniques, especially the lenses and not to forget the great possibilities of visual graphics today.How would you fundamentally differentiate between a screenplay and a script? This is a common misconception there’s no difference between a screenplay and a script when it comes to feature films. Generally television scripts are called ‘scripts’ except when they are specifically termed ‘teleplays’.Apart from writers, does screenwrite.in also provide opportunities for budding filmmakers (in terms of funds/contacts, etc)? The aim and passion of screenwrite.in are to give opportunities for screenwriters and aspirants to bring out plausible screenplays; to know the importance of screenplays in filmmaking and to reap the benefits of having written a credible, producible screenplay. Film making comes next. When we find a screenwriter (or a filmmaker) has brought out a producible screenplay through any of our various programs, whether it is a for a feature or for a short, screenwrite.in has a process to fund it for production, or to sell it in the market.What according to you has been your best work so far? Well, I think Chanakyan (1989 Malayalam) and Guna (1991 Tamil) deserve special mention.Do you think contemporary cinema is gaining rapid popularity in our country today? Of course, yes. I would call this an outcome of a great technological revolution that’s bringing about this change and prospects. The concepts of multiplexes, You-Tube and the Internet media have great relevance to this idea of independent film making.What is your definition of a short film? I imagine there are as many short film definitions as there are short films. Still, I would venture a couple of definitions.A film shorter than a feature film i.e. shorter than 70 minutes. But usually the time span of shorts is between one and forty minutes.These time lengths are asserted mostly by short film festivals.A film that isn’t a feature film in terms of length of time. It has to be able to get the message/ideas across a lot faster. Similar to a short story. Sometimes with a surprise ending. It is an expression of an idea on a shorter scale; often expressive and tends towards the abstract.An idea that is complete in itself or say episodic in Aristotelian terms. That is how I would best sum up the definition of a short film Any upcoming projects (in cinema) you are working on ....Yes. One each in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.Screenwrite.in is also planning contests for screenplay writers early next year and will have a spate of workshops in Bangalore. An orientations session will be held on July 4 from 6 pm to 8 pm at Crossword Affinity Building, Sadashivanagar.
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