Almost every country has an indigenous film industry. The ubiquitous Hollywood productions from the US have perhaps the widest international audience. But of all film producing nations, India is the most prolific with over 800 feature releases every year. The bulk of these come from the big studios in Mumbai and Chennai. Regional cinema is also fairly active in each state, Bengal and Kerala being the best known countrywide for the quantity, quality and innovation of their films.

Film-making covers a wide spectrum of activities that work together to produce a range of different kinds of film productions, from the more popular entertainment or feature films to documentaries,news features, advertising films, training films and corporate films.

By far the largest and most prolific is the feature film sector, both in terms of turnover and employment. Most feature films are made by independent producers or studios, who raise the capital for their ventures through various sources, including private financiers and business corporations. Documentaries and short films are mainly non-fictional in content and are basically devices to record and disseminate information. News and current affairs features are journalistic coverage of events on film, and are produced mainly for broadcasting.

Corporate organisations and companies also use films as a medium to inform clients, collaborators, associates, the public, or sometimes their own employees about their overall activities or aspects of their operations.Government and non-government welfare organisations also commission the production of films in the public interest on aspects of health, safety and other matters of public concern.Others are made as teaching aids, used by educational and training institutions.

Different from corporate messages, but also produced to inform and promote, are advertising films. Though seldom longer than thirty seconds in duration, ad films promote a product or service that is being advertised.

The work

The craft of film making depends essentially on teamwork and the close coordination of variously skilled individuals. The size of film units can range from 200 people or more, on big features to smaller than a five-member crew on documentaries or corporate presentations.

Production covers all the management aspects of the film, A producer therefore is responsible for raising finances, hiring and organising the cast and crew, scouting for locations, ensuring that shooting and other schedules are met, obtaining permissions for shooting and screening, handling day-to-day problems as they arise, and marketing the film and liaising with distributors, television networks, and so on.

The directoris responsible for all creative decision-making including script, cast, location and camera. This involves the audition and selection of the leading cast, rehearsing and directing actors, ensuring that lights, camera and sound are in place and visualising the entire concept.The scriptwriter is concerned with writing the screenplay, which involves, some film research and development of scripts, and its adaptation during filming.

Those responsible for casting have to identify, locate, and hire actors and extras, according to the script/director's specifications. There are also technical jobs such as camera and photography, responsible for the visualisation and composition of each scene, in consultation with the director; lighting which include procurement, maintenance and setting up of all lighting equipment used during shooting; sound, which includes recording, dubbing and mixing of dialogues, music and sound effects; art direction which provides the overall `look' of the film and designs and creates theambience for each scene; and editing which is eventually responsible for the actual length and sequential flow of the film.

In addition there are departments for properties, set construction, music, dance and choreography, special effects, and stunts where required, wardrobe, make-up and hair-styling and so on.

Entry

Almost all areas in film making require specialisation in the craft to some extent, as a certain degree of expertise is essential for most jobs. This could be done by specialising in any one aspect of film making, or by starting as a `runner' in any of the departments and learning on the job while working one's way up the ranks. Some of the world's greatest directors/ producers have started their film careers in this manner.However, professional training is essential in technical areas like cinematography, sound engineering, film processing and editing.

Training institutions

A number of good institutions in the country impart training in various aspects of film making.These include the Film and Television Institutes at Pune and Madras, the Mass Communications course at Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, and the Xavier's Institute of Communications, Bombay.There are departments of mass communications in other institutes such as Pune University and Jadhavar University that offer subjects like film journalism and film techniques, or courses in film or cinema studies, but are not geared for the technical aspects of film-making. There are also drama schools, now increasingly being set up by film actors and actresses to develop acting talent.

Job prospects

There are full-time, part-time and freelance work opportunities for various aspects of film making with film studios, film production and distribution companies.

The film industry has also created a number of spin-offs that offer employment to those who are connected with but not directly involved in the film making process. These include film distribution, film journalism, film archive keeping and so on.There are also jobs with organisations that distribute films, and organisations like the National Film Development corporation that encourages the production of quality films, the Films Division that produces government sponsored films, the Board of Censors that review all films and the Directorate of film festivals that organises promotional events to encourage the marketing and viewing of good cinema.

It must be mentioned though, that young hopefuls everywhere are drawn to this line by the aura of glamour that surrounds the movies. The reality of film-making is quite the opposite. At every level even for superstars the work involves long, gruelling hours, and painstaking effort. As most jobs are undertaken freelance, it is also a very irregular occupation.

Only those with a deep and abiding interest in and commitment to their craft are able to survive in this industry which hands out elation and heartbreak, failure and success, in approximately equal measure.

The writer is the author of PenguinIndia Career Guide, Vol I & II. She is also a newsreader on Doodarshan and producer of Hum Honge Kamyaab.